Tag Archives: glory

The Glorification of God and Jesus

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Liturgical Year C. The gospel is taken from John 13:31-35. Previously we explored the meaning of “glory” and “glorification” as a prelude to considering our gospel text. Let’s begin:

31 When [Judas] 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 he will glorify him at once.

The immediate reference to Judas’ departure, like the coming of the Greeks (12:20-23), signals to Jesus that a new stage of the glorification has been reached. The betrayal has begun, and so “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” These verses are difficult to translate and understand. The verb “to glorify” (doxazo) occurs five times in these two verses. And of those five occurrences the verb appears three times in a form (aorist) that is used for a one-time event in the past – except one one aorist occurrence is connected with “now” (v.31). The next two occurrences are future. There are also the active and passive voices mixed in there along with “him” five times.

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Glory

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Liturgical Year C. The gospel is taken from John 13:31-35. Our short text can be divided into three parts:

  • vv. 31-32 – the glorification of God and Jesus
  • v. 33 – Jesus’ departure
  • vv. 34-35 – the commandment to love.

Before we delve into the text itself, we should perhaps consider the word “glory.” If asked, what would you give as a definition? Merriam Webster reflects on the definition in all the ways the word is used in the common palance: glory – renown, magnificence, exaltation, achievement, and more. When speaking of God, at best, these seem to linger on the edge of meaning, but not approach the heart of the matter.

If we turn to the Hebrew scriptures to discover what is meant by God’s glory, we quickly find it is not a single, well-defined concept. In fact, it is probably best to treat the word as something of a cipher, a term used to point to the ineffable qualities of God. In the OT kabod is perhaps the most important of many related words and refers in its root meaning to what is weighty, important or impressive. That would certainly apply to the people’s experience of God’s interactions in the world; not a direct experience but an experience nonetheless.

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Ransom

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45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As a follow on to Pheme Perkin’s discussion about ransom  (lytron) and its meaning as the price paid to free a slave, Matt Skinner offers additional insight:

Jesus’ mention of a “ransom” indicates that his death will be more than just an inspiring example or a martyr’s tragic protest against an unjust system. The word in question (in Greek, lytron) indicates that his death does something; it secures a release. This verse often sparks lively debates, and it has a history of, in my opinion, being misunderstood by those who take the notion of a “ransom” to mean a specific type of payment. In those readings, Jesus’ death is transactional, a payment made to satisfy the penalties accrued by human sin or to repay something owed to God. Continue reading →

The Others Disciples

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This coming Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Year B of the lectionary cycle. In previous posts we have explored the request for glory from the Apostles James and John, Jesus answer, the reaction of the other disciples and a subsequent teaching from Jesus on servant leadership: Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; 44 whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.  Continue reading →

Jesus’ Reply

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This coming Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Year B of the lectionary cycle. In previous posts we have explored the request for glory from the Apostles James and John: ““Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mark 10:37). Jesus has questioned if they really understand what they are asking and its consequences:  “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” To which the two apostles respond: “We can.”  Continue reading →

Tone and Symbolism?

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This coming Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Year B of the lectionary cycle. It is a familiar story in which James and John seek glory: ““Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mark 10:37). In our previous post, Jesus has answered them “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Continue reading →

On the Way

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This coming Sunday is the 29th Sunday in Year B of the lectionary cycle. It is a familiar story in which James and John seek glory: ““Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” (Mark 10:37)

The tenth chapter of Mark has been especially dense with preparing the disciples for the time when Jesus will no longer be with them as their teacher. Jesus will enter Jerusalem at the beginning of Mark Chapter 11. The terrible fate that Jesus has already predicted for himself awaits even as he strives to have the disciples more fully understand the meaning of the Kingdom. At a certain level, this scene is déjà vu – didn’t Jesus just have a discussion with the disciples regarding the true meaning of greatness as service to the least among us? Hasn’t he already told them that the path of discipleship will consist, not just of demonstrations of power (healing and casting out demons), but also one in which one “must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (8:34) Did they not draw any broader conclusion about the nature of the kingdom in Jesus’ exchange with the rich man (10:17-31)? Continue reading →

The Focus of the Commandment

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Year C of the Lectionary Cycle. In yesterday’s post we explored a possible understanding of Jesus’ command to love each other. Today continue to read O’Day  reflection (734):

To interpret Jesus’ death as the ultimate act of love enables the believers to see that the love to which Jesus summons the community is not the giving up of one’s life, but the giving away of one’s life. The distinction between these prepositions is important, because the love that Jesus embodies is grace, not sacrifice. Jesus gave his life to his disciples as an expression of the fullness of his relationship with God and of God’s love for the world. Jesus’ death in love, therefore, was not an act of self-denial, but an act of fullness, of living out his life and identity fully, even when that living would ultimately lead to death. …

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The Commandment to Love

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Year C of the Lectionary Cycle. In yesterday’s post we explored a possible understanding of Jesus’ departure reference. Today we explore the last of the three parts of this very short reading: the Commandment to Love. 34 I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. 35 This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Continue reading →

The Departure

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Year C of the Lectionary Cycle. In yesterday’s post we explored a possible understanding of Jesus’ reference to “glorification.” Today we explore the second of the three parts of this very short reading. Referring again to his imminent departure, Jesus said to his disciples, “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you” (v.33). Continue reading →