'Father,
Glorify Thy Name'
P. Ben [March 2017]
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In this sublime passage of the word of God (John 12), we
have before us the glory of our Lord as the Son of Man (John 12:23, 34). In
John 11, it is the glory of Christ as the Son of God (John 11:4, 27). In John
11, it is the glory of Christ as the Son of God on earth, and as being sent by
the Father (John 11:42). In John 12, it is the glory of Christ as the Son of
Man on earth, and as being given the divine purpose of death and resurrection
to be fulfilled in His Person (John 12:42, 32).In John 11, we read of the
glorious work of the Son of God in thanking the Father and revealing His
communion with the Father in a manifest open way, so that others might believe
(John 11:42). In John 12, it was the Father who revealed His voice, so that
others might know of the coming events of great importance (John 12:30).
In John 12, we find Jesus, the Son of Man in the context of
the Passover feast. The hour was come for Him to be glorified but it is the
hour of His suffering! (John12:23, 27). It is the glory that is wrought in His
great sufferings. There are two addresses to the Father in this chapter- one,
which was to be delivered from that hour of suffering (John 12:27) and second,
was that the Father’s Name should be glorified (John 12:28).
The second one, which was: ‘Father, glorify thy name’ was
followed by a voice from heaven. It said, that ‘I have both glorified it, and
will glorify it again’. The first time, was the reference to John 11, where
Lazarus was raised from the dead. The second one, is
to be Christ’s resurrection from among the dead. The first time, it
demonstrated that Christ, was the Son of God who had
come to earth, to demonstrate God’s power among men under the relationships of
the law. The second one, was to bring a new economy of
dealings- the grace dispensation, where the world is judged under the law, so
that the world can be saved under grace*
*This two fold character of accomplishment on the cross is
significant, which is that the world according to the requirements of the law
and nature has been set aside in judgment and that the only way opened up for
man, is the acceptance of the grace of God by faith. The judgment of the world
was in v31, ‘Now is the judgment of this world…’, but the fountains of grace
for the whole world is revealed in the next verse v32, ‘And I, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me’. It is this two fold nature of
the cross work, that the voice heard was a thunder (v29). It was a voice, a
voice excellent in declaring the glory of Himself as having purposed for the
salvation of men in grace, the atonement made by His Son on the cross, but it
was also a thunder, in judgment against the world of law (the law, given by
angels, and hence some heard it as an angel’s voice), and Satan^ being its
prince (John12:31).
^It is important not to forget the essence of the Passover
feast, as the entire chapter had to its context the approaching feast (John 12:20).
The feast of the Passover had for its focus, the deliverance of the Jews from
servitude under Pharaoh. But, here it is Satan (John12:31), the prince of the
world who is the Pharaoh of cruelty and the merciless tyrant of famished souls
of men. And the one who follows Christ, becomes His
servant; but the servitude under Satan (as the nation under Pharaoh) is not for
the servant of Christ, but for those who do not follow Christ. And the servant
of Christ, will be where He is: ‘…and where I am, there shall also my servant
be’. But, Christ cannot be under death, since He has passed through it into the
glory of His resurrection. And, those who are His,
remain where He is, which is to say, they too pass from death into life being
in Him! In essence, this is the true Passover. Satan’s cruel bondage, which is
the fear of death is no more a fear for those in Christ (Heb 2:15). But the
world is judged as was