John 12:30-50 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning. Last week we started at verse 20 and I had hoped to get through verse 36 but that didn't happen.

[0:20] From verse 20 up to the time that we cut off last week which was about verse 31 we see first of all these groups that come and say that they desired to see Jesus.

[0:40] They go to disciples, they go to Phillip Hill, they go to the handker, they both go to Jesus and the scripture isn't real plain whether Jesus ever really give them an audience or not.

[0:55] But Jesus goes on to explain some things at least to the disciples about the corn of wheat falling in the ground and unless it died it doesn't do anything.

[1:06] And Jesus goes into that explanation but all these things that Jesus spoke about there speaking of his crucifixion. And we read last week that Jesus said that if any man served me let him follow me.

[1:23] We found that in verse 26. We talked about that quite a bit about how? I'm sorry? Chapter 12. I'm sorry. But in John 12 and 26 Jesus said if any man served me let him follow me.

[1:40] And we talked quite a bit about how Jesus and everything that he talked about in the previous couple of verses. He was talking about going to the cross, he was talking about dying, being crucified and here he is telling them if you're going to serve me follow me.

[1:57] So he goes into all these things and anyway last week we finished up with verse 31. I'd like to backtrack to verse 30 and reread it as we pick back up here.

[2:15] So John chapter 12 and verse 30 says Jesus answered and said this voice came not because of me but for your sake. For what voice? Well in the previous verse we see that Jesus after speaking about the crucifixion, after speaking how he had to die.

[2:35] And these things that we spent the first couple of minutes talking about here, there was a voice that sounded. And this voice there in verse 28, I'm sorry, Jesus said Father glorify thy name then came there a voice from heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorify again.

[3:01] And then verse 29 the people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered and others said an angel spoke to him. And Jesus tells them here in verse 30 this voice didn't come from me but it came from you and I explained last week Jesus didn't need that.

[3:19] Jesus knew what was going on. Jesus had just gotten through explaining to them what was going to be going on as far as the crucifixion goes. So he tells these people who are there whether it's the Greeks and the disciples, whether it's all the people which is kind of the way that I lean because here in verse 29 says the people therefore that had stood by.

[3:44] So that tells me there's a larger congregation of people than just the disciples and possibly those Greeks that we began this section with in verse 20.

[3:56] It's more people there but it says Jesus answered in verse 30 Jesus answered and said this voice came not because of me but for your sakes verse 31.

[4:07] Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out and I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me.

[4:19] So this seems like something strange that Jesus would say and I'm sure in the ears of the Jewish people that were standing around here at the very least it was strange.

[4:34] But Jesus again told them this voice that came that some were saying was thunder some were saying was an angel speaking to Jesus.

[4:45] He says this voice was for your sake. He says now is the judgment of this world when we covered this verse kind of last week.

[4:56] But he says now is the judgment of the world now shall the prince of this world be cast out when he was speaking about his crucifixion through all of this.

[5:07] Now I understand that without the resurrection of Jesus Christ that the crucifixion would have been useless. It would have done you no good and it would have done me no good although the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

[5:24] And the blood had to be shed by the perfect sacrifice that we had in Jesus Christ. But have he not rose from the grave cross would not have been God cross would not have been Messiah.

[5:37] He would not have been Savior and you and I would still be here left in our sins. But he did rise but he says now is judgment come now is judgment come right after he's talking about his crucifixion.

[5:52] And I explained last week that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ him hanging there on that cross him taking the beating even before he got to the cross all the mocking all the scourging everything that he went through and taking the wrath and the fury and the anger of God upon him.

[6:10] That was the judgment of God and that is the judgment that you deserve. It's the judgment that I deserve and Christ took that upon himself and praise be under Christ for doing that.

[6:24] Y'all have heard me say countless times and other people have too. Jesus Christ took the wrath of God upon himself that you and I would never know what the wrath of God feels like.

[6:35] He said now is judgment come right after speaking about the crucifixion. He says now is the judgment of this world now shall the Prince of this world be cast out.

[6:50] And we talked a little bit last week about how Satan is still in this world. Satan the Bible describes him as the Prince of the power of the air and the Prince of this world. There's commentators out here out there that will claim that the Prince of this world that Christ is referring to here is himself, has crossed himself.

[7:11] That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about Satan and he says now shall the Prince of this world be cast out.

[7:23] And A.W. Pink made observation, a good Bible commentator. He made observation that this casting out of Satan comes in waves.

[7:37] It doesn't all come at once. First he was cast out. The beginning of it began at the cross. I mean really and truly folks that's where death was defeated.

