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Tag: glory

  • The Hour Is Come – Glory to the Son AND the Father

    The Hour Is Come – Glory to the Son AND the Father

    Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer of intercession begins simply and humbly.

    Even from the confines of a dark upper room in Zion which Judas has now left on the eve of Jerusalem’s great darkness, Jesus looks up to the light of a glory the Son once had – the glory of the LORD God our Father in heaven.

    Glorify your Son

    Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee…

    John 17:1 b KJV

    John 17:

    When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said,

    “Father, the time has come.

    … glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you— just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.

    John 17:1b-2a NET

    Our eternal High Priest has much more to say in His prayer of high importance to sinners for whom He intercedes. These include eternal life and as previously mentioned who the Father has given to the Son.

    Yet today let’s focus in on why Jesus prays for the Father to glorify the Son – His reason for entering the Holy of Holies beyond the veil of our distanced understanding, on behalf of these eleven witnesses and more.

    What is GLORY?

    The Apostle John, one of the Eleven remaining had previously witnessed the glory of Jesus.

    Luke 9:

    The Transfiguration
    28 Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming…

    … when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him… a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

    35 Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

    δόξα – doxa –

    From the base of δοκέω (G1380) – generally used meaning to ‘think.’

    The LORD God is a thinking All-powerful, Ever-existing Being!

    Think about it. As created and fragile beings our worship of the LORD God considers humbly our own humanity beneath His glory.

    We who can think should glorify the LORD above all, but often we will not.

    • δόξα dóxa, dox’-ah; glory (as very apparent),
      • in a wide application (literal or figurative, objective or subjective):—dignity,
      • glory(-ious),
      • honour,
      • praise,
      • worship.

    These humble acknowledgements so rare in men of flesh, yet plainly evident in all creation, reflect the glory of God. Therefore a soul who thinks about the LORD our Creator and glorifies Him is a worshiper, flesh and spirit looking up and bowing down to our Lord and God.

    Jesus prays to the Father as a Son of Man.

    Having been sent by the Father to the world He has completed the work for which He was sent by the Father. The hour now approaches for Him to return to His former glory.

    His former GLORY with the Father

    Never forget, beloved Christian disciple of Jesus, that He and the Father are One.

    Prior to creation and in the early history of God’s chosen, Jesus had the same former glory. You have read of it. Yet so often we remain blind to the LORD’S glory. How rare the time men bow before it.

    The GLORY of the LORD is perhaps as foreign to 21st c. christians as hebrew.

    וַיִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן כְּבֹוד־יְהוָה֙ עַל־הַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַיְכַסֵּ֥הוּ הֶעָנָ֖ן שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בַּיֹּ֥ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י מִתֹּ֥וךְ הֶעָנָֽן׃

    וּמַרְאֵה֙ כְּבֹ֣וד יְהוָ֔ה כְּאֵ֥שׁ אֹכֶ֖לֶת בְּרֹ֣אשׁ הָהָ֑ר לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

    Exodus 24:16-17 WLC [click for translations]

    כָּבוֹד

    • כָּבוֹד kâbôwd, kaw-bode’; rarely כָּבֹד kâbôd; from H3513; properly, weight, but only figuratively in a good sense, splendor or copiousness:—glorious(-ly), glory, honour(-able).

    Exodus 24:

    15 Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

    16 The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

    17 And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top.

    18 Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

    the GLORY of a consuming FIRE

    Moses later confirms in Deuteronomy [ דברים 4 ]:

    “You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.

    This is the former glory the Messiah Jesus knew with the Father!

    Later the prophet Isaiah would write:

    Sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with continual burning?”

    Isaiah 33:14

    Jesus knew a former glory with the Father, a fearful and awesome consuming fire which refines and humbles men made of dust and ashes.

    The writer of Hebrews, restating Moses warning of keeping the covenant, reminds of this glory:

    Hebrews 12:

    18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.”

    21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

    Do you fear the LIVING GOD? And do you, O man, humbly bow down to the GLORY of the LORD?

    What is the chief end of man?

    Any teaching of faith must begin from the glory of God and consequent worship of God by man, for we are nothing more than a created being glorifying our Creator.

    We have glanced at a Hebrew origin, then New Covenant Greek.

    Moving beyond millenia of teaching from ancient latin we receive an English version of this elemental Christian teaching since the 1640’s during the Reformation.

    The Westminster Catechism begins with God’s glory.

    “Man’s chief end if to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

    Another foundational Protestant teaching, The Heidelberg Catechism, begins by asking, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”

    Perhaps the Disciples had wondered this often while following their Lord and Master Jesus for three years.

    What is about to take place on the Cross will fully bring light to Jesus’ prayer to the Father asking Him to bring the Son His former glory along with the Father.

    Jesus’ prayer for glory

    4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed…

    10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them…

    (John no doubt realizes that Jesus includes the Eleven here, but our Lord’s prayer of intercession goes much further than praying just for the Disciples in the room.)

