This is the third Lent that I’ve let go of tuning into TV as ‘normal’ and watched The Chosen instead. This year I’ll add Season Four to my viewing repertoire, which builds my anticipation, even my anxiety, of knowing we’re getting closer and closer to the cross. In fact Season Five releases just in time for Passion Week, which is appropriate as the entire season covers those days leading up to the crucifixion.
Oh how I dread watching Season Six – because I know what’s coming.
It turns out Jesus dreaded the cross, as well. I mean, who wouldn’t? He had walked along the dusty Jerusalem roads that were lined with crosses slung with bodies of criminals drenched in blood. He had heard the moans of men having their hands and feet nailed to the wood. He had witnessed their misery as they hung, waiting to drown in their own fluids.
Jesus knew what was coming. And in His humanity, he desired to escape the pain of it all.
Yet He never strayed from the path the Father had for Him. The cross was always the plan, so Jesus released every sense of self-preservation to make His way toward the ‘tree’ that loomed large in His near future. He also tried to prepare His followers for His death by explaining the time was coming for Him to be glorified (John 12:23).
Helping them more fully comprehend what was to come, He drew on the metaphor of a seed that must die and be put in the earth so that more seeds can be produced (v.24). Then Jesus carried on His teaching with our fourth Jesus Prayer:
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
John 12:27-28
In essence, a four-word prayer, “Father, glorify your name,” points us to the heart of the cross and toward a life of prayer.
The Cross
While the cross is certainly the symbol at the heart of Christianity, too often we followers of Christ limit ‘the cross’ to the singular moment that our Savior hung from its wooden beams. We come dangerously close to seeing the cross as merely our ticket into heaven. For certain, it’s the moment that changed everything. It’s the thing Jesus came to earth for – to take on the weight of all our sins and die as the Lamb of God, as the final atoning sacrifice for all sin, for all who would believe.
Yet the cross is so much more. It’s a “comprehensive scope of the preexistent, uncreated second person of the Trinity.”2 It’s the Son stepping down to earth to be conceived by the Spirit, birthed by a virgin. It’s the mantle Jesus carried throughout His life, defining His “every divine act of human compassion, every message, every miracle, even the most mundane movement of his blessed feet across the face of this broken ground.”2 The cross goes beyond the Day and into the future, giving every believer a picture of what grace looks like – and what it is we’re to carry and die to.
The image of the cross is emblazoned on every tree across all eras; it’s forever a reminder that the Lamb of God once slain stands for all time at the center of God’s throne (Revelation 5:6). “The cross is the prosperous way of the kingdom of God, the way in heaven becomes embodied on earth.”3 The cross that came before and extends into eternity shows us the way of True Life along this earthly sojourn. Hence, Jesus’ first prayer of the cross:4
“Father, glorify your name!”
Glory Unpacked
Glory. A complicated word with multiple definitions. Its Hebrew meaning is “heavy in weight.” There’s a weightiness to God’s very being because of His sheer significance. The Holman Illustrated Bible elaborates on this idea of God’s glory as the “weighty importance and shining majesty that accompany God’s presence.” It’s the glory of God that filled the Holy of Holies in the ancient tabernacle. It’s what shook the mountains when God descended in a cloud to meet with Moses at Mt. Sinai – and rumbled like thunder as God spoke with Jesus in response to this fourth Jesus Prayer (Exodus 19:16; John 12:28-29).
But more than the manifestations of God’s glory – God is glory.5
‘Glory’ can also mean honor and renown, so when we ‘glorify’, we’re giving glory. However, there’s no way we can bestow glory on God the way we might put a gold medal around the neck of a champion – simply for the fact that we cannot add to His glory.6 Therefore, to glorify God is to “recognize and acknowledge His glory.”6 When we celebrate God for who He is, responding with honor and praise and humble adoration, we give weight to Him – we glorify Him.
