Well, this morning as we come to the Word of God, we're picking up where we left off last week.
John chapter 13, verse 31.
If you have a Bible, you're welcome to turn to it.
Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples, and they're eating the Passover meal.
Jesus has just dipped the bread and given it to Judas,
and now Judas has left the house, and it's night.
And we'll pick it up in verse 31 here.
When he, that's Judas, was gone, Jesus said,
Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself,
and will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little longer.
Let's start by noticing the urgency, the immediacy of what Jesus is saying.
Now the Son of Man is glorified,
and God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
I will be with you only a little longer.
Can you hear the urgency in Jesus' voice?
With Judas now on his way, and the betrayal now in motion,
Jesus' time is virtually here.
It's a matter of just hours before Jesus is arrested and separated from them.
And Jesus wants them to know that this is it.
My time with all of you is about to come to an end.
It's interesting, the language that Jesus chooses to describe this time that has now come.
He says,
Now is the time for the Son of Man to be glorified.
We heard Jesus say this a little earlier when the Greeks showed up for a visit back in chapter 12, verse 23.
And even hearing it again,
it's a strange and unexpected way to describe what's about to happen to Jesus, isn't it?
We just don't usually think of what Jesus is about to go through as being glorified.
Being glorified means being honored, being worshipped, being exalted, being lifted up.
But what's about to happen to Jesus seems the very opposite.
He's about to be shamed, humiliated, cursed, mocked, beaten, and trampled down.
So we're kind of forced to wrestle with this question.
How is Jesus being glorified while he suffers and dies in this horrible manner?
And then without answering this, Jesus adds even more to the discussion.
Not only is the Son of Man about to be glorified, but he says God is about to be glorified as well.
Both.
And as we read this verse, it's kind of easy to get our heads all tangled up in this
and to wonder who's getting glorified and by who and how.
The Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.
There's a lot of stuff going on in there.
And it's easy to get tripped up in there.
So let's see if we can just pick out some clear statements and untangle this a little bit.
Here are five true statements that we can pull out of this.
First of all, the Son of Man, that's Jesus, is about to be glorified.
Now the Son of Man is glorified.
Second one, God is about to be glorified as well.
It's both.
Number three, God will be glorified in the Son or through the Son or by the Son.
Number four, Jesus will be glorified by God.
It's God who will be glorifying the Son in the moments ahead.
And then finally, number five, God will glorify Jesus in himself.
I know you're probably wondering, well, what does that mean?
Me too.
So who's about to be glorified?
We'll just see if we can kind of summarize it.
Both Jesus and God are about to be glorified.
Who's going to be doing the glorifying?
God is about to glorify his Son.
And lastly, how are God and Jesus being glorified?
Well, God is about to be glorified by Jesus or through Jesus.
And Jesus is about to be glorified by God.
God is about to be glorified by God.
And in God, whatever that means.
You know, sometimes Jesus said things that just kind of leave us scratching our heads.
And I thought about trying to do a whole sermon just on these verses
and exploring each of these five statements and what they mean.
But you know, this is just the way that God's truth has come to us in this place,
in this part of the story.
And think about how it was for the disciples that evening,
seated around the table, as Jesus says this to them.
You're about to be glorified and God's about to be glorified and in him and in you.
And what are you talking about?
What does this mean?
Now, we could dig out the theology textbooks and we could listen to the mind-numbing musings of men
going back and forth about all the possible meanings of these five statements
and try to rule out a whole bunch of them and narrow it down.
About how God is glorified in the Son and how does God glorify Jesus in himself.
But sometimes I think it's okay if we simply say,
I don't know what this means.
What did you mean by this, Lord Jesus?
And then just sit on it a while.
We might have some good ideas about, say, number one,
how Jesus is about to be glorified as he suffers and dies.
But then where do we get those ideas from?
Are we just guessing?
Or are we meant to just take Jesus at his word as best as we can
and say, okay, somehow, in some way, I'm not sure exactly how or what you mean.
Jesus, you're about to be glorified in what's about to unfold.
Would you show me how that works?
Would you show me what you mean by that?
And then just kind of keep that truth in the back of our minds
as we continue reading and meditating on the word of God,
day after day, week after week, month after month,
and sometimes, eventually, these things become really clear.
In fact, we may even realize that this is a major theme in the whole Bible.
Let's consider briefly this first point,
that Jesus is about to be glorified now
while he suffers and dies in this horrible manner.
