Matthew 5:16 is a famous, often-quoted, scripture. I’m pretty sure I heard someone quote it before I read it, and because of that, I had an ill-conceived idea about its meaning.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5)
What does it mean to “glorify,” and who does the “glorifying” in this verse?
Hearing this verse as a child, I picked up on the idea that “to glorify” meant “to praise” (which it does, though it is almost universally understood pretty superficially), but I failed to correctly determine who “glorifies” the Father in this verse. Somehow I got it my head that, if you “let your light so shine before men,” they (the men) would see your good works and they (the men) would glorify (or praise) the Father.
And, perhaps, there is something to be gained from that understanding, but it wasn’t until I did a deep dive into the definition of “glorify” that this scripture took on new meaning for me—one that led to better and greater fruits in my life.
1. To praise; to magnify and honor in worship; to ascribe honor to, in thought or words.
2. To make glorious; to exalt to glory, or to celestial happiness.
3. To praise; to honor; to extol.
4. To procure honor or praise to.
Many times, looking up the definitions of the definitions can be beneficial, too. I found the definition for “magnify” to be extremely helpful.
1. To make great or greater; to increase the apparent dimensions of a body.
2. To make great in representation; to extol; to exalt in description or praise.
3. To extol; to exalt; to elevate; to raise in estimation.
Defining these words (and noticing the commas) helped me understand that there are two separate, but related, charges in this verse. Jesus is charging his disciples to “let [their] light...shine,” and he is also charging them to “glorify [their] Father...in heaven.” And one could make a case that it is only his true disciples that are able to actually fulfill these charges.
God is difficult for us to comprehend. The entirety of his love, knowledge, wisdom, mercy, and every other aspect of his character is so far above and beyond what we naturally possess that it is impossible to recognize the difference between the two without experiencing the pain that comes with that recognition.
In his mercy, God doles out smaller, but significant, portions of his character to us by way of the many things that surround us here in the physical world. The recognition of these smaller portions of his character are less painful for us to bear. While all things testify of him and give us reason to believe in his goodness and greatness, those who recognize, seek after, and incorporate measures of this goodness into themselves become an important means by which God is able to communicate more about himself to others who would not do the same. They “magnify” God. They increase the dimensions of portions of God’s character so that his character is tolerable for others to zoom in on, and bear, and learn from, without an insufferable amount of pain. They bring more easily comprehensible measures of his goodness into the less painful view of others in order to grant them an opportunity to incorporate that goodness into themselves. They convey God’s goodness in their representation of him.
This emulation and conveyance of God’s character is the highest form of “praise” and “worship” in which anyone can engage. What most people call “praise” and “worship” is a sorry and shameful excuse for what the Lord intends our praise and worship to be. Our praise and worship is meant to be what sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is meant to be a hallmark of the Lord’s disciples.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 14)
The atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes this emulation possible, and it is only those who submit themselves fully to him who are able to fully discover and then transmit God’s love and character to others. It is only those who believe in and assume the responsibility to increasingly become like God who can fulfill this charge from Jesus to “glorify” the Father.