THE GREAT DRAW – John 12:31-32
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 5, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Palm Sunday Message; April 5, 2020 from John 12:31-32
Theme: As followers of Jesus, we must humbly submit our plans to our sovereign Lord.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
Given the significance of the events that immediately happened because of it, Palm Sunday deserves to be considered one of the most important days in all of human history. It set into motion the events by which the Lord Jesus has been drawing all people to Himself ever since.
Let’s turn together this morning to John 12; and let’s look together at what happened on that day. And particularly, let’s look at what the Lord Jesus Himself said about it.
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Now; we need to understand that this day was a day that had been long anticipated by our Lord. On several occasions of His earthly ministry, He had turned to His disciples and told them that it was coming. He would explain to them that they were going up to Jerusalem; and that He would be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and that they would condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; “that they would mock him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He would rise again” (Mark 10:33-34).
We need to understand that Jesus made His journey to Jerusalem with full knowledge of what was about to happen to Him. And yet, as the Bible tells us, He ‘set His face like a flint’ (Isaiah 50:7) to go there. In fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy in the Book of Zechariah, Jesus sat upon a young donkey; and—amidst the cheers and waving palm branches—rode in to suffer as our Savior.
John 12:19-36 tells us the story of the things that Jesus said as He entered the city:
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
“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. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of 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 peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 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?” 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. 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 (John 12:20-36).
There is much in this passage that deserves our careful attention. But I want to focus especially this morning on verses 31-32; because it’s there that our Lord highlighted to us the significance of this event: “Now is the judgment of this world;” He said, “now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
He marked this event off by the word “now”. He used that word twice. There was a state of things that existed before this day, and a different state of things afterward. And given that Jesus is who the Bible tells us that He is—that is, the Word of God made flesh; and given the fact that He clearly anticipated this day—saying so repeatedly; and given the things that His ride into the city set immediately into motion—that is, His betrayal, His arrest, His crucifixion, His burial, and His resurrection, ascension and glorification at the right hand of the Father; this day should be considered one of the most significant and decisive days in all of history. Perhaps it’s right to say that it is the most significant and decisive day in all of history.
All of the things that happened to Jesus after this day were things that He passively received. They were things that were done to him. But none of them would have happened if He had not, first, willingly entered into the city. And that was something that He did actively. It was on this day that Jesus set into motion the events by which He would—from then on—draw all peoples to Himself.
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Now; let’s do some very cautious, very reverent ‘imagining’ for a moment. It’s always a potentially dangerous thing to imagine a different outcome than what the Bible tells us Jesus actually did. We should be careful how we speculate on such a thing. But let’s suppose for a moment that this day never occurred. Let’s suppose for a moment that Jesus had not ridden into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Jesus would still have been who He was. He would still have been the Son of God—born into the human family as one of us by the virgin Mary—dwelling in the world among us as the Word made flesh. That would not have changed. He would still have taught people the truths about the kingdom of His Father. He would still have lived a sinless life. He would still have performed miracles of healing and would have demonstrated His power over the wind and the waves. He would still have raised people from the dead. But He would most likely have continued to do all these things in a small, obscure, almost unknown part of the world that was suffering under Roman occupation; and only for a relatively brief time in history. He would have been well-known during that time. People would have talked about Him. Perhaps people from all of the world in that day might have come to hear Him, or to be healed by Him, or to see His miracles. And it might have been that He would have lived a long life of teaching, and serving, and healing—carrying on His ministry. And then, He might have grown old over time, and have died a natural death (remember, we are trying to do some very careful imagining here); and then—over time—be remembered only in the history books.
But He would not be remembered in a way that would be relevant to us today—not in a way that would have resulted in our redemption. His life might inspire us, but it could do nothing for the saving of our souls. He would not have gone on to serve as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He would not have fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Himself—that upon Him would be placed the iniquity of us all, and that He would bear the guilt of our sins upon Himself in our place, and pay the death penalty before God on our behalf. There would be no hope of forgiveness for our sins through His atoning sacrifice. There would be no way for you and me to be made righteous in the sight of a holy God through Him. The curse of Adam’s sin would still be upon us; because He would not have taken it away. The devil, who deceived our first parents, would still have us as his prisoners. There would be no sure expectation given to us that we would be raised with Him from the dead. There would be no hope given to us that we could ever share in the glories of His heavenly inheritance.
