John 13:31-35 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
One of the most amazing comebacks I ever saw was the NCAA Division II championship game between Winona State and Barton in 2007. I had never heard of either of these teams. I was watching the end of that game because there was a game right after that one that I really wanted to see. As we were watching, we discovered that Winona State was the defending NCAA Division II champions and had a 57 game winning streak. We saw the last 4 or 5 minutes of the game. With 45 seconds to go, Winona State had a seven point lead. You can watch the last 45 seconds of the game for yourself in the video.
As I said, I watched this as it was happening. There was no way I could have predicted that ending. It was up and down, back and forth. A big comeback and a free throw opportunity with at chance to tie, only to miss the free throw, foul the other team, get the ball back, score to tie the game, steal the ball and score again at the buzzer for the win. What an amazing finish. Totally unexpected, but amazing. It was a gut-wrenching experience for both teams and their fans. The winner was not the one everyone thought it would be.
The passage above is part of the dialog Jesus had with His disciples on the night he would be betrayed and handed over for trial, beatings, sentencing, and crucifixion. He was telling them that He must do all of this. It is the reason He came. This is how he will be glorified. In the eyes of the world, including His disciples, it didn’t seem like He was being glorified, but this is God being glorified. Dying for the sins of the world. Dying so that we might live. Paying the price in our place so that we could be spared. Crucified, dead, and buried.
That should have been that. The disciples had been with Jesus about three years. They had traveled with Him, listened to His teachings, watched Him perform miracles and healings. They had heard Him proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. They believed He was the Messiah, that a new day was dawning, that they would be eyewitnesses to Jesus taking control and ruling over Israel. But when they got to Jerusalem, in spite of the welcome on Palm Sunday, things did not go as the disciples had planned. Jesus was gone. Game over.
But not so fast. When Barton was down by seven points with only 45 seconds left on the clock, many people, myself included, thought “game over.” Yet there was an amazing finish. If you had said that to the disciples on Good Friday, they would have thought you were crazy. First of all, they didn’t know what basketball was, but never mind that. They would have said, “How can you compare a game to a death? Death is final. Game over!” And so it would seem.
But this was God being glorified. There was an amazing finish still in store. Jesus would remain in that tomb for the Sabbath, but very early, on the first day of the week, the most unlikely and unimaginable outcome began to unfold. The earth shook. Rocks split. An angel came down from heaven and rolled the stone away. The guards fled. Jesus was alive! This is God in all His glory. An amazing finish. Good News for you and me and all who will believe in Jesus. His death had paid for sin. His resurrection opens heaven for us. Because He lives, we have our own amazing finish in store. We will live also.
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