John 12:20 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greek-speaking Jews. 21 They approached Philip, the one from Beit-Tzaidah in the Galil, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Yeshua.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Yeshua. 23 Yeshua gave them this answer: “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest. 25 He who loves his life loses it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it safe right on into eternal life! 26 If someone is serving me, let him follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. I will say this: 28 ‘Father, glorify your name!’” At this a bat-kol (heavenly voice) came out of heaven, “I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!” 29 The crowd standing there and hearing it said that it had thundered; others said, “An angel spoke to him.” 30 Yeshua answered, “This bat-kol (heavenly voice) did not come for my sake but for yours. 31 Now is the time for this world to be judged, now the ruler of this world will be expelled. 32 As for me, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die.
34 The crowd answered, “We have learned from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever. How is it that you say the Son of Man has to be ‘lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Yeshua said to them, “The light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.
Wow. Yeshua knows He is about to die:
“Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’?”
Isn’t this 100% what we pray for when we are in turmoil? Pain always triggers a response to alleviate that pain.
Got a headache? We go to the medicine cabinet to find relief.
Stressed from work? We go to the liquor cabinet for relief.
Someone getting on your nerves? We go to our judgments for relief.
A friend or family member wounded you? We go to our victimhood for relief.
No matter the turmoil, we want to be saved from it as soon as possible.
But we need to remember that our pain is not given to us so we can suffer. It’s given to us for His glory to come. (I realize we don’t quite believe this just yet but I’ll mention it here anyway.)
It’s in our pain that we are weak. And it’s in our weakness that we surrender and Abba is glorified. Or we don’t and glorify ourselves. How? By becoming a victim.
It seems victimhood is a sweet and savory dessert that we know we shouldn’t have but it’s way too difficult to resist. Just a taste, right? You think about that experience time and again, and start including a dessert at the end of every meal. The next thing you know is that you begin every meal with a dessert, or dessert is the meal. But then the flavors fade over time and we make up for it with volume instead of quality. Then our body starts to respond to the overflow and we find ourselves struggling with our health. Ah, yes…just a taste.
How then do we not become a victim?
It’s simple… you just need to realize that nothing you experience is about you -- unless you make it about you.
Yeah, simple. Simple but not easy. In fact, it may be the most difficult thing you ever have to do.
“No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.”
Our experiences shape us. Well, maybe not the experience itself but our response to the experience most certainly does. And this is great news.
While the things that happen to us (and around us) are often well beyond our control, our response is always under our control. The trouble is that our wounds and cynicism taint our view of the turmoil we're experiencing. Our gut reaction is to think that these things have come upon us as some form of punishment, or the devil is out to get us. But this is rarely true.
Job experienced a decent amount of turmoil in his life, wouldn’t you agree?
Throughout it all, he refuses to curse God. Now, we have the luxury of reading Job’s story from the outside, but what would Job himself be thinking along the way in real time? The turmoil he experienced would have been enough to send most of us into a death spiral. Looking for someone, anyone, to accuse.
But Job’s life had purpose. So much purpose that his story made it into the Bible itself. And it’s not just there for entertainment purposes. It’s there to bring glory to God. And through that, Job receives glory also.
What is “glory” anyway?
In our passage, we have the Greek:
G1391 δόξα doxa (dox'-ah) n.
1. glory (as very apparent)
This is where we get the term “doxology” which is a hymn of praises to God. The KJV interprets this word as dignity, glory(-ious), honor, praise, worship. Not super-clear. But using our technique from before, we can trace this through the LXX to (hopefully) get more insight:
H3519 כָּבוֹד כָּבוֹד kabowd (kaw-bode') (rarely kabod {kaw-bode'}) n-m.
1. (properly) weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness
Heavy: Liver: Honor: Someone or something that is heavy in weight, wealth, abundance, importance or respect. To consider something as heavy in the sense of respect.
