Jesus’s Glorious Confession and the Path to its Realization
David W Palmer
(John 13:31–32 NKJV) So, when he (Judas Iscariot) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. {32} If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.” (Parenthesis added)
What Jesus said in this passage is amazing for several reasons:
Jesus began with the word, “now,” which means, “at this present time.” It corresponds to the word, “immediately,” at the end of verse 32. Jesus said that he was glorified the moment Judas left the room on his errand to betray Jesus—ultimately to death. So, even though Jesus confessed present and imminent glory; in earth time, he was about to be shamed, mocked, spat on, ridiculed, tortured, whipped, punched, lied about, wrongfully arrested, falsely imprisoned, and crucified after a mock trial and betrayal by his nation. (This was the path to the fulfilment of what he confessed—that he “is glorified”— he knew from his Father that both aspects of this were part and parcel of the same plan.)
Yet in the face of this ignominy, our Lord and Master confessed, “Now”—at this present time— “the Son of Man is glorified.” This is evidence of Jesus’s faith. And it is a perfect example of what it takes to work faith successfully.
(1 Timothy 6:13 NKJV) I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate.
Jesus confessed God’s desired outcome in the face of circumstances that were the direct opposite. Moreover, he said it in the present tense as though it were already a completed fact.
This is exactly what God did at the beginning of the book of Genesis: He said, “Let there be light,” when “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters” (Gen. 1:2 NKJV). We note that God didn’t say, “Wow! It’s dark! It’s so dark, I doubt anyone will ever see again!” God’s creative power flows when what he sees in his inner image is confessed in the face of contrary circumstances. That is exactly how he changes the circumstances to line up with what he wants and envisions.
Through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit urges us to imitate Jesus’s faith and its process; which is: inner image of God’s desired future, and his confession of it. He confessed present glory etc. in the face of opposing circumstances:
(1 Timothy 6:12 NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
“Yes,” it will be a fight; and “No,” it may not prevent suffering. After all, Jesus did receive the eternal glory he confessed, but not without going through the suffering of the cross. This is what the Holy Spirit is urging us to imitate; we must confess God’s desired outcomes despite having to go through difficult, trying, and/or painful times on the way to their glorious triumph.
The second amazing truth revealed in Jesus’s confession of present tense glory in the face of the ultimate dishonor is the law of sowing and reaping; what we sow is what we will reap—over time and multiplied. The following translation clarifies this law at work in Jesus’s own life and circumstances:
(John 13:32 CEV) “Then, after God is given glory because of him, God will bring glory to him …”
Jesus brought glory to God the Father in everything he did. This was because he exclusively did his Father’s will; he perfectly fulfilled the mission on which his Father sent him:
(John 17:4 NKJV) “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Jesus did this by imitating what he saw with his Father, and by saying only what he heard from him:
(John 5:19–20 NKJV) “Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. {20} For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
What’s more, we know Jesus lived by faith. This is what Father God confessed about Jesus:
(Matthew 3:17 NKJV) And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus confessed the same truth:
(John 8:29 NKJV) “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. So for Jesus to “please” his Father “always,” he must certainly have “always” operated in perfect faith. We too need to please God with our faith, and can learn about its effective working by watching and imitating our Lord Jesus.
(Incidentally, from this verse we also see that faith that pleases God is also the faith that receives his accompanying manifest presence: “He who sent me is with me.”)
So, because Jesus sowed by giving glory to his Father, he reaped glory from his Father.
Today I encourage you, first to remain humbly dependent on God. Abide in his secret place with your ear close to his heartbeat. Then, when like Jesus, you see what the Father is doing and is showing you, you can receive and believe what you see and hear. Take it into your heart, conceive and nurture it, and then confess it.
No matter how your circumstances appear; and no matter how many contrary forces stand against its manifestation, keep up your confession—it is the “fight of faith.” And even if you have to take up the cross, carry your cross, “die daily,” or fill up that which is lacking in the suffering of Christ, maintain the “good confession.” That is, always say what God has revealed to you—no matter what contradicts it, or what you go through in the meantime. Your faith in God and in what he says to you pleases him, and it creates on earth the image God sees in his heart. In effect, you become his partner in creating the reality he wants on earth: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat. 6:10 NKJV).
(Luke 14:27 NLT) And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
(Colossians 3:3–4 NKJV) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. {4} When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
(1 Corinthians 15:31 NKJV) I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
(Romans 8:18 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
(Colossians 1:24 NKJV) I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
(Colossians 1:24 NLT) I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.
(Matthew 6:10 NKJV) Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
