that you might be glorified

7/26/2019 That You Might Be Glorified

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That You Might Be Glorified with Him

(John 13:31-38)

I. Introduction.A. Orientation.

This morning, we saw

Jesus prediction

That one of His own disciples

Would betray Him.

But we also saw

That prediction had a purpose:

It wasnt to reveal the traitor,

But to convince the disciples

Who He really is: God in our nature.

This was important

Not only for their salvation

Jesus did say, For unless you believe that I amHe,

You will die in your sins (John 8:24)

But also to assure them

That what He promised them was true

Both of their interest in heaven

Through faith in His name,

As well as His presence with them

As they went out to offer


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This relationship with Jesus to others.

B. Preview.

This evening, we see

There was also a purpose behind the betrayal itself:

It was that Jesus would be crucified,

But that He would be crucified for three reasons:

1. That He might glorify His Father.

2. That His Father in turn might glorify Him.

3. And that He might bring us to glory.

This is what we see in this passage.

II. Sermon.

A. First, Jesus was betrayed that He might glorify His Father.

John writes in verses 31-32, Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is

the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in

Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.

Jesus betrayal was set in motion

Now that Judas was gone

He was headed to the chief priests

To see how much they would give him

For telling them

Where they could find Jesus

Away from the crowds

So that they might kill Him.


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As we were reminded this morning,

This was the Fathers plan all along:

That Jesus would be handed over to His enemies

That they might put Him to death.

But why did Jesus have to die?

For the three reasons already mentioned:

The first was that He might bring honor to His Father.

But how does Jesus excruciating and shameful death

Bring glory to God?

We need to remember

That everything God has done

Or will do in the future

He has done for His glory

To show us what He is like:

How great and powerful He is,

How wise and understanding,

How merciful and gracious,

How just and righteous

This is His purpose behind it all.

Paul writes, For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him bethe glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11:36).

He created all that He has for His glory.

He ordained the Fall for His glory.


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And He sent Jesus to do what was necessary

To redeem mankind for His glory.

Creation gave God the stage

On which He would reveal Himself,

And an audience to see it.

The Fall brought about the condemnation of all men,

So that He might reveal His grace and His justice.

And the work Jesus did at the cross

Allowed Him to display that grace and justice.

The Father could not forgive anyone

He could not show His mercy and grace to anyone

Unless His justice was first satisfied.

If God was to forgive us,

Someone had to pay for our crimes:

Thats what Jesus did on the cross

For all who trust Him.

In Jesus suffering and death

Gods justice was fully satisfied

At the cross, His justice was displayed

Everyone could see


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That He is a God who takes sin seriously

That every crime will be justly punished.

But His grace was also on display

Jesus didnt deserve to suffer and die;

He hadnt committed any sins;

He was spotless and blameless.

Gods grace was displayed

In that He sent His Son

And His Son willingly came

To take the place of everyone

Who would look to Him in faith

To save them from Gods justice

That He would suffer and die in their place.

Gods grace was glorified

In that He so loved the world

That He gave His only begotten Son

To save all who trust in Him (John 3:16).

This is the first reason Judas betrayed Jesus:

That the Father might magnify

Both His justice and grace

Through the death of His Son.


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B. Second, Jesus was betrayed that His Father in turn might glorify Him.

Again, we read in verses 31-32, Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, Nowis the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in

Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.

Jesus was already infinitely glorious

In His divine nature

Since He is God,

Theres nothing that could be added to it.

But the same wasnt true of His human nature.

Notice Jesus says here,

Now is the Son of Manglorified

In that nature,

He could receive glory.

And thats exactly

What the Father gave Him

For revealing His glory.

Though we think of the cross

As a time when the Father

Revealed only His wrath against His Son,

We should also note that it was here

That He glorified Him:

By supporting Jesus through it

This was the only reason


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His human nature could hold up

Under Gods full wrath against our sins.

By allowing Jesus to conquer His enemy and ours

It was at the cross,

That He delivered a crushing blow to the devil

By taking back what rightfully belonged to Him (Gen. 3:15).

