God Gets All the Glory All the Time

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once (John 13: 31-32).

Jesus pronounced the initiation of the sequence of events that began with betrayal and ended in glory. Jesus makes it clear in today’s text that His chief aim was to glorify God. He does not talk about the frightful details of the approaching crucifixion. He does not discuss the emotional stress that is consuming His heart. His focus is on glorifying God through the impending events that lead to the cross and beyond. He used the title Son of Man to show that God was to be glorified in every part of His passion, from the betrayal that was taking place right now through the resurrection that was to come. He taught that the goal of the Son was the same as the goal of the Father, and that goal was to glorify God. In these two brief sentences Jesus revealed important truth about the glory of God and He taught His disciples that no matter what we’re going through God gets all the glory all the time.

The Holy Spirit inspired John to record the words of Christ very carefully. He wants disciples like you and me to understand that our primary goal as we journey through this temporal world toward our permanent home in heaven should be the same as His. Disciples of Christ should live and die for the glory of God. Too often we fall prey to the deception that God only gets glory in the great victories of life. We often believe the lie that if we fail or if things go wrong, we must be sinning and God is not pleased with us. How could God be part of something that is less than perfect? We often judge the amount of glory God gets by the measure of our success. A bigger church or ministry must give more glory to God than a smaller or struggling one. Doesn’t God get more glory from a healing miracle than from a lifetime struggle with disease or the apparent victory of death? When Jesus said… “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” He challenged His disciples to grasp the truth that God’s glory was soon to be revealed in betrayal, humiliation, abuse, and crucifixion as well as in the resurrection. And He was preparing His disciples to glorify God in their own lives as they endured similar trials and victories.

How do we successfully glorify God in everything we do? We begin by trusting in the sovereignty of God. Jesus showed that God was in control of the betrayal by Judas. He identified the betrayer and commissioned Him with an offer of bread… “Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.’ So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot” (John 13:26). We remember that Jesus used bread as an illustration of His life… “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48). Therefore, in giving a morsel of bread to His betrayer, Jesus made the point that no one was taking His life. Rather, He was freely laying down His life… “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:17-18). Jesus showed that the first step in glorifying God is acknowledging and trusting His authority and sovereignty in every situation. Maturing disciples believe God rules and is at work at all times.

Glorifying God in all things requires surrendering to God’s perfect will. The Son of Man was also the Son of God, who may do whatever He pleases… “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:6). Jesus showed us in the Garden of Gethsemane how to exchange our will for the will of our Father… “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). He would soon teach His disciples directly that pursuing God’s will and doing God’s work will glorify God… “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4).

As we grow up into Christ we learn to trust His sovereignty and surrender to His will so that no matter what comes our way…

God Gets All the Glory All the Time.