Letting Go of Your Glory

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

John 8:48-59

Our days are so consumed by the world we live in, each day living for its own glory. We see the idols of our lives pinned up as the things we strive for glory in, whether it be our jobs, knowledge, families, sports teams, celebrities, relationships, or social status; you name it, we are good at making idols everywhere we go, living for our own glory and comfort. We become easily blinded and distracted by the shiny things of life and tend to cling to those before seeking the glory and truth of God. Life can easily be caught up in the ideals of the world, but Jesus calls us straight outta that. Jesus makes this clear and plain to us in the section of John 8, that we will dissect and explore from above.

When we look at the Pharisees speaking to Jesus in John 8:48-59, we see that they are still so caught up in their own knowledge and glory, they can’t perceive that, Jesus, the Son of God is standing right in front of them. Their hearts and minds currently belong to the Enemy. They are blinded by their ideals, knowledge, glory, and personal righteousness. They are blinded by the Enemy, the king of this world. They can’t see past themselves or their way of thinking to realize Jesus is for real, and came to save them too. What they think, their beliefs, are held more important than what Jesus has been doing since He began His ministry. They are so dead set on belittling Jesus that they call Him a Samaritan with a demon, which beyond just saying He has a demon. Being called a Samaritan, was a derogatory term at the time. The insult similar to saying someone wasn’t of pure blood, so basically they said He’s a tainted Jew, less than. He was considered less than them, the Pharisees; as if somehow belittling Jesus would make Him small. Jesus comes right back saying He is of the Father, living for His glory, and here to redeem all people of their sin, self righteousness, and personal glory. He tells them word for word that they can choose eternal life by accepting Him, because by accepting Him, they put their faith in God. Yet the Pharisees continue to dishonor Him, after He rebukes them. They try to throw the bible at Jesus, by saying Abraham is greater than him and so are the other prophets because of all they have said and done. They believe these people are the truth and they are greater than Jesus. They have held these amazing men of God as idols of the faith! The Pharisees haven’t been looking at God, only the men who have carried the words of Truth. They have held up these Godly men of the old testament as greater than God, because they speak of God. They have been operating out of their own righteousness and glory believing they know best because of what they have learned. The Pharisees weren’t interested in someone coming in and stealing their thunder. They were not looking for a relational God, but rather to be right and know whats best of others under the guise that it all comes from God.

Jesus rebukes them again, saying He is not living for His glory, because that holds no eternal value or weight. He says His glory comes from the Father, not from Him, and calls the Pharisees out on not knowing God. He says that His Father is the God they keep speaking of, yet they do not know Him, because if they did, they would know who Jesus is. Jesus goes as far to say that if He renounced God, and said that He was not of God, sent by Him, that He would be a liar. That is the kind of liar the Pharisees are, their actions are as bad a if Jesus denied the heavenly Father and renounced His faith. Jesus basically picks up His spiritual sword and wields it at their souls, by showing how far they have fallen by making this point. Jesus goes on to further point to His deity by stating that He knows Abraham rejoices at His coming and fulfillment of prophesy as the Son of God, and nothing less. The Pharisees have dug themselves a deep hole, and continue to attempt to make less of Christ. They accuse Him of not being old enough to have ever lived when Abraham did or having any possibility of knowing him. Jesus maintains His composure and patience rebuking them one final time. He states that He is the great I AM, the one who came before all people and stands at the beginning of time before the world was formed. So surely He knows Abraham and all that he is and what he believed. To the Pharisees this was the final straw, they couldn’t believe that Jesus would claim to be I AM, God of the universe. The Pharisees were so blinded by the world, that no matter what Jesus said, they couldn’t recognize the Truth. So instead they became angry and tried to stone Him.

Jesus leaves the scene avoiding being stoned to death by the angry group. Jesus LEFT THEM, He up and peaced out. This is HUGE, Jesus after rebuking them three times, and revealing Truth to them finally walks away knowing they were too blind. The Pharisees had given themselves over to the kingdom of the world, Satan’s kingdom. They were no longer children of God, and had already accepted the world Satan had put in front of them. Jesus could perform a miracle and just change their minds, but that isn’t Him, we are free to choose Him if we want Him and His kingdom.

We have to choose Christ daily by picking up our crosses and walking the road of Cavalry just like He did. Otherwise we risk becoming like the Pharisees, who are more interested in the comforts of the world, their doctrine based religion, personal righteousness, and general glory of self. Satan’s job is to distract us with the desires of our heart which can be fulfilled in the here and now. He knows we want it easy, simple, satisfying, and self glorifying and Satan will sneak in and distract us with just about anything that strikes our fancy. BUT if we make Christ the greatest desire of our heart, pick up our cross, walk with Him daily, take the hard path less traveled, then we glorify our heavenly Father. We bring glory to His kingdom and inherit His eternal riches as God’s sons and daughters. We are co-heirs with Christ, but first we must lay down our idols, comfort, glory, righteousness, pride, desires, and anything that does not align with the heart of Christ. God desires to commune with each of us for eternity, but we have to choose Him and His desires for our lives daily. We must come under His reign and shine in His glory so others have an opportunity to see the beauty of His kingdom. We must become self forgetful, and realize that God has the greatest plans for us, which ultimately glorify Him, and allow for more people to see Him for who He is. Our God, the steadfast, loving, trustworthy, good, eternal Father that He is. We must look upward and forward daily for direction and realize that the only life worth living is the one that let’s go of our glory, which dies in the grave. Instead we must grasp onto the glory of God, which He desires to shine through us, which is eternal.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22