For the glory of God

We should take comfort from the Gospel reading today because it makes it clear that God is in control and knows what He is doing. If we consider the many prophecies from the Hebrew Scriptures that were fulfilled by Jesus’ first coming, and his words and actions, there is no way that this could have been a mere coincidence. If there was a list of all the things a Messiah needed to do or say to fulfil these many prophecies, Jesus fulfilled some of them in his first coming and will fulfil the rest in his second coming. God’s will, his plan and purpose will be accomplished, irrespective of us, and we have the honour and privilege of being invited to be part of it.

When we consider the context of the Gospel passage, Jesus was in a perfect position to consolidate his forces and overwhelm the opposition. Yet, the paradox is that God’s plan needed to be accomplished in a very different way. No wonder the Bible reminds us of God’s words, ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”” (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Jesus faced the heart-troubling hour that was now upon him because he knew that he needed to give his very life to conquer sin and death once and for all. Even in the depths of anguish, Jesus’ fervent desire was for His Father’s name to be glorified. Jesus willingly and knowingly laid aside his majesty to bring glory to God the Father. He made an incredibly bold statement, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Those who love their life will lose it, while those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.” “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:36, 42–44). Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin, and also to demonstrate his power over death. His resurrection proves he has eternal life. Because Jesus is God, he can give this same eternal life to all who believe in him. The response to Jesus’ heart cry and prayer from his Heavenly Father was “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

The French Catholic Priest John Vianney, who became the patron saint of parish priests once wrote, “When we do something we dislike, let us say to God: “My God, I offer you this in honour of the moment when you died for me.”” The challenge to us then in our walk of faith is not only to recognise that being an authentic disciple of Christ is costly but also to recognise in our service and devotion to Christ that we must get our priorities in order. Our faith cannot be conditional. If we choose to love our own lives more than God, we will lose the very life we seek to maintain. True disciples must be willing to suffer and experience rejection, even unto death if need be. That means that there may be times when we need to make radical lifestyle changes. Everything Jesus did was for God’s glory. When we choose to follow him, we must live for God’s glory alone. This does not mean we have no fun, no joy, or no security. Rather, it simply means all that we seek to do is for God’s glory alone. Then God will honour us; then, and only then, will we follow Jesus where he goes—as he explains later, he goes to eternal life with the Father. We can derive real comfort and security from knowing that God observes and remembers each and every act of service we do in his name. None will be forgotten.

Jesus said, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God’” (John 8:54). Even though Jesus was fully worthy of glory, he does not claim it. He was fully a participant in divine glory, but chose not to exercise it or even talk much about it. Jesus’ humility is weakness in the sight of competitors, but meekness in the sight of God. True power is often manifested in restraint.

Although Jesus cried out to God, asking to be delivered, he was prepared to suffer humiliation, separation from his Father, and death in order to be obedient and do God’s will. He offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears. Jesus did not seek his own glorification; rather, in all things he wanted to bring glory to God. Jesus takes us, transforms us and redeems us for the glory of God and in the love and grace of God.

Jesus is our model for true submission to God. To resist or to submit is a choice made hundreds of times each week. It is through moral training – prayer and reading the Bible that we might learn to resist overt sin and make the right choice. In response to God, resistance is always wrong and submission is always right. We must follow Christ’s example and submit to God. We must learn to hear only the word of God when there are so many other messages to distract us. Amen