November 2, 2021 -- John 18:3-6 -- God the Glorious
/So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
John 18:3-6 ESV
Yesterday I was listening to a podcast on the attributes of God. Steven Lawson was teaching. He told the story of a man who approached his preacher and said, “I saw God this morning while I was shaving”.
The preacher paused, and said drily, “I have only one question for you. Did you keep on shaving?”
The point is this: the glory of the LORD is so great, that the merest glimpse of Who He Is would throw men to the ground. That is what with happened in the narrative before us today. When the battle-hardened soldiers who'd come out armed to the teeth, ready to arrest Him, Jesus did not flinch. He stood and calmly said, “I AM”, He linked His Name and His work to the Living God of Glory. That briefest glimpse of glory threw men, warriors, to the ground. God cannot be approached casually. He is not our buddy. He is clothed in splendor. He is arrayed in glory. He is worthy of worship. Our prayer today is the ascription of praise from Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33-36 ESV
https://youtu.be/hqk-bEwCuIs
