Bring Glory To Your Name

Scripture: John 12:20-36  (Click link for scripture in Bible Gateway)

27 “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. 30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. (John 12:27-31 NLT)

Now my soul is deeply troubled! As Jesus drew nearer the end of his assignment, the realization of the terrible trials ahead grew more intense! He hadn’t felt this sense of “the weight of destiny” in this same way since the wilderness temptation just after his baptism, over three years before. It had hit him earlier at Lazarus’ tomb, when he had a glimpse of the pain of betrayal and desertion, the agony of the torture, and the absolute aloneness of his impending death. It would hit him again in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest. Jesus had passed the wilderness test when Satan had tried every trick in the book to turn him aside, to tempt him to take a shortcut. Now he leaned into the moment and said, “This is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then the Father, Jesus’ Father, our Father, spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” Jesus’ Father had spoken from heaven at his baptism, declaring Jesus his well-pleasing son. He had spoken again on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, declaring his pleasure with his Son and commanding the guys to listen to Jesus. Now again, the voice! Jesus may have needed the voice for his own benefit at his baptism. On the mountain, it may have been for Peter, James, and John. This time it was for the benefit of all who were there to hear and for all who will listen, even now, even you and me.

Just as when Jesus yielded his will to the Father’s will, when we yield our wills to the Father’s will, it brings glory to his name. When the Father is glorified, Satan is cast out. It’s a noble thing when we let go of our own desire for glory and declare from our hearts, “Father, glorify your name in me!”

Prayer:

Father, Glorify your name in me and my friends. For the Kingdom’s sake, Amen!