[7:49] That's where Satan was defeated. He's always been defeated and he always knew that he was going to be defeated. It was predicted in Genesis chapter 3 that he would be defeated. But the casting out of Satan begins with the cross.

[8:06] It began with the cross and it'll continue at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it'll continue on into the future. Once again, Arthur Pink, he said it was a gradual thing.

[8:19] It didn't all happen at once and it doesn't all happen at once. It is still going on the casting out of Satan out of this world. It'll continue when he's cast into the bottomless pit according to the book of Revelation.

[8:34] And it'll continue on forever and ever. Once he and death and hell are all cast into the lake of fire to burn forever and forever. And it will continue then.

[8:46] Jesus here in verse 31 of John 12 says, Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. It began at the cross. It began at the cross.

[8:57] Not that Satan had a hold of any kind on Jesus. That's not what I'm saying here at all. But the casting out of Satan, of the prince of this world, out of this world, it began at the cross.

[9:13] Verse 32 again, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. If I be lifted up, this sounds exactly like what he told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 when Jesus and Nicodemus were having a conversation.

[9:30] Jesus told Nicodemus the same thing. He said, If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men. And he says here again in John 12, If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

[9:45] Now, is he talking about he will draw all men as he is hanging there on the cross? He could be. However, I think that this verse, he says, I, even I, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.

[10:02] I think he's talking about the crucifixion. And I think he's talking about afterward the crucifixion and the resurrection. Folks, a dead savior will not draw people.

[10:14] It is impossible for a dead savior to draw people. So he had to have been talking about the crucifixion in the first part of this verse when he said, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, that's the crucifixion.

[10:32] He says, will draw all men unto me. That's the resurrection. No one's going to be attracted to a dead savior. I wouldn't have been attracted to a dead savior.

[10:43] No one would be attracted to that. But Christ here says, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men. And notice it's he that draws the man.

[10:54] The men don't come to him willingly. They don't come to him in seeking him. And we know that the Bible says there's none that seeketh after God. He will draw men unto him.

[11:09] Verse 33, this he says signifying what death he should die signifying the crucifixion, his own crucifixion. I said at the beginning of this chapter, we see it's six days before the Passover feast.

[11:24] So we're from here through the end of chapter 20 in the book in the gospel of John. We're, we're in the last week of the life of the life of Jesus Christ, plus his death, his burial and his resurrection.

[11:40] And chapter 21 is kind of bonus material for us, but we'll get there in the weeks to come. But verse 33 again, this he says signifying what death he should die the people answered him.

[11:53] We have heard out of the law that crossed about us forever. And how sayest thou the son of man must be lifted up. Who is this son of man? Christ has been telling these people.

[12:06] He's been telling these people. If there are Jews in that audience, he's been telling them for three plus years who the son of man is.

[12:17] He has called himself the son of man. And here they say, we know from the Old Testament scriptures, we know from the, from the law and from the historical books and from the prophets.

[12:28] We know from all, all the Old Testament that Christ about us forever, that Messiah about us forever. We know from Genesis, because Jacob promised his son, Judah, that the scepter would never depart from his hand.

[12:43] We know from, from the Psalms and we know from so many other places that Messiah will abide forever. Who is this son of man that you speak of that must suffer?

[12:55] Folks, the, the very Old Testament scriptures that they're talking about pointed toward the crucifixion and the suffering and the death of their Messiah.

[13:06] I mean, it's all over the Old Testament. You got the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 that talks about, in fact, it gets into Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 6 and the latter part of this chapter that we're in right now in John.

[13:20] But you got Isaiah 53, you got Zechariah 13, you got Psalm 22. You've got all these places in the scripture that talk about a crucified, a crucified Messiah.

[13:32] It talks about how he will suffer, it talks about how he'll be maimed, how he'll be mutilated, how that's the way that God set it in order for it to be.

[13:43] And here they are after, after John, Pien, this he said signifying what death he should die. This is what's on these people's mind. Who is this son of man? After they said the Old Testament speaks of Christ living forever, but who is the son of man that you're talking about?

[14:01] He's been telling them who the son of man is, verse 35, then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth, whether he goeth.

[14:18] While you have light, believe in the light that you may be the children of the light. These things spake Jesus and departed and departed and did hide himself from them.

[14:30] So Jesus has been telling these folks that he is the Messiah. He's been telling them he is the Christ. He is the promised one. He's the very one that the Scriptures and the Old Testament spoke of.