Glory is weighty. There’s a power or reverence that can actually be felt. It cannot be moved and in no way can be replaced by anything else. What's more, glory can be seen:
Exodus 16:6 Moshe and Aharon said to all the people of Isra’el, “This evening, you will realize that it has been Adonai who brought you out of Egypt; 7 and in the morning, you will see Adonai’s glory. For he has listened to your grumblings against Adonai — what are we that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moshe added, “What I have said will happen when Adonai gives you meat to eat this evening and your fill of bread tomorrow morning. Adonai has listened to your complaints and grumblings against him — what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against Adonai.”
9 Moshe said to Aharon, “Say to the whole community of Isra’el, ‘Come close, into the presence of Adonai, for he has heard your grumblings.’” 10 As Aharon spoke to the whole community of the people of Isra’el, they looked toward the desert; and there before them the glory of Adonai appeared in the cloud;
Exodus 24:15 Moshe went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of Adonai stayed on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moshe out of the cloud. 17 To the people of Isra’el the glory of Adonai looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain. 18 Moshe entered the cloud and went up on the mountain; he was on the mountain forty days and nights.
Exodus 33:17 Adonai said to Moshe, “I will also do what you have asked me to do, because you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 But Moshe said, “I beg you to show me your glory!” 19 He replied, “I will cause all my goodness to pass before you, and in your presence I will pronounce the name of Adonai. Moreover, I show favor to whomever I will, and I display mercy to whomever I will. 20 But my face,” he continued, “you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive. 21 Here,” he said, “is a place near me; stand on the rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you inside a crevice in the rock and cover you with my hand, until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face is not to be seen.”
Leviticus 9:6 Moshe said, “This is what Adonai has ordered you to do, so that the glory of Adonai will appear to you.”
Numbers 16:18 Each man took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it and stood at the entrance to the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon. 19 Korach assembled all the group who were against them at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to the whole assembly.
Numbers 17:6 But the very next day, the whole community of the people of Isra’el complained against Moshe and Aharon: “You have killed Adonai’s people!” 7 However, as the community was assembling against Moshe and Aharon, they looked in the direction of the tent of meeting and saw the cloud cover it and the glory of Adonai appear.
And the list goes on.
Abba’s glory is a visible thing. The question then is: have you ever seen it?
Before we addressed one’s ability to hear. But with His glory, it’s addressing our ability to see.
Elisha could see. But those close to him could not. A situation developed where the king of Aram sent his army to take Elisha by force in order to have Elisha come stand before him. What the servant saw was an impossible situation but Elisha was not fazed in the least:
2 Kings 6:14 So he sent horses, chariots and a large army there; they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 The servant of the man of God got up early in the morning; on going outside, he saw an army with horses and chariots surrounding the city. His servant said to him, “Oh, my master, this is terrible! What are we going to do?” 16 He answered, “Don’t be afraid — those who are with us outnumber those who are with them!” 17 Elisha prayed, “Adonai, I ask you to open his eyes, so that he can see.” Then Adonai opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw: there before him, all around Elisha, the mountain was covered with horses and fiery chariots. 18 When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to Adonai, “Please strike these people blind”; and he struck them blind, as Elisha had asked. 19 Next, Elisha told them, “You’ve lost your way, and this isn’t even the right city. Follow me, and I’ll take you to the man you’re looking for.” Then he led them to Shomron. 20 On their arrival in Shomron, Elisha said, “Adonai, open the eyes of these men, so that they can see.” Adonai opened their eyes, and they saw: there they were, in the middle of Shomron.
It’s interesting that the theme here surrounds people’s ability to see. With no way to see in the spiritual, Elisha struck their physical sight with blindness. So it seems:
Spiritual blindness + rebellion = physical blindness.
But with his servant, we detect a different formula:
Spiritual blindness + humility = seeing the glory of God.
Imagine for a moment you were this servant. Seriously, imagine. You see something in the natural that in no way has a peaceful, or even resolvable solution. The threat against you will destroy you. It’s in the midst of this fearful encounter, a believer will cry out. But what should we cry out for?
