1. The Glory of God in the Cross of Jesus
The closing phrase of v.30 is deeply suggestive – “And it was night”. This is now the hour of darkness, not simply literally but symbolically too. Satan has entered the heart of Judas and Judas has gone out to betray Jesus. The gathering opposition to Jesus is going to reach its cynical climax in a very short time.
All of which makes Jesus’ words in vv.31,32 quite unexpected. It is a deeply dark moment and yet Jesus says that now, at this very time and in the unfolding events, the bright light of God’s glory is shining and will shine. He will be glorified by the Father and the Father will be glorified in him and this will all take place “at once”.
Does that mean that, somehow, the dark designs of Judas and the enemies of Jesus will be thwarted? Will Jesus escape their clutches as he did on other occasions?
No; God is not going to be glorified through his Son fleeing the cross but facing and going through its dreadful agony. Jesus calls himself here “the Son of Man” and that title is indeed a title of glory in the OT (see Dan 7:13). In the other gospels, the term is often used in a context of suffering; in John, the glory and the suffering are brought together in the most unexpected way: the Son of Man will be glorified in and through his suffering. And God the Father will be glorified in him. As one writer has said, “the greatest moment of displayed glory was in the shame of the cross”.
The cross unveils before our eyes the majesty and the mystery of God: here is love, vast as the ocean; here is justice, firm and true; here is where God and humanity are reconciled through the agony of the Son of Man.
William Gadsby expressed it perfectly in these lines (CH110 vv.2-4)
Here is the Saviour we worship and adore – a crucified Messiah, the Son of Man who suffered for our sakes. The heart of God is revealed in the broken body of his Son – and so this is where the focus of the church’s proclamation must ever be.
We must consciously take our stand with Paul when he affirmed to the Corinthians the centrality of the cross in Christian life and witness – “we preach Christ crucified…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”. The world is still a terribly dark place but there is a light that shines in the darkness and it is at its brightest at the cross where sin was judged and evil conquered. So we too must “preach Christ crucified”, unflinchingly and passionately.
But we must also see that, if it is true that God is glorified in his Son at the cross, so he will be glorified in the same way as we not only declare the cross but dwell under the cross. It is not only to form the heart of our message and mission but the heart of our mindset – that we will take up our cross and follow Jesus; we will deny ourselves and follow him. God is glorified, Jesus is glorified, in our doing so. Could we need any other incentive to respond to the call of Jesus?
2. Loving like Jesus to make him known
The fact that Jesus is so soon to be glorified, through his cross and in his exaltation, means that he will be with his disciples “only a little longer” (v.33). They will look for him but they won’t be able to follow him, since that would mean cross and exaltation.
Jesus is going into a unique situation without the disciples but he makes it clear in vv.34,35 that they have a vital part to play in implementing his achievements. And so he says to them, “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
The community that Jesus has formed around himself is not to just dissolve or fracture when he has gone but is to continue to manifest the same love for one another that Jesus has for them, a love that expresses itself in the costliest way, that loves to the finish.
But why does Jesus call this “a new command”? Certainly the OT teaches love for God and love for our neighbour, so it cannot be that this command has never been given before. Perhaps the best explanation is that this command is new in its definition – “this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). And it is new in that Jesus’ death ushers is the age of the new covenant.
What a tough call this is – to love each other as Jesus has loved us! We might feel if we could pick and choose who we’re to love in the manner of Jesus that we might stand more of a chance, but that’s not an option – Jesus chose the 12 and Jesus chooses our brothers and sisters. His command is all-inclusive and profoundly challenging.
Before we wilt under its heat, we ought to refer back to a point we made when we looked at the footwashing incident. The call to love is made on the basis of not only the example of Jesus but also our experience of his love. It is as we receive the love of Jesus, shed abroad in our hearts by his Spirit, that we are enabled to love each other as he has loved us – sacrificially and unconditionally.
And if we do that, Jesus says its impact will be seen and felt by others: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We live in a world that is desperately short of genuine love – plenty of lust, plenty of self-serving but precious little truly self-giving love. And the world desperately needs to see it and so to be drawn to the Lord in whom it is found.
It is vital that the church preaches about Jesus and his cross, in all its glory and with all faithfulness. But it is equally vital that the church lives out the reality of the love of Jesus, and does so visibly, in order to show the world we are indeed followers of the Jesus we preach.
Although some might find one or other of these aspects easier, there really is no tension between the two. Preaching Jesus and his cross and loving each other from the heart, visibly and truly, aren’t options, nor are they in competition such that some churches preach and some churches love. May that never be!
3. The Weakness In Us All
Faced with the call of Jesus to a new level of community, Peter focuses instead on the obviously disconcerting statement by Jesus that he is leaving them and they cannot follow him. Instead of majoring on what was clearest, he focussed on the more opaque statement; we need to watch out that we don’t follow suit.
His response is to question where his Lord is going and when Jesus affirms again that, at least for now, they cannot follow, Peter protests very firmly, “Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (v.37) Coming so soon after the footwashing, it’s clear Peter has yet to learn the lesson that Jesus is the Lord.
Here we see a combination of impatience and bravado from Peter, a dual expression of weakness – for we are never weaker than when we are most certain of our own strength and when we’re trying to dictate to the Lord how and when he should act.
This is typical of Peter, perhaps, but he is not alone in his weakness. Many of us could also testify that we are all too ready to trust in our own wisdom and strength instead of leaning heavily on the Lord. And what is true of us personally also applies corporately.
There were times when the readiness of Peter to face hostility would prove to be an asset but here is an example of the reverse. The truth is that Peter simply has no idea of the nature of the struggle he is involved in, nor of the forces that are arrayed against him. And that makes him very vulnerable indeed.
We do not wrestle against flesh and blood – but it seems Peter is only thinking on that level. And he has failed to grasp yet the utterly unique ministry of Jesus – “Will you really lay down your life for me?”
The sad truth is expressed by Jesus: Peter for all his bravado will prove to be unfaithful and cowardly when push comes to shove. This is a desperately intense spiritual battle and his protests will prove to be empty boasts and foolishly naïve.
If that is true of peter, it is no less true of us. How will we stand when the heat is on? Well, not by staying out of the kitchen (that’s not our commission) but by putting our confidence not in our own strength, wisdom or ingenuity but in the Lord of glory, the Lord who has triumphed over all his foes in the glory of his cross.
May his cross ever be our boast and may we ever take refuge under its shadow. Amen.
