Jesus’s Pursuit: His Father’s Glory (and His) Through Joy

0:00 Being in Sweden and talking about joy reminds me of a story I've heard from John Piper over the years. It gets at the heart of what real joy is. We're not just talking joy this weekend. We're talking real joy. And a common misunderstanding might be, as we talk about real joy, that the joy is external. and it's enthusiastic and it radiates like Trevor or it's loud like an American we're talking about real joy. We're talking about joy in the heart, first and foremost. It will have external manifestations of various sorts, in actions, in words, through different personality types and different nationality bents, which brings about this story.

1:03 you should be really hopeful that John Piper ministered 33 years in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a lot of Swedish ancestors, Swedish descendants in Minneapolis and there was a man who came up to him one time and John's talking about joy and he came up and said I have a Swedish personality when my son kicked the winning field goal, this is American football, field goals. American football, where we don't really use our feet much, it's a little kicking. Not much. And then when you kick, it's either one point or three points. It's very confusing. Mainly use our hands. He kicked the winning field goal in the state championship game and I think this brother's name was Arnie. He was a happy Swedish descendant and he Thank you.

1:59 and for Arnie that was real joy humanly speaking it was natural joy so how these things get fleshed out through our personalities through our faces our words our volume that's going to be different that's not the joy we're talking about we're talking about the real joy in the soul this morning.

2:29 Last night we saw from Isaiah 55 and from elsewhere in the Bible that God made us for his glory and God made us for that real joy, that internal joy of the soul in him. And we saw that these two pursuits, his glory, our joy, are one amazing pursuit. Because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

3:00 I think I mentioned last night I would tell you a little bit more of my story. At age 19, I was a freshman at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Age 19 When I first read And then re-read And re-read and re-read The book Desiring God John has his own ways of using the English language and so it took some re-reading to find out exactly what he's talking about so joy and delight and contentment and satisfaction these are all various ways talking about Christian joy these are not distinct terms as if joy and delight and happiness are different they're different ways of talking about the same reality and as I began to understand this message of God's pursuit of glory and my pursuit of joy being one,

4:00 this is almost too good to be true. I began to experience real joy in God I think for the first time. Even having grown up in church, something was new. Something changed. I knew from scripture And my upbringing And from reason That it was right for God to be glorified The God who made the world Deserves glory for it And I knew from my own heart That I wanted joy Not thin and empty And fake joy But thick and full Real joy Thank you. and so I began to consciously experience that for the first time in learning about that and yet my joy was not perfect still isn't not yet not sinless not undiluted not yet but after a while I realized something was missing for me. There was a piece that was missing to my own fault, not John Piper's. Actually, I got help from John Piper in his little book called Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. But for me, after a while, I started to think, what about Jesus? All this talk of God and his glory and this focus on my joy and being satisfied in him, where does Jesus come in? Where does he fit? Is there a place for Jesus in this system? And so that's what we're tackling here this morning. That's our question this morning. What about Jesus? And in answering that question related to the God-man.

5:56 So my quick summary of Jesus as God-man is he's fully God, fully man, in one spectacular person. And as we focus this morning on him as the God-man, we go deeper, both in God's pursuit of his glory and in our pursuit of joy. Now we did see last night with that strange mention of David, David, David's greater son that's prophesied We saw Jesus lurking in the shadows there in Isaiah 55, verse 3 I will make with you an everlasting covenant My steadfast, sure love for David And then we turn to Isaiah 53 And we saw the purchase of the suffering servant Isaiah is saying that 700 years before Jesus that's stunning prophecy but then he comes and fulfills it and for Christians there's no doubt he's the suffering servant the water the milk, the wine the feast of Isaiah 55 we saw are without cost because Jesus the suffering servant made the costly purchase so there's some of how Jesus fits he bought the feast he makes the invitation possible but is there more?

7:31 is there more place for Jesus in the system? so this morning we turn to the New Testament and we turn to the earthly life of Jesus and we ask what does this vision that we're talking about this weekend of real joy to the glory of God look like in the human life of Christ? How did God himself in human flesh live it out? Did Jesus as God pursue his own glory? And did Jesus as man live like a joy seeker? and how might that confirm and deepen what we celebrated last night now last night we saw that great summary quote from Jonathan Edwards about God's final goal his highest aim and all he does Edwards says all that is ever spoken of in scripture as an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase the glory of God some of us like to call this God's God-centeredness.

8:45 That God, righteously, justly, wonderfully, lovingly, is at the center of God's own life and joy. This is God's God-centeredness. Biblically shaped minds sense the rightness of this. that God is the infinitely valuable creator compared to his creatures. And yet, the incarnation of the Son of God raises new questions.

9:20 Like, what happens when the creator himself in the eternal person of the Son takes on our full humanity and in this way becomes a creature with us in the created world? This is amazing. The author enters the story. How does the earthly life of Jesus, the God-man, from birth to the cross relate to God's God-centeredness? And how does this God-centeredness relate to Christ's own glorification beginning with the cross and the resurrection and including his ascension and his sitting down on the throne of heaven? Key to answering questions like those Will be our need to see progress Across time In the human life of Jesus As he moves through his life As Jesus moves from Bethlehem To Galilee To Calvary To heaven In the ascension so instead of simply pressing for a timeless answer to the question did jesus seek his own glory you can ask that question did jesus seek his own glory i think we need to resist giving a timeless answer and we need to track with the sequence of the life of christ and see how god's great plan unfolds in the life of Jesus. Jesus' pursuit of glory and joy is complex. It's layered.

11:06 It's dynamic as he moves from the manger to the cross to the resurrection. So let me state plainly here at the beginning what our interest is in this. You can have this interest. I have this interest. We're human. When God himself becomes man and lives among us as human, we get to see what we should be like. We get to see God himself, the creator, live as a creature, a holy life from which we would learn and have modeled for us the kind of lives we should live. And Jesus as God incarnate is not only human and so we see in him not only example but divine mercy and we'll come back to that at the end when we watch the life of Christ when we read the gospels again and again Jesus is giving us example to imitate and he is doing for us especially at the cross what we cannot do for ourselves and so he is inimitable.

12:22 This is a challenge as you read the Gospels. Not all imitation. Some imitation, some inimitable. You worship. So let's walk with Jesus here in sequence through his earthly life as this great plan unfolds in history. We've got three steps to move through here this morning. Number one, Jesus' life work and his lead prayer were his Father's glory. His life work and his lead prayer were his Father's glory. Jesus lived his human life in utter dedication to his Father and his Father's glory. When he was born, the angels rightly said, glory to God in the highest.

13:21 And in Jesus' earthly life from the manger to the cross, the man Jesus Christ did not glorify himself. But in his words and in his deeds, the effect of his life and the expressed intention of his life was to glorify his father.

13:44 He summarizes it so briefly and amazingly in John 8, 49. He says, I honor my father. That's the life, the human life of Jesus in some I honor my father And Jesus instructed his disciples to live like this So he says in Matthew 5, 16 Let your light so shine among others that they may see your good deeds And give glory to your father who is in heaven That's how he lived, that's how he teaches us to live And he says in John 15, 8 By this is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. and what does he do when his disciples ask him how to pray this is really significant i mean this is an amazing moment they ask him and they've been around him they've seen his life they've seen his holiness the contagious attractive joyful holiness of his life they've seen how dependent he is on his father, they ask him, Lord, teach us to pray.

14:57 And the first thing out of his mouth, so important, what's the first thing he's going to pray? The first thing he's going to ask, Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Sanctify your name. Let your name be seen as holy. Make your name holy. In other words, glorify your name. That's his first prayer. That's what he prays. That's what he teaches us to pray. It's a good thing to start with, Father, glorify your name. Make it holy in this place, in our city, in our world. That's how Jesus prayed and taught us.

15:42 So while the God-centeredness of God, that he rightly, justly, wonderfully pursues his own glory, that might lead us to expect a simple Christ-centeredness of Christ in a human life. But that is not largely what we see. Not yet. It's not what his life is dedicated to. In fact, what we find, and this is especially in the Gospel of John, chapters 5 to 8, What we find there is that Jesus renounces the pursuit of his own glory during his earthly life and seeks instead the glory of his father. He says in John 8.50, I do not seek my own glory. And he says in John 8 54 If I glorify myself My glory is nothing It is my Father who glorifies me Now, even here we're beginning to see this turn Not only is he renouncing glory But he's acknowledging his father will glorify him John chapter 7 verse 18 Is characteristic of Jesus' human life as man He says, the one who speaks on his own authority Seeks his own glory He's not doing that But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

17:21 So the incarnate Christ does not seek his own glory, but the glory of his Father who sent him. So to be clear here, this first point. The God-centeredness of God and that God-centered God becoming man in the person of Christ does not produce one who is in essence a self-centered human. The important first point.

17:52 Jesus lived his human life in utter dedication to his Father and his Father's glory. His prayer was, hallowed be thy name. and his life's work was making his father look good. That's number one. Number two, Jesus' near approach to the cross reveals his holy desire for glory. his near approach that's a very important phrase his near approach to the cross reveals his holy desire for glory as Jesus comes close to the cross in these especially prescient moments we see his holy desire for the proper glory and exaltation not in place of his father's glory but with him and in the presence of his Father.

18:51 This is a significant development that is tracked especially in the Gospel of John. So as we move from John 7 and 8, those texts that we just saw about him not seeking his own glory, and we move to John 12 and 13, we're going to see this word now. He's going to say it over and over again. Now. Something new. There's a development. There's a change here in this near approach to the cross. There's a now as the cross is now just a few days away. He's coming to Jerusalem in the triumphal entry. He's in his near approach to the cross. And where does he turn when he prays?

19:33 John 12, 27 to 28. He says, now. There's a now. There's one. We're going to see many of these nows. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. That's the hour of the cross. We're going to see that hour again and again. The hour of the cross. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. All right, so nothing new yet. We've seen that all throughout Jesus' life. He's going after the Father's glory. That's not new. But then, in his next statement, Jesus refers obliquely, but really to his own lifting up and exaltation. This is new.

20:26 And this is significant. Jesus had said in John 12, 23, with his death in view, that his hour has come. That's the cross. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. and in this hour not only will the father lift him up rather than Jesus lifting himself up he doesn't lift himself up the father lifts him up but this first lifting up will be a lifting up of all places to the odium of the cross the first lifting up is not the resurrection the first lifting up strangely wonderfully is the lifting up on the cross to die for sinners and even though at this key juncture in his life as he draws near to the cross Jesus first rehearses that goal of glorifying his father he now acknowledges here in John 12 and he reveals that he desires his own exaltation seeing that his hour has come and that he will soon move beyond this earthly life and enter into glory with this great final act of self-humbling, Jesus says in John chapter 13, verses 31 to 32, here's another now.

21:51 Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him, the Son, in himself and glorify him at once. so in this near approach to the cross we now see both glories glory of the father glory of the son both coming together to the fore not in competition but complementary accentuating each other strengthening each other not only will the incarnate son glorify his father as he has since Bethlehem. But now he will do so in a new measure and to a new degree as he's lifted up in the sacrifice of the suffering servant at the cross.

22:51 and the Father too will glorify his Son. So D.A. Carson One of my favorite commentators And my favorite on the Gospel of John Says this So intertwined are the operations of the Father and the Son That the entire mission can be looked at another way One may reverse the order In other words Son glorifies Father and Father glorifies Son. just a little glimpse of this in the book of hebrews the very beginning of hebrews chapter one verse two hebrews speaks of god appointing his son the heir of all things familiar with that phrase god appoints his son heir of all things and then hebrews adds through whom also he made the world.

23:59 This is a really interesting sequence. So before he makes the world through his son, he appoints his son as heir of all things. In other words, here's one way you might put it. In the mind of the father. I have this son I love, I delight in. I will make a world that he might have it. I'll make a world that he will be the hero of That he will have the glory for That's why God made the world That's one way to say it You can reverse the order You can talk about creation for the glory of the Father You can talk about the Father creating Dreaming up the world, its history Sustaining it all Putting Jesus at the center To be the hero of it all The Father loves and celebrates his Son So as Jesus moves closer and closer to the cross, he looks to this glory he will receive from his Father. Indeed, this is the glory that he and his Father share. So, number one, Jesus lives his earthly life for his Father's glory. Number two, as he moves close to his death and he's lifted up, the first lifting up, the first exaltation, the first glorification of the Son is at the cross. And there Jesus begins to acknowledge and to pray for this glory, the glories of the Father and the Son as they are one.

25:32 And now at last, seen to be one. But now, what about Jesus' joy? That's number three. We've talked about His glory. We've tracked this progress of His glory. Now we need to pick up the joy piece. So number three, Jesus' joy Upheld him In the face of death That's number three Jesus' joy Upheld him In the face of death And now we put these final pieces in place By turning from Jesus' pursuit of glory His father's and his own To his pursuit of joy And the question of Jesus' joy And this near approach of the cross brings to mind Hebrews 12.2. I mentioned Hebrews 12.2 briefly last night.

26:27 Biblically, it is one of the more significant texts in the Bible for me. Because it talks about what got Jesus to and through the cross. Whatever that was, that's what I want. That's how I want to live. That's why I'd come to Sweden to talk about real joy. because that's what got Jesus, our Savior, to the cross and through it.

26:52 So Hebrews 12, 2, he starts with us in the church, and then he moves to Jesus in verse 2. Hebrews 12, 1 to 2. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, and it's easy to feel in this room, however alone, however much in the minority you feel in your church, back at home, just take it in in this room take in the cloud of witnesses here bring it back with you in your mind in your photos in your imagination since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance how? that's what I want to know how do I run with endurance? that's our focus this weekend that's what we're getting after how do you run with endurance the race set before you looking to jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. So here's this amazing statement that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. And now I want to ask, I want to finish up the session focusing on this by asking specifically, what joy could that have been?

28:26 what was the joy? What reward, what gain could have been so powerful that he could taste it? It would stream into the present and uphold him and strengthen him as he endured the cross of all obstacles. what foretaste of joy or joys could help jesus endure the cross so we went over to hebrews 12 and now we come back to the gospel of john because the gospel of john gives us the best glimpse into jesus's mind and his heart as he readied himself for the cross and there are two chapters in particular that are especially insightful in talking about the joys, the joys that were set before Jesus as he went to the cross. We've already seen some in chapter 12. We're going to come back to chapter 12. We were looking at chapter 12 for glory before. Now I come back to chapter 12 to look at joy. And then the other one we're going to go to is Hebrews 17, which Trevor read and pick up on Jesus's joys there in that amazing high priestly prayer the night before he died. This is where we'll finish in these two passages so the first one is john 12 and in particular verses 27 to 33 john 12 27 to 33 shortly after his triumphal entry previously in the gospel of john jesus has said over and over that his hour has not yet come he says that in chapter 2 in chapter 7 in chapter 8. My hour has not yet come. He's in this first phase of his earthly life.

30:22 But now in John 12, things change. Now he says his hour has come as we saw already. Verse 27, 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. So to be clear here, as we do this little study on Jesus' joy, whatever we uncover about Jesus' joy, it's not gonna be trouble-free. We're not talking about joy that's trouble-free. We started with that last night and said if you came in here with sufferings and with sorrows, we're not talking about a real joy that can only exist when they're gone. we're talking about a real joy that's deeper than sorrows that's deeper than troubles so it can hold you up as you have those troubles it held Jesus up when his soul was troubled he says it again and again my soul's troubled in chapter 11 in chapter 12 chapter 13 his soul is troubled so the presence of trouble doesn't mean the absence of joy in fact the reality of such trouble demonstrates the depth and the power of this joy to move through the trouble rather than flee from the trouble. So here's a first source of Jesus' joy. I've got three joys in chapter 12 and chapter 17. The first joy here in chapter 12 is the joy we've already seen, but we've talked about it in terms of glory in his lead pursuit, his lead prayer, the glory of his Father. So now glory of the Father is not only a pursuit and a commitment, a duty, it's a joy. Jesus takes joy in the glory of his Father. When Jesus owns the arrival of his hour, his first prayer is for the Father to glorify his name.

32:28 Second joy. what the cross will achieve over the ancient foe. This is awesome to think about. On the night before he dies and the week before he dies, the joy that Jesus feels about triumphing over Satan. John 12, 31. Now, another now. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

33:09 Paul's going to call Satan the god of this world, the prince of the power of the air. And he will be decisively unseated as ruler of this world. And Jesus will experience the joy of unseating him. It's amazing to think about this Driving Jesus to the cross In his constellation of joys This victory This conquest Over Satan That he would be the father's Chosen instrument to disarm The rulers and authorities And put them to open shame By triumphing over them How? Through the tree of shame It's amazing God in his strange providence in his peculiar glory uses the shame of the cross as the instrument that will come back and shame Satan and his demonic powers Colossians 2 verse 15 and this gave Jesus joy and let me ask you very practically does this give you joy?

34:22 And when you come to moments in your life of obstacle, little tiny obstacles, none of us are called to the obstacle of the cross in the way Jesus was. Our obstacles pale in comparison to his great obstacle. When you come to your obstacles, do you reach for the joy of Satan's defeat as part of your motivation in choosing holiness, righteousness, love, following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Do it. Make it practical. Number three. Jesus then mentions a third joy, and this is the saving of his people. This is John 12, 32. And I, when I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

35:17 he would be lifted up from the earth. First, by being lifted up to the cross. John immediately adds that in verse 33. So his lifting up is a lifting up to the cross that he might save people from every tribe and every tongue and every nation. so make no mistake the joy set before jesus was the joy of love this is important to say this is a piece of it this is part of it sometimes modern christians only say this we don't talk about the father's glory we don't talk about the defeat of satan as much as love love love we love to talk about love in our generation this is real this is important this must be said.

36:14 Love for his people does, in part, bring him to the cross. John 13, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. So as the cross approached, he delighted to save his church from every tribe and tongue and nation. That's John 12. Those were the three in John 12. How about John 17?

36:42 John 17 is the second passage, the high priestly prayer. On the very night he gave himself into custody, and he echoes two of the joys we've already introduced, so doubles down on these, and then he adds one further one, one more that we didn't see back in John 12. First, Jesus prays explicitly about sharing his own joy with his people, and that again is an expression of love for his disciples. Here's love again in chapter 17. He says in verse 13 of chapter 17, These things I speak in the world that they, my people, may have my joy in themselves. This is how love talks. Love wants to act, speak, so live that my joy would be shared with the joy of the beloved. Jesus' joy that's deep enough to carry him to the cross will not only be his, but he wants it to be in his people through both his words and his sacrificial work.

37:52 He said back in chapter 15, verse 11, These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. That's what love looks like. my joy in God I want to so live and speak that your joy would be in God and would be full love attempts to share itself to share its joy with others at least with words second then in John 17 Jesus also prays in anticipation of his father's glory and how could he not his whole life has been dedicated to his father's glory he recalls that his life has been devoted to his father's glory three times in john 17 verse 4 i glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do verse 6 i have manifested your name we talked last night about glory and name and honor and praise synonymous ways of talking about god's great end i've manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. And then verse 26, I have made known to them your name, Father, and I will continue to make it known. So Jesus not only did it and glorified his Father, he delighted in it, in his Father and his Father's glory. And then now the final one here in John 17.

39:22 In the consecration of prayer, on his final evening before suffering and shame, he prays with a third joy. This might be the most surprising one for us. He prays for his own exaltation. For his own glory. His own lifting up. And it's three times in John 17. Verse 1. Father, the hour, the hour of the cross has come. Glorify your son that the son may glorify you. Verse 5. Now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Verse 24. Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory. he has not talked this way earlier in the gospel of john this is in the near approach to the cross he expresses this joy and if we misunderstand the utter holiness of jesus and of this moment then we'll misunderstand this culminating joy he's returning to his father taking his seat with his work accomplished on the throne of the universe.

40:52 The joy of being enthroned in heaven, be glorified at the right hand of his Father, will not come any other way than through and because of the cross. This is not easy path to glory. This is not, oh, glory, right up to glory. This is down to and through the cross and up to glory. and his exaltation and enthronement will not only mean personal honor for Jesus but personal nearness to his father at the Father's right hand is both the seat of honor and the seat of proximity to his Father. He not only wanted the throne, but he wanted to have his Father. and this coming exaltation this coming proximity is the particular joy among others that Hebrews 12 2 mentions if we're back in Hebrews 12 2 we asked Hebrews 12 2 what's the joy that was set before him given the various joys we've seen here in John 12, John 17 what's the particular joy in the mind of the author of the Hebrews in Hebrews 12 2 He says, For the joy that was set before Jesus, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

42:24 That's the joy set before him that he saw that helped him endure and continue. Concluding Reflections. in Christ we come to the unique and spectacular man who is also God and the one person of the Godhead who also became man Jesus is unique unique among men and unique among the persons of the Godhead in that way and we the redeemed in Christ have a glory that is coming to us as adopted sons but not as the unique divine son.

43:09 Yet even here, even in the unfolding pursuit of divine glory, in Jesus' near approach to the cross, he shows us how we too might righteously acknowledge and righteously seek our own portion of creaturely glory. in praying for glory in John 12 and in John 17 Jesus is marvelously human he's praying he's on his knees he's using human words with a human mouth and human soul and he's asking his father rather than grasping rather than putting himself forward Rather than building his platform, he makes his holy request and he walks in faith.

44:06 For Christians, as it was for Christ himself in human flesh, our being glorified, our being exalted, our being lifted up by God is no sin or evil. it's not evil for God to honor you exalt you in his perfect timing the trouble is in our self-glorifying our self-exalting in our grasping for praise for honor for glory Jesus's humble acknowledgement of his coming glory in John 12 and his prayer for his father to decisively exalt him in John 17 are not instances of man seeking to seize glory but rather it's in the language of Romans 2, 7 by patience and well-doing seeking for glory and honor and immortality.

45:10 So Christ is our example in this sense. And yet Christ is our example is not the final or most important word. We worship the one whose glory is distinct and inimitable. As Jesus draws near to the cross, the glory of the Father and of the Son is revealed as one essential glory. And so, like Jesus, we seek our Father's glory in Christ. and like Jesus we do so in pursuit of real joy in God joy that's deep enough and thick enough to endure suffering and our seeking Christ's glory and our seeking real joy in Him are one because Jesus is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him so Father in Heaven with all the practical questions that remain about our lives, our calling to love, the motivation of our wills, the pursuit of our own joy that we tackle this afternoon,

46:35 it's right that we would pause and marvel at the life of Christ. We don't need to run to application too quick yet. let's linger over the spectacular unique glory of the person of your son father we thank you for Jesus in all he is as exemplar in how he shows us your own divine life among us in human flesh and then father we thank you all the more for what's distinct what's unique what we cannot imitate in what Christ does for us and in the exaltation of Christ to the place of our worship. so father in the person of your son would you drive deeper in our hearts not only the pursuit of your joy but our delight in the pursuit of your joy and in that delight would you magnify your son in whose name we pray amen