Glory
I was struck with a sudden realization yesterday while reading a passage from John. Jesus was praying in the final hours before his crucifixion, seemingly aware of the fate that would await him. He begins the prayer by saying, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you" (John 17:1). Reading these words, I realized for the first time that my perception of glory was twisted by the world's teachings.
I had always held glory to be the same as power. This was not a belief I consciously decided upon, but rather a definition I never found the need to question. In this world, glory does often mean power. Sometimes it means money, but usually just as an extension for ones hunger for power. We think of great men being glorified because of the influence they had over other people's decisions. We are called to glorify certain "higher causes" such as patriotism, leadership, and beauty. These ideals are not bad in and of themselves.
But they are not glory.
Because in order for God to be glorified, Jesus was to be crucified. When Jesus asked God to "glorify your Son," he was beaten, mocked, and hung to a cross. Jesus was not speaking of a glory that was rooted in power. He was speaking of something much greater.
What? I am not sure. I am still seeking answers. But I believe that before I can fully understand glory, I have to remove the presumptions the world has taught me to make about its meaning. So I suppose this is a step in the right direction.
As I come to understand glory better, I also come to understand the One who is glorified. I serve a good God, a God who is so powerful and loving, that he could take a horrid, brutal murder and turn it into something beautiful. In that pivotal moment, glory became something greater than power. The Lord rejected the world's definition and painted his own.
It would be a change for the better.
I had always held glory to be the same as power. This was not a belief I consciously decided upon, but rather a definition I never found the need to question. In this world, glory does often mean power. Sometimes it means money, but usually just as an extension for ones hunger for power. We think of great men being glorified because of the influence they had over other people's decisions. We are called to glorify certain "higher causes" such as patriotism, leadership, and beauty. These ideals are not bad in and of themselves.
But they are not glory.
Because in order for God to be glorified, Jesus was to be crucified. When Jesus asked God to "glorify your Son," he was beaten, mocked, and hung to a cross. Jesus was not speaking of a glory that was rooted in power. He was speaking of something much greater.
What? I am not sure. I am still seeking answers. But I believe that before I can fully understand glory, I have to remove the presumptions the world has taught me to make about its meaning. So I suppose this is a step in the right direction.
As I come to understand glory better, I also come to understand the One who is glorified. I serve a good God, a God who is so powerful and loving, that he could take a horrid, brutal murder and turn it into something beautiful. In that pivotal moment, glory became something greater than power. The Lord rejected the world's definition and painted his own.
It would be a change for the better.
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