We Have Seen his Glory
That You May Believe • Sermon • Submitted
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Big Idea
Big Idea
Tension: What is the glory that the Son has revealed?
Resolution: The glory, witnessed to by John, Moses, and the apostles, of the Father is shown through Christ.
Exegetical Idea: The glory that the Son has revealed, witnessed to by John, Moses, and the apostles, is of the Father.
Theological Idea: Only the Son shows us the Father’s glory, a reality to which God has provided faithful witnesses.
Homiletical Idea: As his witnesses have abundantly shown us, we see the Father’s glory through the Son.
Big Idea: As many witnesses have told us, we see the glory of the Father through his crucified Son.
Outline
Outline
Introduction: Where is the glory?
The Witnesses to His Glory:
John
bore witness and cried out - One of the most interesting thing about John’s gospel is the role John the Baptist plays. Whereas in the other gospels, John the Baptist exists to do the task of Jesus’ baptism. But in this gospel, John’s primary role is to bear witness.
“he who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.” - And we see that in terms of his posture and his preaching, John bears witness. In terms of his posture, we cannot help but see that John is a humble witness. John knows that this is not about him.
John testifies to Jesus’ preexistence, and his superiority - Specifically what we see in this testimony are these two insights that John the Baptist has, namely, that Jesus was preexistent. He was in the beginning. The second was that he was superior. That everything was about him.
We should also say this: this is particularly unique about Christianity. John the Baptist is the ideal that all Christian leaders should live up to, to make much of Jesus. Any faithful Christian leader, whether it’s Tim Keller or John Calvin or Athanasius, will say, “The spotlight should not be on me. It should be on Jesus.” How many politicians, how many religious leaders will put the spotlight on themselves, rather than on Jesus.
Moses
Moses gave the law, while “grace and truth” came through Jesus Christ. - We also see a second witness, Moses. Moses is hear the one who wrote hte law. And John isn’t meaning to disrespect Moses. As we’ll see throughout the book of John, John is a big fan of the first five books of the Bible. All that he means to say is that, like John the Baptist, Moses exists for the sake of the one who is bigger than them.
Grace upon grace - What he says here is that grace should be put on grace. Now, what he’s talking about here is the New Covenant upon the Old Covenant. So he’s saying that while God gave the first grace (aka the Old Covenant) was given through Moses, grace was given upon grace (aka the New COvenant) through Jesus
And it’s worth saying that this is how Christians should read the Bible. We should read the Old Testament for how it relates to the new. We can’t understand the Old Covenant and not see how it connects to Christ.
The Apostle
“We have seen his glory” - A third witness in this passage is the apostle. The apostle, says, we have seen his glory.
The apostle often refers to himself as the “beloved disciple.” John presents his Gospel as in part his own testimony.
ANd he often speaks for the other disciples of Jesus. So his gospel is presenting itself as eyewitness accounts of both John and others.
Eyewitness testimony - So John is very much presenting his gospel as eyewitness testimony.
The Reader
And one final witness that is implied here is the reader of the gospel. It is those who, like John have seen hsi glroy. THey’ve heard of him. THey’ve met him. And they testify to him.
That includes us. If you’re in this room and you’ve met Jesus, that includes you. You can say like John the Baptist, we have seen his glory. So what is his glory? Well that’s a good question.
The Revelation of His Glory
He was before me - Well we see because of John’s witness that whatever the glory is, Jesus had it before the time began. In fact, Jesus will later pray in John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
glory as of the only Son from the Father - Two different times in this passage, Jesus is called the “only Son.” now if you have the King James version, or if you grew up reading the King James version, you can probably guess at the translation that this is said in some translations to be the “only-begotten” God in both vs. 14 and 18. It’s the same famous word that you heard in John 3:16-18, for God so loved the world that… Now this is important to emphasize because just a minute ago he said that those who believe have the right to become children of God. But here he is saying that there is something unique about the person of Christ. That though we can be adopted as the chidlren of GOd, there is an only begotten Son.
