Wednesday in the Word...John 12:29-36...Selective hearing about the Messiah

We have become a nation of sound bytes.  We skip to the end of the story or zoom through the video to "the good stuff."  I've heard around the church, "I went to the end of the Bible and it says that we win."  This is great but it is important to know what happened to make that win possible.  We also say, "freedom isn't free" and so it is with our salvation on Jesus' part but He deemed the suffering He would endure as worth it.

Today's Wednesday in the Word is John chapter 12 and verses 29 through 36, which read,

v.29 - So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him."

Last Wednesday we ended with God speaking from heaven about Jesus.  He has done this before.  As with Jesus, God gets some mixed reviews from the crowd.  Some thought a storm was coming and others attributed the sound as some type of communication with Jesus.  It was coming from the direction of above so maybe it was an angel speaking to Jesus.  We don't know from the text if anyone understood other than Jesus but He seems to substantiate that they did hear something and He calls it a voice.  As a reminder, God said, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."  God spoke at Jesus' baptism and His transfiguration.  

v.30-33 - Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.  Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."  But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

The voice of God seems to have be audible and understandable to some if it was for their sakes as Jesus said.  God is saying that He has won and will win again.  Who does He win against?  The answer would be the ruler of this world.  Who is the ruler of this world?  This is a reference to Satan.  A couple cross references in the book of John are chapter 14 and verses 30 and 31 which read,

"I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.  Get up let us go from here."

John chapter 16 and verses 8 through 11 which read,

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged."

God has won and will win again over Satan by Jesus' faithfulness to the salvation plan of His sheep.  He will be lifted up and this is a reference to the crucifixion.  The Bible gives us the interpretation so that we understand what is being said by the phrase "am lifted up."  The action of Jesus on the cross will draw people to Him.  All men, indicating from all mankind.  Male or female, slave or free, Jew or Gentile as it says in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 28.  

One last point about Jesus speaking of being "lifted up" and we are told this is how He is to die, Jesus is giving a near prophecy of what is going to happen.  This near prophecy would be fulfilled in just a few chapters later and basically a few days in real time.  John records it with the Jewish leaders conversation with Pilate.  John chapter 18 and verses 31 and 32 say,

So Pilate said to them, "Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law."  The Jews said to him, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death," to fulfill the word of Jesus which He spoke, signifying by what kind of death He was about to die.

To die by crucifixion, which is a death type used of the Romans, Jesus would have to be turned over to the Romans.  The Jews would stone people who violated the law with a verified reason for doing so.  Jesus saying that He and the Father are one and the breaking of the Sabbath with His healings were offenses that had stones in their hands at times but the Jewish leaders were under the secular leadership of the Romans who dictated who could execute punishment within the confines of the city.  Death, if granted, would come by their methods and that was to lift people up on wooden crosses.  It seems like a little detail but it points to how exact Jesus was in His words about what was going to happen next.  All the more for His disciples and for us to see why we stand on solid ground before and after the crucifixion in regards to our faith.

v.34 - The crowd then answered Him, "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'?  Who is this Son of Man?"

The crowd is confused because they wanted a Messiah that would rectify all things right now.  If Jesus was the Messiah then speaking of death would be out of the picture.  They were correct that the Christ's kingdom would have no end but they were skipping over the parts of the Bible that said this Servant of God would also suffer first.  They wanted the second coming of Jesus before He completed the cross scene of the first coming of Jesus.  They were not recollecting the suffering Servant passages of Isaiah 53.  

v.35, 36 - So Jesus said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you.  Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light."  These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.

Jesus calls out to the crowd one more time.  It won't be long and the Light, Himself, will not be among them.  The plea is for them to walk with Him, to believe in Him, to become one of His children.  Leading into His betrayal and the turning of crowd from saying "Hosanna" to saying "Crucify Him" Jesus is pointing them to Himself for salvation.

The famous words of John later would summarize what Jesus is doing at this moment.  John chapter 20 and verses 30 and 31 say,

Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Jesus now retreats and John gives an extensive recap which we will cover in the next Wednesday in the Word.  Jesus will emerge to have the Passover meal with His disciples as He prepares for the events He has already foretold would happen.  We will be fully immersed in the crucifixion scene of Jesus as we head into this Advent season.  We will be reading of His great sufferings while we are celebrating His glorious appearing.  This may be very beneficial to help us remember why He came.  Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, what single focus Your Son, Jesus Christ, has as He heads to the cross.  He is telling His disciples and the crowd what is to happen and at the same time not trying to stop it but rather calling for others to believe in Him because of it.  It seems so against human nature but I guess this is where we see Your nature coming out.  May I act today with Your nature being seen when human nature would seem so natural.  Amen.

Pastor Adam