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CHRIST'S LAST WORDS TO THE JEWS

John chapter 12 v. 27 to 50

"My soul": the soul here is synonymous with spirit in verse 21 of chapter 13. As in Gethsemane (not related in this Gospel) the soul of the Lord instinctively and naturally shrunk from the Cross, but he instantly surrendered to the will of the Father in both experiences.

He wasn't to suffer at the hands of men only, but He was to be made sin, although He was holy and undefiled, in order that sinners might be justified through faith in Him. He was to be ". . . a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief . . ." (Isaiah 53:3,4,10) on the Cross. This involved a depth of suffering which is incomprehensible to us. His supreme desire was the glory of Father.

We tend to whimper and cry and complain and ask God why He lets unpleasant things happen to us, but with Christ, we should learn to say, "Father, through this suffering and through this pain, glorify Your name."

A voice from Heaven immediately replied affirmatively. This was the third occasion on which the Father spoke to Him from out of heaven. On all three occasions, at the beginning, midway, and at the end of His ministry it was done in relation to His death:

1. the first was at His baptism when He identified Himself with sinful humanity;

2. the second was at His transfiguration when Elijah and Moses were talking with Him about His decease which He should accomplish in Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31);

3. finally, at the conclusion of His ministry, the Lord was talking about His death because His hour had come.

Of the people standing by, one group said that it thundered, another that an angel had spoken. Neither was right, for it was the Father speaking to Him.

The first group said it merely thundered, giving it a natural explanation. Like them, many people today say God's Word is of human authorship, therefore full of errors and that the miracles recorded can't be accurate. Because they don't believe, they say "it just thundered."

The second group realised it was supernatural because it was articulated: they believed in the ministry of angels told in the Old Testament and understood that God's messages for man generally came through "the Angel of the Lord;" they did not, however, understand that He was the pre-incarnate Christ, nor did they acknowledge that the voice from heaven brought a message from God.

The voice from heaven confirmed to the people that the name of God was being glorified in Christ, which would be remembered later. Christ's death on the Cross was the judgement of the world and of the prince of this world, Satan. That is one of the things the Holy Spirit now bears witness to (chapter 16:7-11). He died a judgement death for the sins of the world, thereby paying the penalty for them.

Those who believe on Him are no longer judged and Satan, the prince of this world, loses his power over them, and is cast out of their lives. He will eventually be cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:10), then cast into the bottomless pit and sealed for a thousand years (Revelation 20:3), and finally cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), the last stage of his defeat. At the Cross, his doom was sealed.

The Gospel is about a Christ who was crucified. His death would draw all men unto Him, and Christ continues to be lifted before men today, two thousand years later, all over the world: those who believe are saved, those who reject Him are lost. The magnetism of the Cross is now known of all men, however little they understand the full meaning of the Cross.

By "all men" the Lord does not mean every individual man, for some, as Simeon said (Luke 2:34) are repelled by Christ, but this is the way that Greeks (verses 20-22) can and will come to Christ, by the way of the Cross, the only way to the Father (chapter 14:6).

Clearly the crowd understood that by calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus was identifying Himself with the Messiah, and so they query how that was possible: He said the Son of Man was to be lifted up, therefore die by crucifixion, whereas they understood the Scriptures to teach that the Messiah would live forever. If He was not the Messiah, then who was the Son of man?

He did not argue the point of theology with the crowd who would not understand. He turned to the metaphor used before when he claimed to be the light of the world (chapter 8:12) and urged that they take advantage of their privilege "while you have the light" (the ancients did not have our electric street lights and the dark streets were a terror to travellers): they must believe Him, or they would never find their way.

He then withdrew and disappeared from their presence.

He went into the temple again on the two following days, casting out the moneychangers on our Sunday (Mark 11:12-19) and teaching and healing on our Monday (Mark 11:20-37, Luke 19:41-44, 47-48). This ended His ministry to the Jews, and He will never appear publicly again until He comes to this earth to establish His Kingdom.

Although they were standing in the presence of the Light of the World, they would not open their eyes and believe in Him who gave ample proof of His identity with so many signs. The prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled. They were like a man who wakes up in the morning and says to himself, "Today I won't see and I will keep my eyes closed all day." He is just as blind as the man who cannot see.

The second quotation from Isaiah says, "He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart." After the Lord had presented Himself to them as the Messiah and as their King and they rejected Him personally, the day came when they could not accept Him even if they wished, because God now prevented it.

The most dangerous thing in the world is to hear the gospel and then turn one's back on it, for there comes a time when one cannot hear or see. God is Lord, and it is He who has the final word. Isaiah with spiritual vision saw the glory of the Messiah and spoke of him; the Lord also said that Abraham saw his day (chapter 8:56).

Some of the rulers clearly realised His true identity but were afraid to speak out, lest they be put out of the synagogue. They were jeopardising their salvation (Matthew 10:32,33). We will later find two of these secret believers, however, taking down the body of Jesus from the cross.

The last seven verses of this chapter were probably said when He was teaching in the temple two days later, and is like a summary of what He had already said earlier (chapter 12:36).

A more accurate, though less literal translation of "believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me" is "…not on me only, but also on Him …" Again He stated that He is the Light of the World. He will open the eyes of any, Jew or Gentile, who are willing to admit that they are blind and are prepared to trust in Him. Judgment is coming by the Word of God, and not by our little good works, or by what we think religion is.

The Lord Jesus came the first time as the Saviour: "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." The next time He will come as the Judge. That very word of Christ which one rejects will confront him and accuse him to the Father "at the last day". There is no escaping it.

The Lord Jesus himself will bear witness for or against the one whose conduct has already revealed his attitude towards the message of God (Matthew 10:32; Luke 12:8). The voice from heaven is still saying to us, ". . . This is My beloved Son . . . Hear Him" (Matthew 17:5).

This concludes this section of the Gospel of John. Men had turned their backs on that voice; they had rejected the King. When they had done this, the King rejected them. He is always the King!

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

27 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

28 "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."

29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."

30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

31 "Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

34 The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"

5 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him,

38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?"

39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."

41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

44 Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.

45 "And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.

46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

47 "And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him - the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

49 "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.

50 "And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."