Life would most likely have gone on after He had walked on this earth in much the same way as it had gone on before—with all of us experiencing life, and sin, and death, and sorrow, and labor, and hopelessness—if He had not ridden into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
But He did go into the city! (We’re done ‘imagining’ now.) He came and set into motion the events that secured for us our salvation—that is, His crucifixion, His resurrection, and His ascension to the Father in victory! And look again at what He said about it. “Now…!” Because He rode into the city, now something has changed! Now, something would be brought about that wasn’t there before! Now there will be a new state of things! As He said;
“Now is the judgment of 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 peoples to Myself.”
There may be lots of other important things that are occupying our minds right now. It may seem like there are more urgent and more pressing concerns to think about at the moment. But no! No matter what else may be happening right now, we must not let ourselves be distracted from what this important day commemorates. Anything else that might happen—no matter how urgent it may be made to seem—is really only of temporal importance. This is of eternal value; and this gives ultimate meaning and significance to everything else.
Can there be a more decisive day than that first Palm Sunday? Can there be a more important event in all of human history than Jesus’ entry into the city of Jerusalem on that day? Because of it, Jesus now draws all peoples to Himself as the Savior of humankind.
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Let’s look at these two verses more closely—and let’s start with the last thing that Jesus says in them. In verse 32, He said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
We’re not left to wonder what Jesus is talking about when He speaks of being “lifted up from the earth”; because the very next verse tells us. Verse 33 says, “This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” He would be crucified on a Roman cross—nailed to it by His hands and feet and ‘lifted up’ on it for all to see.
In John 3:13-15, Jesus said;
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:13-15).
In the Old Testament, the people of Israel had rebelled wickedly against God; and God had sent fiery serpents to bite them and kill many of them. But God, in mercy, commanded Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole and hold it up high so that all the people could see. Whoever looked upon the serpent that was ‘lifted up’ would live. And Jesus said that He Himself must likewise be lifted up; so that all who are under the curse of Adam, all who are under the death penalty for their sins, could look upon Him as the atoning sacrifice for sin and live.
When Jesus lived and walked on this earth and taught that He was the Son of the heavenly Father, the Jewish religious leaders did not believe on Him. They rejected His claim. But He told them;
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28).
So; when He was talking about being ‘lifted up’, He was talking about the cross. And you can see clearly that He anticipated it. When He rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, He intentionally set into motion the events that would lead to the cross. He was ‘lifted up’ shortly thereafter. And now—twenty-centuries later—He remains the central figure of humanity because of it. People all over the world are made right with God by faith in His sacrifice on the cross for us.
Jesus said, “if I am lifted up”. He spoke of the drawing of all people to Himself as something that was dependent upon His dying on the cross. But we shouldn’t understand the cross as if there was only a possibility that He might have died upon it. This wasn’t the “if” of uncertainty. Rather, this was the “if” of a certain expectancy. It was something that the heavenly Father had determined, from long ago, would absolutely happen. In fact, it was so certain a thing that it is spoken of in the Bible as if it had already happened in the determination of the Father long before it actually occurred in time. The Bible tells us that Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
Jesus’ entry into the city on that historic day for our salvation was the fulfillment of the determined plan of the heavenly Father from before we ever were—from before Jerusalem itself ever was—and even from before history itself.
Can there be a more decisive day than this?
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So; that’s what He meant by being “lifted up”. And then, notice what would happen because of it. He would ‘draw all peoples to Himself’.
The word “draw”—as it is used here—doesn’t merely mean to attract something or influence something. Rather, it’s a word that means to “drag” or “pull” something. It was used in the Bible to describe how the fishermen would literally ‘drag’ their nets to shore. And so, Jesus was saying that because of what would happen as a result of His entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He would ‘draw’ or ‘drag’ or ‘pull’ all peoples to Himself.
Now; what is the power of the cross of Jesus that exercises such a ‘draw’ or ‘pull’ upon people? Well; for one thing it would be the fact that the cross is the display of God’s just wrath for sin. It’s on the cross that God the Father has made it clear to all that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). No one can ever look at the cross—in the seriousness of what it truly is—and conclude that sin doesn’t matter. It matters so much that it cost God dearly. It moved God to placed His own precious Son upon the despised cross to bear the punishment of our sin for us.
