This is the one-hundred-forty-ninth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And 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.
In that last week of Jesus’ life on earth, one day he taught about an event of the cosmos that was about to happen. The day of his death would not just be a martyrdom, but “the time for judgment.” By a great divine act, the Evil One himself would be driven out, and by being “lifted up from the earth,” Jesus would draw people to himself. The crowds did gather to watch Jesus on the cross, and since then hundreds of millions of people have been drawn to him as well.
Jesus said that sometimes death results in new life. Like a seed buried in the soil, soon to erupt into life, so would his demise be the brief prelude before eternal life would burst upon the human scene. It would be like that dark moment in a theater when all the lights go dim and the voices hush right before the curtain goes up, spotlights bathe the stage, and we see what the playwright really has in mind.
This would not be easy—Jesus knew that. Showing his real humanity, Jesus told his disciples that his heart was troubled. But he also told the Father: “Glorify your name!”
That’s all that was needed. Soon, the disciples would be sharing their last supper with Jesus. In the meantime, they had a little while to think about seeds in the ground.
Ponder This
How would you like God to be glorified in your life?
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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s teaching pastor. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel’s many books include Spiritual Leadership Today: Having Deep Influence in Every Walk of Life (Zondervan, 2016). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.