Smoodock's Blog

After admitting that his soul was troubled, and after expressing his determination to face that trouble, and knowing that for this reason he came out from God and into the world (John 8:42; cp. 16:28; 17:8), and after asking the Father to save him out of death (John 12:27), Jesus prayed: “Father glorify your name!” (John 12:28). Some, saying the word your is emphatic, claim that Jesus is praying for the Father’s will to be done, not his own, as though God was schizophrenic, having two voices, two wills, two purposes etc. But, the will of the Father is Jesus’ desire also, and Jesus’ will is also that of the Father.

Jesus has already claimed he fully intended to face the crucifixion straight on, and prayed only that his Father would raise him up from among the dead (John 12:27). Now, Jesus prays for the Father to glorify his name, but what does that mean? When Jesus became flesh, the Gospel narrator said: “We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father…” (John 1:14), and he continued to say: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). In other words, the life Jesus lived glorified the Father (cp. John 17:4). In his prayer to the Father on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed:

“Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you: As you have given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:1-3).

What Jesus prayed for here was for the Father to save him out of the death he was about to die, so that the Father could send him (Christ) into the believer to give us understanding of their God (vis-à-vis Christ in you, our hope of glory – Colossians 1:27). In the flesh, Jesus was our example, but in the Spirit, vis-à-vis  Christ in us, he has become our wisdom (1Corinthians 1:27, 30; Ephesians 1:17). In other words, Jesus was praying that the Father would make himself known to us.

Immediately, a voice from heaven declared: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it!” (John 12:28). In other words, the voice testified to all who were willing to hear, that he had glorified his name through the works that Jesus had done (John 1:18; 17:4) and men were able to witness his glory in the life of Jesus (John 1:14). Therefore, the Father declared that he would continue to glorify his name, by making himself known to those willing to listen to his Spirit, which he would put within them (cp. 1Corinthians 1:27, 30; Ephesians 1:17).

The Greek word for glory is doxa (G1391). In the New Covenant text, it is applied to the Father, Jesus, men and the Kingdom of God. The word which is usually rendered glory in the Old Covenant text is kabod (H3519). Originally, it was a business term, having to do with measuring the weight of items with scales. What was heavy was considered valuable, and the more weight an item had, the more worth it was considered to have. Hence it was used to express the value or majesty of God, his unfathomable worth (glory). In Exodus 19:16-19 we see the Lord coming down upon Mount Sinai and the mountain quaked, and the people heard an exceedingly loud blast of the trumpet. The text says: “the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:17). When they heard the great thunder and the loud trumpet and saw the lightening and the smoking mountain, they stood afar off and pleaded with Moses not to let this God speak to them. In other words, they didn’t want to get to know this God. They wanted Moses to relay the Lord’s commands, and they would obey them. The glory of the Lord is a fearful sight. Yet, in the person of Jesus (John 1:14), God is inviting. He is softer, lighter and folks are drawn to him. As we behold God’s glory in the person of Jesus, we are changed into that same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of Christ within us (2Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27).