[14:43] Jesus has been telling them all these things for over three years at this point. Christ has been telling them these things. Verse 35 again, then Jesus said unto them, unto who?

[14:56] unto the people that are brought up in verse 29, which would be anybody that was within earshot of Jesus Christ at this point. Says then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you.

[15:11] Walk while you have had the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. And this is something else that Christ has been trying to get across to them.

[15:25] Ever since John chapter 8, John chapter 8 and verse 12, right after the incident with the woman that was brought to Jesus Christ in adultery. Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

[15:38] Amen. He is the light of the world. And so he's reiterating that here. Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Well, he said something similar to this in John chapter 9.

[15:51] Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light. Work while you have the light. Do for me while you can, in other words. Because the day is coming when darkness is coming.

[16:04] What happens when it turns dark? Well, we all know that's the absence of light. Darkness is nothing more than the absence of light. Folks, if the light is nowhere around, salvation will be impossible.

[16:18] It is impossible to be saved without the light that Jesus Christ is. All throughout the Gospel of John, we've read about this. I mean, John chapter 1, I believe it's verse 4, says that he was the light of man.

[16:34] And again, we had in John 8, we had in John 9, we have here in John 12, Jesus Christ is the light. But if that light isn't present, if that light is not present, it is impossible to be saved.

[16:50] It's impossible to be saved. So Jesus here is giving warning to everybody that's brought up in verse 29, the people that are brought up in verse 29. He's giving warning here. Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light.

[17:07] Remember, he's been talking about his crucifixion. In other words, I'm going off somewhere here before long. Walk while you have the light, less darkness come upon you.

[17:20] He that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whether he goes. While you have light, believe in the light. While you have light.

[17:31] Once again, Christ has been talking about his crucifixion up to this point. He's saying, while you have light, believe in the light. Don't just walk in it and don't just say, I've seen the light.

[17:45] Believe in that light. While you have light, believe in the light that you may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed and departed and it hide himself from them.

[17:59] From whom? Again, from the people brought up in verse 29, which would be, again, this would have been a larger crowd of people.

[18:10] When that larger crowd of people showed up on the scene or when Jesus walked to them, the Scripture really doesn't say. Because again, at the beginning of this passage in verse 20, we have the Greeks showing up.

[18:25] They seek out Philip. Philip seeks out Andrew and all these things go on. Then Jesus begins this discourse, but it says, these things spake Jesus and departed and it hide himself from them.

[18:42] And folks, this is the official closing of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. The Bible plainly states here in verse 36, he did hide himself from them.

[18:59] And from here in verse 37, all the way through the end of this chapter in verse 50, and picking back up in John chapter 13, all the way through John 17, it is nobody but Jesus Christ and His disciples.

[19:15] His public ministry has ended. And then in John 18, we pick up with the arrest of Jesus. So his public ministry has officially ended right here in verse 36 of John chapter 12.

[19:30] It says, these things spake Jesus and departed and it hide himself from them. So verse 37 through 50 has got some pretty weighty words in it.

[19:42] Got some hefty words in it and hefty meaning in it. But we've got to remember, if he hid himself from these people, he was with nobody but his disciples when he was speaking these next 13 or so verses.

[19:56] So John 12 and verse 37, but though he had done many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. That the saying of a saith, the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed.

[20:17] That's the beginning verse of Isaiah in chapter 53, who hath believed our report. And it says that even though Christ had worked these miracles amongst these people, and I'm persuaded it wasn't just Jews, it was Gentiles mixed in with them.

[20:36] They believed not him. I believe it was a mainly Jewish audience that we're speaking of here because that's mainly what was being written to in Isaiah 53.

[20:48] When I said who hath believed our report. But Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed. Verse 39, therefore they could not believe, because the saith said again, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart and be converted, and I should heal.

[21:12] And these things said as saiths when he saw his glory and spake of him. This is a quote from Isaiah in chapter 6. But either way, it's saying that the Jews did not believe on Jesus, and it's saying that the Jews could not believe on Jesus.

[21:30] Why? It tells us he hath blinded their eyes. Who hath blinded their eyes? Only God can do that. And people will say, well, that's not fair if God blinded their eyes.

[21:44] It's not fair if God hardened their hearts. Folks, it's just like Pharaoh over in the book of Exodus. Nine plagues were sent, nine things to open the eyes of Pharaoh, and cause him to see that the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob was the God, was the only God.

