“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” (John 14:25-28)Raised a Christian, I come wrestling, wondering if Jesus isn’t God as many Christians describe him...I acknowledge that my limited understanding prevents me from fully understanding the mystery of God’s work in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. I fully recognise Isaiah’s words: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). But, this is a matter I wrestle with.
Glorifying God
There is a vivid description of the death of a king Herod in Acts who demanded to be considered as a god by the people:The people kept shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!” And immediately, because he had not given glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:22)If Jesus rose to fame in the United States today, working miracles and healing the sick, would we praise him or give glory to God? Jesus said he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So, what did the lost sheep of Israel do when Jesus rose to fame? They did not glorify him as a god or as God. They did not carve images of him to worship or demand that others recognize him as God, but rather they gave glory to the God of Israel. It is a unique people who can receive the love of God given through one who humbly serves God, and not glorify that individual person, but instead glorify the Holy One who sent him. Here are just a few examples:
Matthew 15:31
The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Luke 5:26
Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
Luke 7:16
Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!”
Mark 2:12
He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
Luke 2:20
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Matthew 9:8
But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
Luke 13:13
Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Luke 17:18
Jesus asked, “Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"
Luke 18:43
Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Drawn by the Father
Jesus did not seek his own glory. He constantly redirected people’s questions about his miracles and works to the Father and his being sent by the Father. The living God is the God that Jesus obeyed and served and glorified. I don’t believe that he was attempting to start a new religion. Rooted in his tradition, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). These days, a Gentile version of Christianity is fully ingrained in dominant culture (as opposed to the early church described in Acts). This popular version of Christianity seems to be focused on convincing people to “convert,” proclaiming Jesus as God and having the correct religion. However, emphasizing Jesus’ teachings about being one who serves and giving glory to God is often missed in this equation. Did Jesus come for his own glory or for Christianity’s glory or for the glory of the church? In all that Jesus did, he gave glory to God. Perhaps, he wanted to show GOD’s love to the world and to teach us to serve one another.Of course, this issue is woven throughout the New Testament as people struggled to understand Jesus and his work more clearly. During Jesus’ life, many people were confused about his relationship to God. The Gospel of John describes this:
They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. (John 6:42-45)
In the face of this line of questioning, Jesus once again directs his listeners back to glorify God. He does not glorify himself. He says that if we come to him, we must be drawn to him by the Father and that all people shall be taught by God.
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord...”
During his life, there were those who were offended by Jesus’ claims about his relationship with God and wanted him killed for blasphemy. But, there were also those who tried to praise him alone and make him a king, against his wishes. Jesus humbly did not seek glory or praise from others. Certainly, he received glory. By giving glory to God, Jesus received glory from God. But, Jesus taught that the glory he received came from above, not from the world or from us. Most importantly for us, he sought to give away even this glory he received from God. Jesus prayed,The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:22-23)In all things, we are called to glorify God. We are called to be one with God. So, if we do proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Lord, we should not do it from our need to glorify ourselves, our religion, or from our human understanding of God’s ways. If we claim Jesus is Lord, we should only do it if drawn to him by God, and proclaim him as Lord only if we are led by the Holy Spirit. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he writes: “...and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). In following Jesus as Lord, we seek to give glory to God who is above all and through all and in all.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
