Based on John 12 : 20-33
Today is Passion Sunday, the day that traditionally the church begins to start reflecting on the suffering of Christ. No longer do we hear from Jesus’ lips ‘My time has not yet come’. The moment has come. The preparation has been completed and now we begin to focus on the great event, the final moment of love and liberation that has to take place, as Jesus announces ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’ The Passion begins.
This story is unique to John. It concerns foreigners who want to see Jesus, probably to talk about his message. They come to Philip, who tells Andrew, and they go to tell Jesus but his answer is not what they expect. Jesus starts speaking about his hour having come and about being like a seed that must fall to the ground and die if it is to be fruitful.
And then Jesus, he who is fully God yet fully human, humbly shares his human weakness – how his heart is troubled and whether he should ask to be saved from the suffering that he knows he will endure. But he answers his own deliberations – ‘No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name’ and then for the benefit of those who were listening a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’
This talk of ‘glory’ prompted the question – How does the crucifixion of Christ glorify God? What do we believe as Christians? How do we explain the crucifixion of Christ in terms of glorifying God?
I used to help out at the tuck shop opposite my children’s school at Clifton Methodist Church and I vividly remember a little boy coming in on the last day of term just before Easter. As a church school they had obviously been learning about the Easter story as this little boy came up to me and with his head hung low, almost crest-fallen, he asked ‘ Why do they call it Good Friday when Jesus had to die?’. His response to the news of Christ’s crucifixion certainly didn’t seem to be ‘Good News’ to this little boy and it wasn’t, in his mind, glorifying God. I honestly can’t remember the words that God graciously supplied to me in that moment but whatever came out of mouth seemed to placate that little boy.
Despite his human reservations Jesus chose to die on that cross to glorify God. So in order for us to understand why he still went ahead we need explore how the crucifixion of Christ glorified God. What do we believe?
John mentions the link between Jesus’ crucifixion and glory for both Jesus and God three times in his gospel. But first, what do we mean by ‘glory’ and what is different about the cross to how God had been glorified in the past?
We don’t often use the word glory. We perhaps use the word glorious when there’s a sunset or amazing view from a vantage point or perhaps when a football team in division two beats a team in the Premiership! Glory is not a word we use regularly – it is special.
In the Old Testament the glory of God is firstly seen in the creation of the universe and man, then in the dramatic rescue (the Exodus), the gift of the Promised Land and the victories needed to conquer it against all the odds. Then in the kings and prophets leading people back to God – there is quite a bit of power but also mercy and love in the Old Testament.
Then comes Jesus and the glory of God is revealed in an amazing incarnation (what risk, what genius, what love!!!), then in the miracles of healing and other miracles and in teaching like they had never heard before.
But the cross is the moment in time when God’s true nature was fully revealed. Without the cross we would have a far smaller understanding of God’s nature. Did mankind really know the true nature of God until the day that his Son suffered and died on the cross for our sakes? I don’t think so. It took our understanding of God up to the next level.
The cross revealed three main things about God’s true nature. It fully revealed his justice, it fully revealed his mercy and it fully revealed his love.
In the moment that the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep God was glorified as he gave us a clear and public demonstration of God’s glorious justice, glorious mercy and glorious love.
So first, Justice. Without further exploration I think we could, justifiably, be like that little boy in the tuck shop who looked upon Christ’s death as an injustice. Where’s the justice in an innocent person being tortured and hung on the cross?
Rather than me trying to explain this, Romans chapter 3 is a good place to start. I’ve chosen that we read it from The Message translation of the Bible to try to explain it without the religious jargon and in a way that may help us explain it to others.
Romans 3:23–26 ‘Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.’
God demonstrated his nature of justice by being both just (requiring judgement and punishment for sins) yet by also being the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus. God can be ‘just and the justifier’ of those who believe in him.
Now this is where the second element of God’s true nature, his glorious mercy, is revealed through the cross. He is able to make right anyone who has faith in Jesus, without compromising his own righteousness. He requires sin to be dealt with but out of mercy he bore and continues to bear the consequences of our sins. He dealt out the punishment so justice could be served, but out of mercy he also took the punishment.
And then thirdly we reflect on how God’s glorious love was revelled through the cross. God demonstrated his own love for us in this – While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus’ and God’s actions were beyond selfless, beyond empathetic and beyond imagination!
Let me begin with a verse from John’s first letter – ‘We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us’ (3:16). And again we turn to Paul’s letter to Romans – ‘For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:6-8).
That is true love. Only when we reflect on the intensity of the cross (he wasn’t just crucified – in that moment he bore the weight of all the sins of the past and all the sin yet to come) can we know what true love is. No greater love. God’s love fully revealed through Christ’s sacrifice.
What does this mean to us?
Firstly, it helps us to understand our own salvation. By understanding God’s nature, only then can we truly believe that it is by grace we are saved. There’s no doubt that we are saved because God has revealed that he has already served out justice for our sins. There’s no catches or hidden terms and conditions.
He has given us visible proof of justice in bearing the punishment himself in Christ. When Jesus Christ cried out on the cross ‘It is done!’, he declared that justice had been served for our sins.
And the outpouring of mercy by bearing the punishment on our behalf is further confirmation that God hasn’t got a hidden agenda of punishment for us since he has accepted that we cannot save ourselves. He bore and continues to bear the consequences of our sins.
But we mustn’t forget that we still have to be involved in this process. We need to repent and change our ways as we follow Christ. God is a loving Father who pardons all who repent.
Secondly, it helps us to understand how much God loves us. It was we who sinned but he who died for our sins! The demonstration of the self-giving sacrifice of the cross undoubtedly ensures us that we are loved and that God only has good plans for us. He’s not a God who is trying to trip us up or burden us. He has loving plans for our life – a life that is to be lived in all its fullness and free from the burden of sin. There was no question of punishment, only love and forgiveness. We owe our life to his death.
And finally, it helps us to understand how we can glorify God. Where we show justice, mercy and love then the people around us will see glimpses of God through us. We can have the honour of revealing God’s true nature to others. Through the help of the Holy Spirit this is made possible. We can glorify God through our actions.
So when we look upon the cross this Passiontide may we see and be able to explain (with both our words and by our actions) God’s glorious justice, God’s glorious mercy and God’s glorious love.
Let us pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, you made the ultimate sacrifice when you sent your Son into the world. Ultimately it is you that has born the price of the freedom you gave us. We give you thanks for your gift of salvation and the freedom you have given us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Debbie Story 