"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. Father, glorify your name!"Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. John 12: 27-33
REFLECTION
In theory our Lord did have two options. His prayer to the Father could have been: ‘Father, save me from this hour’, but he rejected this attractive option and chose to pray the other prayer instead: ‘Father, glorify your name!’
Then a thundering voice broke through the skies, the same voice that once called the universe into existence, the same voice that shouted light into the darkness – the voice of the Almighty God.
Jesus didn’t need to hear this voice – he was on speaking terms with his Father all of the time. This voice was for the benefit of the crowd – the people who witnessed all of this, among them the disciple who recorded this extraordinary event in the history of mankind.
Read these words again and hear God’s thundering voice echoing in your heart. There is no turning back: God's name will be glorified, Christ's victory will be claimed, the enemy will be defeated and the final judgment is just a matter of time! Yes, we truly have an awesome God and mighty Saviour!
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for being obedient to your Father’s calling. I believe that you had the authority and every right in the universe to pray that first prayer: ‘Father, save me from this hour’. But all of humanity must be thunderstruck by your willingness to pray the second prayer, ‘Father, glorify your name!’ And God answered your prayer immediately and convincingly.
For this very reason you came: to save the world from darkness, to set us free, to draw all men near to you. Looking back in time, reading these words in your Word, we may think that we understand what happened here – because of the cross. But when I think about your words and let them sink into my heart and mind – I feel overwhelmed by your love. What a Lord I have!
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2 comments:
And doesn’t that just point up the difference between Jesus and mortal man? The rest of us pray to have our circumstances lifted, not to glorify God through our travail. Although I wish I had more strength of character, on some level I think this is how it is supposed to be. Very few of us are called to be martyrs, praise God.
Indeed Carol, we of little faith tend to flee from our circumstances rather than see them as opportunity to glorify God.
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