People are naturally drawn to the truth of things. They may sometimes believe lies, but they don’t believe them as lies. They are drawn to the truth—as much as they understand a thing to be true. And at the cross of Jesus, God has told us the truest thing that we can know about ourselves. He shows us there that He is a holy God who is wrathful toward sin and who must bring judgment upon it; and that we are sinners who desperately need to be saved from that wrath.
But another thing that the cross of Jesus does to draw us to Himself is that it displays the love of God for us. Rather than pour His just wrath upon us for our sins, He has—in love—sent His Son into this world to take the punishment for our sin on our behalf. As John 3:16-17 tells us;
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).
The cross is also where Jesus shows His own love for us. He rode into the city of Jerusalem on His own volition. He went to the cross for us willingly. He was compelled by love for us to do so. He desires to have a relationship with us in which we are washed clean of our sins, and enter into the full favor of His heavenly Father. You know John 3:16; but do you know 1 John 3:16? It says;
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16).
Now; Jesus said that, if He was lifted up, He would draw all peoples to Himself. But that doesn’t mean that all people come. They may feel that draw—they may feel that pull—but they may still resist it fiercely. Perhaps you’re resisting it right now. You need to know that if you are resisting it, it’s because there actually is a real draw—a real pull. Your resistance to it is testimony to the fact that there truly is a draw to be felt.
Some people show their resistance to Jesus’ draw upon them by looking for ways to criticize the faith. They often look at the worst examples of professing Christians that they can find, highlight their faults, and say, “If that’s what Christians are like, then I want nothing to do with it.” But when they do this, they’re being selective about what they choose to look at—and all in order to give themselves an excuse for not believing. If you’re doing that, then know that you’re resisting the draw of Jesus. Stop looking for the faults to be found in Christians. Instead, look at the cross of Jesus and see what it tells you about your own faults and your own need. Stop resisting the draw.
Some people resist the draw, not through criticizing the faults of Christians, but by loving their own faults too much. They know that coming to Jesus will mean that they need to change some cherished habits and practices in their life. They know who Jesus is; they know what He has done on the cross; they feel Him draw them—and yet they still resist the draw because of what He might require of them. Coming to Jesus might mean leaving behind some sinful acquaintances and some cherished practices. But to cling to our sin is to resist the Savior. If you respond to the cross of Jesus by looking the other way and clinging all the tighter to your sin, then you’re resisting the draw. Stop hanging on to those things that Jesus died to set you free from. Don’t resist the draw.
Everyone will feel the draw of Jesus. But not everyone will come. Be among those who come in response to the draw. Jesus said this about His Father;
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (John 6:37).
If you feel the draw, that’s God’s grace to you. Don’t resist it.
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So; Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on this first Palm Sunday in order to be “lifted up” on the cross. And by being lifted up, He would draw all peoples to Himself. Those that the Father gave Him will come to Him.
And before we end our time, I just want to point out to you the certainty of His victory. When He draws all peoples to Himself, there is nothing now that can stop His draw. Look at what he said in the first part of this passage—in verse 31: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
The “world” that He is speaking of is the world system of values and priorities and beliefs that resist Him and fight against Him and seek to silence Him. It cannot stop Him. His coming has brought judgment upon that evil world system for having rejected and resisted Him. The cross is the display of that judgment. This world may still resist Him. It may still oppress His people. It may seek to silence the message of His cross. But the battle is essentially over. Jesus went into the city, and died upon the cross. It’s done; and the victory is now won.
And the prince of this world that He speaks of is the devil. And because of the cross, the devil has now been cast out. He is a defeated enemy. He has lost his kingdom. The cross has made sure of it. He may have thought that he could defeat the Redeemer of humankind by His arrest and death and burial. But it was by the very same cross that Jesus defeated Him and set his captives free. He may still roam around for a time like a roaring lion. But his doom is now sure, and his destiny is now the Lake of Fire.
And what do you and I do about this day—this most decisive of all days? What do you and I do about the fact that Jesus has been lifted up; and because of it, now draws all peoples to Himself?
It’s simply to come. Jesus Himself said;
‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
He has been lifted up. He now draws all people to Himself. Let’s respond to the draw by coming to Him.
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
EA