And, ‘being glorified’ can also hold the idea of being changed. For instance, Jesus’ resurrection was a different experience than Lazarus’ raising from the dead. In a way, Lazarus woke up. One hundred percent dead, Lazarus came alive in the same body he’d always had – like waking up. Jesus’s death, however, defeated death – and He came out on the other side of that battle transformed. Looking like the same ol’ Jesus with skin and scars and the ability to talk and walk and eat, He could also enter rooms with locked doors and disappear in an instant. He was the same – but different.
He was in the process of being glorified.
On that first Easter morning, resurrected Jesus met Mary in the garden, but His glorification wasn’t complete – which is why He told Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17). Even now – after ascension and glorification – Jesus remains see-able. Just ask Paul (Acts 9:3-5,17)! Jesus’ glorified body ranks at a level we cannot yet fathom. His humanity has passed; He reigns fully divine.
All that to say, ‘glorified’ is a word that can denote both what happens to God each time we give Him the glory He is due and how Jesus’ human frame has been transformed into a new body.
Our Crosses for His Glory
When we live this life on earth with all its challenges and disappointments fully focused on the cross, we’ll remember Who has come before us and goes ahead of us. We’ll find strength to give God glory in all we say and do.
In this way, the cross was always on the mind of Jesus as He ministered on earth.
However, at the same time, the cross was also His very real burden to bear, and so it became the reason for His honesty, “My soul is troubled;” it’s also the power behind His question, “Shall I ask the Father to save me?” (John 12:27).
Jesus’ vulnerability and faithfulness challenge us to consider our responses each time we’re struck with troubles and sufferings. Just as Jesus knew He would die to his dread before He gave His life on the cross – choosing God’s will over His own – we can lift our eyes and walk right up to whatever cross looms before us, enduring its pain because we know such faithfulness glorifies God.
Rather ironically, before His disciples fully understood that their Messiah would die on a cross, Jesus told them that to follow Him meant denying self and taking up a cross (Matthew 16:24). He was preparing them for lives that constantly surrendered self-interest – that of letting go of selfish ambition and the desire for accolades and attention. He was showing that to be a disciple requires living for God and for others – that it would lead to clashes with the world, as well as tough, sacrificial decisions.7
JD Walt would say when we live this way, we’ve allowed the cross to become our cross.7
This week I had lunch with a woman who is a charter member of the tiny church plant we’ve been visiting. Hearing her story firsthand, I could see that she was bearing her cross – not through her complaining or self-promotion (because she didn’t), but by her actions. She had made the very difficult and unpopular decision to leave her church of thirty years because she could no longer faithfully follow where they were headed. Her heart chose the path of pain because she knew God’s will for her life was to be part of starting a new church.
And as her story folded into this little church’s story, I began to see how the cross had become their cross. Together they are navigating heavy losses and weighty grief even as they move in the direction God is leading them with faith and joy.
Their crosses don’t hang around their necks like heavy albatrosses or follow them around like proud peacock feathers of self-focused martyrdom. Rather their crosses are being played out in every choice to remain faithful to God’s ways in a world that is divisive and ready to ‘cancel’ anyone it doesn’t agree with.
As I evaluate where God might be leading me, I recognize my own tendency to want to avoid the discomforts, the challenges, the sacrifices. But like this remarkable church plant, I desire to do God’s will more than resting on the laurels of my past or fearing future strains.
I want my actions to glorify God – even when that means picking up my cross.
I’m beginning to understand that “when the cross becomes my cross, I live in the economy of grace.”7 And the burden of such unconditional love actually weighs nothing – because living under the weight of glory is to live free in Christ (Galatians 5:1). It’s also to live with hope for what is to come – eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17)!
Like Jesus, when we choose to endure the trials of this life, for God’s sake and by His strength, we become witnesses of His goodness and faithfulness to the world. We discover that the glory produced from the trials far outweighs the pain of them. And we live with the hope of dwelling in God’s eternal presence of glory.
We know what’s coming…
This is why this fourth Jesus Prayer can shape us so deeply. When we are able to pray this Glory Prayer in the midst of pain and persecution – by focusing on Jesus and the cross He endured – our actions glorify God’s name! Shall we ask the Father to spare us from this hour? No! It is for this reason we are here… Father, glorify your name!
