Glory or Defeat

In John 17:4-5 Jesus prayed to the Father in heaven, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” The Greek is literally “having completed the work.” How is an ignominious death on a cross glory? In the world it is seen as defeat. It is precisely the opposite in God’s eyes. In an ethically bankrupt world, wealth, power and popularity are often gained through moral defeat, lying, cheating, stealing. The self-sacrificing who take up their cross daily are the real winners. All honor and praise and dignity forever goes to the cross and those who live out its purpose.