Have you ever watched a sporting event and noticed the coaches talking into their microphones while covering their faces with their laminated sheets? We want to know what they are saying. We wish we could listen in and hear the dialogue between the quarterback and the offensive coordinator. There are certain places where we don’t have the credentials to listen in. It’s part of life.
This is what makes a passage like John 12 so arresting. We have no business listening in on a conversation between members of the Trinity. But that’s what we see here. In it, we have a keyhole view into the affections of the Trinity.
Son’s Resolve
The Lord Jesus discloses that his soul is troubled because of the encroaching shadow of Calvary. But he does not shrink back from his divinely ordained course. Instead, he harkens a doxological imperative reflecting his heart, as he looks to the cross.
Jesus says, “Father, glorify your name” (John 12:28a).
This is so beautiful. It’s so revealing.
Jesus is at this point in his ministry, feeling the unimaginable and equally unfathomable weight of his impending hour upon the cross, and what is his motivation? What is his contemplation? What is his declaration? It is the glory of God.
There is no question that when Jesus had Calvary’s horror in his site, he had the glory of God on his mind. The glory of God serves to motivate him. It consoles him. It provokes his prayers.
But the keyhole into the divine correspondence continues.
Father’s Response
The Father echoes with a divine thunderclap in response: “Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again'” (John 12:28b). The Father responds with the affirmative, declaring that this is what he is doing. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ towers above all things as the supreme demonstration of God’s delight in his glory. It’s a keyhole into his passion for his glory.
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ towers above all things as the supreme demonstration of God’s delight in his glory. It’s a keyhole into his passion for his glory.
When Jesus beheld the agony of Calvary, he was overcome by this singular holy imperative, “Father, glorify your name.”
Our Response
When you meditate upon the cross, what do you dwell on?
This passage instructs us to see the glory of God. The worth and weightiness of God colors the cross from its conception in eternity past to its completion in realtime. And the glory of God, radiating from the cross of Christ, will be our eternal anthem.
This too should be the passionate cry of all who follow Christ. “Father, glorify your name” should be our burden also. Brothers and sisters, look upon the hill of Golgotha where Jesus declared this holy imperative with his heavenly resolve. Marvel at his singular focus. Pray for conformity to his will. All of this that God might be glorified in you.
