Jesus and You are Glorified
Scripture: John 12:23-33 and John 17:20-26
I. Jesus and you are glorified in death.
A. Jesus says in John 12:23, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” The word glory means heavy or weighty. Christ’s glory, His greatness, was about to be revealed. How? “‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die” (vs. 32-33). Jesus then would gain glory for Himself when he was lifted up on the cross to die.
B. The cross was a place of glorious victory for Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He won a victory over sin, death, hell, Satan and judgment. We too are glorified when we die to self and seek to bring glory to God. John 12:24-25: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
II. Jesus and you are glorified in resurrection.
A. How was God about to glorify His name (vs. 28)? By raising Jesus from the dead. Verse 32 says that Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross. The cross was Jesus’ exalted throne. It’s the place where He would reign as King over His enemy Satan. The result of Jesus’ death on the cross for us is in Revelation 12:11: “And they have conquered (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”
B. God’s prophecy about Jesus His servant in Isaiah 52:13 is: “Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and he shall be exalted.” After His death, He would be resurrected and exalted. Christians also are raised from spiritual death to spiritual life, and we are glorified as we reflect Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”
III. Jesus and you are glorified in love.
A. Jesus prays in John 17:22, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” Jesus shared the glory that God had given to Him with His followers. Jesus wants us to share in the same kind of unity and the same kind of love as the oneness that Jesus has with His Father (vs. 21 and 23). Our love for each other is to be so much like God’s love for Jesus, so otherworldly, that the only way the world can explain it is that this must be a God thing (vs. 23). Only God and Jesus could produce that kind of love in us.
Application:
Protect the love and unity within our church that God has given us.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by D.A. Carson and G.K. Beale
Sermon Discussion Questions
1) How was Jesus’ death a glorious thing even though the cross was meant to shame Him? How does the death of a seed in the ground picture the growth that comes from our own death to self?
2) Why is it good that God always acts for the glory of His name? How is the cross of Jesus actually His throne? How did God exalt Jesus after His death?
3) What is the greatest love the world has ever known? Whose love do we now participate in?