Whose Glory are we After?

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

(John 12:42-43 ESV)

The following chapter in John marked the final part of Christ's public ministry. All that was needed to be said was said and all that was needed to be done was done. Miracles, sermons, parables, you name it, all of these things were already done to provide the people of Israel a teaser for the glory that is to come. His final act was inching in and yet, we'd still find people who didn't believe.

You might want to ask what did they miss? They had front row seats to see the life of Christ and yet, they still couldn't put the things they've witnessed into a declaration. What hindered them from doing so?

In this portion of scripture, you'll find the apostle John giving the commentary of what was happening behind the scenes. Many of the authorities believed in him. They knew about the Messiah, they knew Christ was the one they've been waiting for. They knew deep in their hearts that Jesus was the one prophesied by the prophet Isaiah as the God sent redeemer of Israel, yet they just couldn't bet their life upon it. The problem right here was that they loved themselves more compared to what they knew. They loved where they were and they were comfortable with their position. They knew that they were going to lose everything that they built on if they switched sides which is why they couldn't confess that Jesus was the Christ.

I believe, that being part of the synagogue top brass, they knew of the prophecies and the whole deal regarding the Messiah. Since scripture did indicate that they believed, I could tell that the Messiah didn't matter to them. For them all that mattered was who they were and how the people saw them. The position they held was of primary importance. Even if they believed that the claims that Jesus said were real, they chose to stick with where they were out of the fear of the Pharisees. They didn't want to lose what they had that time, the glory and the adoration that may come from the people.  They loved it so much that they chose to go against their beliefs and lived their life accordingly.

Can we really blame them for doing so? We must admit, based from the stories in the Bible, that the glory that comes from God is scary, risky and intimidating. It calls us out to lose our lives to gain his (Mt 16:24-26). It calls us to be fools before the world for the sake of Christ (1 Cor 4:10). The authorities didn't want to deny themselves of this primarily because they didn't want the reward that they've read. Losing our lives will only be easier if we do see the gain is far greater than what we'll get on our own.

Let's learn from this verse and try to examine our lives. Whose glory are we after? Do we run for the applause of men for what we do? Or do we want to hear well done my good and faithful servant towards the end of our lives. Let us set our eyes upward towards the prize who is Christ and be seen as fools and forget about the recognition that we would get among our peers. Let us, by God's grace, lose our lives to make his name known. Let us be the kind of people that would run away from the glory of men and run towards the glory that comes from God.