Glorification of God the Father (Contd).
The Right Time: The instance referred to in the previous Post about ascribing all glory to God the Father alone is the observation of the brothers of Jesus recorded in John, 7: 4 that reads:"Surely no one can hope to be in the public eye if he works in seclusion". It is a very valid common sense advice suffused with worldly wisdom and diametrically opposed to the wisdom of God. The Evangelist comments that even his brothers had no faith in Jesus as they urged him to show himself to the world through those things he was doing. In reply to their demand for publicity, Jesus talks about his right time as against the right time of worldly people for whom any time is the right one. People who are unwilling or unable to challenge the wicked ways of the world will easily go along with the ways of the world and would be liked for the same. They cannot be hated by the world. Rather, the world is eager to honor and reward them as one of their own. Jesus had his eyes set on the cross that was his right time where he would be publicly lifted up and revealed to the world. Since the right time for him had not yet come Jesus announced his intention not to go to the festival and stayed behind in Galilee. Here we can see how particular Jesus was about the purity of his intention in diverting all glory and honor to his Father by completely disassociating himself from the worldly world-view of his own brothers. This is an example of how one can create pure surroundings of one's actions and intentions referred to in the previous Post.
A difficulty often expressed in this context emanates from what happened later. "Later, when his brothers had gone to the festival, he went up himself, not publicly, but almost in secret" (John, 7: 10). The difficulty is seen in the seeming insincerity of Jesus' words to his brothers since he actually went to the festival against his own earlier announcement. The Evangelist himself solves this difficulty by his remark that Jesus went to the festival not publicly, but almost in secret. Actually the theme of secrecy is the whole point of this episode whereby Jesus submits himself to the right time fixed by his Father for his public exposure on the cross. Let us note here how pure is the intention of Jesus in transferring all honor and glory to God the Father even in the miracles performed by him. The same preoccupation with the right time is seen already at the wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. "The wine gave out, so Jesus' mother said to him, 'They have no wine left'.He answered, 'Your concern, woman is not mine. My hour has not yet come'" (John, 2: 3-4). Here again, Jesus is averse to publicly reveal himself before the right time fixed by his Father against the normal expectations of everybody around him. Yet he had to help the needy household and save from embarrassment all the hosts and guests on such a joyous occasion. Jesus seemingly tells his mother that she did not understand the significance of what she was asking for. The first miracle would be at the same time the first step to the cross where his mother would have a prominent part to play. In Jesus' addressing his mother as 'woman', the Evangelist saw special significance of a prominent role to his mother in the plan of God. The Book of Revelations chapter 12 and John 19: 26 speak about the role of the woman in our salvation as a counterpoint to the woman mentioned in Genesis 3: 15. The mention of "woman" at Cana is but a recapitulation by the Evangelist of this entire story in a joyous moment represented at the wedding. Here again we see how Jesus was diverting the glory and honor away from him with the help of the concept of the "right time".
Attitude of the Apostles: The Apostles followed closely in the footsteps of Jesus by diverting attention from themselves attempting to glorify God in whatever they did. The man who had been a cripple from birth was healed by Peter in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in such a way that the man did not feel the need of thanking Peter. Instead, "He entered the temple with them , leaping and praising God as he went" (Acts, 3: 8). However, Peter had to take care of the people who were surprised at this marvelous feat saying:: "Why stare at us as if we had made this man walk by some power of godliness of our own?" (Acts, 3: 12). There follows the proclamation of the Gospel by Peter about what God the Father accomplished in Jesus Christ whose name awakened faith in the cripple and healed him. Thus, the proclamation of the Gospel coincided with the glorification of God the Father. A similar instance is seen at the house of Cornelius, the centurion, who prostrated before Peter when he arrived at the house. " But Peter raised him to his feet and said, "Stand up; I am a man like anyone else' "(Acts, 10: 26). Peter refused to be puffed up although humanly speaking he had sufficient reasons to think that he was someone special. God Himself ordered Cornelius to send for Peter who had a direct vision from God and had even raised Tabitha, a disciple, from the dead in Joppa. Besides, Jesus Christ himself had made Peter the chief of Apostles. What more does n man need to think that he is special before God and therefore different from others? But, Peter identifies himself with the common people and thereby gives all glory and honor to God alone.
