Shared Glory?

[reading time 2:00]

One of the NT passages that is so compelling and interesting to me is the sequence of statements and claims that Jesus makes in John Chapters 8-10. The drama of the storyline is so gripping. The very strong reactions of the Jewish leadership make sense in light of what Jesus is actually proclaiming about Himself, the world, and His mission and purposes. One place I read today is a show-stopper for sure.

John 10:31-33

“…his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me? We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

A few thoughts.

Surely there are mixed motives here, but the good side of what the Jewish leaders are trying to protect, is God’s good Name. They see Jesus’ claims to divinity, any share of “god-ness”, as a detraction from the glory of the One who revealed Himself as uniquely God to their ancestors, so many years ago.

What they struggled to grasp, and maybe reasonably so, was that this glory of YHWH (the pre-existent One) could be shared, co-exercised within the Trinity, without any dilution of it at all. In fact, the fuller expression of this glory was now being revealed, in the fulness of time, through the Son and the Spirit.

Revolutionary, yes. Revelatory, absolutely.

So, what’s our application to a bigger worship?

Pretty straightforward, actually. We worship Jesus because He is fully God. That worship should increasingly look like everything, all the time because He, as God, is fully and uniquely deserving of…it all. Paul gets at this idea in the very first paragraphs of his letter to the Church in Colossae.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Col. 1:15-16

Everything. All the time. We like to talk about this in terms of words, choices, and actions. All laid before Christ as an offering. All for His divine glory, shared—mysteriously but fully—among Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Jewish leaders in John 10 seemed to miss this. We’ve been given the gracious opportunity to respond differently.

Let’s go bigger.