I would like to encourage you to live to love with Jesus by spending a few moments again in John 13:31. Jesus had just told Satan/aka Judas to quickly do what he was going to do, which was betray Him. We read this yesterday and again today. “Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;’” Yesterday we saw that the Son was glorified by the Father in being sent to accomplish the mission of redemption and then given the grace to successfully execute His command. How else is the Son of Man glorified? Earlier in this day, Jesus had said these words in the temple. John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” In John 10:18, the apostle John recorded these words of Jesus that inform us as to the significance of Jesus telling Judas to go betray Him. “No one has taken it (my life) away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Jesus should and does receive glory from God and from us in that He willingly, intentionally obeyed His Father’s command. Glory be to Jesus, our Savior and Lord! Jesus loved us in obedience to His Father because His greatest desire in life is to glorify the Father and receive His glory. Jesus contrasted Himself with the Pharisees in John 5:44. “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? This is how those who live to love with Jesus are motivated to lay down their lives and love with Him. They live seeking glory from the one and only God. They receive His glory in that they have been chosen and sent on mission to love in His name and they receive glory from God as they obey His commandment to love one another as Jesus loved them. We’ll look at this more carefully in a few days. Until now, let’s seek the glory that comes from the one and only God by loving with Jesus.
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
