The Glory of God in the Cross
As Jesus approached the cross, He entered into deep anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane. His suffering was not merely the physical pain He would soon endure. He knew that He was about to bear the guilt of His people and experience the judgment that sin deserved. The weight before Him was the burden of our sin and the wrath of God against it.
Yet, in the midst of this anguish, Jesus remained focused on the glory of God. His suffering and death were not an accident or merely the result of human hatred. He willingly submitted Himself to the Father's will because He desired above all things that the Father would be glorified.
This challenges the way we often live. We naturally want our own comfort, reputation, success, and happiness. Even our religious lives can become centered on ourselves: What will I get from following Christ? How will God make my life better? But Jesus shows us a different way. His life was centered on the glory of God, even when glorifying God meant suffering.
Jesus also spoke of being "lifted up." The cross looked like defeat, but it was actually the beginning of Christ's triumph. Through His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus was lifted up in glory. On the cross, the power of sin and Satan was broken, and the way was opened for sinners to be reconciled to God. What appeared to be darkness and defeat became the place where God's glory was most clearly revealed.
The cross therefore demands a response. There is no neutral position toward Jesus. To reject the light is to remain in darkness, and to turn away from Christ is to walk deeper into that darkness. But Jesus graciously calls us to believe in the light while we have the light.
This is both a warning and an invitation. We should not presume upon God's grace or postpone turning to Christ. The light has come into the world. The question is whether we will come to the light and trust the One who was lifted up for sinners.
May the cross also reshape our priorities. When we face suffering, disappointment, or difficult obedience, may our first question not simply be, "How can I avoid this?" but, "How can God be glorified through this?" We cannot imitate Christ's unique suffering for sin, but we can follow His example of trusting the Father and seeking His glory above our own.
Christ was willing to enter the darkness so that His people could receive the light. May we therefore look to Him, trust Him, and live not for our own glory, but for the glory of the One who gave His Son for us.
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