5th Sunday of Easter 2025
Acts 14:21-27; Apocalypse 21:1-5; John 13: 31-35
“There’s glory for you” said Humpty Dumpty.
“I don’t know what you mean by glory” said Alice
“When I use a word” said Humpty Dumpty, “it means exactly what I want it to mean, neither more nor less”. (Lewis Carroll)
Humpty Dumpty is far from alone: all sorts of people from advertisers to politicians manipulate words, giving them the meaning which they have decided, shaping them to their own agenda. George Orwell’s “1984” shows where this can take us, with Oceania’s Ministry of Peace, which exists to make war; the Ministry of Truth, which handles propaganda; and the Ministry of Love, which is responsible for torture. We need to be on our guard, not always taking words at their face value, and being careful that we, at least, mean what we say.
For Humpty Dumpty, “glory” allegedly means “a good knock down argument”. What does it mean for us? Or, to be more precise, what did it mean for Our Lord when He spoke of being glorified, and of God being glorified in Him?
We need first to recall the basic scriptural meaning of the word. In the Bible, “glory” is shorthand for the presence of God, especially as revealed to human beings. This revelation often took the form of a cloud, as in the cloud and the pillar of fire which led the Israelites through the wilderness, and the cloud from which the Father spoke to Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration.
Jesus, as the Son of God, shared in that glory. In his Prologue, John tells us that “we have seen [Jesus’] glory, that glory which is His as the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:1-14) and at Cana, the same author tells us that Jesus “let His glory be seen “ (John 2:11) even though it was not yet His hour. Then, at the Transfiguration, the three disciples “saw His glory” (Luke 9:32).
If then the glory is the revelation of God’s presence, what does Our Lord mean when He speaks of Himself, the Son of Man, being glorified, and God being glorified in Him? Jesus’ glory is found and realised in His total conformity to the Father’s will. It will entail His being lifted up on the Cross, because for John, glory, the revelation of God, is shown not only in the Resurrection, but in the Crucifixion itself, the ultimate sign of surrender to God.
Are we to share in that glory? Indeed we are, by loving one another jut as Jesus has loved us. How has He loved us? By giving His life for us, so that our love for one another must be a self-sacrificing love, a love which brings US to the Cross. There is nothing soppy or sentimental about it: if it is genuine, it will lead us at times to Gethsemane and to Calvary.
Yet it was through Gethsemane and Calvary that Our Lord attained the fullness of His glory. As it was for Him, so it is for us. Paul and Barnabas, as they approached the end of their First Missionary Journey, warned the disciples that “through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God”. That doesn’t mean that we should go looking for “tribulations” or that we should be miserable people. Tribulations will come, but in their own way they can and should be a source of joy. They are the price of love, as anyone who has lost a loved one will know. More than that, they are a share in the sufferings of Jesus the Christ, and therefore both a sharing in His redemptive work, and the means of glory.
The author of the Apocalypse (whether he is the author of the Fourth Gospel or not is disputed) tells us that “God will wipe away every tear from our eyes”. Before tears can be wiped away, they must have been shed. We must, if we are to be the loving disciples whom Jesus demands, weep in compassion with our brothers and sisters throughout the world: their sufferings must be ours. Their Cross is the Cross of Jesus: it is through bearing with Him, and with them, that we come to glory.
