John 13:31-32 English Standard Version

³¹ When he ^[Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.

We often think in worldly terms of glory. Heroes are glorified for saving lives. Athletes are glorified for their accomplishments. Heisman trophy winners are glorified for being the best in class.

Here in the gospel of John are the words of Jesus Himself in what it means for God to be glorified.

Jesus is the Son of Man. When He is glorified the Father is glorified. When the father glorifies Jesus it is in Himself. Nowhere in this description of glory is any one of us mentioned. We are not glorified in any way in this description of glory.

We are never glorified by God the Father.

Christ in us is glorified because He shows Himself according to the measure of glory that the Father shows Himself in Christ.

It never has been nor ever will be about what we have achieved.

Obedience of faith isn’t glory, it is duty served. When we obey God it is God who is glorified, it is Jesus who is glorified and we do not cause glory in what happens.

The flesh, which opposes the Spirit, seeks recognition, seeks accolades, and will seek attention from others because the flesh can never receive glory apart from what the world provides.

Glory is the reputation of God in the essence of His Son Jesus Christ in all that He does.

A cup is a coffee cup only because someone poured coffee into it. It cannot pour out anything other than what has been put into it.

We are His vessel. We are not in control of His glory poured in or out of us.

Genesis 3:1 English Standard Version (ESV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Is this where the nature of the snake oil salesman originated, in original sin. That however is not what gets credit for the term. Most searches will reveal this as the source of the term.

Snake oil salesmen – a term now used to refer to charlatans peddling their fraudulent wares – got the idea from Chinese laborers working on the First Transcontinental Railroad. They used the oils produced by the Chinese water snake, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, to soothe sore muscles or treat arthritis. (credit goes to many different sources)

We see manipulation in so many areas of our lives that we just take it for granted. We want something, anything, and we try to find a way to get what we want. When others do it we call it salesmanship. During this internet age it appears as spam or phishing. Every ad uses some degree of manipulation to either play on our emotions or our fears.

Some are so blatantly sinful as to play directly to the sin nature of those trapped in a constant loop of unsatisfying appetites that others easily avoid. Most of those only want money and could care less how their “customers” are afflicted.

It is in our original sin nature where selfish designs appear. Even if it is a good thing, we still “want it”.

Some of us have God given gifts. Then we recognize that we “want” to use it. We “want” others to recognize and appreciate it. We “want” a bigger audience and seek a bigger stage, a network, followers, and slowly but surely our sin nature goes from servant to salesman.

It doesn’t matter what “goods” we peddle if self does the “wanting”.