Thought from today’s Bible reading from Mark 11; John 12.
“And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit’” (John 12:23-24).
The time for Jesus to be glorified was approaching. But how was He going to be glorified? Many of the Jews were looking for their Messiah to defeat the Romans and rule over a physical kingdom from Jerusalem. But this was not the divine plan. Instead, as Jesus indicated here, it would involve death.
“‘Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).
The hour in which Jesus would be glorified was to be a troubling time. Would a conquest of the Romans and coronation to follow be described as troubling? No, that would be a time of rejoicing. So what did Jesus mean about this hour in which He would be glorified? What was His purpose in coming to this hour?
“‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die” (John 12:32-33).
Jesus made it clear that He was going to die on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth, in order to fulfill His purpose in coming here. His death on the cross was not an accident; it was part of God’s “predetermined plan” (Acts 2:23).
Those who believe that Jesus came to earth in order to establish a physical kingdom – but failed in doing so – have missed the point of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ purpose in coming to the earth was to die on the cross (Matthew 16:21; Philippians 2:5-8). He was determined to do this (John 10:17-18). We can praise God for the fact that He did die on the cross and made salvation possible for each one of us (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7).
Tomorrow’s reading: Matthew 22; Mark 12
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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