By Jill Roberts and Michael Canale
Michael’s idea for writing this blog on the word “ Glory,” has been a surprise to me in that the word itself has even more prominence and theological sway than I had initially thought. As Michael said, it is central in Scripture, making its collateral standing in today’s world all the more lamentable.
In Part 2, we want to more fully delineate what glory is and how we attain it in this life and, more crucially, in the world to come.
First, and pivotal to this question, is the concept of being born again and how this relates to God’s glory as He grants glory to us. Let’s momentarily revisit a quote from Part 1 of these glory blogs – 1 Peter 1:23-25 NIV:
“For you have been BORN AGAIN (emphasis added), not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
‘All people are like grass,
and all THEIR GLORY (emphasis added) is like the flowers
of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall…”
Michael’s statement is that, “Glory is often attached to battle in the spiritual warfare sense as well as in its worldly dimension.“ C.S. Lewis explores both of these in his masterpiece series of sermons preached during World War II and, specifically, in his sermon, “The Weight of Glory,” (Also the book’s title) Lewis talks about the connection between being born again and glory, as in the above verses of Scripture. He writes at page 44,
“At present, if we are REBORN (emphasis added) in Christ…” is his powerful and relevant statement. In the same paragraph, Lewis cites St. Augustine, stating,’…the rapture of the saved soul will flow over into the GLORIFIED (emphasis added) body.” No more is this a temporary and fleeting life of perishable grass, but it has the permanence of God’s glory and our new bodies are ones not subject to the vicissitudes of these present ones that experience pain, sickness and decline. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:53, NIV, writes, “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” How does this glorified body attain its glory? Jesus preached this directly in terms of being BORN AGAIN in the iconic conversation between Nicodemus and him. This verbal exchange is the centerpiece of this, Part 2 of the blog on Words That Have Been Set Aside – Glory. It is, in relevant part as follows:
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council. He came to Jesus AT NIGHT… (emphasis added) (John 3:1-2) NIV
Let’s pause for a moment before we go on to the conversation itself. It is highly significant that Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of darkness, for, in his mind, this was intentionally a surreptitious meeting, one that he, a luminary in the world of the Pharisees, did not want to publicize. As he approached Jesus, he said,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.’
Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God (and thus, glory), unless they are born again.’
‘How can someone be born again when they are old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘ Surely, they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!’
Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.” (John 3:2-7) NIV
Jesus went on,
“LIGHT (emphasis added) has come into the world…whoever lives by the truth COMES INTO THE LIGHT (emphasis added) that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 2:19-21) NIV
How ironic that Nicodemus had planned this meeting in the dark. What was the outcome of this dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus? Did he come into the light? Was he reborn? John records the answers later in his gospel. In John 7:50, NIV, Nicodemus defended Jesus in front of a large crowd of Pharisees. Speaking of Jesus, he said,
“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
But, it is at Jesus’ burial that we find the most compelling evidence of Nicodemus’ new state of mind. First of all, he was there in daylight, continuing the symbol of light that signifies glory in Scripture, as discussed in Part 1 of this blog. There were no more nighttime appearances for Nicodemus. There had been a dramatic change in him!
“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes. About SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS (emphasis added).
Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.”
(John 18::38-42) NIV
Seventy-five pounds were brought by Nicodemus! In an article titled, “An Unusual Thing Happened on the Way to Jesus’ Burial,” Youth Worker writes that,
“Normal Jewish burials called for five pounds of spices – an amount typically on hand in a Jewish household. Seventy-five pounds was an extraordinary amount – the quantity used to bury royalty…What’s more, you can’t hide seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes…Not only was Nicodemus burying a king, he was burying his king. CONSPICUOUSLY! (emphasis added)
In an article by Bible Study Lessons and titled, “The Burial Spices,” the cost of the myrrh and the aloes would have been between $150,00-$200,000 in today’s parlance. Nicodemus may have bankrupted himself financially to show that, morally, he was anything but bankrupt! Now, in broad daylight, he had discovered what glory is all about. There is nothing transitory about it. He had been born again into a new life, one eternal, one that is glorified. You will recall that we had quoted Jesus saying that those who come into the light, act “ so that it may be seen plainly, that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:21) NIV. It is not that man has seen and applauded our deeds. (Though, in this case, Nicodemus is certainly making a public statement- one that, here, could have cost him heavily with his past alliances) The important thing is that God has seen them and highly approves. Fame versus glory, the underlying theme of this blog, is made clear.
No one has said it better than C.S. Lewis in the aforementioned, “The Weight of Glory:”
“For Glory means good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgement and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all of our lives will open at last Perhaps, it seems rather crude to describe glory as being noticed by God. But this is almost the language of the New Testament. St. Paul promises to those who love God not, as we should expect, that they will know Him, but that they will be known by Him.” (1 Corinthians 6:3)
Lewis juxtaposes the harrowing phrase by Jesus, “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23) The Old Testament further affirms this concept of being known when God tells Moses, “I know your name,” before showing him His glory. (Exodus 33:12) NIV
What a comfort to understand the earlier cited 1 Corinthians 8:3 verse, which boils it all down to its clearest statement:
“…whoever loves God is known by God.”
When Michael said that we should write about words that have been set aside, I was fully in favor of this powerful idea. When he went on to say that we should focus on one of these words, glory, my first thought was, “ How do we write an entire blog on this one word?” Now, it seems that there is not enough time or space to chronicle this word and all it stands for! How to close out this exploration into glory becomes the more challenging task!
Michael, who began this, will end it with an old hymn, written during a time when glory was on the minds of many. He says that what we can rely on in this life are the “Everlasting Arms.” The second stanza of this hymn is especially meaningful.
“ O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.”
The arms, true and reliable, the path, brighter, day by day…
GLORY!