So we say, okay, I don't see it, Lord.
Would you show me?
And then maybe as we come along,
reading in our Bibles in a different place,
or we're looking up a scripture passage,
we come along to Isaiah chapter 52,
written hundreds of years before any of this took place.
And we read these words in Isaiah chapter 52, verse 13.
See, my servant will act wisely.
He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Sounds like glorified.
But then, just as there were many who were appalled at him,
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
and his form marred beyond human likeness,
so he will sprinkle many nations
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see.
And what they have not heard, they will understand.
And Isaiah goes on.
He was despised and rejected by mankind.
A man of suffering and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces,
he was despised and we held him in low esteem.
He was oppressed and afflicted.
Led like a lamb to the slaughter.
By oppression and judgment, he was taken away.
But then we come to verse 10.
Yet, it was the Lord's will to crush him
and cause him to suffer.
And though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days.
And the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life
and be satisfied.
By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great,
says the Lord.
And he will divide the spoils with the strong
because he poured out his life unto death
and was numbered with the transgressors.
Now, this whole passage could do with a lot of study
and meditation and a few sermons.
But do you notice how side by side are these two truths?
That the servant of the Lord will suffer horribly,
be treated despicably,
and yet at the same time that the servant of the Lord
will be raised and lifted up
and highly exalted,
rewarded,
glorified
through it all.
These are deep waters here,
but not so deep that we could never learn to swim in them.
This is just one other place
where it tells us that Jesus will be glorified
and exalted
through the shameful humiliation
of what he suffered.
This is just one other place
where it tells us that
God will himself glorify this one
and set him above others.
And a little bit of why.
What he has done that is worthy of reward,
that is worthy of being glorified.
Because he poured out his life unto death
and was numbered with the transgressors
and bore the sin of many
and made intercession for them.
And so as we meditate here,
this passage,
it begins to fill up
with meaning
what Jesus said
on the night of his betrayal.
What he said about being glorified now.
And then there are other passages
that we might discover
over here and over there
and over here and over there.
that also fill up
what Jesus said with meaning.
Not just for number one,
but for all five of these.
Could it be that we were never meant
to have a guy just come up
and stand in front of us
and say,
well,
number one means this,
number two means this,
number three means this,
and so on.
Could it be that we were all meant
to go on the personal journey
of searching these things out
over days,
weeks,
months,
even years?
Growing in our understanding
of who Jesus is
and what happened to him
at the cross.
Growing in our understanding
of what's really going on
between God the Father
and God the Son.
Growing in our understanding
of how great
and how worthy
and how glorious
and beautiful
our God
and his Son Jesus
really are.
I think Jesus
is okay
with us being
on the journey.
He's okay
with us learning
all along the way
as we go through
our lives.
So I'm not going to try
and fully explain
and apply each
of these five truths
because to be honest,
I'm still on the journey
myself trying to figure out
what exactly
these things mean
and how this fits
with what we're about
to read
in the story of John.
For now,
I think it's a good place
just to be familiar
with what Jesus said.
Jesus is about
to be glorified
as he is betrayed,
arrested,
and goes to the cross.
God is about
to be glorified.
God will be glorified
through the Son,
in the Son.
Jesus will be glorified
by God,
his Father.
And God will glorify
Jesus
in himself.
Now let's continue
on with what Jesus
said that night
at the table.
Verse 33,
my children,
I will be with you
only a little longer.
You will look for me
and just as I told
the Jews,
so I tell you now
where I am going.
You cannot come.
So Jesus tells them
that they're very soon
to be separated.
Jesus and his disciples
parted from each other.
And though they have
followed him everywhere
for the past three years,
they will not be able
to follow him this time.
Where I am going,
you cannot come,
says Jesus.
Jesus reminds them
about how he said
these very words
to the Jews
back in chapter 7,
verse 34,
and chapter 8,
verse 21.
Where I am going,
you cannot come.
And then Jesus
gives them a command,
which we will look
at more next week.
I'll just read it
this morning.
A new command
I give you.
Love one another
as I have loved you.
So you must love
one another.
By this,
everyone will know
that you are my disciples
if you love
one another.
Verse 36,
Peter says,
Lord,
where are you going?
I love that.
It's almost as if
he just completely
missed the command.
He's still thinking
about what Jesus
said before that.
Where I am going,
you cannot come.