    22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

    (Much to think about here even beyond the glory of the Lord.)

    24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

    High Priest of the New Covenant

    Jesus intercedes as High Priest on our behalf — between the Father and all sinners given to Him

    From here the Son our High Priest will move deeper into the unseen Holy of Holies where Jesus will present Himself as a living and acceptable Perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

    To be continued...
  • Before Abraham was, I AM

    Before Abraham was, I AM

    “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

    Exodus 3:6 KJV

    13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

    14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

    Who sent Jesus to us?

    Moses relates one of the most remarkable encounters with the LORD which results in his leading God’s chosen from slavery to the promised land. Exodus records for us not only the genealogy of Israel, Isaac and Abraham, here we learn the Lord’s own Name:

    הָיָה הָיָה

    I AM that I AM – that is: the LORD IS the Existing One!

    As we learned previously in Who May Judge Sin?, Jesus answers questions of the religious leaders of the Temple. They asked Him to judge a woman accused of adultery, but relented from stoning her when Jesus showed her mercy and challenged their motives.

    They question Jesus legitimacy as the Messiah of God. Do you?

    Essentially they want to prove that Jesus is not sent from God, even though this Son of Man has given many signs of His power and Authority from God.

    These rabbis will go to any length and make any false argument against the legitimacy and authority of Jesus.

    So what does the Messiah Jesus claim?

    Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world.

    John 8:12a CSB

    What does this mean? It depends if you have ears to hear.

    Who sent Jesus to the world twenty-one centuries ago is a matter of faith – also our question of who to believe.

    So Jesus now speaks to two groups of Jews:

    1. Followers of Jesus – those called by faith, which includes some Jews who believe their Messiah; and also
    2. Those who judge Jesus, refusing to believe the very Word of God! These include some but not all of the Pharisees from the Court of the Jews.

    Let’s dissect Jesus’ words as heard by each group, both then and now.

    John 8:

    1. Followers of Jesus

    Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

    The promise of Jesus – John 8:12b CSB

    14 … “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going.

    I judge no one. 16 And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

    29 The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”

    30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

    31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

    36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

    42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me.

    49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father … 50 I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. 51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

    Then the teachers of the Jews will follow with a question, the answer which divides the faithful from the deceitful.

    But first let’s go back to the beginning of this testimony of the Gospel to stand beside Jerusalem’s religious elite who question the Messiah of God, determined to kill Him and preserve their own temporal glory among men.

    2. Court of the Pharisees

    Hear this same Messiah of Israel through ears refusing to listen to truth. These Pharisees feed the crowds of Jews they teach with their own dismissive words and questions of resentful doubt.

    13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”

    Jesus replied, “… But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You judge by human standards.

    17 Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

    19 Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?”

    “You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered.

    21 Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.”

    22 So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”

    23 “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

    Who are you?

    25 “Who are you?” they questioned.

    28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things.

    33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

    34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever.

    Jesus, speaking to the Jews to whom He was sent, warns in the same manner He told many parables. The Father, His Father in heaven sent the Son to redeem them of their sins. He will become the Sacrifice God provides, just like the substitute for Isaac the Lord sent to Abraham.

    A sinful man must sacrifice to the Lord because of man’s sin.

    The Son remains in the Father’s house because He will inherit all that the Father owns. But a slave, even a chosen slave freed from Pharaoh, only lives freely if his sin does not shackle him to death once more.

    Abraham believed God; but unbelief binds one to die as sacrifice only for yourself, a sentence of death for your own sin.

    Descendents of Abraham

    37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you.

    … so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

    39 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied.

    “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.

    41 You’re doing what your father does.”

    “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.”

    Your father, the Devil

    43 Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word.

    44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

    47 The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

    48 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?”

    Demons and Samaritans

    Do not dismiss quickly their accusation of demons. Many will accuse Jesus of having a demon or evil spirit, even though the Messiah has done no evil.

    And later, confirming the signs of the Messiah some Jews ask, “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? ”

    The Pharisees knowing from scripture that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem only know the Son of Man as ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ and we know their contempt as Judeans for Samaritans (and Galileans as well).

    49 “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered.

    51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

    [How can that be, anyone must wonder. Never see death?]

    52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’

    A Convicting Question

    53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”

    Who could be greater than David, King of Israel a thousand years before Jesus?

    In the new traditions of the Pharisees of a rebuilt temple certainly Moses, who was given the Law and brought them out of Egypt, would be revered most.

    Some prophets like Elijah might be seen as great because of great signs they performed, along with Jacob and Abraham as first fathers of the promise of the Lord to the Hebrew people.

    So the question of the Pharisees to Jesus comparing Him to Abraham and the prophets is meant to convict.

    Who do you claim to be?

    Note that they do not ask, “who are you,” but “who do you claim to be.” Jesus’ unequivocal answer will claim His very deity!

