Episode 93 - "Now is the Son of Man glorified" - John 13:31-32

John 13:31   When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 

To be clear, “When he had gone out” refers to Judas Iscariot who was going out to betray Jesus to those who wanted to kill Jesus. We saw how even though Satan had put it into his mind, he didn’t do it until Jesus had told his whole gang that one of them would betray him. Then he told John that the betrayer would be the one to whom he gave a piece of bread after dipping it in the wine. He then gave that bread to Judas and told him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” (v. 27) Let’s stop and process this for a minute.

As we’ve studied this gospel, we’ve seen some consistent themes and patterns. One theme is “hour(time) for glory.” This was first hinted at in the Prologue when John wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) In the next chapter, Jesus is at a wedding with his disciples and his mother is there. When she tells him the bride and groom have run out of wine, he responds, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”(John 2:4) Jesus is saying that this wedding is about someone else’s glory/honor and he is foretelling that there is a coming hour for him to be glorified. Even still, Jesus miraculously provided wine for the wedding and John writes afterwards that this first “sign” “manifested his glory.” (John 2:11) It speaks of his unique power, authority, and interest in the needs of mankind.

Another repeating revelation throughout this book is that Jesus does nothing on his own authority but only what he sees and hears from the Father. He only does what God the Father wants him to do when the Father wants him to do it and how the Father wants it done. Furthermore, nothing can happen to Jesus that is not willed by the Father. How many times did people attempt to apprehend or harm him and they couldn’t despite significantly outnumbering him? 

When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the donkey fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah of the Messianic King coming into Zion on a young donkey as a peaceful king (Zechariah 9:9-10) he was informed that there were Greeks seeking Jesus. This was a sign to Jesus the Father was bringing “the world” to him and he understood this indicated the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified (John 12:23) and he continues by speaking about the necessity for him to die. In this we see how the Father’s will is communicated to the Son, the Son recognizes that the time is near for him to be glorified. But, his glorification will be on a cross. What is not happening is that Jesus’ enemies have finally figured out a way to get him and to overcome him. It is only now that the Father is allowing them to fulfill their evil desires. But, just as Joseph told his brothers, “You meant it (their actions of selling him into slavery) for evil. But, God meant it for good,” this is what is now happening with Jesus. All of it is within God’s permissive will. 

What we need to learn from this is maintaining a healthy perspective of what we call “free will” and God’s providence. God gives us so much liberty and freedom. But, we also need to remember that our actions are never beyond the authority and ultimate will of God. It is a mystery and we cannot fully comprehend or appreciate this. But, it’s an opportunity to humble ourselves before God and pray that He would guide us to making choices that most align with His will. That’s where we experience God’s blessings the most.  

Jesus would very soon be arrested, unjustly tried, convicted, tortured, and hung on a cross. This hardly seems as “glorious.” But, what the cross represents is God’s perfect love toward the world manifested through Him sending His own Son to satisfy the just and righteous penalty for the sins of the world. In this, both the Son and the Father are glorified. The Father sends His own Son in love and the Son faithfully obeys the Father with the same love for the world. That is Jesus’ point here. Furthermore, Jesus will defeat death. Again, the Father and Son are glorified through it. We must glorify God through thankfully trusting in Jesus for our salvation over sin and death.

Episode 75 - "So that the Son of God may be glorified" John 11:1-4

John 11:1   Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

This is the beginning of the final “sign” of Jesus that John reports to his readers. Let’s review them.

1. Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

2. Jesus healed the noble man’s son by speaking from a long distance.

3. Jesus healed the lame man by the pool.

4. Jesus miraculously fed at least 5,000 people by the Sea of Galilee.

5. Jesus walked on water.

6. Jesus gave sight to a man born blind.

7. Jesus calls a dead man by name (Lazarus), and he comes out of the tomb alive.

John begins this account by saying, “a certain man was ill.” Then, he tells us the man’s name, where he’s from, and his relationship to Jesus. It is difficult to determine with great confidence. But, I wonder why John felt it import to speak of him as a certain man. I guess that it may be because he knew him and maybe because this story is so astounding that John is giving us information to affirm that this is historically true. This really happened to a real person, and it’s not just a fictional, legendary story to teach a moral or make Jesus appear more amazing than he really was. John says this story is about “a certain man,” and here is his name and here is where he lives. Talk to him and his family and friends if you don’t believe me (John). 

Lazarus, a nickname for Eleazer, means “God has helped.” He is the brother of Martha and Mary. These are the same sisters who welcomed Jesus into their home, and while Martha focused on hospitality, her sister Mary sat down to listen to Jesus’ teaching. (Luke 10:38-42) Jesus knew this family well. Bethany is within a few miles east of Jerusalem on the road to Jericho. This place became a base for Jesus during his ministry. In verse 2, John tells us more about Mary, that she was the one who anointed his feet before the event actually occurs. We’ll read about that in the next chapter. 

