How to See Life in 321 - a Guide to John's GospelSample

How do you think of ‘glory’?

It’s not a word we often use. Sometimes, we might speak of ‘glory’ when it comes to sporting triumphs. Or perhaps we think of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In that book, there’s a Tri-Wizard tournament, and the winner is promised ‘eternal glory’!

In the Bible, ‘glory’ describes something’s ‘weightiness’, or its ‘substance.’ There’s a weight to a beautiful sunset, captivating music, or to a magnificent act of bravery or love. It makes you cry, ‘Glory!’

And actually, we can’t help but be attracted to glory. Just as heavy things have their own gravity, so glorious things draw us towards them. Obviously, in the Bible, the most glorious of glorious things is God. But the question is: how should we think of God’s glory? John’s Gospel is all about that question.

You might have noticed as you’ve been reading through that certain phrases keep repeating. ‘Glory’ is one of them, but so too is the idea of ‘Jesus’ hour’ and of being ‘lifted up.’ Apparently, Jesus has an hour coming (in other words, a specific time), and when that ‘hour’ comes, he will be ‘lifted up.’ When he is ‘lifted up,’ everyone will see his ‘glory.’

You can imagine how the followers of Jesus must have been processing this teaching. Perhaps they pictured Jesus’ ‘hour’ as a time when he’d be ‘lifted up’ on a stage, or a platform, or a great throne. But in John 12, Jesus finally clarifies his meaning. He will be ‘lifted up’ not on a throne but on a cross. And this will be his glory!

The true God-ness of God is seen when Jesus is highly exalted… on a Roman cross, with his arms outstretched to the world. You might think that such godforsaken agony is an eternal shame for Jesus. But no. As he says:

I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (John 12:32)

And so it has proved to be. The cross is the most recognised symbol in the world, and Jesus, against all earthly expectations, is history’s most influential Leader. The One lifted up on the cross has drawn more people to himself than anyone else.

As you read John, can you look at Jesus lifted up on a cross and see ‘glory’? If you can, you won’t just see God differently, you will see all of life differently. The gravity of glory will draw you — not just to Jesus but to a whole life of sacrificial love.