Who is at the Father’s side in vs. 18, we are even told that he is at the Father’s side. And this word means bosom or chest. That the Son is resting with the Father. That he has an intimacy with the Father that nobody else does. And this is something that John is in total agreement with the rest of the Synoptics:
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
he has made him known - So because only the Son knows the Father, only the Son can make the Father known. This word for make known is the Greek word “exegesato”, from which we get the word “exegesis.” That Jesus draws out the Father and makes him known. Just like we read Scripture and draw out what is there, so Christ knows the Father and draws him out and interprets him to us.
And this is an immediately humble thing, because we can’ tknow the Father on our own. We need him to explain the Father to us.
The Word became flesh - We see here that the Word became flesh. Now when he says that the Word became flesh, we’re saying that he took on human nature. yet, in becoming flesh he did not forfeit his Godliness. So if you were to say is he God or man, the answer is yes. He’s not half God, half man. He’s not all God, some what man. He’s not all man, somewhat God. He’s 100% God, and 100% man.
and dwelt among us - We see here that we’re told that the Word “dwelt” among us. This word for “dwell” is actually the word “tabernacle.” So the Son “tabernacled” among us. So just like the glory of God dwelled in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, so the Word of God dwelt in the human nature of Jesus.
jesus is the new temple
full of grace and truth - Now, what does the phrase, “grace and truth” mean? Well, you maybe have heard some people say that we really need to act with grace and truth and be kind and gracious to the watching world. Now, I certainly have no problem with that. We would probably call that the right idea from the wrong text. Now, here’s why I say that. Because in the NT, the word “truth” is typically referring to the Hebrew word, emeth, or faithfulness. SO where do we see grace and faithfulness in teh Old Testament? It’s actually in Exodus 33-34.
Now, to know what Exodus 33-34 is about, you really have to have a run down of the whole book of Exodus
God uses Moses to bring plagues down on Egypt
God brings Moses and the people of Israel across the Red Sea
God gives them victory over the Amalekites
God brings them to Mount Sinai, and gives the 10 commandments
And Israel says, “all that the Lord has said, we will do.”
When Moses goes up on the mountain, what happens immediately? Immediately they say, “What happened to Moses? Hey how does a golden calf sound? You guys into that.” And it says in Ex 32:6, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
So God is not pleased, and he sends Moses down. And he tells Moses to get out of there, to go conquer the land, but he’s not going with them.
So Moses pleads with God and says, “God, I don’t want to go anywhere when you’re not with me.” And God says, “Fine, I’ll go along.” And Moses says, “God, I want to make sure your favor is with me.” And God says, “fine, Moses, my favor is with you.” And Moses says, “God, let me see your face.” And God says, Moses I can’t do that. But here’s what I will do...
And so finally, God tells Moses his name in Ex 34:6-9
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
God says to Moses, yes, I will go with you, I’ll forgive you for your sins, I’ll take you to the promised land.
Now, here’s what you need to see in the book of John, Jesus says Moses only wrote about that. Jesus was that. MOses wronte about hearing the name of the Lord pronounced before him. Jesus is hte name of the Lord in flesh.
And in teh gospel of John, tehre are all these references to the “hour of glory.” (John 2:4, 4:21, 23, 5:25, 28, 7:30, 8:20, 12:23, 27, 13:1-2, 16:21, 25, 32, 17:1). When do we see grace and truth? We see it on the cross of Christ. That is where grace and truth are the most revealed.
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
The poeple of Israel sinned against God, and God gave them his name. We sinned against God and God gave us his Son. The Israelites begged for pardon and they got presence. We beg for grace and we get glory. The Israelites looked to Sinai, we look to Golgotha. Moses got a glimpse of the glory of God. We get the glory in the Son.
Application
God shows in glory in saving you <Til We Have Faces>
We should see this as the apex of all of Scripture
We should live our lives like John the Baptist, as witnesses to the glory of God.
This means you’re going to have to live humbly.
A humble life is a happy life.