John 12:26

Ver. 26. “ If any one serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be; if any one serves me, him will my Father honor. ”

To follow, here: on the pathway of sacrifice, which alone leads to the glorious metamorphosis. The Greek term: where I am, is a present of anticipation; it refers to the state of the celestial glory of Jesus, as the promise: shall be there also, refers to the participation of the faithful disciple in that state (John 17:24). Τιμήσει, shall honor, recalls the shall be glorified, δοξασθῇ, of John 12:23. The Father will honor the faithful servant who has consented to bear the shame of His Son in renouncing all glory of his own; he will make him participate in the glorification of this Son. Herein is for both the keeping of the life which they have given up. Perhaps Andrew and Philip had seen with a somewhat carnal satisfaction the conduct of these strangers desirous to render homage to their Master. Jesus, accustomed to silence continually within Himself even the most lawful aspirations of the natural life, in view of His divine mission, suppresses by a word these ambitious thoughts on the part of His disciples. Then, immediately after having thus declared the law which obliges Him to die, He feels in His whole being the reaction of this formidable thought.