If you knew that you were going to die this week, what would you say to others? Knowing that He was only days from death, Jesus says this in John 12:27-36:
“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. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
From Jesus example, we learn of six things He did and we can do in troubled times:
- We can embrace God’s will with Jesus who said, “for this purpose I have come”.
- We can glorify God with Jesus who said, “Father, glorify your name.”
- We can trust God to show up in tough times as He did when Jesus was suffering.
- We can defeat the devil with Jesus who said, “now will the ruler of this world be cast out”.
- We can defeat death with Jesus who is “the Christ [who] remains forever”.
- We can walk home by following God’s light Jesus who invites us to, “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.”
What struggles and troubles are you facing right now? How can you follow in Jesus example in one (or more) of these six ways?