Okay, good morning. It's good to see you. I trust you've had a good week and it's wonderful to look at God's Word again together.
If you don't know me, my name is Kevin and I'm one of the leaders here, I guess.
Now, over the last four weeks, we've been journeying through the Gospels and we've been looking at this person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we've been asking the question, who is this man?
Who is this man that turned the world upside down?
This man that turned people's lives upside down?
Who is this man that even still today, thousands of years later, has turned billions of people's worlds upside down?
And so we've been going through the Gospels and looking at how Jesus across the centuries, in every culture, every corner of the world, Jesus has had this remarkable impact.
Who is this man?
Now, when you read the Gospels, especially Mark's Gospel and John's Gospel, about halfway through, the narrative takes a sharp turn.
And what happens is that in the first half of these Gospels, the Gospel writers are answering the question, who is this man?
But then it changes about halfway and they start to ask the question, who is this king?
And we see this in John chapter 11 and Mark chapter 8, as the narrative starts to change and it focuses on the cross.
And so we as a church are on this eight-week journey, going through the Gospels, making our way towards Easter.
And we're going to follow the journey of the Gospels.
And so today we're asking the question, not so much who was this man, but who is this king?
Who is King Jesus?
And so today we start off in John chapter 12, and we're going to look at Jesus' strange glory.
Jesus' unusual glory.
Now, the passage of Scripture that we read is a difficult passage.
And I want to ask you to really gauge and think about it.
It's a passage that in some ways requires some maturity to think about.
It's not an easy passage.
I'm going to try my best to not make it too complicated.
And I'm going to try and keep it simple.
But it's a passage that requires us to really think about it.
Okay?
So are you ready for that?
Okay.
Great.
Just the three of us.
But okay.
Well, I'm going to pray for us.
I'm going to ask God to speak to us from His Word, and then let's dive in.
So won't you join me in prayer?
Father God, there's no one like you.
You're real, and you're live, and you're living.
And you speak to us from your Word.
And God, today as we look at this difficult passage, won't you be here in power?
Won't you be here by your presence?
Won't you open up your Word to us and open up our hearts to see you?
God, today at the end of this sermon, we don't just want more information about you.
We want to have met you and encountered you.
God, whether in a complex way and a simple way, won't you help us to meet you in your Word this morning?
So Holy Spirit, I ask you to be here.
Take the words of these pages and apply them to our hearts.
Help us to see you in reality.
Won't you bless the preaching of your Word, we pray.
In your name, amen.
Amen.
Okay.
So we read John chapter 12.
Now, just before the context, John chapter 11 actually starts off with this.
Right at the end, it says this.
Now, the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover.
So remember, the Passover is the feast that is celebrated as the Jewish men and women remembered God's amazing grace to them in the nation of Egypt.
God delivered His people, saved His people by the blood of the Lamb.
The fact that innocent lambs died in their place, that they could be set free from Egypt and from slavery and become free men and women.
By the blood of the Lamb, these men and women were set free, and so every year they celebrate Passover as a remembrance, as a reminder of their liberation at the expense of somebody else.
And John is getting our attention here.
He's saying Jesus is about to go to the cross, but note the fact that the cross is like the ultimate Passover.
Jesus dies in the place so that we can be free.
And then go to verse 20, and it says this.
Now, among those who went up to worship at the Passover feast were some Greeks.
Okay, so these are Gentiles.
They're not Jewish men and women.
They are possibly some converts that have become converted to Judaism.
And it says, these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and they asked him, saying, Sir, we want to see Jesus.
Now, it's well known that at the time of this, there were a bunch of Gentiles, non-Jewish men and women,
Greek-speaking Gentiles, that had become disillusioned with the Greek gods.
They had become disillusioned with the fact that the Greek deities, there were so many of them.
There was a god of agriculture, a god of money, a god of the family, a god of fertility.
And they kind of thought, there are all these gods, but who's the one supreme god?
Surely there must be one god that is god of all these gods.
And so something of Judaism attracted them.
The fact that Judaism is monotheistic.
There's one true god, says Deuteronomy chapter 6.
And so a bunch of them are attracted to Judaism.
But secondly, they disillusioned because the Greek gods, it was religion, but it had no bearing on their everyday life.
Yeah, they went to the temple, and they worshipped, and they sacrificed, and they brought their money.
But actually, it didn't tell you how to live.
It had no bearing on morality, or ethics, or it didn't instruct you on your everyday life.
But Judaism, actually, the nature of who God is, had a huge impact on how you live your life from day to day.
And so a bunch of these spiritual seekers convert to Judaism in search of the one true God,
and the God that's actually going to speak into their everyday life.
