The Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him

John 13 for the read John in July challenge

Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come that He would depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. ² And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, ³ Jesus, knowing that the Father had handed all things over to Him, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, ⁴ got up from supper and laid His outer garments aside; and He took a towel and tied it around Himself.

⁵ Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. ⁶ So He came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” ⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” ⁸ Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” ⁹ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.” ¹¹ For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² Then, when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? ¹³ You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; and you are correct, for so I am. ¹⁴ So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. ¹⁶ Truly, truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. ¹⁸ I am not speaking about all of you. I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ ¹⁹ From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am He. ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you, the one who receives anyone I send, receives Me; and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

²¹ When Jesus had said these things, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²² The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. ²³ Lying back on Jesus’ chest was one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. ²⁴ So Simon Peter nodded to this disciple and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” ²⁵ He then simply leaned back on Jesus’ chest and said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus then answered, “That man is the one for whom I shall dip the piece of bread and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the piece of bread, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ After this, Satan then entered him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you are doing, do it quickly.” ²⁸ Now none of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. ²⁹ For some were assuming, since Judas kept the money box, that He was saying to him, “Buy the things we need for the feast”; or else, that he was to give something to the poor. ³⁰ So after receiving the piece of bread, he left immediately; and it was night.

³¹ Therefore when he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; ³² if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. ³³ Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

³⁶ Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” ³⁷ Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” ³⁸ Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

There are many ways that the world glorifies people and many things that they are glorified for. Entertainers and sports figures are among those glorified by our culture and society. Sadly, our culture now frequently glorifies evil over good, criminals over law enforcement and socialism, Marxism over patriotism.   In today’s text it says:  Therefore when he had left, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I am still with you a little longer. You will look for Me; and just as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you: ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”  Jesus was glorified through His obedience and sacrifice on the cross. Not many today desire the glory that comes through betrayal, sacrifice and suffering. Even in the church, we glorify people for their achievements, for good preaching, for great worship. We honor and glorify those who write books. If we want true glory though, we need to glorify God. In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus says:  “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?”  Our cross is not a cross of suffering and death, Jesus alone bore that cross for us and in John 19:30, He said: “It is finished!” For us the cross we take up is a cross of self-denial and obedience.   In John 5:19 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.”  In John 8:28-29 He says:  “ I do nothing on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”  Like Jesus, we need to do what the Father is doing and say what He is saying. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Finally, in today’s text Jesus says: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”  One of the greatest hindrances to the churches light and good works is that the world sees the division that exists within the church. The world neither knows nor cares to know the disciples of Christ because they do not look different than the world. When the world sees division rather than unity in the church, God is not glorified. Instead, the very things that Jesus suffered and died to overcome are glorified. Rather than focusing on the differences in how we worship and what we believe, in John 12:32 Jesus says:  “ I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself,” we need to lift up Jesus. We need to point people to His finished work on the cross, that He was glorified and the Father was glorified in Him.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may You be glorified in me today as I walk in obedience to You, doing what You are doing and saying only what You instruct me to say. To God be the glory! Amen.