Judas forsook the last exhortation of Jesus’ love and departed from the light into the pitch-black darkness. What is the meaning of the departure of Judas?
The departure of Judas heralded the departure of Jesus. He was on his way home. The road was dark and steep. The cross stood astride the way.[1] Judas was on his way to betray Jesus into the hands of those who would have him crucified.[2]
At this time Jesus proclaimed, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.” ‘Now’–Jesus says ‘now.’ Now is the time that the cross has become evident and soon he will face a brutal death, but he speaks of glory. Jesus speaks of this glory as a fulfilled reality: “Now the Son of Man is glorified.”
Judas has gone out, and the cross is a certainty. Now the glory of Jesus has come; and that glory is the cross.[3]
Why is the cross glory?
It has been determined by God: it will assuredly come to pass. And when it comes to pass it will be the supreme manifestation of glory.[4] The Lord saw beyond the dark valley to the glory crowned peaks beyond.[5]
Jesus is looking right through the passion to the resurrection and to his restoration to his place in heaven. He is saying that the Father will be glorified in the cross and that he will glorify the Son when he raises him from the dead.[6]
Because the whole world will know that Jesus is the Christ when he is lifted to the cross, the cross was the glory for Jesus. On the cross, it will be manifested that Jesus is the Son and God is the Father. Therefore, God is also glorified by the death on the cross.
Jesus says all these things will take place “at once” (v. 32). This is the faith of Jesus. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith enables us to see the future. Faith is the power to draw the future to today. Jesus saw the glory of the future in faith.
There is no glory like the glory of being loved. Had God remained aloof and majestic, serene and unmoved, untouched by any sorrow and unhurt by any pain, men might have feared God, and men might have admired God; but men would never have loved God.[7] But God offered the greatest sacrifice as he led his Son to the cross. The cross is the greatest sacrifice of God and of Jesus. The blood-red love that gave all without reserving is engraved indelibly in this sacrifice. Can we not help but love this God?
[1] Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of John, 259.
[2] Comfort, I am the Way: A Spiritual Journey through the Gospel of John, 120.
[3] Barclay, The Gospel of John,171-172.
[4] Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, 483.
[5] Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of John, 259.
[6] Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, 483.
[7] Barclay, The Gospel of John,172.