And now they encounter Jesus.
They've heard about this man called Jesus.
And they're wondering, is this the Messiah?
Is this the king that the prophets have been speaking about for hundreds of years?
Is this the one that we've been waiting for?
And so they come to Philip, who was from a Greek-speaking area, and they say to him,
We want to have a meeting with Jesus.
Can you help us meet Jesus?
Now, what are they really saying here?
They're saying, Jesus, we've heard about you.
We've heard about the good things that you've done.
Some people say you're a good moral teacher.
Some people say you're an excellent man.
Some people say maybe you're even divine.
Maybe you're the Son of God.
We want to know who you really are.
Jesus, if you're the king that for centuries we've been waiting for, show us your glory.
Show us your glory.
And friends, if you're wondering about that question, Jesus, who are you?
You're in a great place.
It's a question every one of us need to ask.
Every human being needs to ask this question.
Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
And is he really who he said he is?
You're in the right place to ask that.
And Jesus is going to answer their question, but he's going to do it in the most unusual way.
The way that nobody expected him to.
Now, before we get there, think about this.
They've heard that Jesus is possibly a king.
He's maybe the Messiah we've been waiting for.
Now, every king, every queen, every monarch knows that part of being royal is the display of your glory.
You've got to somehow let people know that you're a king.
What's the point in being a king if nobody knows you're a king?
Even the most benevolent kings, even the most humble monarchs use their position and their power to serve their people.
That's part of what it means to be a king.
You have position.
You have power.
You have glory.
That's what comes with the job.
That's what it means to be a king.
And so this is what the nation of Israel are waiting for.
The anticipation of the Messiah is boiling.
Israel's redeeming king is coming to rescue them from the oppression of the Romans.
Someone who would overthrow their enemies and restore Israel to their former glory.
All of Israel, those that were Jewish by race and those that have converted to Judaism, are waiting for the coming king.
He is going to rescue and restore Israel and restore it to its former glory.
And you know what?
In our hearts, we all long for a king like that.
In our hearts, every one of us long for a king that will set us free.
Long for a king that will make our lives more comfortable.
Long for a king that will deliver us and make our lives more convenient.
A king that will set us free.
And so here come these spiritual seekers.
They want to find out if Jesus really is the king.
And so what does Jesus say?
He says, verse 23 I think it is.
He says,
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Here it is after all the waiting.
All the anticipation.
All the wondering.
All the scrutinizing.
After three years of Jesus going around saying,
Repent for the kingdom of God is near.
Finally Jesus says,
Now is the time.
It's here.
The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
To reveal His glory.
And the disciples must have been thinking,
It's about time.
Finally, we left our family business.
We left the tax office.
When other disciples abandoned Jesus and left Him,
we stuck with Him through thick and thin.
In the good times, in the difficult times,
we believed in Jesus.
Now is the time.
Jesus is going to finally let everyone know He's the king.
It's payday.
Right?
We've sacrificed lots for Jesus.
Now it's payday.
We're going to finally be proved we were right to believe in Jesus.
Jesus says,
It's here.
Now has the time come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Glorified.
But then Jesus says the most anticlimactic,
the most disappointing things,
I think, in the entire gospel.
He says,
Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.
And then what does He say?
Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,
it remains alone.
But if it dies,
it bears much fruit.
Verse 27.
Now my soul is troubled.
And what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour?
No.
For this very purpose,
I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name.
Friends,
one of the strangest things about this king,
about King Jesus,
is that Jesus is unequivocal about the fact
that His moment of glory,
the high point of His life,
the moment, in fact,
His whole life was moving towards
is actually in one and the same time
His moment of greatest shame.
It's His moment of death.
It's the moment He was hung on the cross
as a criminal and crucified
and left there to die.
J.C. Ryle says it like this.
The Lord Jesus Christ would have us know
that He came not to wear a crown,
but to bear a cross.
He came not to live a life of honor,
ease and magnificence,
but to die a shameful and a dishonored death.
And the kingdom He set up
was to begin not with a coronation,
but with a crucifixion.
The glory of His kingdom
was to rise not from victories with the sword,
not accumulated treasures of gold and silver,
but from the death of its king.
This morning, I want to give us,
there's lots of reasons
why the cross is Christ's moment of glory.
I want to give us just three,
actually four reasons
why the cross is Christ's moment of glory.
Okay?
Why this fateful Friday afternoon,
the day of Christ's excruciating death,
the day when the whole world turned dark,
the day when the world seemed to be rocked
to its very core,
was actually at one and the same time
the most tragic day in the history of the world,
but also the most glorious.
Okay?
