Now Is The Hour

Jesus was and Is courageous.

"And Jesus answered them, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.' " - John 12:23-26 ESV

Jesus was not timid and careful. Passages like these challenge me to step out and not play it safe.

Different people have different 'safety margins'. For an introvert losing their life may mean one thing in practical application. Dying to self might resemble what an extrovert does... and vice versa.

Jesus knew that the moments to come would reveal the glory of God. Glorified here in this passage is the Greek word doxazo (Strong's G1392) and it means to magnify, celebrate and reveal.

Jesus didn't die to self to please the Father. The Father was already pleased with Him (see Matthew 3:17). He died to reveal the Father.

I don't know what this means to you personally. All of us struggle with different decisions at different times.

At one point going to Bible college was losing my life. Dorm life definitely was at times. {smile}

I lost my life when I handed a person a Gospel tract on the street. The only 'evangelists' I ever remember seeing growing up were a group of people in African dress in Times Square who had a big picture of Jesus drawn as a black man and wanted to argue with me that Jesus was black that white people had stolen their Bible from them. They were angry and violent men shouting through a megaphone who looked like they would happily hurt people if they could justify getting away with it. I didn't want to be associated with anything like that.

Can we walk into situations and say, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.' even if it means risking that people might misunderstand us?

I want to have this attitude for every hospital visit and each conversation with someone new. Jesus was going to the cross thinking this and I want to think this way as I go to His cross.

"If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV

This is the religious sacrifice. They do it to please someone who can't be pleased that way. They labor and hurt themselves and others in their labor because God's love isn't in it. God isn't motivating it. God isn't ultimate revealed in it.

Jesus can be revealed today. We don't have to say 'brother' a hundred times and end every sentence with 'Amen' to do it. We must however travel to the edge of our comfort zone and be willing to step into action by faith so that redemption can be manifested in the world.

Rest might be the thing at the edge of our comfort zone.

Can we rest saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'... Yes... Resting in the storm glories God. Acting in faith obedience outside our personality glorifies God. Praise in the midst of chaos. Objectivity in the midst of the mob.

Thank You Jesus. Thank You for going to the cross. Thank You for coming to Earth and showing us what courage really is. You are our hero. Inspire us today. Send Your spirit to quicken our human spirit. We want to reveal the Father today. We want the invisible to become visible. Please make that happen and give us the backbone to go forward and not fall backwards. Thank You God.

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