Then, John tells us these ladies sent Jesus a message, “he whom you love is ill.” They don’t say, “Lazarus is ill.” Why this choice of words? Again, it’s only my conjecture. But, I suspect that they are aware that there are people nearby (due to their proximity to Jerusalem) who are on the lookout for Jesus to do him harm, and they are framing their request in such a way to heighten the need for him to come back toward Jerusalem. Perhaps it’s even a bit from their own selfish desires for Jesus to come and heal their brother. Therefore, they don’t say, “Lazarus, our brother, is ill.” They say, “he whom you love” is ill. The point is not to cast them in an evil, manipulating light. It simply shows their humanness and their love for their brother. They believe Jesus can heal their brother, and they are appealing to him in the strongest way they know-how. 

Jesus response to this message has three parts:

1. This illness does not lead to death.

2. It is for the glory of God.

3. So that the Son of God may be glorified through it

Let’s look at each part on its own. 

What does Jesus mean by “This illness does not lead to death?” Of course, it leads to death. Is Jesus lying? Did John misunderstand Jesus? One does not have to read much farther to learn that Lazarus dies. The point here is that death is not the end or purpose of this illness, and this is verified by the fact that at the end of the story, Lazarus is alive and well. So, what is the purpose? That is explained in the second part of Jesus’ answer.

“It is for the glory of God.” Does that sound familiar? It should. This was Jesus’ explanation for the condition of the man born blind; so that God would be glorified not only in him receiving his sight but also hope for eternal life through the faith he gained in Jesus. Does it seem to you that perhaps the signs that Jesus performs and even the order in which they occur are working together to bring glory to God and His Son, Jesus? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus healing the man born blind so that the glory of God might be revealed happens prior to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. His disciples would have (and did) remembered this saying because they had just heard it right before Jesus healed the man born blind. These things are all in God’s plan for Jesus’ disciples and ultimately for us to understand and believe in Jesus.

That is the final part of Jesus’ response; “So that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” We will see how this sign leads to his glorification as we continue through this book. But, for now, it’s important to understand that God is glorified when His Son Jesus is glorified. 

Episode 63 - "That the works of God might be displayed" - John 9:1-7

John 9:1   As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

The entire chapter nine of John’s gospel gives us a detailed story of Jesus healing a man who had been blind from birth and the events that unfold related to it. We are not told how Jesus’ disciples knew the man had been born blind. Perhaps one or more of them knew him. They’d heard about him whenever they would come to Jerusalem and perhaps see him in a familiar location. Regardless of how they knew this detail, they had a question for Jesus. They wanted to know who fault it was that he was born blind; a sin of the man’s parents or sin that somehow the man had committed prior to birth. Perhaps they are thinking that God gave the man blindness for a sin God knew he would commit later in his life. However, one takes their question, their assumption is that his condition is a judgment from God for sin. From our perspective, these disciples might seem to have a view of God that is very harsh. We would not like to think of God punishing an unborn child with blindness for something his parents did or something the child could not consciously do in the womb. 

Jesus tells them that neither of their assumptions is correct. But, our English translations of Jesus’ response may actually engender a similar theology of God if we’re not careful. Jesus’ response “may” be interpreted as though God caused the man to be born blind for the purpose of receiving glory. This is tough because I understand that God is good in everything He does and God is just in everything. Furthermore, God is in control. At the very least, if we affirm those things, we must believe that God could have prevented the man from being born blind, but didn’t. This age-old question of how could a loving God allow bad things to happen to “good people” faces us all at one time or another.

In this particular situation, the phrase translated to read “but that the works of God might be displayed in him” appears to be causal for his blindness. But, that phrase in the Greek can actually introduce what follows instead of serving as the cause for the man’s blindness. In other words, it could read, “But so that the works of God might be displayed in him, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is still day.” 

Do you see the difference here? Jesus is saying “It’s not what you think.” But, then instead of answering their question directly by still “blaming God,” his response is to communicate that God is more concerned with revealing His glory, His power, His goodness, and mercy than He is about revealing His wrath. I would suggest that when tempted to question or blame God’s goodness, that we remember the many times in Scripture that reveal God’s goodness and resolve to trust that He knows what He is doing and we cannot possibly understand why everything happens the way it does. 

Then, without even asking this man, he makes the mud, applies it to the man’s eyes, and instructs him to go wash in a specific pool named Siloam which means “sent.” In this gospel, the word “sent’ occurs numerous times, often speaking of Jesus being “sent” by the Father. Jesus obeys the Father by going and doing the works he was sent to do including to heal this man who had been born blind. This man obeys Jesus’ command and receives his sight when he obeys Jesus’ words. Do you see the connection? Jesus obeys the Father’s words. We must obey Jesus’ words. That is “abiding” in Jesus’ words, isn’t it? God is glorified when we obey Jesus’ words. 

When the man obeyed Jesus, he came back seeing. But, his healing was only beginning. We’ll read the rest of the story in the coming episodes.