That's the track
that Peter's on.
Lord,
where are you going?
I think that the
disciples are probably
doing their best
to follow along
and to understand
what Jesus is saying,
but here we just,
it's obvious
that even Peter
did not understand
what was coming
or where Jesus
was about to go.
And so Jesus
says it again
to Peter.
He says,
where I am going,
you cannot follow
now,
but you will
follow later.
And Jesus
is being somewhat
elusive in his answer.
It's a place
that you can't
follow me to
right now,
but you will
eventually.
Peter asked,
verse 37,
Lord,
why can't I
follow you now?
I will lay down
my life for you.
Is it death
that you're talking
about,
Jesus?
That's the only
place I can think
of that I wouldn't
be able to follow
you.
And if it's death
you're talking
about,
then,
my Lord,
I will lay
down my life
before I let
anybody touch
yours.
I will die
with you
if I have
to.
I will go
with you
to the realm
of the dead.
I will follow
you there too,
says Peter.
Then comes
Jesus' reply
again,
verse 38.
Will you
really lay
down your
life for me?
Very truly,
I tell you,
before the
rooster crows,
you will
disown me
three times.
The answer
of Jesus
here to
Peter is
truly
amazing.
First,
we hear
Jesus ask
a question.
Will you
really lay
down your
life for
me,
Peter?
It's as
though Jesus
is challenging
Peter's
declaration.
But actually,
it's more
than just a
challenge,
because it
doesn't seem
like Jesus
is asking
to know
if Peter's
really sincere,
or if Peter
really means
it,
or if Peter
would actually
follow through
with it all
the way to
death.
The truth
is,
Jesus already
knows the
answer.
Right after,
he says,
very truly,
I tell you,
before the
rooster crows,
you will
disown me
three times.
So no,
it's not
really a
question as
if Jesus
doesn't know
the answer.
It's a
rhetorical
question,
and it
makes a
statement,
perhaps more
like,
Peter,
will you
really lay
down your
life for
me?
Answer,
no,
Peter,
you won't.
Jesus is
exposing what's
really in the
heart of
Peter.
And then,
Jesus tells
Peter how it
will actually
go,
what Peter
will actually
do when the
moment of
truth comes.
Three times,
he will deny
him.
And it's
here again
that we see
something truly
wonderful and
amazing about
Jesus.
Here's a
man,
Jesus,
who frequently
told people
what was in
their own
hearts as if
he knew it
better than
they did.
I mean,
think about
this.
From Peter's
perspective,
you're telling
me how
how sincere
I am,
whether I
will or
will not
lay down
my life
for you.
Jesus did
this a lot.
He told
people what
was in
their own
hearts as
if he knew
it even
better than
they did.
He did it in
Jerusalem on
his first
ministry visit
to the
capital city
back in
chapter 2.
He did it
with Lazarus
in chapter 3.
He did it
with the crowds
in chapters 4
and 6.
He did it
with the
religious leaders
in chapters 5
and 8.
And here
he does it
with Peter,
his own
disciple.
Peter,
will you
really lay
down your
life for
me?
No,
Peter,
you won't.
You say
that now,
but it's
not true.
When the
time comes,
when the
rubber hits
the road,
when it
counts,
when you
have the
opportunity
to put
your life
on the
line with
me,
you will
instead say
that you
don't even
know me.
Three times
you will do
this before
this very
night is
through.
And so I
imagine that
there was
sadness in
the heart
of Jesus,
even as he
said this
to Peter.
There was
Judas'
betrayal,
which troubled
Jesus deeply.
We heard
about last
Sunday,
but then
here there
is very
soon coming
Peter's
denial of
Jesus.
I've said
this a lot,
but I want
to say it
again.
Do you
know that
Jesus knows
what's in
your heart?
What's
really in
your heart?
You can't
fool him.
you can't
even pretend
with him.
He knows
you even
better than
you know
yourself.
He knows
every selfish,
every dirty
thought that
has crossed
our minds.
He knows
you well
enough not
just to
guess,
but to
know for
certain
why you're
doing
anything
that you
do.
And so
this was
at times
a very
interesting
relationship
between
Jesus
and the
disciples
like Peter
and James
and John.
They couldn't
hide things
from him.
He called
their bluffs
like here
with Peter
again and
again.
And yet
even though
he knew
what was
really in
each one
of them,
he never
pushed them
away.
