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In the gospel of John there
is no story of the agony in the garden. Instead John tells us that
Jesus struggled with his passion in terms of glorifying the Father.
Jesus understood himself to be the New Covenant described by Jeremiah.
In this New Covenant the law would be written in peoples' hearts and not
on stone. The New Covenant was not a list of prohibitions, but an
invitation to live the very life of God, himself. Jesus knew that this
New Covenant, like the former covenant, would be sealed in blood. This
time it was not to be the blood of sheep, goats, or oxen, it was to be
sealed in the blood of the Son of Man.
It must have been a terrifying time for Jesus as he sought to understand
how pouring out his life on the cross could glorify the Father. John
shares some of Jesus' insights with us. “Unless a grain of wheat falls
to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat... the one who
loves his life loses it... my soul is troubled now.”
In this context Jesus heard
his Father's voice, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” At
the most important moments of his life Jesus experienced the voice of
the Father- at his baptism, at the transfiguration, and again as he was
about to undergo his passion and death.
Jesus lived a life of prayer and service. He understood that this life
would eventually lead to God's glory. He also understood that the way to
glory was through suffering and death on the cross.
In the end the cross equals glory. Can it be any different for us?
Jesus’ life of love and service did not prevent him from suffering or
dying. He showed us that a life lived in loving service is a life lived
to its fullness in joy. That life is glorified when it is lived out all
the way through death. Only when we die with Christ can we rise with
him.
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