A couple of reasons.
First thing is this.
The cross of Christ gloriously reveals
the perfect nature and the character of God.
Okay?
It reveals who God really is.
Remember a few weeks ago,
we looked at Psalm 115 and says this.
It starts off saying,
not to us, O God,
not to us,
but to your name give the glory.
Do you remember that?
Okay?
And we asked the question,
what is the glory of God?
And what does it mean that God glorifies His name?
And the answer we came up with is,
the glory of God is the totality
of all of God's divine attributes.
So God's holiness and His justice,
His mercy and His grace,
His sovereignty and His patience,
all of God's attributes together
is like a gigantic multifaceted diamond,
and every one of His characteristics
is like a facet of this diamond
that reveals who He is.
Okay?
And then we said that to glorify God
is to reveal or to remove the cover
that shrouds His glory.
It's like putting the multifaceted nature
and the character of God on display,
making it visible for people to see.
Okay?
That's what it means to glorify God.
So for instance,
you glorify God when,
because of the gospel
and what God's done in your heart,
you forgive somebody that's really hurt you,
someone's really wronged you,
and you forgive them.
Why?
Because in a way you're making visible,
you're revealing,
displaying the infinite,
forgiveness of God,
that because of what Christ has done
for you on the cross,
you can forgive those around you.
Or another example,
you forgive God,
you glorify God
when you run a marathon,
right,
to borrow from my friend,
in such a way
that it says to those around you,
Christ is more precious to me
than the gold or the silver
that I might win.
When you run in such a way
that says whether I do well
or I do badly,
Christ is precious in my life.
That glorifies God.
You're making visible
the infinite,
perfect nature
and the character of God.
Does that make sense?
You tracking?
Sort of?
Okay, great.
Now,
Jesus says this,
the hour has come
for the Son of Man
to be glorified.
Now is the hour coming
for you to really see me
for who I am.
Now is coming
my glory,
my perfect nature
and character
that has been hidden
throughout the ages.
Now you're going to see me
for who I really am.
Friends,
how is Christ's excruciating
death on the cross,
how does that reveal
who Christ is?
Well,
think about this.
It reveals that Jesus
is sovereign
over everything
in the world.
Christ is supremely sovereign.
Think about how
for hundreds of years
God has been speaking
through his prophets
and he's been saying
to them,
the hour is coming
when I will send
my deliverer,
I will send my rescuer,
he will save his people,
he will save them
from their enemies
out there
but as we heard
last week
also from the enemies
inside,
God had been speaking
and saying
I will send my rescuer
to save my people
and 700 years earlier
God sent a specific prophet
called Isaiah
and God had promised
that this deliverer
would come
not as a king
who destroys his enemies
but as a suffering servant.
God promised
I will send my Messiah,
my deliverer,
he will be familiar
with pain and suffering.
He will be despised
and rejected.
He will be one
that men and women
scoff at
and ridicule.
In fact,
my deliverer will come
and he will be pierced
for the transgressions
of his people.
And then Isaiah said
he will stand trial
but during his trial
he will remain silent.
He won't argue
with the unfair judgment
that's brought upon him.
And John tells us
that Isaiah said
these things
because he saw
the glory of God,
he saw who God was.
You see friends,
Jesus Christ didn't die
because Pontius Pilate
had career ambitions,
he didn't want to get
on the wrong side
of the Romans
and so he thought
I better please the Romans.
No, of course it happened,
that's not why Jesus died.
Jesus didn't die
because Judas Iscariot
betrayed him
for 30 pieces of silver.
Jesus Christ didn't die
because the Jews
were jealous of him
and handed him over
to Pontius Pilate.
All those things happened
but those were simply
tools in the hands
of a sovereign God.
the God who had chosen
before the creation
of the world
that his son would die
on the cross
to save his people.
Jesus said this
in John chapter 10.
He said,
I am the good shepherd.
I lay down my life
for my sheep.
No one takes my life
from me.
I lay it down
of my own accord.
I have authority
to lay it down
and I have authority
to take it up again.
Friends,
the cross of Christ
reveals to us
that Jesus Christ
is sovereign
over everything
even over wickedness
and great evil.
Think about how
the cross reveals to us
the holiness of God,
the justice of God.
Look at verse 27
with me.
Jesus says this.
He says,
Now my soul
is troubled.
Why was Jesus
so troubled?
Why was Jesus
so agitated
before the cross?
Is it because
he's seen
what the Romans
do to people
when they crucify them
and he can't bear
to face the pain?
He thinks,
That's going to be
so painful
I can't bear it.
Is that why
Jesus is agitated?
No, of course not.
