JESUS' PATH OF GLORY

Introduction

-Let me ask you a question: What is the way to glory? What is it that garners prestige and honor and reputation? What is it that is most important in life?

-I’m starting this morning with what seems to be deep philosophical questions, but they are important. The way you answer those questions goes a long way in revealing what is in your heart.

-You see, as I made mention last week, there is God’s way of doing things and then there is all the other way of doing things. There’s God’s way of handling crisis, and then there are all the other ways. There’s God’s way of living life, and then there are all the other ways.

~If you are a Christian, you strive to do God’s work in God’s way with Christ at the center.

-So, for what I want to talk about today, there is the world’s way of gaining glory, but then there is God’s way of gaining glory.

~The world says that the way toward glory is to live for self, to follow lock-step in what the world says is moral and ethical (and don’t have a differing opinion), to seek fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, to walk over whoever you need to in order to get what you want, to lie and cheat and steal if need be, all so that you can gain glory from other human beings.

~This is epitomized by the Hollywood elite, the New York power brokers, the sports heroes of our day and age—they say THIS IS GLORY

-Unfortunately, their idea of glory is very fleeting. Where does their glory go when they die? Where does their glory go if they go broke? Where does their glory go when they are no longer the center of the tabloid press?

-What we find in our passage today is that the path of glory that Jesus took and demonstrated is completely against the world’s standards for glory. And yet, Jesus’ path of glory is the only one that is stable, secure, and lasts for eternity. And He calls on us to follow that path.

-May that be a choice we make today, to follow Jesus in His path of glory.

John 13:31–38 ESV

31 When he had gone out, 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 glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

-We notice three aspects of Jesus’ path of glory:

1) The glory of the cross

-To give you some context—Jesus had just washed the feet of the apostles during the Passover Supper, and revealed that there was a betrayer among them. He told Judas to do quickly what he was going to do, so Judas left. Jesus begins what is often called His final discourse (thru Ch. 16)—some last instructions for His apostles before His crucifixion.

-Jesus begins the discourse by telling them that Jesus is going to be glorified, and when He is glorified, God the Father will be glorified in Him.

-The apostles, most likely, think of the glorification as the time of Jesus rising to the kingship of Israel, destroying their enemies, so that the nation could rise to its own glory and power and prominence in the world.

-There again is the world’s idea of glory—power and prestige and influence. The apostles thought that they would help Jesus rule over an earthly kingdom.

-But before they get all their hopes up with all this talk of glory, Jesus explains further in v. 33 that this glory entails Him going away to a place they cannot come. Jesus is referring to His death on the cross, His resurrection, and His ascension. No one else would be able to do this other than Jesus. Nobody else would be able to pay for the world’s sins—this is something that He has to do alone.

-As with most things Jesus said, this goes completely over the apostle’s heads which you will notice more as this final discourse progresses. Why would Jesus go somewhere that they can’t go? That makes no sense.

-But Jesus is talking about the fact that the glory He speaks of in vv. 31-32 can only be achieved through the cross. Jesus would die like a common criminal and be buried, and the world and the devil will think they have triumphed. But without this path, without Jesus going to this place where no one else can go, there is no reconciling man to God. The cross is the only route to take.

-There goes the whole idea of some sort of glamour and prestige of bringing a revolution against Rome. There goes the whole idea of having an earthly throne. All the worldly ideas of glory are thrown out. The cross is usually no path to glory—it’s a path to shame. And yet, that is the path…

-In the ever-famous hymn that Paul gives in Philippians 2, Paul lays out this path for us:

Philippians 2:5–11 (ESV)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

-You notice this path: emptying of self, form of a servant, humble obedience to God, and death on the cross. The exact opposite of the world.

~But then Paul says because Jesus took this path through the cross, Jesus would be exalted, Jesus would be given the name above all names, every knee would bow to Him, and every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord. And as Jesus is glorified in this way, then God the Father is glorified in this way. Paul and John are describing the same path.

-But then Jesus tells us that this is our path as well—if we want Him to get glory and we want to share in His glory, we have to go through the cross. This means not only trusting in Christ’s death on the cross, but then taking our self and our ego and our pride and our self-reliance and general self-centeredness to the cross to die so that we no longer live for ourselves.

-This is why Jesus says:

Luke 14:27 (ESV)

27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

-And Paul reiterates a similar notion:

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

-So, Jesus’ path of glory, and thereby our path, goes through the glory of the cross

2) The glory of the church

-Jesus goes on to share with His apostles what in the church will give Him the most glory—the path that the church can take that demonstrates they are sharing in Christ’s glory

-In v. 34 Jesus gives them a commandment. Jesus calls it a NEW commandment. That may seem odd at first, because we know that the two greatest commandments that are given in the Old Testament are to love God and to love people.

~But what makes it new is not that the commandment itself is something no one ever heard of or thought about. What makes it new is the extent to which Jesus says to love.

-Because the original commandment as found in in Leviticus and then repeated by Christ in His interaction with the crowds is to love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.