An interesting incident of healing a crippled man at Lystra by Paul is narrated in Acts 14: 8-18. The crowds shouted that "...The gods have come down to us in human form' " (Acts,14: 12). They called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury and were going to offer sacrifices to them. "But when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd shouting , 'Men, what is this that you are doing? We are only human beings, no less mortal than you. The good news we bring tells you to turn from these follies to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In past ages he allowed all nations to go their own way; and yet he has not left you without some clue to his nature, in the kindness he shows : he sends you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, and gives you food and good cheer in plenty'. With these words they barely managed to prevent the crowd from offering sacrifice to them" (Acts, 14: 14-18). Contrast this with what happened to Herod who was struck down by an angel of the Lord because he had usurped the honor due to God. When Herod spoke to the people , attired in his royal robes, the people shouted back that it was a god speaking and not man. Herod acquiesced in this praise and did not make any attempt to stop the people from saying so in contrast to what Paul did (See Acts, 12: 21-23). Not without reason that Jesus warned us to beware of people when they praise us because they had done the same to false prophets also (See Luke, 6: 26).
These are classical examples of how to give glory to God by creating favorable surroundings through one's actions and words that deflect the glory and honor from oneself to be ascribed to God alone. Paul and Barnabas could easily excuse themselves for being honored thus by thinking that after all they were dealing with ignorant and superstitious people. Since they themselves were representatives of God, they could condone their actions imagining to forward all that honor and glory showered upon them to God Himself. Instead they rushed to the crowd after tearing their clothes, a Jewish gesture of showing immense grief and protest, and identified themselves with mere mortal men like those very people. Then they announced the Good News by glorifying God for what He had been doing for everyone including the people of Lystra. On the contrary, Herod was eaten up by worms and died. There are innumerable examples from Jesus. Apostles and the Church of the first three centuries to show that the right proclamation of the Gospel was but part and parcel of the glorification of God the Father.
Our Attitude: Identification of ourselves, when we do well, with the people around us is essential for deflecting glory and honor from ourselves in order to glorify God the Father. Instead, very often, we are forced to identify ourselves with the people when we do evil and are detected by them with a simple remark like: "After all, we too are human beings!" Similarly we take extra care to do things in secret which are evil in the eyes of God and people and are ready to go to any lengths to keep them so forever. Thus we see the distance in spirituality between us and Jesus, Apostles and the early Church. It also shows not only that we are capable of keeping secrets by creating the surroundings required to keep them so as long as possible, but also that while doing good our intention may not be pure because of our secret longing for recognition and honor. If we should be light for the world, naturally we have to go out in the open and a light hidden is no light at all. Here what saves the day is our pure intention that modifies and alters the very character of a good deed acceptable to God whereby He alone is honored and glorified. From what has been said above, it must be clear that our intention can be seen not only by God but also by the people around us from the surroundings of the deed created by us! (To be Contd).
The Right Time: The instance referred to in the previous Post about ascribing all glory to God the Father alone is the observation of the brothers of Jesus recorded in John, 7: 4 that reads:"Surely no one can hope to be in the public eye if he works in seclusion". It is a very valid common sense advice suffused with worldly wisdom and diametrically opposed to the wisdom of God. The Evangelist comments that even his brothers had no faith in Jesus as they urged him to show himself to the world through those things he was doing. In reply to their demand for publicity, Jesus talks about his right time as against the right time of worldly people for whom any time is the right one. People who are unwilling or unable to challenge the wicked ways of the world will easily go along with the ways of the world and would be liked for the same. They cannot be hated by the world. Rather, the world is eager to honor and reward them as one of their own. Jesus had his eyes set on the cross that was his right time where he would be publicly lifted up and revealed to the world. Since the right time for him had not yet come Jesus announced his intention not to go to the festival and stayed behind in Galilee. Here we can see how particular Jesus was about the purity of his intention in diverting all glory and honor to his Father by completely disassociating himself from the worldly world-view of his own brothers. This is an example of how one can create pure surroundings of one's actions and intentions referred to in the previous Post.
A difficulty often expressed in this context emanates from what happened later. "Later, when his brothers had gone to the festival, he went up himself, not publicly, but almost in secret" (John, 7: 10). The difficulty is seen in the seeming insincerity of Jesus' words to his brothers since he actually went to the festival against his own earlier announcement. The Evangelist himself solves this difficulty by his remark that Jesus went to the festival not publicly, but almost in secret. Actually the theme of secrecy is the whole point of this episode whereby Jesus submits himself to the right time fixed by his Father for his public exposure on the cross. Let us note here how pure is the intention of Jesus in transferring all honor and glory to God the Father even in the miracles performed by him. The same preoccupation with the right time is seen already at the wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. "The wine gave out, so Jesus' mother said to him, 'They have no wine left'.He answered, 'Your concern, woman is not mine. My hour has not yet come'" (John, 2: 3-4). Here again, Jesus is averse to publicly reveal himself before the right time fixed by his Father against the normal expectations of everybody around him. Yet he had to help the needy household and save from embarrassment all the hosts and guests on such a joyous occasion. Jesus seemingly tells his mother that she did not understand the significance of what she was asking for. The first miracle would be at the same time the first step to the cross where his mother would have a prominent part to play. In Jesus' addressing his mother as 'woman', the Evangelist saw special significance of a prominent role to his mother in the plan of God. The Book of Revelations chapter 12 and John 19: 26 speak about the role of the woman in our salvation as a counterpoint to the woman mentioned in Genesis 3: 15. The mention of "woman" at Cana is but a recapitulation by the Evangelist of this entire story in a joyous moment represented at the wedding. Here again we see how Jesus was diverting the glory and honor away from him with the help of the concept of the "right time".