If that's the reason,
then many martyrs
face their death
better than Jesus.
Friends,
the reason why
Jesus' soul
is so troubled
is because
not merely
the excruciating pain
he's about to face,
but because
the full
and the final
judgment of God,
the wrath of God
is for all the world.
the final wrath
of God
at the sins
of those
that would believe
in him
is about to be
put on his shoulders,
is about to be
poured into the depths
of his soul.
In a sense,
Christ is about
to drink
the very worst
of hell itself.
And the reason
why Jesus would do this
is because
this is the only way
that a perfectly
holy
and righteous
God
could welcome
unholy
and unrighteous
people like me
and like you
into his family.
Jesus is about
to do that
for us.
The cross
reveals the holiness
of God,
the righteousness
of God,
the perfection
of God.
Friends,
the cross
demonstrates
God's passion
for his holiness.
God is so holy
and so set apart
that he cannot
even tolerate
even an ounce
of sin
in his presence.
And so he
utterly
and totally
dealt
and destroyed
sin
by dealing
with Christ
on the cross.
Friends,
think about
how the cross
demonstrates
the mercy
of God.
That though
we don't
deserve it,
God welcomes
us into his
family and doesn't
give us what we
deserve but gave
it to Christ
instead.
The apostle
Paul writes,
he says,
though we were
dead in our sins
following the
ways of this
world,
though we were
slaves to our
sin,
because of God
being rich
in mercy,
because of his
great love for us,
even when we were
dead in our sins,
God made us alive
together.
Think about how
the cross reveals
the profound
love of God.
That God,
because he,
Jesus loved God
the Father,
he loved his
glory,
he loved you
and I,
he loved his
creation that he
made,
and he saw
that we were
wayward and
gone and so
lost that we
couldn't even
find our way
back to God,
he went and
he died for us.
Romans says
this,
he says,
scarcely will
someone die for
someone else.
Not very often
will someone say,
hey, I'll die in
your place,
but maybe if you
meet a very
good man,
a very righteous
man,
maybe if you
meet a very
honorable man
and you're
really humble,
you'll lay down
your life for
that person.
But God so
loves us that
this,
while we were
sinners,
while we were
enemies of God,
while we had
given God the
middle finger,
God sent his
son to die for
us.
Friends,
think about how
the cross reveals
the profound
love of God
for us.
Friends,
the cross of
Jesus is not
just a good
example to
show us how
to live,
not just to
teach us to
forgive those
that have
hurt us or
how to turn
the other
cheek.
It does all
those things,
but more than
this,
the cross reveals
to us the
perfect nature and
the character of
Jesus.
Jesus says,
now is the time
that you're going
to see me for
who I am.
Now is the time
that I'm going
to be glorified.
Now is the time
you're going to
see me for who
I really am.
Now is the time
that you'll get
to know me as
God.
Friends,
for hundreds
of years God
had been speaking
to his people
through the
prophets,
through the
angels,
through signs
and wonders,
through the
temple,
through the
priests,
and in all
those moments
he was showing
them just a
glimpse of his
glory.
He was showing
them just a
tiny percentage
of who he was.
But here,
fully and finally,
in a far more
dramatic way than
had ever been
seen before,
as Jesus hung on
the cross,
God says,
this is who I
am.
I'm the
sovereign God,
I'm sovereign
over everything.
I'm the God
of profound
mercy.
I'm the God
who is holy
and just.
I'm the God
of profound
love.
Friends,
if you want
to know God,
you want to
know who
Jesus really
is,
you understand
who this
God is,
you have to
find him at
the cross.
Don't just
come to him
as an example.
Don't just
come to him
as a martyr,
as a good
man who was
a victim of
his times.
You have to
come to the
one who
said,
for this
purpose I
was born.
I came
for this
hour.
You have
to find
him at
the cross.
Okay,
so first
reason,
how does
the cross
glorify
Jesus?
It shows
us who
he really
is.
Second
reason is
this,
that's the
longest
one.
Second
reason is
this,
the cross
reveals the
power of
God,
the profound
power of
God to
change lives.
Now
remember,
who is it
that comes
to Jesus,
that provokes
Jesus to
make this
dramatic
statement?
Who comes
to him and
says,
we want
to see
you?
It's the
Greeks,
right?
It's the
Gentiles.
It's not
the Jewish
people,
it's the
Gentiles.
And where
are they?
They're in
Jerusalem.
They've come
to Jerusalem
because they
want to
worship.
They've come
for the
Passover
festival.
Now,
many of us
will know
that the
Gentiles
were able
to come
to Jerusalem,
they were
able to go
to the
temple,
but they
could only
remain on
the outside
of the
temple.
