Then God Spoke

August 29, 2016

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 23), 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, 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).

I believe we can rest in the absolute assurance that when we pray, Father, bring glory to your name, God will always answer our prayer with the very same words he spoke to Jesus, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” However, 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.

Sē’lah

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(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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

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.