The Father glorified His Son

By allowing Him to purchase a people

That would be His possession

For the rest of time

Including you,

If youre trusting Him this evening.

The Father would yet glorify Jesus

When He raised Him from the dead:

That was the Fathers declaration

That He received the sacrifice

His Son made for our sins

For the sins He was bearing that were not His own,

For the sins that killed Him and put Him in the grave.

When that payment was received

Death could no longer hold Him,


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And He broke free from its chains.

The Father would further glorify Him

By taking Him up into heaven,

Seating Him at His right hand,

Giving Him all power and authority over heaven and earth

To rule over all things for the good of His kingdom,

And in giving Him the right

To judge His enemies on the Last Day

And to receive His own children/His bride

As His reward forever.

Jesus was betrayed that the Father might glorify Him.

C. Finally, Jesus was betrayed that He might bring us to glory.

1. Jesus was going to die,

And afterwards be raised and ascend into heaven.

But what would happen to His disciples?

They would not be able to follow Him.

John writes in verse 33, Little children, I am with you a little while longer.

You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, Where I am

going, you cannot come.

But that didnt mean they could never come.

We read in verse 36, Simon Peter said to Him, Lord, where are You going?

Jesus answered, Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will followlater.


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It wasnt yet their time.

They had to stay and finish their work

As Jesus had first to finish His

And then they would follow Him

To receive their reward

As the Lord went to receive His.

Jesus was going to prepare a place for them,

And He would soon return to bring them there.

He will tell them in 14:2-3, In My Fathers house are many dwelling places; ifit were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go

and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that

where I am, there you may be also.

He went, not only prepared a place for them,

But for us as well.

And as it was for them,

So it is for us:

We cant follow Him now,

And wont be able to

Until the work He has for us on earth is done.

But once it is, we will join them in heaven

Where we will also enjoy the reward

He has promised to us.

And understanding what James says,

That we are just a vapor that appears for a little while


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And then vanishes away (4:14),

It will be sooner than we think.

2. How can we know were going to make it?

Jesus just told us

That we will follow Him later,

If we trust Him and are obeying Him now.

But how do we know

We wont fall away?

Thats one of the reasons

The Lord gave us this example of Peter

Here He shows us

That even if we fall so far away

That we deny Him,

He will still never let go of us.

We read in verses 37-38, Peter said to Him, Lord, why can I not follow You

right now? I will lay down my life for You. Jesus answered, Will you lay

down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow untilyou deny Me three times.

Peter thought his commitment to Jesus was so strong

That he would gladly have laid down his life for Him.

Thankfully, his salvation didnt depend

On the strength of his love,


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But on the strength of Jesus love for him

As does ours.

Far from laying down his life for Jesus,

He would soon deny three times

That he even knew Him.

There are times when we think our love

Is stronger than it actually is,

But we end up failing Him as well.

At times like that

We need to be reminded

That the love that moved God

To send His Son into the world

To die for us when we were His enemies

Wont let us go now that we are His friends (Rom. 5:6-11).

In Lukes Gospel,

We find that Jesus had something else

To say to Peter on this occasion:

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demandedpermission to sift you like wheat;

but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once youhave turned again, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31-32).

Peter would fail, as Jesus said

Peter would deny three times that he knew Jesus

But by Gods grace, he would also turn back


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And the Lord would use him

To build up His church.

The Lord went to the cross to save us.

And having saved us, He prays for us (1 John 2:1),

So that no power in heaven or earth

Can ever separate us from His love (Rom. 8:38-39).

3. And speaking of love,

We see here again

The command Jesus often repeated

Of what we are to do for one another

While were finishing our work here on earth:

He says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even asI have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that

you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (vv. 34-35).

Jesus was about to be betrayed

That He might lay down His life

And bring us to glory.

He calls us to follow His example

In laying down our lives for one another in love.

This is our greatest testimony

To the reality and power of Jesus love for us

And for all mankind.


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May the Lord grant that we might do so. Amen.

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that you might be glorified

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