Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson and the Old Testament, especially these words from John, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Thus far our text.
Now is the time! The Hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Finally after six long weeks of Lent. Finally after waiting in eager but somber expectation, the hour is here. In a few short days, Jesus will be brought to trial, be found guilty falsely, and be murdered by sinful people. Sinful people, like you and me. Sinful people who love the glory of the world more than the glory of God.
We know what the glory of the world is friends, don’t we? We know what things and which people we look up to. The glory of the world is all about me, me, me. It is all about what I want. All about what I desire. The glory of this world is what I can do and make for myself. I want a nice new house, just like I have seen on TV. I want a nice cushy job where I get more days off than I have to work. I want the nicest looking stylish clothing. And I want all of these things so that I can compare myself to others. “Look at me! Look how great I am! Look how much better I am than that poor person there! Aren’t I glorious?”
Not only do we compare ourselves with those around us, but we often times like to put those other people down, so that we ourselves are elevated. We criticize others. We judge them, all so that we can feel better about ourselves. And in doing this, we try to glorify ourselves. Anytime you judge someone else you make yourself God, you make yourself the ultimate judge. When you say, “I am better than this person,” you say, “I don’t care what you say God, I will be judge here.”
Friends the reason we do this, the reason we look to earthly glory is because we know that we have fallen short of what God’s Glory is. We have not fulfilled what God would have had us do in our lives. From the very moment of our conception, we were turning against our Lord and Creator. From the very moment our life begins, we are looking to glorify ourselves, rather than to glorify God. We are sinners, we are self-glorifiers, and we are always, ALWAYS put ourselves first.
We even try to push that picture of glory upon God. Today we welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, not so that he can suffer. Not so that he can save us, but rather to be our earthly ruler and our earthly dictator. In our Gospel lesson the people ask Jesus, “Aren’t you going to be around forever? Scripture says the Christ will be around forever. Aren’t you going to be our eternal earthly ruler? Aren’t you going to have earthly glory as your ruler over us?
But God has a different picture of glory. God doesn’t look at glory through human eyes, looking at wealth or fame or power. God looks at glory the way it is described in our Old Testament lesson, and the way that it is fulfilled by Jesus. Isaiah writes, “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” Friends this is what Jesus did to glorify God. He gave up his life in your place. This very morning we celebrate his riding into Jerusalem to suffer and to die, to be lifted up on a cross having had his beard torn, he flesh opened with whips and thorns, and to hang there for you naked for all the world to see. This is not our earthly picture of glory, but it is how God glorifies himself.
Glory, not because Jesus is rich, but because he becomes poor for you. Glory, not because Jesus jesus had the best clothes, but rather because he was willing to have sinful men cast lots for the clothes stripped from his back. Glory not in an earthly mansion, but dying for you to bring you to his eternal home. Now is the hour! Now is the time, because this very week we see God’s glory, the glory of the cross.
And as Jesus suffers and dies, our text says he draws all men and women and children to himself. He draws them to himself saying, “Give up your earthly glory. It is only a shadow of true Glory, the glory that I give to you having received it on Calvary. Come to me, and I will give you glory that lasts forever, glory in baptism as you are clothed with my own righteousness. I will give you glory as here you partake in my suffering and death, eating my body and drinking my blood for your eternal life. Come to me, and I will give you glory, not as the world understands it, but rather in my own suffering and death.
Father, Glorify your Name! Glorify it as you save us poor miserable sinners, even as we put you to death. Glorify your name, as you bring Christ back to life, the first born of all of us who in faith also will receive life and salvation. Glorify your name, as your Son loves each and every one of us who betrayed him and handed him over to death. Now is the time. The hour is here for the Son of man to be lifted up, high for all to see on a cross. Give us the glory of Good Friday, and grant that we may share in it, and the life that it gives. For that is what your promise us. Amen.
