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In the Miracles of Jesus 243
humility, not self-exalting crowd pleasing. This was the peculiar glory
of his miracles. This is what the signs pointed to. This Messiah was not
what the brothers of Jesus (or anyone else) expected.
To be sure, Jesus was to be “called the Son of the Most High.” To
be sure, he would “sit on the throne of his father David, and of his
kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32–33). But the pathway to
that great glory was not what anyone expected. It would be through
self-denying suffering, not self-exalting popularity. His brothers did
not see this. And their enthusiasm for his miracles was, in fact, unbelief
(John 7:5). It was not based on a sight of the peculiar glory.
Jesus does not trace this unbelief back to ignorance about Old Testament
prophecies about the suffering Messiah. He traces it back to
a human heart that does not have a will in tune with God’s will. He
says in John 7:17, “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know
whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own
authority.” The deepest problem is not ignorance but a will that does
not will to do God’s will. In the context, God’s will is the surrender
of self-exaltation and the embrace of God-exaltation. “The one who
speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks
the glory of him who sent him is true” (John 7:18).
So where the human will enjoys and pursues self-exaltation rather
than God-exaltation, the true Jesus will not be attractive or recognized
for who he really is. The glory will be invisible. And his miracles will,
therefore, be misunderstood. The human heart must be brought into
harmony with the will of God in order for God’s design for Jesus’s
miracles to be seen. Their peculiar glory was not power in the service
of self-exaltation but power in the service of God-exaltation and selfdenying
service of human liberation. Jesus would use this power to relieve
the suffering of others, but not his own. Anyone who did not share
this disposition would not see the glory. And therefore, their excitement
about his miracles was not saving belief.
You Can’t Believe If You Are in Love with Human Praise
Jesus makes this even more clear in John 5:41–44, where he says,
I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have
the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and