Underneath every mistake the Pharisees made lay a root problem. Jesus put it simply: ‘They loved the glory of men more than the glory of God’ (John 12:43, my translation).
Jesus’ words cut like a scalpel through to their fundamental motivation. They would not confess Him because of what they loved. But what exactly did Jesus mean? Did He mean that they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from God? Or did He mean that they loved the glory of men more than the glory that belongs to and is due to God?
The glory of men vs. the glory of God
I suggest that Jesus actually meant both: they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from God precisely because they did not perceive the nature and beauty of the glory that belongs to and is due to God.
Jesus said plainly of Himself: ‘I do not receive glory from people’ (John 5:41). The Pharisees, however, preferred the acclamation of the people. Hungry for popularity and praise, they would not dare confess Christ or go against the crowd. Instead, said Jesus: ‘They do all their deeds to be seen by others’ (Matt. 23:5).
How, though, could they choose the approval of mere creatures over the approval of the Lord of glory? Put like that, on paper, in stark black and white, the choice is clearly irrational and idiotic. Yet it is a choice we all make every day. And the reasoning is not hard to make out: they (and we likewise) preferred the glory of man because, quite simply, God was not sufficiently glorious in their eyes.
The root of the Pharisees’ mistake: a failure to recognise God’s glory
The Pharisees failed to see both the glory of God’s high holiness and the glory of God’s mercy in Christ to sinners. Not perceiving the extent of God’s love and compassion, they turned to find love and acceptance elsewhere. Instead of looking up to the glory and grace of God, they looked down: down at the text they sought to master, down at others for approval, down on others in competition. They could not perceive that a higher pleasure could be found in God Himself.
God is the glory, the portion, the reward, and the treasure of true faith. Abraham ‘grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God’ (Rom. 4:20). ‘But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head’ (Ps. 3:3), cried David. Where the Pharisees looked for some other reward, the saints declare: ‘The LORD is my portion’ (119:57). That is why Paul could write so bluntly: ‘Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? … If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ’ (Gal. 1:10).
Our portion in Christ
Loving the glory of men more than the glory of God is an itch we know all too well. What hope is there for us? There is only one: ‘the gospel of the glory of the blessed God’ (1 Tim. 1:11). The gospel is the means by which ‘you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (2 Thess. 2:14). It is so because the gospel is the deepest revelation of the glory of God, enlightening us to see a wonderful and superior beauty in God that is more satisfying than all human glory. It is, after all, ‘the gospel of the glory of Christ’ which gives us ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:4-6).
That final phrase is the key: the gospel reveals God’s glory because it is the good news concerning Jesus Christ, and the glory of God shines brightest ‘in the face of Jesus Christ.’ In Him, ‘we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). More even than a faithful echo of God, He is God Himself, ‘the Lord of glory’ (1 Cor. 2:8), of the very being of the Father, so perfectly radiating the glory of His Father that He can say: ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ (John 14:9).
It is in ‘the riches of his grace’ (Eph. 1:7) that we see ‘the riches of his glory’ (3:16). His is not a grasping, preening glory but the radiance of ‘the Father of glory’ (1:17), the one so superabounding in life and blessedness that He generates glory. In polar contrast to a sinful, human glory that avoids the needy and seeks its own good, in Christ crucified we see a divine glory that shines light into darkness, that confers good, that gives life and righteousness to helpless and unworthy sinners.
Only in the face of Christ the friend of sinners, as we see His compassion for the helpless and His welcome for the outcast, can we begin to understand the goodness of divine glory. ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am’ (John 8:28). And only then will we begin to love the glory of God more than the glory of men.
