When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.’
John 13:31-32
With Judas the betrayer’s departure, the trap is set for Jesus. The cross is now a certainty. But strangely, Jesus sees in His coming betrayal, trial, humiliations, and cross, the glory of God. The suffering and cross will be His glory, and God the Father will be glorified in Him. “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.”
Throughout Scripture, glory is the visible manifestation of God; it is His inner nature and character revealed. The ultimate revelation of what God is like is seen in Jesus laying down His life for others. In this Jesus is glorified and the Father glorified in Him. The cross is God’s glory, the true revelation of His character. The glory of God’s radiance reaches its height as Jesus is spit upon, mocked, crucified, yet praying forgiveness for His torturers. In Jesus’ self-sacrificial love He is revealing God and the Father’s eternal purpose to share His life with others. It is the Father’s heart to draw us close to Himself.
Time and again we see that Jesus thinks of glory very differently than the world. The world thinks of glory as ticker-tape parades, bright lights, headlines, and public adulation. But Jesus thinks of glory as sacrifice, serving others, and yes, even washing dirty feet. And strangely, Jesus tells us that it is in serving others we find fulfillment. It is in doing as He did that we will find the blessed life. “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (John 13:17).
In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
When the woes of life o’ertake me,
Hopes deceive, and fears annoy,
Never shall the cross forsake me,
Lo! it glows with peace and joy.”
– John Bowring
REFLECTION
What are there in Jesus’ words today to know; to feel; to do?