[22:07] Nine plagues came. It's not that he couldn't repent. He didn't repent. And when those opportunities passed by, sometimes in the book of Exodus, it says Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and sometimes it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

[22:30] And people will say that's not fair for God to harden the heart. Folks, our heart gets hard because of our own decisions. It's just like people that go to church for 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

[22:43] And when they first started going, they felt conviction over things. But they never make a trip to the altar. They never get saved.

[22:54] You don't have to go to an altar to be saved. No. But they never receive salvation.

[23:05] And therefore, they sit after sermon, after sermon, after sermon. And each time that they feel conviction, they fight it off, and they harden their hearts when they do that.

[23:18] Now, as God hardening their heart, very well could be. Very well could be. If he can do it, the Pharaoh can do it for anybody. He's God. He can do whatever he wants to.

[23:29] And we have no right to question it. But the thing about these verses that we just read, once again, began at verse 37, Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.

[23:47] Yet they believed not on him. Then we read about the hardening of the heart. The folks, it begins with unbelief, and it continues with unbelief. And unbelief is exactly what will send people right on into hell.

[24:03] It's not adultery, and it's not murder. It's not rape, and it's not incest, and it's not alcoholism, and it's not being a pillhead or a dope addict.

[24:14] Unbelief is what will put people into hell. Because as far as that big list of sin, I just named off.

[24:26] I mean, there's two different ways that can go with that. I've done so much of this, God couldn't possibly forgive me. That is unbelief that God can forgive you. Or you got the other side of that spectrum, I've never done any of those things.

[24:42] I don't believe I need to be forgiven. That's unbelief, folks. That is unbelief in the Word of God, for the Word of God says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[24:56] Either way you fall on either side of the fence you fall in that little scenario I just gave, it boils down to unbelief. Unbelief is what will send us to hell.

[25:09] Unbelief is what will cause our hearts to become hardened. He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted and I should heal them.

[25:25] These things said Asaius when he saw his glory and speck of him. When Isaiah saw the glory of God and that vision, that wonderful vision that we read about in Isaiah chapter 6, it was the glory of God and the cherubim were flying around, they were saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, all these things were going on.

[25:50] That same bit of scripture is where we read about God blinding eyes. God was blinding eyes and these people, and people not believing because of the hardness of their heart.

[26:03] Verse 42, Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they did not profess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

[26:19] This begins by sounding like a positive affirmation really here in this verse. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him.

[26:35] That begins positive, sounds great. Many of the chief rulers believed on him, believed on who on Christ, but because of the Pharisees. So what chief rulers were we be talking about here?

[26:49] Were the Pharisees not chief rulers? They thought of themselves as chief rulers. Pharisees were the religious elite, but they did not rule the people.

[27:00] The people gave them power to rule, but biblically the Pharisees had no power to rule the people. The Pharisees saw themselves as rulers, but the rulers that we'd be talking about here among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him.

[27:20] The chief rulers did not confess Jesus Christ because of the Pharisees, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. The Pharisees were practicing something that they had no biblical right to do, putting people out of the synagogue for confessing Jesus Christ.

[27:42] But this is why people did not confess him, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God? Not the chief rulers that we're talking about here, the Pharisees.

[27:54] That's why they didn't want Jesus witnessed off in the synagogue or anywhere else, on the temple grounds out in the streets. They didn't want the name of Jesus brought up.

[28:07] Don't take my word for it. Go read the first few chapters of the book of Acts. You see all kinds of this stuff going on where people are wanting the name of Jesus Christ cloashed.

[28:18] They're wanting to cut out. Verse 44, Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. Who was he crying to?

[28:29] Again, in verse 37 or verse 36, I'm sorry, that was the absolute closing of the public ministry of Christ. But here in the Gospel of John, verse 44, we see Jesus Christ crying to somebody.

[28:45] I just said a little while ago, it had to have been his disciples. If he hid himself from these people, from the people in verse 29, if he hid himself from them in verse 36, the only people he could have been crying to here would have been his own disciples.

[29:01] Those that have been following him around for 33 years, Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. He that believeth on me believes on the Father, in other words.

[29:13] And those that do not believe on Jesus Christ do not believe in the Father, no matter how much they say that they do. Jesus just a couple of hours, a couple of chapters before this, had a discussion with some religious elite people about them saying that our Father is Abraham, our Father is God, and Jesus spent quite a few verses proving to them that they knew not God, and that Abraham was not their Father because they didn't practice what Abraham practiced, which was believing God.

[29:48] So Jesus here telling his own disciples, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me, and he that seeeth me, seeeth him that sent me, he's saying things that he's already said in the Gospel of John here.

[30:03] If you believe on me, it's not me, you believe in the Father. And he says, if you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Christ has said these things previously in the Gospel.