    Jesus’ Glorious Answer

    Even before Mosheh (Moses)

    Returning to Scripture as these rabbis would well know as background:

    וַיִּשְׁכֹּ֤ן כְּבֹוד־יְהוָה֙ עַל־הַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וַיְכַסֵּ֥הוּ הֶעָנָ֖ן שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בַּיֹּ֥ום הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י מִתֹּ֥וךְ הֶעָנָֽן׃

    The glory of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.

    Exodus 24:16 WLC; NASB

    The context of the hearers, fellow Jews like Jesus, connects their question to Jesus’ answer. (You must know scripture (Old Testament) as they knew scripture. The Torah of Moses includes the Lord’s promise to Abraham’s descendants.

    And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

    Exodus 24:17-18 NASB

    Their Hebrew forefathers witnessed the glory of the LORD more than once.

    John 8:

    Now, returning to the Gospel, Jesus gives witness to a glory which preceded Moses who received the Law directly from the LORD.

    54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him…”

    And now the Son of Man, who must say only truth, does so even though the depth of Jesus’ words do not immediately sink in.

    “… If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word…”

    Jesus the Son knows the Father unlike ANY son of man, even the Prophets, any of the fathers of Israel or Moses.

    “… Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

    The Messiah Jesus to Rabbis of Judah – John 8:56 CSB

    Think of the context of Jesus’ witness of Abraham in the timeline of centuries before the Son of God – the Word – coming to a manger in Bethlehem of Judea.

    57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”

    Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

    Witness of the Messiah – John 8:58 CSB

    “before Abraham was, I am

    59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going[b] through the midst of them, and so passed by.

    Other places in the Gospel add explanation to this.

    Why did religious officials determined to kill this man claiming to be God not successfully seize the Lord Jesus and stone Him to death?

    For his time had not come.

    • So then they tried to seize Jesus, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. – John 7:20 NET
    • (Jesus spoke these words near the offering box while he was teaching in the temple courts. No one seized him because his time had not yet come.) – John 8:20 – a small detail of the Gospel we have just read

    When, then, would the time for Sacrifice of the Messiah for sin occur?

    Do you see the significance of the substitution of the acceptable sacrifice to the Father?

    For the LORD provided a sacrifice in the place of Isaac for Abraham, an early sign of what must take place to fulfill God’s plan of redemption of sinful man.

    No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

    I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

    John 6:44,51 KJV
    NEXT: More Signs

  • The Glory of Christ Jesus – 2

    The Glory of Christ Jesus – 2

    John 1:14 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.

    Christ Jesus! The Very Glory of God – in the flesh: a son of man, the Son of God!

    And the man, Jesus, was witnessed by many men and women from all walks of this temporal life; yet in some places the glory of God was witnessed personally by a few and written as the good news of the Gospel for the generations of these last days.

    The glory of God and of Christ is recorded in the Gospels.

    John 2:

    On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”

    … 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

    Certainly every miracle, healing, casting out of evil spirits from the flesh of men, and many other acts of Jesus could only be attributed to the power and glory of God.

    The Disciples, after having witnessed many of these public miracles, would also witness Jesus on more than two occasions from fishing boats. They could not fathom the glory of God as they would see  in their friend and Teacher, Jesus.

     Matthew 8:

    18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

    19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

    20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
    23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

    Here is witness after Jesus has healed many. Crowds… Paparazzi… amazed spectators, witnesses of the glory and power of God in this Son of Man.

    Jesus gets into a boat to escape the spotlight. His Disciples join our Lord in the boat and they depart for another place without crowds; where, by the way, Jesus will cast out evil spirits from a man under the power of Satan.

    24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

    StormBeforeTheCalm_sRGBThen he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

     

    Jesus’ Disciples witnessed a glory of God from a wind-battered boat on the Sea of Galilee and they could only marvel that even the winds and the sea obey the Command of Christ Jesus.

    In another time on the troubled sea their witness was of another even more glorious appearance of God in the Person of their friend, Jesus. But first, just a reminder from Scripture the Apostles would know well:

     Genesis 1:  In the beginning,

    God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters…

    6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so…

    9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good…

    26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…

    And Jesus’ Disciples wondered in awe: ““What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

    Genesis 3: 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…

    Who IS this God who walks with man as a friend? Who IS this Jesus who commands creation?

    Yet another witness of the glory of Christ Jesus:

    Matthew 14:

    3 Now when Jesus heard this [of the beheading of John the Baptist], he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick…

    22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray…

    Time passes. The Disciples again are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a familiar place for these fishermen. Jesus goes to a quiet mountain place to be with God the Father in prayer, a familiar place for the Son.

    When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night [between 3 a.m. and dawn] he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

    27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

    … 32 And when they [Peter and Jesus] got into the boat, the wind ceased.

    33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

    To be continued…

     

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