Then God Spoke

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

The Gospel of John 

August 30, 2024

Then God Spoke

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

John  12: 27-28

At the end of John 11 (August 26), I asked you to pause and try and put yourself in Jesus’ sandals. What was he thinking and what emotions was he feeling as he contemplated a final visit to Jerusalem. Our passage for today tells us that Jesus’ soul was deeply troubled. The other Gospels wait until Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane to tell us that Jesus was deeply troubled. Jesus, the Word made flesh, the one who turned water into wine, who healed the royal official's son and the paralytic, who fed the five thousand and walked on water, who healed the man born blind and raised Lazarus from the dead, was deeply troubled in his soul. Jesus’ reference to being lifted up is not the stuff of a simple praise chorus like “Lord, I lift your name on high”; Jesus was nailed to the cross and then lifted high. Yet only one thing was on Jesus’ heart, “Father, bring glory to your name” (John 12:28a). Then God spoke: “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again” (John 12:28b).

Jesus’ prayer is not for the faint of heart, and most of the people present with him didn’t understand what was happening. Even so, Jesus invited them to follow him on his final steps to his cross. Today, those who come seeking the Kingdom of God will find that Jesus is still lighting the way for his disciples.

My Takeaway: Cheryl and I incorporate Jesus’ prayer into our lives each morning when we pray, “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name.” 

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.