[30:18] And folks, it is ever that way, it is still that way. If we believe on Jesus Christ, we believe in the Father that sent him, and if we believe that the Father sent Jesus Christ, then we'll believe Jesus Christ.

[30:32] And if we believe those two things, why in the world would we have an issue believing in the Holy Spirit of God? We shouldn't have a problem with any of those things. I am coming alive into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

[30:46] Once again, he has talked about being the light all throughout the Gospel of John, or the Gospel of John has talked about that. Jesus has brought it up several times himself in John 8, John 9, and right here in John 12.

[30:58] This is the second time that he's brought that up. I'm coming alive into the world. He tells us the what in that, then he tells us the why, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

[31:10] That is why he has come out of the world, that we would not have to abide in darkness. Whosoever believes in him, a lot of people make a big deal over a few verses back.

[31:26] We read the word man, and they'll say, well, that man is in italics, so it's only talking about a certain group of people, because that wasn't in the original Greek writing as far as the Gospel of John.

[31:46] But here, we don't have any italics. Here it says, I am coming alive into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

[31:59] And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. And people will find a little bit too much relief in that statement of Jesus Christ.

[32:12] They say Jesus said himself he didn't come to judge the world. Jesus in his first advent here, he did not come to judge the world. He came to save the world. That's what the man just said right here in John chapter 12.

[32:25] But he is coming again. He will come again. There will be a second advent of Jesus Christ upon this earth, and he then will come as judge.

[32:37] Revelation he has described, and it says he doth judge and make war. This is the same Jesus. It's not a different Jesus. It's not a different God.

[32:48] It's the same Jesus. But when he came the first time, Jesus has made it plain. The Apostle Paul made it plain in his writings. It is very plain in the New Testament that Jesus Christ did not come to judge the world.

[33:03] He came to save the world. He came to save the world. And he says it here in verse, that very thing here in verse 47, verse 48. He that rejected me and received with not my words hath won that judges him.

[33:17] And the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day. The word that I have spoken, what words has he spoken? He's spoken about his death, and he's also spoken about his resurrection.

[33:31] Just this morning we have gone over both of those things. And the stuff that Jesus Christ has been saying here in John chapter 12. And he says the word that I have spoken, everything that Jesus Christ has said concerning his death, concerning his burial, concerning his resurrection, concerning him being the lot, and how we should live in the lot, we should believe in the lot that we don't abide in darkness.

[33:58] Everything that he has said, he says those words will judge us. Folks, that tells me that it is what we do with Jesus Christ and what we do with the Bible.

[34:12] What we do with those things is what will determine our eternity. If we accept the Bible, we accept the word of Jesus Christ, we accept that he gave his life a ransom for many.

[34:29] We accept that he suffered, bled, and died for rest of it. He resurrected. We accept all these things that are in the Scripture. Folks, that's what gives us eternal life.

[34:41] That is what gives us eternal life. The same shall judge him in the last day, for I have not spoken of myself, but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.

[34:56] I know his commandment is life everlasting, whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. He has just told them, if you've seen me, you've seen him that sent me.

[35:10] If you believe on me, you're not believing on me, you're believing on him that sent me. Here he brings up the Father, and once again, Jesus Christ, his entire gist of his earthly ministry, was to glorify the Father, and the Father's entire gist was to glorify the Son.

[35:29] And we saw God answering Jesus in this, God the Father answering Jesus in this very chapter, saying, I have glorified it, glorified his own name, and I will do it again.

[35:40] But he was going to do it with the death and the burl and the resurrection of his Son. He would glorify it on throughout eternity. God the Father will glorify his name.

[35:51] He says, for I have not spoken of myself but the Father. So Christ here seeking to glorify the Father, but the Father which sent me, gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.

[36:02] This is why he could say, if you believe me, it's not me, you believe what the Father said. And the Father has said that the Son would be given as a sacrifice.

[36:16] The Father said this all throughout the Old Testament. It's been portrayed and told all throughout the New Testament. Jesus here is saying what the Father told me to say, that's what I came here to earth and I'm saying.

[36:33] And I know that his commandment is life everlasting. The commandment of God is life everlasting. What is the commandment of God?

[36:44] To repent and believe the Gospel. To repent and believe the Gospel. That is life everlasting. The book of Acts says that at one time God winked at man's ignorance, but now he requires all men to repent and of course believe.

[37:06] That brings us to the end of John chapter 12. Anybody got any questions or comments on any of that? God bless you all, I appreciate you.