Shocking Glory

Glory.  A word saturated with grandeur, authority and sovereign power.  In the Old Testament it’s often accompanied by great peals of thunder, vast clouds of smoke, and magisterial presence.  As we encounter God’s glory in the Bible, we come face to face with the weight of God’s Name, his character and his purposes.    It’s a word that vibrates with the very God-ness of God.  

But here, as we stand by and watch God’s King enter Jerusalem, his glory takes a jarring turn.  He is, of course, the one most deserving of immeasurable glory.  All of creation should be bowing down to him at this very moment, and we are to rightly chime with the crowds, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’

 But as we hear the King speak, his words cannot help but scandalise and shock those around him.  For no fanfare or splendour accompany the glory he speaks of.  Instead, he inextricably binds it with his impending death.

This is glory he says.  That God’s king is yes, lifted up and exalted - but, on a cross of all things - so that he can draw people to himself.  This is glory -  not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  A glory long spoken of by Isaiah, and yet here, just as hard to stomach as it was back then.

As we walk with Jesus through the chapters ahead, there’s going to be much talk of glory. There’s no doubt that our view of such a word will be stretched and tested.  But here’s the question we want to be asking ourselves all the way through: am I walking in tune with this kind of glory? 

It’s the kind of glory that lays down one’s life for others, and that undoubtedly, looks like an outrage to the world.  But it’s this cross-shaped glory, seen here first with the King himself, that wonderfully in God’s design, is the path to life.