"Now is the Son of Man Glorified" John 13

Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter
Mark Payne, OSB

Many in Israel expected that the Messiah promised by God would be a glorious king who would lead God's people to freedom - much like King David, that favorite son of God. So it was not surprising when Jesus told his apostles at the Last Supper that the time had come: he was about to be glorified. No one who heard Jesus that night, however, could have imagined the kind of glory that Jesus was referring to: The glory of faithful and loving persistence in the doing of God's will, come what may. Jesus hanging on the cross is not a glory that is humanly understandable. It is certainly not a glory that is attractive to us who are called to follow his example. The glory that Jesus speaks of is not the kind of messianic glory that David's descendants expected. We can better understand the glory of Jesus by considering the totality of the life he led. Jesus was determined throughout his life to let nothing whatever prevent him from actively representing God's love and mercy for the people of the world.

The life of Jesus is both far more glorious and much less glorious than we would ever imagined on our own. What could be more glorious than healing the bodies, the hearts and the minds of people? What could be a more glorious life than teaching people about their dignity and their destiny in God's plan, calling people into eternal life? What could be less glorious than enduring the misunderstanding of one's friends and the rejection of those in authority? The glory of Jesus is that he is the presence of God in the world. The glory of Jesus is that he allowed no fear, no threat, no discouragement, and no power on earth to dissuade him from presenting both the judgment and the mercy of God to the world. All the bad things that could happen to a person did happen to Jesus and yet he never stopped trusting in the goodness and power of God or the value and dignity of his fellow men and women. Jesus experienced people at their worst and Jesus experienced worldly power at its most destructive and Jesus still never wavered from his love of God and people. Love one another, Jesus tells his disciples. No matter what: love one another. If everything goes wrong and yet you still love one another, then everything will still be all right. On the other hand, if you succeed at everything you try to do but do not love other people, then nothing you accomplish will have any lasting value.

King David wanted to build God an earthly temple like the gods of the other nations. All the other kingdoms had giant statues of their gods in magnificent palaces. God did not permit David to do this. In the book of Revelation today we hear that God's plan was to create a temple for God in the heart of the whole people. Is this more glorious or less glorious than a magnificent marble construction? "God will always be with God's people," Revelation goes on to promise. Come what may (and everything terrible we can imagine did happen), come what may, God will still be present in the heart of the people and still be present as the heart of the people. Mourning, pain, and death will be no more.

God did not allow David to build an earthly temple because only God can prepare and present a temple or a kingdom that will satisfy the human heart. I make all things new, says God in the Book of Revelation today. For all our human cleverness, our talents, determination and energy, for all our wonderful plans, we we always fall short of creating any kingdom that can make us happy and keep us safe. Recent history only proves how true this is. The kingdom that is breaking into the world by God's power is utterly new and it is being graciously handed over to us. It is nothing we could have suspected, nothing we could have deserved, nothing we could have carried out for ourselves.

"All your works will give you thanks, O Lord." Psalm 145 tells us in these words how even we can share in the glory of God for ourselves. Accept the gift of God's own self, give thanks for this wonderful gift, and make this gift known to everyone you meet. Love one another, Jesus tells his disciples. No matter what, love one another. If everything goes wrong and yet still love one another, then everything will still be all right. This, alone, is the glory of God in Jesus Christ.