John 12:20-36
Dear RTB’ers,
Jesus speaking: “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. (vv. 27-29a) If you were to ask me to relate those occasions when the Father spoke from Heaven to or about Jesus, I would suggest Jesus’ baptism and His transfiguration. The Father speaking on this occasion is not one that I would recall. But if Jesus’ words today constitute His “Gethsemane moment”, then the Father’s words would have been substantial encouragement to Him.
Again, Jesus speaking: If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; … If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. (v. 26) Just as the Father’s words above must have encouraged Jesus, so too, Jesus’ words here should encourage us in our own service to Him – to our church, to our fellow believers, and to the whole of His created world.
Blessings.
See also: