How is Jesus glorified by this act of treachery? How can good fruit come out of evil actions?
Jesus grieved – when his chosen disciple forsook him. He retained that look of love lest the betrayer return. But the latter hurried to the Jewish Council, who armed the guards to arrest Jesus by night.
Christ resisted the diabolical temptation to become a political Messiah, when he sent Judas to carry out the betrayal. He chose to die as the Lamb of God, to redeem mankind by meekness and weakness, announcing by his death that sacrificial love is the essence of his glory.
Jesus did not seek personal glory, but his Father’s glory in his death. His Father had sent him into the world to save the lost. The Son desired to renew the image of the Father in fallen mankind. For this renewal Jesus revealed the Father and nurtured them to faith in God’s fatherly goodness. Training alone is not enough, for sin has abounded to erect a barrier between God and his creatures. The Son had to die so that this barrier might be demolished that separates us from God, and the requirements of righteousness be met. Christ’s death is the key to the glorification of the Father’s name. Without that death, there can be no true knowledge of the Father, no legal adoption, nor true renewal.
When Christ denied himself, whereby his death would bring glory to the Father, he also announced that his Father would pour his glory on him, so he would become the spring of all glorious gifts. In the hours prior to his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus foresaw his own rising, ascension and session on the throne. Christ had to die to enter his glory.
All who deny the sufferings and death of Christ, or regard them as a sign of weakness, fail to realize God’s will crystallized in the cross, and the holiness of the Son, who burst open the grave. He showed his glory on the divine altar, where he burned out in place of all, so that all who believe in him may be justified.