When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.
I have always thought that God’s idea of “glory” is different than mine. My idea of glory is more like being a rock star. You remember that time that I played in front of 80,000 people and they all loved me and were going nuts and screaming and yelling how cool I was? You don’t? Oh… well. That’s because it never happened. Very few people ever win that kind of human glory. If they do it never lasts long.
God’s kind of glory is more involved than my kind. It is also more long-lasting. The Greek word for “glorified” is doxazō. Strong’s Concordance defines it as “to render glorious” and to be full of glory and honor. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon ascribes the word with meanings like “praise, extol, magnify, celebrate.” These are more sober accolades than those typically given to a rock star.
So how does Jesus arrive at the conclusion that now the Son of Man is glorified? Sitting in an upper room with eleven of his disciples and the twelfth one on the way to betray him doesn’t sound very glorious. I think the answer, once again, is that Jesus doesn’t see things as men do.
Jesus sees things from God’s perspective. God sees things from an eternal perspective. From an eternal perspective “now” refers to the entire chain of events that have been triggered by Judas’ departure. Now the Son of Man will be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind. Now he will be raised up from the dead. Now he will show himself alive to people. Now he will ascend to His throne. Now God has achieved victory over death.
Once again we see that God’s perspective is very different from our own. Another subtle testimony to the divinity of Jesus.
Let’s Discuss: How does context affect your use of the word “now?”
I think one important reason for the word now in Scripture is that it alerts us to God’s timetable of events. It let’s us know His will as it relates to the current situation. It is always good to know what He wants to do next.