"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose 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." The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
The resolve of our Savior is compelling. His soul is troubled as he envisions being lifted up on a cross. Yet he does not seek his own salvation but understands that he has come for the salvation of the world and the glory of God. And in an amazing affirmation God the Father speaks from heaven telling all that his name would be glorified in Christ.
Expounding on his glorious death on the cross Jesus speaks of how a sinful world would be judged, the old ruler cast out and a new regime would take hold. To many these words come across as hyperbolic. Yet to some of us that day when Jesus was lifted up changed everything. In death he freed us from the bondage of sin and brought new life.
The heart of the message of the cross is both death and life. This message is true on a personal level. In our lives we too must first judge the sinful ways of the world to be wrong. And not only that but we must embrace the life giving truth of the scriptures. Yet to be successful one must embrace this message with the same resolve that we saw in our Savior.
Help me to die to sinful ways today Lord that I might embrace eternal life.
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