He never
said,
I don't
want to
be with
you guys
anymore,
bunch of
sinners.
No.
He loved
them even
though he
knew what
was in
them,
that they
were sinners.
I can't
help but think
that this is
at least part
of the reason
they stuck
with him
even after
all of their
own sins
had been
exposed by
him so
many times
because here's
a man who
knew them,
who really
knew them,
and yet
wanted to
be with
them and
loved them,
really cared
about them.
There's
something else
in this
question of
Jesus that's
amazing.
It's the
pronouns.
It's a
little difficult
to see in
English but
in the
original Greek
the way that
it's ordered,
the words,
and the
form of
one of
the pronouns
puts a
special emphasis
on them.
It sounds
a little bit
like this.
The life
of you
for me,
will you
lay down?
I think
there's a
fuller
rhetorical
answer to
Jesus'
question
and it's
subtle.
No,
Peter,
you won't
lay down
your life
for me.
I will
lay down
my life
for you.
Think
about this.
Imagine
yourself there
at the
table with
Jesus and
the other
disciples.
You've just
been fighting
with them
about which
one of you
is the
greatest
according to
the other
gospel accounts
but now
you're somewhat
embarrassed
again because
Jesus has
exposed your
pride again
saying that
you need to
humble yourself
and serve
one another
stooping down
to wash
your dirty
feet
and then
now you've
been trying
to prove
your loyalty
to Jesus
amidst the
clamoring of
all the others
as Jesus
reveals that
one here in
the room
is a traitor
and people
are saying
all kinds
of things
and maybe
you are
too
and deep
inside
maybe you're
wondering
even as you
say it
surely not
me Lord
I would
never do
that
maybe you're
wondering
how far
would I go
with him
would I be
willing to
die for him
what's my
price
what's that
point at
which I
would just
not follow
him anymore
maybe thoughts
of all the
times you've
blown it
and disobeyed
Jesus over
these past
few years
are beginning
to flood
into your
mind
Jesus
has just
called
Peter's
bluff
what if
he calls
yours
next
if one
of you
is about
to betray
Jesus
and one
is about
to disown
Jesus
three times
what's
Jesus
going to
say to
you
what does
he know
about you
that you
will actually
do
when the
time
comes
as I
said
before
we can't
hide
anything
from
Jesus
he knows
what's
really in
our hearts
and yet
he will
lay down
his life
for us
it's one
thing to
love
something
or someone
that's
already
lovely
it's not
hard to
love a
beautiful
flower
or a
fresh and
juicy piece
of fruit
or a
gorgeous
sunset
these things
are easy
to love
because
they're
already
lovely
they're
already
worthy
of
appreciation
and affection
but it's
another thing
to love
something
or someone
that is
much less
than
lovely
like a
self-absorbed
proud
and selfish
person
who is
there for
you
when it
suits them
and gone
when it
doesn't
or a
person who's
impatient
easily
angered
speaks
rudely
to you
sometimes
and talks
about you
behind your
back
but the
amazing
thing
is
Jesus
loves
people
who are
like
that
sinners
like you
like me
he knows
exactly
what's
in our
hearts
how
less
than
lovely
we are
and still
he will
lay down
his life
for us
he will
die to
save us
so that
we can
be with
him
forever
isn't
that
amazing
I'm
reminded
of the
words
of the
apostle
Paul
Romans
5
verses
6
to
8
you see
at just
the right
time
when we
were still
powerless
Christ
died
for the
ungodly
very
rarely
will anyone
die for a
righteous
person
no for
a good
person
someone
might
possibly
dare
to
die
but
God
demonstrates
his own
love
for us
in this
while we
were still
sinners
Christ
died
for us
perhaps
this too
tells us
something
about how
the glory
of Jesus
can be
seen
in the
midst
of his
suffering
and death
let's
pray
Lord Jesus
we thank
you for
these words
that you've
given to
us
we thank
you that
you've
allowed
us to
almost
be there
in the
room
see and
hear what's
what was
said that
night
and we
know that
if we
were there
you would
have loved
us just
the same
thank you
for paying
the ultimate
sacrifice for
us for
dying on
that cross
for us
thank you
that you
want to be
with each
one of us
with all
of our
faults
all of our
failures
all of our
sin
it's
amazing
and we
love you
so much
for it
we give
you glory
we give
you praise
because
that's
your due
amen