The Gospel of John: John 12.27-36

Read and meditate on John 12.28.
Despite the troubling events to come, Jesus was determined to glorify God.

              ^28“So, Father, glorify Your Name.”
Then came a voice from heaven, saying, “I
have glorified, and I will glorify
My Name again.”

- John 12.28

Reflect
1.  The hour of Jesus’ glory had come, but He must endure many trials before He would be glorified. The word glory, in its Hebrew root, means something like to be heavy or weighty. Paul puns on this idea in 2 Corinthians 4.17. In what sense is glory heavy or weighty? Cite some examples from Scripture which illustrate the “weightiness” of God’s glory (for example, see John’s response to Jesus’ revelation of His glory in Revelation 1). Complete this prayer: Lord, Your glory is Your presence, and Your presence weighs on us as…

2.  Jesus declared the purpose of His hour, now upon Him – that in His being glorified, God should be glorified. As Jesus looked ahead to the events of the next several days, what did He envision, and for what did He prepare, so that God would be glorified? Do you think Jesus had a clear sense of what the glory of God would look like in this “hour”? And is it likely that He prepared Himself mind and heart, and ordered His life, to realize that glory? How should we be instructed by His example? What does it mean for you to live for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10.31)? Teach me to number my days, Lord (Ps. 90.12), so that I…

3.  Jesus prayed that God the Father would glorify His Name through Jesus’ trials. A voice from heaven came, speaking in the Father’s Name. What does John mean by saying this voice came from heaven? Where is heaven? Why did the Father speak audibly to the Son? Lord, I expect to hear You speaking to me, and I listen for You, Lord, as…

4.  What is the Father’s Name (cf. Exod. 3.13, 14)? What does this mean, and what does it reveal about God? Recall John 8.57-59. Was this an instance of the Name of God being glorified, as the voice from heaven said? Explain. I know, Lord, that I can glorify Your Name, but only as…

5.  We have seen what Jesus thought about praying. Here we see what He actually prayed. What can we learn from Jesus’ prayer to guide our own prayers? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote from questions 1-4.

Summary
“Whether the Gospel has ‘glorify your Son’ or ‘glorify your name’ makes no difference to the interpretation of its precise meaning. Christ, however, despising death and the shame that comes from suffering, focused only on the achievements resulting from the suffering. And immediately seeing the death of all of us departing from our midst as a result of the death of his own flesh, and the power of decay about to be completely destroyed and human nature already formed anew in anticipation of newness of life, he all but says to God the Father something along the following lines: ‘The body, O Father, shrinks from suffering and is afraid of a death that violates nature. Indeed, it seems scarcely endurable that he who is enthroned with you and has power over all things should be subjected to such outrageous treatment. But since I have come for this purpose, glorify your Son, that is, do not stop him from going to his death, but give your consent to your offspring for the good of all.’ The Evangelist even calls the cross glory elsewhere. … It is clear that in this passage, ‘glorified’ means ‘crucified.’ ‘Glory’ is equivalent to ‘the cross.’ In fact, his acceptance of suffering for the good of others is a sign of extraordinary compassion and the highest kind of glory. The glorification of the Son also took place in another way. Through his victory over death we recognize him to be life and the Son of the living God. The Father is glorified then when he is shown to have such a Son begotten from himself and with the same attributes as himself.” Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 AD)

We will only live for God’s glory as we envision what that means and prefer the glory of God above all else, as Jesus did. Temptations and trials will always confront us. We must look through them to consider how God may be glorified through our submitting to His will, rather than our own. How should understanding this guide your prayers each day?

Closing Prayer
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.

Psalm 22.23-28

Psalm 22.23-28 (Darwall: Rejoice, the Lord is King)
All you who fear the Lord, now praise His holy Name!
You children of His glorious Word, declare His fame!
We stand in awe of our eternal God, and on His mercy call.

For He has not despised the anguish of our King,
Nor from Him hid His eyes, Who knew such suffering.
Let praise arise from all who love and serve the Ruler of the skies!

The suff’ring King shall eat and praise with us the Lord.
Forever we His praise repeat and trust His Word.
Praise God above, all you who keep His vows and who His mercies love!

All nations shall repent and hasten to the Lord;
All those to whom His truth is sent shall praise His Word.
The Lord is King!  His sovereign rule on high now we His people sing!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.