They
couldn't
go to
the
inner
court.
There's
two
courts,
there's
the
inner
court
for
the
Jews,
and
then
there's
the
outer
court
where
the
Gentiles
had to
remain.
Now,
some of
the
Gentiles,
if they
had fully
converted
and been
circumcised
and gone
through all
the things,
some of
them could
have gone
to the
inner
court,
but for
most of
them,
the Gentiles
had to
remain on
the
outer
court,
and there's
actually a
wall that
divides the
Jews from
the
Gentiles.
And in
Jesus'
day,
there are
big signs
on the
wall that
say,
stay out,
no Gentiles
allowed in
the inner
court.
Okay?
And of
course,
it wasn't
just in
the temple.
For
centuries,
Jews and
Gentiles
didn't get
along.
They
wouldn't
eat
together.
The Jews
were meant
to be a
light to
the Gentiles,
to welcome
them in,
and the
Gentiles
should have
respected
the Jews.
They're both
to blame.
But for
centuries,
they've
been at
each other.
They
wouldn't
eat in
each
other's
houses.
They
wouldn't
share a
meal
together.
They
wouldn't
cross the
door,
the
threstle
of the
door,
to go
into
each
other's
houses.
Certainly
wouldn't
be in
partnership
and business
together.
And so
here the
Jews and
Gentiles
don't get
along.
But what
we read
is just a
few chapters
later in
Acts chapter
10,
Peter,
a Jew,
goes and
has a meal
with a
Gentile.
He goes
inside his
home.
They break
bread together.
They worship
together.
The Holy
Spirit falls
on both
of them
and they
end up
praising God
together.
And later
on the
apostle Paul
writes to a
bunch of
Gentiles and
he says,
remember how
just formerly
you were called
the uncircumcision
by those who
regard themselves
as circumcision.
You were called
dogs and
inferior by those
who recognize
themselves as
superior.
But now,
he says,
in Christ
Jesus,
you who were
once inferior,
you who were
once far off,
you who were
once regarded
as second
class,
now you've
been brought
near,
how?
By the
blood of
Christ on
the cross.
For Christ
is our
peace.
He has
broken down
the dividing
wall of
hostility and
he has created
in himself one
new man out
of the two,
thus making
peace.
Friends,
for the very
first time in
the history of
the world,
here can both
Jew and
Gentile,
slave and
free,
rich and
poor,
educated and
uneducated,
male and
female,
worshipped God,
come together,
stand shoulder to
shoulder,
knowing that they
are equally
chosen in God,
equally loved by
God,
equally sinners
for whom Jesus
died on the
cross.
Why?
Because Christ,
by dying on the
cross,
broke the power
of sin and
self-centeredness
and self-righteousness
and now for the
first time both
Jews and
Gentiles,
Greeks and
slaves and
free and
rich and
poor and
educated and
uneducated have
a new identity
that says I'm
loved and
chosen by
God.
Friends,
the cross is at
one and the
same time the
most awful day
in the history of
the world but
it's the most
glorious day in
the history of
the world as
Jesus broke the
power of sin.
Jesus destroyed
our self-righteousness.
Jesus destroyed
our self-centeredness
in the lives of
his followers.
How else do you
explain what
happened to the
apostle Paul?
Right?
The apostle Paul,
he goes around and
he's destroying the
church.
Anyone even gives a
hint that maybe
they're a follower of
Jesus and he
arrests them, he
puts them in jail
and maybe some of
them even die.
And a few years
later, something
happens and his
life turns around.
And the church
starts to say,
we don't know what
happened to this
man but one thing
we know, the man
that was once
persecuting us is
now preaching the
very message he
tried to destroy.
How do you
explain that?
Except by the
power of the
gospel.
Paul writes this
and he says,
I'm not ashamed
of the gospel.
Why?
It is the power of
God for salvation
to change lives
around.
Back in Cape
Town where we
come from, one
of my very good
friends there, one
of my closest
friends, his name
is Gordon.
You call him
Gordy.
And Gordy became
a Christ follower
about eight or nine
years ago.
And before that
he was a heroin
addict.
He had been in
and out of rehab
many years and his
parents had tried
everything.
Anyway, one day he
comes out of rehab
and he says, this is
the time I'm going to
sort out my life.
This is the time I'm
a changed man.
I'm not going back
to drugs.
But it's not too
long before his
addictions get the
better of him.
And so one night he
calls his drug dealer
up and he says, hey,
I need you to help
me out.
He goes and he
meets his dealer and
he buys some heroin.
