Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” John 12:23
These are some of the most perplexing words of Christ recorded for us in Scripture. Taken by themselves, they are clear enough. But when we consider that “the hour” of glorification to which He refers is the hour of His passion, His suffering, His crucifixion, they become nearly unintelligible. What does crucifixion have to do with glorification? They are not merely strange bedfellows, they are incongruous, contradictory. One theologian reflects, “‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,’ says Jesus. How can this be? Being glorified on a cross? Is that like being enthroned on an electric chair? Is it like being honored by a firing squad?” What has a cross to do with glory? In the disciples’ minds, the cross represented weakness, frailty, even failure. How can this be glory? It is this question that is contemplated in the following excerpt from The Incarnation of God:
If we would take up our crosses, if we would follow Christ’s model of self-sacrifice, we must rethink glory. We must see glory through Jesus’ eyes, instead of the eyes of this world. Thankfully, the Jesus who modeled and called us to this kind of glory, is the same Jesus who empowers His children to embrace it. Left to our own devices, we would always prefer a glory that is self-exalting, self-pleasing, self-centered. But in Christ, we learn of a different kind of glory…a glory that finds its ultimate aim in bringing honor to the One who created us and re-created us through the cross. But let us not think, even for a moment, that by embracing this kind of glory, we lose out on anything. To the contrary, what we give up is nothing compared to what we gain, both in this world and the world to come. It is the paradox of the Christian faith, that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matt. 16:25). This isn’t merely the message Jesus preached, this is the truth Jesus lived, as we see in Philippians 2. It was following Christ’s humble descent that we read “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). Herein we find the descent to greatness…glory through suffering. It is not the kind of glory we earn by heroic measures, the kind that seeks reward in the esteem of others. It is a glory that finds it’s aim and source in a loving Father, a selfless Son and a life-giving Spirit. It is about realizing that no form of earthly accolades can begin to compare with receiving praise from our God (1 Cor. 4:5). It is the acknowledgement that a far greater glory exists for those who know, love and serve the glorious God of all creation. As Paul writes, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17). The descent to greatness is about exchanging lesser glories for greater glories. Jesus invites us, as His followers, to exchange the shiny things of this world, which only last for a time and are subject to decay, for the profound blessings which come from God bringing us joy in this life and eternal pleasures in the next (Psalm 16:11). Christ’s model and message is not that we should give up glory, but that we should reach for better glory, lasting glory, the glory of God. As was true for Jesus, so it is true for us, pursuing greatness by descent may seem, at times, counterintuitive. It may conflict with our natural bent toward immediate gratification and temporary pleasure-seeking. But make no mistake, it is here, in the cruciform life modeled by Christ, that true happiness is found.
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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