“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
he will glorify him at once.” John 13:31–32
Jesus speaks this line about Himself being glorified immediately
after Judas leaves the supper to go forth to betray Him. Jesus had
just finished washing the feet of His disciples, and soon He would
finish the Last Supper, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be
arrested, beaten and crucified. And this was to all take place
through the betrayal of one of the Twelve. Yet rather than speak of
these pending events in a fearful or anxious way, Jesus points to
the glory He will receive through them.
Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the
glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent
and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that
glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us
that gives Him glory.
The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from
a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and
horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious
leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed
Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was
betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes
alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly
taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His
glory.
When we commit ourselves to the following of Christ, we can be
assured that we will also share in His Cross. We will experience
the sins of others, encounter mistreatment, and have to endure
various sufferings. The question for us all as we have these
encounters in life is whether we will endure them in anger and
despair or with the hopeful confidence of our Lord. Again,
everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the
glory of God. Nothing in life has the power to steal away that
glory when we keep our eyes upon the will of God and His power to
use all for His glory.
Reflect, today, upon your call in life to see everything from the
divine perspective. If you are upset, angry, despairing or confused
at times, know that God wants to bring clarity and grace to every
situation. He wants to show you how you can share in His divine
mission of transforming every evil into God’s glory. Seek out the
ways that your life must give glory to God in everything,
especially those things that seem incapable of being used for good.
The more an experience in life seems incapable of being used for
God’s glory, the more that experience is capable of giving true
glory to God.
My glorious Lord, You brought forth good from all things. Even
the grave evil of Your betrayal was transformed into a
manifestation of Your glory. I offer to You, dear Lord, all that I
endure in life and pray that You will be glorified in all things,
and that my life will continually become a manifestation of the
glory due Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: The Last Supper By Philippe de
Champaigne, via Wikimedia Commons
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