The cross is the place of glory

April 15, 2021

13:1-35 Loving one another, just as Jesus loves us

Read John 13:31-33

The coming of Jesus from God into the world was the supreme revelation of God’s glory (1:14). God’s glory “is a visible manifestation of his majesty in acts of power” (R.E. Brown) and so the miracles of Jesus were signs of that glory (2:11; 11:40; 17:4). Yet most of all, the glory of Jesus is revealed through his death. The resurrection was the mightiest act above all others, but John sees the whole of Jesus’s passion, death and resurrection as the same “hour” in which the Son of God would be especially glorified (31-32; 12:23,28; 17:1).

Several times throughout this gospel, Jesus had said clearly, “My time has not yet come” (2:4; 7:6-8; 8:20). Just as the coming of some Greeks had been a sign to him that his death was now very near (12:20,23), so the going out of Judas was likewise a key moment that confirmed it (31a). And on both these occasions, Jesus understood that this would bring about glorification for him and also for the Father (12:28). The words “now” (31) and “at once” (32) emphasise that indeed the time for that had come.

So, with much affection (“my children), Jesus began the teaching that would prepare his disciples for his departure and for the work which they would then go on to do (33). The cross was a place of glory because it was there that his saving work was accomplished. This opened the way for his own glorious return to the Father (13:1). But his return marked the beginning, not the end, of his work, for the glory of the cross is that it also opened up the way for people everywhere to come to him (10:15-16). In the teaching that follows, Jesus instructed and equipped his disciples (and us) to take that news to the world.