August 2nd, 2022
Hello Crossway,
Kyle and I are taking a few weeks break from our Digging Deeper videos, so instead, at least for this week, I wanted to follow up Sunday’s message with some thoughts and some things to keep on the forefront of your mind this week from the text, John 12:27-36.
“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. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
First off, it’s incredible that Jesus is in turmoil. Kyle pointed out how jarring this term is. He’s not irritated, He’s in distress. He is God incarnate, He is perfect, He has no flaws, He knows the end as well as the beginning, and yet He is “troubled.” He is human like us.
This is abundantly comforting to me. It means that Jesus understands me. He understands what I’m experiencing. He knows the feelings, the stresses, the strains that come through life. And yet, His turmoil is not sin. He is sinless. This means I don’t have to have a perfect life, smooth like a pristine lake. No, my life can be a tempest all around me and I can still be righteous. Our Father doesn’t reject us just because we are going through a hard time. No, in fact He is with us in the storm.
As Kyle mentioned, “do you think Jesus can relate to you?” The answer is a resounding yes. We can go to Christ with our struggles and He can comfort us.
Given that He is in such turmoil, which we see clearly laid out in the Garden of Gethsemane as well, it is remarkable that He wants something more than relief from the struggle. He wants to glorify the Father more than escape from the suffering. That is an incredible passion for the Father to care more about His glory than Christ’s own pain. When life gets hard everything in me screams out for relief. It demands full attention and zealous action to relieve the problem. And yet, over and above that, Jesus places the Father’s glory. Nothing matters to Him more. Nothing can take His place. Everything is done for the sake of the Father’s glory. He places the Father over Himself.
Kyle asked us what our highest priority is. Do we cherish something above God’s glory?
In our life group we talked about how sometimes our seasons of turmoil aren’t seasons to get out of, but specifically the times through which God wants to shine brightest. He has given us this life to live and has designed our path to glorify Him.
Do you accept both who Jesus is, and the life He has chosen to give to you?
Accepting your life and God’s path for you is not saying you accept sin, abuse, corruption, falsehood, etc. Jesus was not promoting, nor condoning any of these. Instead, what He did was endure through it by looking to the higher purpose, the Father’s glory.
Remember that Jesus will ask for relief. He asks the Father to take away the cup, but ends with “but not my will but yours be done,” and that is the important point. Ultimately to accept Christ is also to accept the path He gives you.
So, are you in turmoil? Is your life causing you despair? Do you feel your soul discombobulated by the waves of life? What do you do? Where do you turn?
Many people find toxic ways of coping that solve nothing. Fighting back, oblivious ignoring it, escaping from reality. You know how you’re tempted to resolve the pain.
But instead, we are called to look to the one lifted up. As the Israelites looked upon the bronze serpent lifted on the staff, so we too, look up on the Son of God suspended above the earth, upon the wood, arms stretched out in sacrifice and embrace- both to us and the death it would cost Him to redeem us. They had to look upon the source of their terror. We look at the cross and the death it inflicted, because there we find our salvation. Through the death we deserve we gain the abundant life we do not deserve. Our gaze goes from our turmoil to the cross. Our hope is the work of the cross. Our endurance through our own tumultuous path is to emulate the cross as we die to ourselves.
How is the serpent biting you? Is your sin biting you? Is other people’s sin biting you? Is death or disease attacking you? The cross is where you look.
Ending where Kyle ended, “what kind of savior do you think you want?”
That’s a great question.
Do you want a savior who saves you from your temporary pain now? Or do you want a savior who can bring you through the fire bringing God glory in the process?
As Kyle said, Jesus is the one who can fill every void, every gap, every hole that is missing. He fulfills us.
So, if something else is captivating your heart, go back to the cross. And if you are on God’s path and your life is filled with turmoil, stay the course and keep glorifying God.
May God be glorified in us!
God Bless,
Pastor Nigel