Lord, teach us to pray.
Heavenly Father, how we marvel at your holy, glory-filled Person. As we consider the way your Son consistently reflected your glory to others and how He always kept your will as His priority, we feel a tug in our spirits. We recognize our own tendencies to want to do things our own way – to stay comfortable and safe from others’ disdain or dislike, to avoid sacrifices and self-surrender. Lord Jesus, teach us how to live for God, how to glorify Him in all we do and say. Holy Spirit, move us toward the desire to want what God wants even when there is a cost. We recognize that our prayer lives have grown stale with all our lists of fears and wants. We are discovering that to have lives of prayer as Jesus modeled for us, we need more of You – your strength and wisdom, your encouragement and power. We hold our hands out to the Father now and open our tightly held fists. We release our self-preservation mindsets and let go of our dread of all the unknowns. We give You the reins to lead us in the ways God would have us go – even when that way requires us to carry our crosses. Father God, our souls are troubled, but we don’t ask You to remove the hard things that burden us because we recognize that as we endure trials with Christ’s cross in mind, they shape us and bring You glory. Instead, we humbly offer ourselves to You as vessels of your glory to be shared in the world. May each decision to go your way and to bear each burden with faith and hope reflect You to others. Father, glorify your name. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
(Inspired by Ephesians 3:20-21; Romans 14:8; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 37:4; Luke 9:23; Psalm 32:8; John 12:27-28)
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – See more details on Biblehub.com in the Greek
- 2 – JD Walt in his Wake Up Call series on the prayers of Jesus, 2/22/25
- 3 – JD Walt in this post from the same Wake Up Call series, 2/21/25
- 4 – Most scholars further break down the Prayers of Jesus into a subcategory of “Prayers of the Cross.” This fourth Prayer of Jesus, The Glory Prayer, is the first of those.
- 5 – NT Wright’s article, “What Does ‘Glory’ Mean?” is so good. It’s the source of a few ideas in this post but expands on the idea of the future glory in heaven (as seen in Romans) – where the Creator remakes heaven and earth and all troubles are no longer our reality!
- 6 – This Lifeway article further unpacks the idea of God’s glory.
- 7 – JD Walt in this post from the same Wake Up Call series, 2/24/25
- Of course sense this is Lent, I included songs about the cross on our Spotify playlist, Embrace Prayer, but I didn’t know where these Jesus Prayers would lead us, exactly. Now, as I listen to songs like “Mighty Is the Power of the Cross” or “If Not For the Cross,” my heart grows softer with deeper realization of what Jesus did for me, for us. Lauren Daigle’s song, “Once and for All,” however, actually pulls me closer to my own cross(es) — and to Jesus. “Oh, let this be where I die — my Lord with Thee, crucified. Be lifted high as my kingdoms fall. Once and for all.” WHAT A PRAYER.
- Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Many of you have already found me on Substack! Thank you so much! While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
AND…don’t forget if you’d rather listen to these weekly posts, you can now do so on Substack — it’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. - In addition to my weekly posts, I’m also putting my monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, on Substack. (If you’re already getting my newsletters to your email, that will continue. As will the weekly posts on my website — nothing changes. I’ve just added Substack, in addition). A new edition is coming your way in the next week! If you’d like to subscribe for future newsletters, you can do so here!
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. This Lent, we’ve put our focus on the rhythm of prayer.
- Let’s pull out our Prayer Bibles and turn to John 12:27-28 — highlight the passage and add your tab so that you can find it easily. Now we have FOUR Jesus Prayers we can turn to and pray straight out of the Bible!
This week let’s practice this Glory Prayer by laying down our will for His, by choosing to endure everything life throws at us with faith and trust — for God’s glory! We can also recall that we know what’s coming — living in glory with our Father for all eternity. No pain. No trials. Just soaking in His glory. XOXO - Something about this season opens people up a little more to hear God’s story and the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Maybe, just maybe, God will even give us opportunities to pray for people He puts in our paths. I’d love to hear about it when He does!
Featured Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash.
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