The
hour has come
After
a 12 month engagement, months of planning, weeks of anticipation, a morning of
preparation – the bride walks the aisle into the joyous arms of her groom.
The
hour has come
After
years of trying, nine months of joyful, growing discomfort, onies brought and
prams purchased the baby cry is heard as she snuggles into her mother’s
exhausted arms.
The
hour has come
Decades
of dreaming and training, endless discipline, countless failed efforts, the
medal is draped over her neck and the crowd erupt, only silenced by the notes
of the nation’s anthem.
The
hour has come
‘Jesus
replied. ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’ (John
12:23) An event, long anticipated and
waited for, laden with weight and purpose and substance is here. The hour has come.
But
what is this hour?
The
hour when Jesus dies
It
is the moment of Jesus’ death: ‘He said this to show the kind of death he was
going to die.’ (John 12:33)
The
hour when God is glorified
But
it is also the moment God is glorified. ‘The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…Father, glorify your name!’
(John 12:23, 28)
Glorified
means to show something beautiful and unique, for some reason hidden from us,
as it truly is. It means to
magnify. Not like a microscope (making
something smaller brighter and bigger and bolder than it really is) but like a
telescope (making something far from us visible by correcting our deficiency). Like the astronomer who spends most of their
time, once they have identified their principal star, adjusting the dial and
bringing it ever into sharper and more splendid focus, so John now spends 10
chapters on ‘this hour’ – the moment of Jesus’ death. Having covered three years in his first 11
chapter he now covers just one week in ten.
He keeps turning the focus dial of his gospel-telescope bringing into
ever sharper focus the magnitude of Jesus’ death.
God
saves to glorify his name
Notice
Jesus emphasises his death is mostly and ultimately about God’s glory: ‘…the
Son of Man…glorified…Father, glorify your name!’ Jesus’ death, God’s rescue, our salvation –
they are ultimately about God and his glory.
From the Old Testament God’s rescuing has always been about his glory: ‘…he
saved them for his name’s sake…’ (Psalm 106:7-8). It is about his glory across the world, ‘…that
the nations might glorify God for his mercy.’ (Romans 15:9) Even before time began it was his intention: ‘…he
predestined us for adoption…to the praise of his glorious grace.’ (Ephesians
1:5-6)
Is
this egocentric? Is this conceited and
arrogant by God? Is it selfish and
unloving?
God
glorifying his name is love
It
would be, unless our joy and God’s glory were interwoven. Like how a best-man’s joy escalates as the
groom is applauded and made much of. Or
how a parents’ delight swells as she can truthfully make much of a child’s
achievement. Or as a husband’s delight
is found as he buys gifts for his wife. There is nothing more joyful than
seeing and knowing the glory of God. So
for God to be focussed on his own glory IS the greatest love he could
show. Determined to defend his name and
promote his glory in the cross leads to our salvation and rescue and joy and
redemption. Saved by the glory of God
for the glory of God.
Jesus’
death: the model for our life
Jesus
died ultimately to display God’s glory by ‘drawing all people to himself’ and
so that ‘the prince of this world will be driven out.’ (John 12:31). Jesus’ death (to serve and sacrifice for the
glory of God and therefore the joy of people) becomes the model of our lives. To live for the ultimate joy which is God’s
glory. Therefore ‘hating our lives’ (John
12:25) becomes the most self-loving thing we could do.
‘Not
to us O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.’ (Psalm 115:1)
‘So
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.’ (1 Corinthians 10:31)
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