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I thought Jesus was always glorified, but it seems here as though the Father glorified him "at once," but also that God is glorified in Him! There are some things in scripture that we can't analyze. We have to accept them because sometimes they are revealed later, so as Luther said, we just pick up our hat and go on to something we can understand.
We can understand that Jesus did not hang around too long after he was raised. He was only there long enough to get things moving in the right direction. It took him two or three times, but eventually his disciples caught on so that he could leave. Then he gives us what seems like contradictory words: "Where I am going you cannot come." I thought we would all go to where he was going when we died. Did he mean right then while he was talking to them -- before they died? He also said in other places that we would be with him for eternity! Again we have to take up our hat and move on, but the next verse is clear, love. The hard part is for us to love others as he loved us! Look at the extreme -- the agony -- he went through to show his love for us! It is easy to love our friends, but Jesus tells us that we should also love our enemies! He even forgave those who crucified him. That makes it hard for the soldier who is called to kill our enemies! I know many soldiers who have come to me with confusion and pain over that command. I read that half of the ammunition is wasted in most of our wars, not because the soldiers are such bad shots, but because they shoot in the air. I have talked with some in the air force who admitted that they dropped their bombs in the English Channel because they did not want to bomb an area where there were schools and hospitals. I heard that from German soldiers also! You have to be taught to hate!
If we show love to others it will show that we are Jesus' disciples. It was when the Nepali saw our love that they were converted. We did not preach powerful sermons or prove our faith by quoting the Bible. They saw love in our actions to them and came to church to find out about this strange God who we said was the only true God. It was not our words but our actions that won them over. Do we show that love today wherever we are? Do we even show it to our family when there are fights? Do we show it in our workplace? Don't forget that this is not Jesus' suggestion! It is his command! So let love be the center of your life.
We can understand that Jesus did not hang around too long after he was raised. He was only there long enough to get things moving in the right direction. It took him two or three times, but eventually his disciples caught on so that he could leave. Then he gives us what seems like contradictory words: "Where I am going you cannot come." I thought we would all go to where he was going when we died. Did he mean right then while he was talking to them -- before they died? He also said in other places that we would be with him for eternity! Again we have to take up our hat and move on, but the next verse is clear, love. The hard part is for us to love others as he loved us! Look at the extreme -- the agony -- he went through to show his love for us! It is easy to love our friends, but Jesus tells us that we should also love our enemies! He even forgave those who crucified him. That makes it hard for the soldier who is called to kill our enemies! I know many soldiers who have come to me with confusion and pain over that command. I read that half of the ammunition is wasted in most of our wars, not because the soldiers are such bad shots, but because they shoot in the air. I have talked with some in the air force who admitted that they dropped their bombs in the English Channel because they did not want to bomb an area where there were schools and hospitals. I heard that from German soldiers also! You have to be taught to hate!
If we show love to others it will show that we are Jesus' disciples. It was when the Nepali saw our love that they were converted. We did not preach powerful sermons or prove our faith by quoting the Bible. They saw love in our actions to them and came to church to find out about this strange God who we said was the only true God. It was not our words but our actions that won them over. Do we show that love today wherever we are? Do we even show it to our family when there are fights? Do we show it in our workplace? Don't forget that this is not Jesus' suggestion! It is his command! So let love be the center of your life.