And he's driving
home and on the way
home he gets a vision
of Jesus Christ.
And he's so petrified
that he stops his car
at the next traffic
light, opens his
door, throws the
drugs on the floor,
calls his friend and
says, Garth,
something's happened
to me, I need to
speak to you.
Drives to Garth's
house.
Now Garth had just
become a Christian
about six months
before.
These two guys used
to party it up
together and now
Garth had just
become a Christian.
And so Gordy
phones him and
says, Garth, I need
to talk to you.
And he goes to
Garth's house and
Garth helps him,
explains what
happens and that
night Gordy
surrenders his life
to Jesus and he
becomes a follower
of Jesus.
About five days
later, Gordy comes
to our CG.
He's a brand new
Christian and he
looks a mess,
right?
He looks like a
gangster or something.
He's got a big
gold chain on,
he's got a cap
pulled down low
and he doesn't
look very happy
but something's
happened to him.
And he goes
through that CG
and he's talking
and he's contributing
and Gordy can't
say one sentence
without swearing.
He's just swearing
the whole night
long.
He goes outside
for smoke just
now and but he
kept on coming
back to Christ.
He kept on coming
back to the cross.
He kept on coming
to Jesus not just
as an example but
as a savior.
About a week
later, our CG
goes to a combined
church service.
A whole bunch of
churches in Cape Town
come together.
We have a combined
service.
And Gordy says to me,
he says, Kev,
there are people
here I thought I
would never see
in a church.
And I said to him,
hey bud, I think
they're thinking
the same thing
about you.
But you know
what?
His life turned
around.
His life changed.
And in one sense
there was a dramatic
change but another
sense it was a slow
change.
Sometimes Gordy
would phone me at
one o'clock in the
morning and say,
Kev, you need to
come to my house.
I'm about to do
something stupid.
I need someone to
pray with me.
He'd go there,
pray.
But he got into the
scriptures.
He loved God's word.
He kept coming to
Jesus as savior.
He kept coming to
the end of himself.
I remember at one
point I said, he was
struggling with
addiction.
And I said, Gordy,
you've just got to
get through one day.
He said, I've just
got to get through
one minute.
If I can get through
one minute at a time,
that's a victory.
But friends, today he's
an elder.
Or just a few months
before we left, he
became an elder in the
church.
He got married in
January.
He's a different
person.
Why?
Because the gospel is a
power that changes
lives.
The gospel is not just
the good news of how to
be a better person, how
to be a moral person, how
to be a better husband.
The gospel is a power
that changes our lives.
It changes us from the
inside.
God.
And Jesus came to do
that.
J.C.
Rowe said, Jesus Christ is
a complete Savior.
He doesn't merely take
away the guilt of a
believer's sin.
He does that, but he
does far more.
He breaks its power.
In Colossians chapter
2, Paul writes this.
He says, you were dead in
your transgressions and
sin.
Me, I was dead in my
sin.
But God made us alive
together with him.
He forgave us our sins and
he canceled the record of
debt that stood against
us.
And then he says this.
And God disarmed the
rulers and the authorities,
the spiritual rulers and
authorities.
God disarmed them by putting
them to open shame,
triumphing over them in
Christ on the cross.
Do you remember in Genesis
chapter 3, Adam and Eve
fall, they sin, they
listen to the snake and
they don't listen to God.
And God speaks to Adam and
he says, hey, there's
consequences.
To Eve, there's
consequences.
And then God says to the
snake, to Satan, he says,
you will forever torment
God's people.
Sin will always be close to
them.
But there is going to come a
son of man.
There is going to come a
human being and you will
bite his heel.
In other words, as a snake,
you will attack him.
And you might think you've
got the better of him.
But in the way that you
bite him, the way that you
torment him, he will crush
your head.
He will destroy you.
Friends, that's what
happened on the cross.
On the cross, Satan thought
he got the better of
Jesus.
He was like a python that
thought he had taken a
bite of Jesus.
He thought he got the
better of him.
He thought, now Jesus is
dead.
But in the very moment that
Christ was hanging on the
cross, Christ was crushing
the head of his enemy.
Friends, on the cross, Jesus
Christ accomplished the most
astounding victory when he
dethroned sin.
He overcome evil and he
defanged Satan.
Even though it looked like
sin and evil was getting
the better of him, Christ
was accomplishing a
victorious and magnificent
victory.
On the cross, as strange as
it seemed, as unusual as
it seemed, Jesus is about
to die and he cries out,
it is finished.
What is finished?
The atonement.
He's paid the price for our
sin, but also the victory
over his enemy.
It is finished.
First, friends, the cross
of Calvary is a strange
glory.