~We would think this would be sufficient because, let’s face it, we love ourselves a lot. There is not anyone we probably love more, no matter how much we would protest or put on a façade. We love ourselves—so love others in that way.

-But what does Jesus say in this passage:

Love one another JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!!! The extent of our love is to mirror that of Jesus Christ. We are to love others in the same manner and way that Jesus loved. That brings things to a whole new level.

-If you ever play video games, you know that the first several levels are pretty easy in the game. But the more you play, and the more levels you pass, the harder the levels get. But they get you to the needed skill level gradually as you work through each subsequent game level.

~Jesus didn’t gradually up the level on love. Jesus went from level 1 to level 99 quadrillion when it comes to love. Love just as Jesus loved.

-What kind of love are we called to?

a) It is a sacrificial love

John 15:13 (ESV)

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

~And this is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus, King of the Universe, could have said FORGET THESE PESKY HUMANS and lived on in the splendor of eternity. But He chose to get glory through the cross which was the greatest demonstration of love ever.

b) It is a supernatural love

-We are unable to muster enough energy to love like this. We need help, and that is where the Holy Spirit is necessary. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, loves people through us.

~This was the promise given in the Old Testament:

Ezekiel 36:26–27 (ESV)

26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

-We need a new heart to love like this. In our sinful nature we love only ourselves. And we see the people in the world that they only tend to love others who can contribute or offer them something—it’s always wrapped around self-interest. It takes a sacrificial, supernatural love to get beyond that.

-Now, within the context, it is speaking of the church—the covenant people of God. The people who make up the church are to love one another in such a manner. Jesus goes on to say that this is how people will know we belong to Jesus, because of our love for one another.

-That’s why church fighting and splitting and public disagreements damages the cause of Christ. But when the church is seen supernaturally and sacrificially loving one another, it bears testimony to the truth of the gospel.

-But it doesn’t stop there, because God so loved the world, and Jesus said to love our enemies. We don’t love only “people like us” like this. We love everybody just as Christ loved. This is where the glory is found.

-The glory of the church isn’t how many members it has. The glory of the church isn’t how many programs it runs. The glory of the church isn’t the building or the furniture. The glory of the church how it loves others.

-Jesus’ path of glory is not an easy path. Sacrificial death and unconditional love for a rebellious people. Yet, that is His path and it also is ours.

3) The glory of constraint

-You notice that the whole concept of love just went over the disciples’ head, and the first thing out of Peter’s mouth is like:

Where you going? Why can’t I go with you?

~Then Peter makes this really big boast: Lord I would lay down my life for you!

~Jesus is like: Oh really? Not only will you not lay your life down for me, you will even deny knowing me.

~Instead of Peter laying down his life for Jesus, it would be Jesus who would lay down His life for Peter

-I have no doubt that Peter had great intentions, but his boasting led to his downfall. His many words led to a lack of follow through. It would have been better for Peter just to keep his mouth shut.

-There was no constraint to Peter’s mouth. He was prideful and arrogant and self-sufficient. Jesus allowed Peter’s denial so that Peter would learn humility and to see just how weak he really was.

~There is no glory in making big claims with your mouth. We need to constrain our words.

-That is the opposite of the world. You see all these supposedly elite people making all sorts of boasts and claims because they think that their glory is found in those big words—but they all end up the same.

-Muhammad Ali said:

I’m the greatest thing that ever lived. I’m the king of the world! I’m a bad man! I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived.

~And where did all that boasting get him? He died as a Muslim without Christ. Where’s his boasting now?

-Jesus, the only one who literally ever could be boastful, never was. It’s strange, the first two boasts Ali gave are literally true of Jesus: Jesus is the greatest that ever lived, and Jesus is the king of the world.

~But Jesus didn’t reach glory through making big boasts—He only spoke truth with humility and meekness.

-Author Sloane Crosley said:

Love is not boastful. But hate? Apparently hate has a big mouth.

-The more we love self, the less we love others. The more we die to self, the more we love. That’s Jesus’ path to glory and ours.

Conclusion

-I’ll close with this:

If you were hiking and your trail came to a fork in the path. The left side of the fork looks like it has a wide path over smooth terrain through a field. The right side of the fork looks like it leads to a very narrow path that goes through rocky, mountainous terrain that would require a lot of climbing. The left path looks easy, the right path looks hard. But what you don’t know is that the left path leads to a washed out bridge that could a danger to you, while the right path leads to the summit of a mountain where you can bask in the glory of creation.

~The world looks for the broad, easy path; Jesus took and invites us to take the narrow, difficult path. But the end that it leads to is glorious.

-Christian, instead of living for self and boasting of self and seeking your own glory, seek Christ’s glory through the cross, demonstrating the love called on for the church, constraining your tongue—boast in Christ rather than self.

-But if you are not a Christian, any glory you think you may gain on earth will fade away. It will not last. The only thing that will last is the life given in Christ…