Attitude of the Apostles: The Apostles followed closely in the footsteps of Jesus by diverting attention from themselves attempting to glorify God in whatever they did. The man who had been a cripple from birth was healed by Peter in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in such a way that the man did not feel the need of thanking Peter. Instead, "He entered the temple with them , leaping and praising God as he went" (Acts, 3: 8). However, Peter had to take care of the people who were surprised at this marvelous feat saying:: "Why stare at us as if we had made this man walk by some power of godliness of our own?" (Acts, 3: 12). There follows the proclamation of the Gospel by Peter about what God the Father accomplished in Jesus Christ whose name awakened faith in the cripple and healed him. Thus, the proclamation of the Gospel coincided with the glorification of God the Father. A similar instance is seen at the house of Cornelius, the centurion, who prostrated before Peter when he arrived at the house. " But Peter raised him to his feet and said, "Stand up; I am a man like anyone else' "(Acts, 10: 26). Peter refused to be puffed up although humanly speaking he had sufficient reasons to think that he was someone special. God Himself ordered Cornelius to send for Peter who had a direct vision from God and had even raised Tabitha, a disciple, from the dead in Joppa. Besides, Jesus Christ himself had made Peter the chief of Apostles. What more does n man need to think that he is special before God and therefore different from others? But, Peter identifies himself with the common people and thereby gives all glory and honor to God alone.
An interesting incident of healing a crippled man at Lystra by Paul is narrated in Acts 14: 8-18. The crowds shouted that "...The gods have come down to us in human form' " (Acts,14: 12). They called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury and were going to offer sacrifices to them. "But when the Apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd shouting , 'Men, what is this that you are doing? We are only human beings, no less mortal than you. The good news we bring tells you to turn from these follies to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In past ages he allowed all nations to go their own way; and yet he has not left you without some clue to his nature, in the kindness he shows : he sends you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, and gives you food and good cheer in plenty'. With these words they barely managed to prevent the crowd from offering sacrifice to them" (Acts, 14: 14-18). Contrast this with what happened to Herod who was struck down by an angel of the Lord because he had usurped the honor due to God. When Herod spoke to the people , attired in his royal robes, the people shouted back that it was a god speaking and not man. Herod acquiesced in this praise and did not make any attempt to stop the people from saying so in contrast to what Paul did (See Acts, 12: 21-23). Not without reason that Jesus warned us to beware of people when they praise us because they had done the same to false prophets also (See Luke, 6: 26).
These are classical examples of how to give glory to God by creating favorable surroundings through one's actions and words that deflect the glory and honor from oneself to be ascribed to God alone. Paul and Barnabas could easily excuse themselves for being honored thus by thinking that after all they were dealing with ignorant and superstitious people. Since they themselves were representatives of God, they could condone their actions imagining to forward all that honor and glory showered upon them to God Himself. Instead they rushed to the crowd after tearing their clothes, a Jewish gesture of showing immense grief and protest, and identified themselves with mere mortal men like those very people. Then they announced the Good News by glorifying God for what He had been doing for everyone including the people of Lystra. On the contrary, Herod was eaten up by worms and died. There are innumerable examples from Jesus. Apostles and the Church of the first three centuries to show that the right proclamation of the Gospel was but part and parcel of the glorification of God the Father.
Our Attitude: Identification of ourselves, when we do well, with the people around us is essential for deflecting glory and honor from ourselves in order to glorify God the Father. Instead, very often, we are forced to identify ourselves with the people when we do evil and are detected by them with a simple remark like: "After all, we too are human beings!" Similarly we take extra care to do things in secret which are evil in the eyes of God and people and are ready to go to any lengths to keep them so forever. Thus we see the distance in spirituality between us and Jesus, Apostles and the early Church. It also shows not only that we are capable of keeping secrets by creating the surroundings required to keep them so as long as possible, but also that while doing good our intention may not be pure because of our secret longing for recognition and honor. If we should be light for the world, naturally we have to go out in the open and a light hidden is no light at all. Here what saves the day is our pure intention that modifies and alters the very character of a good deed acceptable to God whereby He alone is honored and glorified. From what has been said above, it must be clear that our intention can be seen not only by God but also by the people around us from the surroundings of the deed created by us! (To be Contd).
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