It's an obscure glory.
It looked like the most
shameful day in the history
of the world, but actually
in that moment, Christ was
achieving his greatest
victory.
How does the cross reveal
the glory of God?
It reveals the power of
Christ over his enemy.
Third thing is this.
It reveals Christ's radical
passion for his glory, for
his father's glory.
Look at verse 27 with me.
Verse 27 says,
Now my soul is troubled, and
what shall I say?
Father, save me from this
hour?
No, for this very purpose
I've come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.
Throughout the gospel, Jesus
demonstrates radical devotion
and radical obedience to the
glory of his father.
Jesus is constantly saying
things like, I've come not to
do my will, but the will of my
father in heaven.
I've come not to please
myself, but my father in
heaven.
I have a job to do.
It's to fulfill the work of
my father.
Jesus is radically committed
to the glory of his heavenly
father.
Now contrast that with verse
42.
Look at what it says here.
It says,
Nevertheless, many of the
authorities believed in
Jesus.
So intellectually, they've done
the sums, they've done the
accounting.
They reckon there's more
evidence for Jesus than
against him.
They believed in him
intellectually.
Yet, for fear of the
Pharisees, they did not
confess it, so that they
would not be put out of the
synagogue.
For they loved the glory that
comes from man more than the
glory that comes from God.
Friends, it's not only kings
and queens, presidents and
governors that love to
display their glory.
This thirst for the praise of
men and to be made much of,
to be praised and honored is
actually something that lives
inside each one of us.
And it makes us make crazy
decisions, doesn't it?
It drives us to trade that
which is important for that
which is temporary.
It causes us to sell our
souls to the highest bidder.
And yet the irony is the one
man, the one human being who
deserved the glory, the one
human being who deserved to be
honored and glorified, the
creator of all things, including
the very people that were
nailing him to the cross, the
sovereign God before whom
every knee will bow, the one
man who deserved for men and
women to bow down before him,
in that moment lays aside his
glory so that you and I can be
welcomed into his glory.
Friends, if ever there was an
irony, this is it.
Christ, the king of glory, should
allow himself to be mocked and
scorned so that you and I can
enter his glory.
Jesus, the cross demonstrates
Christ's profound devotion to his
father's glory.
Fourth thing and finally is this.
Why is the cross glorious?
Why is the cross more glorious
than a crown?
Fourth thing is this.
It shows us the pattern of the
godly life, the Godward life.
Now, this is the final point.
In some ways, this grounds all this
theology into everyday life.
I want us to stay awake.
Okay, we're almost done.
The counter-cultural,
counter-intuitive message of the
cross is that what is true for
Christ our Savior and what the
apostles soon found was true for
them is actually true for every
follower of Jesus.
And that is that the way to glory
passes through Calvary.
The way to glory passes through
Calvary.
Jesus' hour revealed not only his
glory but also our way to glory.
Look at what happens in verse 24.
Jesus says this.
He says,
Truly, I say to you, unless a grain
of wheat falls to the ground and
dies, it remains alone.
But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
And that's the glory of the cross,
right?
From this moment on, Jesus is going
to die but it's going to yield a
harvest of millions of souls around
the world, right?
Jesus dies that we can live.
But then Jesus looks at each one of
us in the eye and he says,
What's true for me is also true for
you.
He says,
Whoever loves his life will lose it.
And whoever hates his life in this
world, comparatively speaking,
will actually find life.
If everyone serves me, he must
follow me.
Follow me where?
To Calvary, to the cross, to
Golgotha.
For where I am, there my servant will
be also.
But then he gives this hope.
He says,
Don't be disheartened.
Those who serve me, the Father
will honor them as well.
Friends, this is what differentiates
true faith in Christ from man-centered
religion.
In man-centered religion, we come to
Jesus to make our lives more
comfortable and convenient.
We come to Jesus to make our lives
better, to make our lives not as
difficult.
But true faith is when we come to
Jesus and say, Christ, I'll follow you.
I'll follow you to the cross.
Just as the Gentiles came to Jesus
and say, God, what can you add to
our religion to make our religion
better?
How can you help us?
So we do it so often.
But Jesus says that actually, the way
to true life, the way to glory, is to
follow him through Calvary.
Now, there's two implications of this
to think about.
The first one is this.
That which seems glorious is often
not.
Okay?
So think about this when you go to
work.
Think about this when you go to school
this week.
Think about this when you choose a
university.
Think about this when you choose a
career.
Think about this in the way that you
parent your children.
Think about this in the way that you
spend your money.
You seek that promotion.
You look for a job.
You look for a house.
That which seems most glorious is
often not.
