“For they preferred human praise to the glory of God” (John 12:43).
“For they preferred human praise to the glory of God.” (John 12:43)
This verse points to some of the characteristics of human nature that keep us from growing spiritually. John addresses the belief and unbelief of the Jews both before and during Jesus’s lifetime in chapter 12. He states in verse 42, “Many, even among the authorities, believed in him (Jesus), but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue.” In the time of Jesus, life--almost their very survival--revolved around the synagogue. Being public with a belief in Jesus was very risky in his day, and sadly it is getting to be risky today too.
The ego, literally, “I” in Latin, is our sense of self. Dr. Mark Leary states that, “People differ in the degree to which they can step outside their own perspective to see things from others’ viewpoints, but we’re all locked into our own egocentric viewpoint because there's no way for us to process information except from our personal frame of reference.” Humans by nature see everything with the “self” as the center of their own universe and perspective. This focus on the self helps to keep us alive, as in self-preservation. There is both a physical self that seeks preservation and a psychological self that wants to be safe and loved. This egocentrism is what caused believers to hide their faith in Jesus, for fear of losing both physical and psychological safety.
“They preferred human praise to the glory of God.” Even today, standing up against a strong majority opinion on any issue is extremely difficult. In fact, crowd mentality, or social influence, can lead to the bystander effect, where people fail to do what they know is right. Jesus says, “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). The light of Jesus allows us to see outside of ourselves. Jesus describes himself “as light.” According to Webster’s dictionary light is “something that makes vision possible”. Belief in Jesus allows us to step outside the natural human egocentrism and see life and ourselves through a divine perspective. Seeing through the light of Jesus enables us to experience the “glory of God.”
How do we get this new perspective? How do we see through the lens of the “glory of God”? Quite simply: we ask. Jesus gives us an example of what to do in this chapter. When he is “troubled” (John 12:27), Jesus prays, “Father, glorify your name”. Then God answered in an audible sound that some said was thunder, and others said was an angel. John writes, “Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:28). Jesus is modeling that all we need to do is to pray and ask for a divine perspective, and God is showing that he answers that prayer.
How is God glorified in our life? Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” God is glorified in love-- when we love Him and when we love each other. It is simple, but hard to do. “They preferred human praise to the Glory of God.” Our ego seeks out love for itself from outside of itself; the ego seeks love from people. However, the Glory of God focuses on loving God-- who is love in totality; and loving others.