Jesus Shines in Glory Among His Eleven DisciplesBible World
13:31John 13:31
Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
After Judas left the upper room to betray Him, Jesus declared that the time had now come for Him to be glorified and for God to be glorified in Him, and that God would glorify Him without delay. His glorification was His humiliation, suffering and approaching death, which revealed God's glory and made the purpose of His mission plain. With the traitor gone the restraint upon His last interview with His disciples alone was lifted, and He spoke with tender affection and radiant cheer, looking past the coming ordeal to His joy in glorifying His Father's name. The teaching He then gave plainly expresses God's will for His people, and when it is lived out it makes them one with Christ and with one another so they can stand united against dissension and trial. As He was strengthened to endure betrayal and the cross, so His faithful people will be revived and strengthened to share that glory and reflect its light as they pass through their final conflict.
Setting and Meaning
The declaration came the moment Judas went out from the upper room to betray Jesus to His enemies in Jerusalem and carry out Satan's mission, abandoned by God. When he was gone, Jesus said that now the Son of man is glorified and God is glorified in Him. He added that God would glorify Him in Himself, and would do so immediately and soon. These words belong to His parting address and final interviews with His disciples alone as He neared His crucifixion. They were spoken while preparing them for the trials ahead, before He told them of His coming separation from them.
The traitor's presence had placed a painful restraint upon Jesus during that sacred last interview, seen in guarded sayings that they were not all clean and that He spoke not of them all. With Judas gone that restraint was lifted. Jesus became cheerful, radiant and transfigured, with divinity shining through humanity and exalted above everything earthly. He spoke with tenderest affection like an irrepressible living spring of water, wasting no words on the traitor or on the dreadful ordeal and solitary suffering ahead though separation was near. The disciples beheld Him with admiration and love, catching His bright beams, losing all contention and desire to be first, and receiving from every word a sense of co-partnership with Him.
The glorification of which He spoke was His humiliation, suffering and impending death. He turned the disciples' attention to the purpose of His mission, for His death would reveal God's glory and glorify the Father's name in Him. This was His joy and the great object He kept before Him. The disciples did not fully understand these words until after the resurrection.
That glory was displayed at the transfiguration, where the Father glorified Jesus. There He was strengthened before His betrayal and crucifixion to endure His final sufferings.
Instruction and Unity
The saying stands within the instruction of John 13 through John 17, which sets forth God's will for His people. John 13 is named among the chapters that plainly express that will. Ministers are to believe its message and live it out before their fellow ministers.
That will is fulfilled as Christ makes believers one with Himself in this life and throughout eternity. When this teaching is lived out it unites believers with one another and with Christ. That unity enables God's people to stand against dissension and testing. The chapter is therefore urged for careful, prayerful study. Its account of Judas warns against betraying Christ by striving for higher position, calling instead for humility, repentance, and dependence on God.
Strength for Final Conflict
Jesus was glorified by His Father, and that glory strengthened Him in advance for betrayal and crucifixion, preparing Him to endure His final sufferings. That strengthening was displayed when the Father glorified Him at the transfiguration before those last sufferings came. In the same way the verse points to the glory God's faithful people will share as they approach their last conflict. As the third angel's message swells to a loud cry, the latter rain will revive and strengthen them to pass through the time of trouble. As they grow up into Him, the light attending that message will rest upon them and their faces will shine as they reflect its glory.
After Judas left the upper room to betray Him, Jesus declared that the time had now come for Him to be glorified and for God to be glorified in Him, and that God would glorify Him without delay. His glorification was His humiliation, suffering and approaching death, which revealed God's glory and made the purpose of His mission plain. With the traitor gone the restraint upon His last interview with His disciples alone was lifted, and He spoke with tender affection and radiant cheer, looking past the coming ordeal to His joy in glorifying His Father's name. The teaching He then gave plainly expresses God's will for His people, and when it is lived out it makes them one with Christ and with one another so they can stand united against dissension and trial. As He was strengthened to endure betrayal and the cross, so His faithful people will be revived and strengthened to share that glory and reflect its light as they pass through their final conflict.
Setting and Meaning
The declaration came the moment Judas went out from the upper room to betray Jesus to His enemies in Jerusalem and carry out Satan's mission, abandoned by God. When he was gone, Jesus said that now the Son of man is glorified and God is glorified in Him. He added that God would glorify Him in Himself, and would do so immediately and soon. These words belong to His parting address and final interviews with His disciples alone as He neared His crucifixion. They were spoken while preparing them for the trials ahead, before He told them of His coming separation from them.
The traitor's presence had placed a painful restraint upon Jesus during that sacred last interview, seen in guarded sayings that they were not all clean and that He spoke not of them all. With Judas gone that restraint was lifted. Jesus became cheerful, radiant and transfigured, with divinity shining through humanity and exalted above everything earthly. He spoke with tenderest affection like an irrepressible living spring of water, wasting no words on the traitor or on the dreadful ordeal and solitary suffering ahead though separation was near. The disciples beheld Him with admiration and love, catching His bright beams, losing all contention and desire to be first, and receiving from every word a sense of co-partnership with Him.
The glorification of which He spoke was His humiliation, suffering and impending death. He turned the disciples' attention to the purpose of His mission, for His death would reveal God's glory and glorify the Father's name in Him. This was His joy and the great object He kept before Him. The disciples did not fully understand these words until after the resurrection.
That glory was displayed at the transfiguration, where the Father glorified Jesus. There He was strengthened before His betrayal and crucifixion to endure His final sufferings.
Instruction and Unity
The saying stands within the instruction of John 13 through John 17, which sets forth God's will for His people. John 13 is named among the chapters that plainly express that will. Ministers are to believe its message and live it out before their fellow ministers.
That will is fulfilled as Christ makes believers one with Himself in this life and throughout eternity. When this teaching is lived out it unites believers with one another and with Christ. That unity enables God's people to stand against dissension and testing. The chapter is therefore urged for careful, prayerful study. Its account of Judas warns against betraying Christ by striving for higher position, calling instead for humility, repentance, and dependence on God.
Strength for Final Conflict
Jesus was glorified by His Father, and that glory strengthened Him in advance for betrayal and crucifixion, preparing Him to endure His final sufferings. That strengthening was displayed when the Father glorified Him at the transfiguration before those last sufferings came. In the same way the verse points to the glory God's faithful people will share as they approach their last conflict. As the third angel's message swells to a loud cry, the latter rain will revive and strengthen them to pass through the time of trouble. As they grow up into Him, the light attending that message will rest upon them and their faces will shine as they reflect its glory.