But we started off talking about the
way that kings and queens love to be
honored.
Right?
They love to display their glory.
And a few minutes ago we said that's
not just true for kings and queens.
It's actually true for all of us.
All of us love to be glorified.
We love to win the marathons that people
can say we've done well.
Right?
And we all do that in our own way.
And the world has a way of seducing us
in such a way that that which seems
glorious and praiseworthy is
attractive.
But actually the upside down nature of
the gospel is that these things pass
away.
These things which look so promising
and promise us so much actually
often disappoint us.
Those things which promise us happiness
and contentment actually often leave
our souls empty and dry.
Isn't that what Jordan just said to us
a few minutes ago?
He said he was running marathons in
pursuit of glory.
But that didn't make me happy.
Friends, can I ask you this?
What are you going to spend your one and only
life in?
What are you going to invest your one and only
life in?
How are you going to spend your life?
Are you going to invest in that which will
puff you up?
Make you feel important?
Make you feel special for a day?
A year?
Maybe even a decade?
Friends, will you spend your life pursuing
what our culture says is honorable and
glorious and beautiful, but in the end
will just pass away like the grass?
Blow away like a cloud on a cloudy day.
Friends, why don't you invest your life in
that which is going to last?
It might not look glorious.
It might not look beautiful.
You might not get the praise of men and
women, but it's the thing that will
satisfy your soul and it's the thing
that will count.
Second thing is this.
That which seems hopeless is actually not.
The cross tells us that the things in life
which seem most hopeless, most redundant,
most meaningless and without value are
actually often the places where God
himself is.
The sickness of a child, the pain of being
retrenched, the hardship of financial
difficulty, the shame of persecution for
sharing your faith, being passed over for
promotion and everyone else in the office
gets promoted except you, the death of a
loved one, being diagnosed with an incurable
disease.
Friends, in these moments, if we come to
Christ and find our glory, if we come to
Christ as our hope for glory, often in these
places we'll drink deeply of the wonder and
the beauty and the majesty of God.
We'll find something about the glory of Christ
that you'll never find in high street.
In the bitterness of soul, we taste the
sweetest delights.
Friends, today Jesus calls each one of us to
follow him.
He calls us to follow him not in splendor,
not in ease, not in comfort and convenience.
He calls us to follow him to Calvary.
He calls us to follow him to the cross.
Jesus calls us to pick up our cross, to die to
self, to die to our sin, to crucify our pride.
But he says in that place you'll rise again to
new life.
In that place you'll discover a life you could
never have dreamt of, never imagined in your
wildest dreams.
Friends, the way of self-crucifixion seems
foolishness.
It seems meaningless.
It seems wasteful to our world and our
culture.
But friends, there's never lived a single
follower of Jesus who hasn't found that
dying to themselves and saying yes to Christ
has not been the way to meaningful life and
eternal life.
Friends, this is the way to glory.
This is the way to real life.
This is the way to eternal life.
This is the way to life that you were made
for.
Let's come to him now.
Let's pray together.
Jesus Christ, God, we so need you to see the
world the way it really is.
Let's pray together.
God, our culture would love to disciple us,
telling us to pursue our own glory, telling
us to pursue a life of comfort and ease, to seek our
own glory, God.
And yet, Jesus, as you told us, the way of self-glory
leads to death.
Father, as a church, won't you lead us to follow you?
Won't you help us, Christ, to become more like you, God?
Jesus, in our everyday life, God, won't you help us to fix our
eyes on you and in you to find our glory?
Jesus, help us to be like the apostle Paul who said, I had everything going for me.
I had the career, the reputation, the money, the wealth, the prestige, the honor, but all
those things I consider as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.
Jesus, won't you help us to live an upside-down life, contrary to the way of the world?
Lord.
Christ, we come to you now.
God, we confess that so often we live for ourselves.
Father, won't you forgive us?
God, don't just forgive us, won't you reorientate our lives?
Won't you bring us back to the cross?
Jesus, won't you lead us to the cross?
Lead us to that place where your love and your mercy, your holiness and your justice,
your sovereignty and your grace met.
Father, I pray, may we, as followers of Jesus, not march to the drumbeat of our culture and
of our time.
May we get a glimpse of who you are.
March to your drumbeat.
God, may we live differently because we've seen you, because we've seen your glory.
Friends, maybe just as we sing this next song, I want to encourage you to respond.
Won't you come to Jesus and in your own words, won't you ask him to open your eyes to see his glory?
In your own words, won't you come to him and confess how easily we live for our own glory?
In your own eyes, won't you ask him to lead you back to the cross?
Let's respond to him in worship.