Scripture Reading: John 12:20-28
Scripture Focus:
“Jesus
replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
John 12:23
(NIV)
What did
Jesus mean by saying “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”? My
research has shown me something I should have learned a long time ago but
didn’t. “The Greeks and Jews took it to mean that subjected kingdoms would
grovel before the conqueror’s feet; by glorified
he meant crucified. When the Son of
Man was mentioned they thought of the conquest of God’s armies of God; he meant
the conquest of the cross.” 1
Jesus
told the people, including the disciples, that he would die several times but
they chose to interpret his words to their liking. Is it any wonder the
disciples felt betrayed and disillusioned when Jesus’s words came to pass?
The
people who heard Jesus say these difficult things are no different from those
of us who live in the 21st Century. We have something in us that sometimes makes
us hear what we want to hear.
King
Solomon gives us sage advice when he tells us to, “Trust in the Lord with all
your heart and lean not on your understanding.”(Proverbs 3:5, NIV) Think on
this thought as we go through the Lenten season. Have we watered down God’s
message to us by applying our thoughts to the message God has for us?
Should we wait and look at these words, as He would want us
to?
_____________
1. Daily Study Bible, the Book of John, Vol. 2 by William
Barclay Westminster Press © 1975 page 123