Revealing His Glory
So…there is every day and everyday. There is day-after-day and thoughtless routine… autopilot, if you will. One of my “every day” things is time in the Scriptures. Sometimes that time is an unengaged habit. Sometimes it is a rock-my-world event! Even remembering the horrific suffering and brutal death of Jesus as the True Passover Lamb can become everyday if the Spirit doesn’t empower it.
The restricted ability to gather with other Jesus-followers last Sunday, (the day the Western church has chosen to celebrate as Resurrection Sunday) served to make me much more intentional about what I was reading, how I was processing. As a result I am still munching my way slowly through John’s poetic account of Jesus’ life, and I find myself chewing a long time on the chapters just before Jesus’ death. Here is a bite:
In response to a request from some non-Jewish worshipers-of-the-true-God to see Jesus, He declares, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” I have tended to think of “glory” as the stuff that makes angels glow in the dark! Some mysterious cloud with lightning. Or that state we are hoping for as the completion of our spiritual journey, i.e. heaven. The Complete Word Study Dictionary says to glorify means “to render conspicuous…the divine character and attributes.” Jesus is about to be seen (more fully) as He is. His words describe metaphorically what He is about:
“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.”
Jesus did not come to be a great teacher and healer; the things He said and did testified to the reality of who He is, and what He came to do, but they were NOT what made plain His true nature and purpose. It was His suffering, death, and resurrection that revealed His true character and attributes. :
–the Paschal Lamb: the ultimate substitute for all under the penalty of death;
–the Bridegroom-on-a-mission: preparing a bride for Himself;
–the Savior of the world: rescuing all who are willing to come;
–the Arm of the LORD: accomplishing the work of salvation for us;
–the Most High as Servant of All.
In other words, if we want to see Jesus, we must trace the path of His suffering and death. Will not the next 72 hours of history serve to display the true nature and character of God? Having the data about how He would suffer in the coming hours, says “Now my heart 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.”
This is His glory! His observable manifestation of the reality of His nature!
Complete Servanthood
Absolute Holiness
Pure Justice
Selfless Love
Unfathomable Forgiveness
Abundant Mercy
Deep Compassion
True Humility
Willing Submission
Eternal Community
Unconquerable Life
Behold our God! Behold and worship, every day…and in the everyday!
On my knees,
Christi
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