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gave Him. At that time He needed to complete His mission in order for the
mission to be completed; He distinguished His purpose and the glory that
would follow. For edification, Jesus pronounced judgment upon the world,
and gave authority to judge on His behalf.
“The hour has c ome f o r t he Son o f Man t o be g l o r i f i ed
.
I tell you the
truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a
single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his
life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life.
Who e v e r s e r v e s me mus t f o l l ow me ; and whe r e I am, my
s e r van t a l s o wi l l be
. My Father will honor the one who serves me. “Now
my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?
No , i t was f o r t h i s v e r y r eas on I c ame t o t h i s hour .
Fa t he r , g l o r i f y
y our name
!” Then a voice came from heaven,
“I hav e g l o r i f i ed i t , and
wi l l g l o r i f y i t aga i n . ”
The crowd that was there and heard it said it had
thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said,
“Th i s vo i c e
was f o r y our bene f i t , no t mi ne . Now i s t he t ime f o r j udgmen t on t h i s
wo r l d ; now t he pr i nc e o f t h i s wo r l d wi l l be dr i v en ou t .
But I, when I am
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show
the kind of death he was going to die.”
“The crowd spoke up, [quoting the law trying to comprehend]
‘We hav e
heard f r om t he Law t ha t t he Chr i s t wi l l r ema i n f o r e v e r
,
so how can you
say, The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man’? Then
Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who
walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the
light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.”
(John 12: 23-35)
Once again, Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s
business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you.
You d i d no t choo s e me , bu t I
cho s e y ou
and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then
the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name [which name?]. This
is my command:
Lov e ea ch o t he r . ”
(John 12: 21)
Further instructions followed, but they were not understood at the time
they were given. Speaking to the world, but always directly to His servant,
Jesus set the stage and conditions that Satan would use to inhibit mere man.
The numbers of people in the world today—especially those who claim