Most of us choose the path of least resistance and that typically consists of simply removing the problem altogether. I mean, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
What if instead we knew why the turmoil was upon us? If there was no mystery as to why the challenge was here, then we should be able to endure whatever the process in order to reach the goal presented to us, right? Then if we choose to step aside and ignore the call put before us, it is an act of simple disobedience. That’s correctable from the outside.
But if you knew…and I mean really knew, you’d look at that army surrounding the city and laugh. Because the glory of God would be visible to you and anything that dares come against it will be utterly destroyed. Oh, the confidence we’d have…the authority we’d have…
Man may come and kill our bodies but the reckoning will echo for all eternity.
Isn’t this exactly what happened to Yeshua?
He knew why He was here. He understood the goal. Yet He was in turmoil. A real man, knowing what was to come, stood before His disciples in gut-wrenching emotional pain.
But He wanted to glorify His Father.
Do you want glory for yourself? The formula is simple: Live a perfect life then die because of it:
John 12:23 Yeshua gave them this answer: “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest. 25 He who loves his life loses it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it safe right on into eternal life! 26 If someone is serving me, let him follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.”
Huh. He who hates his life will keep it safe. This is incredibly hard teaching.
Or maybe it isn’t.
The temptations of this world are more than most people can bear. So it becomes easy to just fall into it then look around and make sure you aren’t as bad as your neighbor. We can then ride a fine line between the Kingdom and the world, dipping to either side as it becomes convenient. It’s this compromise that we should despise. Actually, this is what we should hate.
Like Paul said, “Why do I do what I don’t want to do?”
This is the internal battle being waged right now within your members. Read this carefully:
Romans 7:13 Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15 I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16 Now if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17 But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! 19 For I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I do! 20 But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer “the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21 So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22 For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; 23 but in my various parts, I see a different “torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating in my various parts. 24 What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death?
I think this describes the bulk of sincere followers of the Messiah. It sure does describe me. How do we in any way find hope as fallen beings in this fallen world? Paul then answers that:
25 Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin’s “Torah.”
Yes, indeed! It is through the glorified Son that we will be rescued! This is our hope.
Knowing isn’t enough. Having your old nature die is the key.
When the turmoil comes (and it WILL come), we must understand that it has come upon us for a purpose. And that purpose is to glorify the Father. (Unless, of course, the turmoil is due to our own making. But even then, repentance can work wonders.)
“Father, glorify your name!”
This is what it is all about. The recognition we crave from those in the world is of zero consequence to those that seek to honor our Father.
There is not one person on the earth that deserves your worship. Not a single one. Worshiping through flattery, worshiping through manipulation, worshiping through unforgiveness -- not a person in this world is worthy of any of that.
But our King most certainly is worthy of your worship.
There is a phrase that is used to describe an audible voice from Heaven and it is bat-kol. Literally, the “daughter of a voice”. Now, this doesn’t appear in the Bible specifically but the commentators over the centuries use this phrase to communicate the experience of God Himself speaking audibly to His people.
The reasoning for this terminology is beyond the scope of what we are discussing here, but it is interesting to note that when you think of a daughter speaking, it seems to have a delicate, caring, and loving tone. Seemingly opposite of the loud, harsh and demanding tone we assume. But I digress.
Throughout all of time when God’s voice was audibly heard, a major event was in play. In the days of old, He spoke at Sinai -- at which point the people stopped Him from speaking any more. During Yeshua’s time, there were only 3 instances: at His baptism, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and here, just before He died. Major, major events.
This event here (it could be strongly argued) was perhaps the most important of all. If Yeshua did not have His Father at the front of his priority list, all hope would have been lost -- for both you and me. But lucky for us, His Father’s will was more important than His own comfort. And as a result, the entire world was changed. Access into the Holiest of Holies was given to you and to me. (If we truly understood this, our lives would look remarkably different.)
Oh, and what did that Voice from Heaven say when Yeshua said He wanted Abba to glorify His own Name?
“I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!”
Will that be through you?