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Saturday, December 04, 2004
I heard a pastor talking about the Christmas story once. The details are vague and fuzzy, like most sermons wind up being in hindsight, but it had something to do with Jesus having to leave the wonder of heaven and come to earth. The point was that it would've had more meaning than we give it, leaving heaven and all.
Conversely, the pastor turned the story to Easter, and how comforting and exciting that it would be for Jesus to go back to heaven.
With all due respect, I think Jesus, in His humanity, was understanding of His role, but somewhat scared about the idea of being crucified. He knew it was God's will, from what we read in John 17...but the beginning of that fearful night is found in John 13: 31.
"When therefore he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him..."
Son of Man is simply a Messianic title (a lot of people get tripped up on that, but I don't feel there's a need to) and Jesus, right after he was betrayed by Judas, says that the glorification of the Messiah is about to begin.
That's odd. Largely because he knew he was going to be put to a brutal and humiliating public death. An odd way for glory, huh? So, the glory of the Messiah is beginning, and God is given glory in the Messiah.
Verse 32 reads, "...if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify him immediately." The notes in my Ryrie Study Bible have a very good explanation of these verses: "In His death Christ and the Father will be glorified. In the resurrection and exaltation the Father will glorify Christ and validate all His claims." I really couldn't say it any better.
Jesus then tells His disciples He won't be with them much longer, and then gives them a new commandment:
That they love one another.
And then closes with a powerful statement: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Not by how well we know the Bible.
Not how often we go to church or Sunday School.
Not how many mission trips we go on.
Not how often we serve other ministries.
Not how often we hang out with the youth group.
Not by our prayer life.
Not by how much we know about the Jesus story.
Nope.
People will know if we're disciples by how much we love each other.
And don't you find it interesting that it follows Jesus telling them about His glory for the Father?
There's a tie there. The events of the next few days would give glory to God, but the events of centuries later would ultimately do so:
That we love each other.
My suggestion is that, in moving from Head to Heart, the end result is should be that others are able to see an inner reality: That our love for God has outward manifestations that will give glory to God. It's circular.
And that circle is the whole point of moving from head to heart. The glory of God.
What are we doing today that shows love...
...for our family...
...for our friends...
...for our pastors and other church servants...
...for our teachers...
...for our employers...
...for our neighbors...
...for whoever...
..., and thereby giving glory to God? That's the question.
Brent 7:17 AM
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