JOH 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

As we begin our study this morning it is important to keep in mind that this portion of John’s gospel is all happening in the last four days of Christ’s earthly ministry. Just a few verses prior to this is when Jesus made what is referred to as His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

JOH 12:12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"

We know that this happened on the first day of the week or Sunday, prior to His crucifixion. It may very well be that our text continues to explain what was happening on that Sunday as people were flocking to Jesus as they thought that their Messiah and Savior had finally come to deliver them from Rome’s occupation.

And yet the strange thing about this joyous and hopeful occasion for the Jews is how Jesus punctuates it with a message of death and dying.

JOH 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

And now, He adds to that by saying that, “when I am lifted up from the earth, [I] will draw all men to myself." (JOH 12:32)

Of course, as we saw last week, this was not a message of doom and gloom for it carried with it the hope of what His death would accomplish, which is what verse 31 made abundantly clear.

JOH 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

And so, it is in this context that Jesus makes the statement that He must be lifted up from the earth.

So, let’s examine this statement and the ones that follow. Jesus begins by saying that, when He is lifted up. What did He mean by this and what would the crowd listening to Him have understood Him to mean?

Well, the context actually answers the question in verse 33, “He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.” Of course this death was to be His crucifixion. And apparently the crowds understood this as well as we read in verse 34.

JOH 12:34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

And so, everyone understood each other when Jesus made this statement about Himself having to die by crucifixion.

But I want to take a little time and look more closely at His statement in verse 31 in light of the rest of the Scriptures and how Jesus fulfilled those portions of God’s word which clearly pointed to the coming Messiah.

You see this was not the first time Jesus told the Jews that He must be lifted up, which is to say, crucified.

JOH 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus equates Himself in that passage with the snake that was lifted up in the desert and the positive results of looking to that snake. Now, you might remember that what Jesus was referring to was the incident after the Hebrews were delivered by God from Pharaoh in Egypt. It had been a relatively short time since they came out of Egypt. The Lord began to provide for them with a food called Manna, which is roughly translated, “what is this?”

NUM 21:4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

This is the snake Jesus was referring to in John 3:14, when He said, “the Son of Man must be lifted up.”

The question is, how can Jesus be equated with a snake when it comes to our redemption? After all, we know what the snake represents. It represents the enemy, Satan, and what he introduced into this perfect sinless world after he tempted Adam and Eve. And of course, they sinned, bringing a curse to all men and the world.

In fact, this issue came up a couple of weeks ago during our Thursday evening bible study in Exodus when we were looking at the importance of the bronze altar in the outer court, just outside the tabernacle. And one of the things which was pointed out is how the name altar in the Hebrew can actually be translated high place.

This would be the focal point for the Jews to view the place where the sacrifice would be lifted up; that sacrifice which would enable them to approach God through the priests who would enter the Holy Place on their behalf, and into the Most Holy Place once a year.

And so, when Moses is told by God to lift up a bronze snake on a pole, so that everyone who was bitten by real poisonous snakes could look to it a live, it is a picture of how everyone who looks to Christ for their salvation will also live.

But what does a snake and Christ have in common? Everything, as it pertains to our salvation. Back in the book of Numbers Moses was told to make a snake out of bronze. Bronze was a metal which, in the Scriptures, represented judgment. In fact, this was why the altar outside the tabernacle, where the sacrifices had to take place to enter the Holy Place, was made of bronze.

And so, the first thing we see is that the bronze snake on the pole, high and lifted up in the desert, spoke to the judgment on the people of Israel. And yet, the irony is that instead of judgment when the people looked to the snake, they were saved and lived.

Why? Because of the snake. Though it was a physical snake which bit the people and caused death, the bronze snake on the pole represented the judgment that would be placed on the snake in their place, and thus by faith they looked up and lived.

The way in which Jesus Christ is that snake who takes our judgment, as He is lifted up, is that He has graciously and mercifully chosen to become sin in our place. You see, though you and I have been bitten, if you will, by sin, and thus we will die unless God steps in, it is Jesus Christ who takes our curse and dies in our place as He is judged by God for our sin, though He is sinless.

This is precisely what the apostle Paul meant when writing to the Galatians about Christ taking the curse of our sin.

GAL 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

1PE 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

What the snake, or Satan, produced, Jesus became. And so, He identifies Himself with the curse put on mankind as a result of the snake’s deception, by becoming that curse for us. And yet, we know that He didn’t deserve to die because He was sinless.

2CO 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And so, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, and all who looked to it were saved, Jesus would be lifted up and all who looked to Him in faith would be saved from the penalty of their sin.

JOH 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

But what about the last part of this verse? “I will draw all men to myself.”

Notice that the drawing of all men is in the context of Him being crucified. There could be no drawing unless He died on that cross. Think of the love of Christ in the cross as a magnet. You have a negative and positive side of a magnet. What is drawn to a magnet is metal of opposite polarity.

Our sin, our polarity, if you will, is the same as one side of the magnet, or cross, which represents our judgment. Unless our sin is paid for, as our polarity is reversed, we are repelled by our sin from entering into the presence of God. But through Christ and His crucifixion on the cross we are now able to be drawn to God as we are connected to Christ by faith.

And yet, even though Jesus says, that He will draw all men to Himself it is quite obvious that not all men come to Christ. Part of what Jesus means by this is that all men, without distinction, or all men be they Jew or Gentile, now have access to God through Christ.

And yet, it is only those who trust Christ who can be united and reconciled to the Father through the shed blood of Christ. And that’s precisely what John 3:16 says.

JOH 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

And so, in the midst of this jubilation of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on a donkey with people shouting Hosanna, blessed is the King of the Jews, Jesus gives them the sobering reality that for them to recover from their fatal snake bites, their sin which kills, He must be lifted up like that snake in the desert so that they can be saved.

JOH 12:34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

Notice how the people admit that the Messiah promised in their Scriptures is the very Messiah whom Jesus was claiming to be. There is no mistake that this man Jesus is really saying that He is the Messiah the prophets spoke of. But, they question how this can be in light of their understanding of the Scriptures as it relates to their Messiah.

"We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

Let’s look at this. "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever.” This was true. The Messiah would live forever. In fact, if they had their scrolls handy they could have opened them up to Jesus and simply pointed out how the Messiah would live and rule forever.

DAN 7:14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

ISA 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

PSA 89:4 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.'"

As William Barclay so aptly points out, “the Jews connected the Son of Man with an everlasting kingdom, and here was he, who claimed to be the Son of Man, talking about being lifted up upon a cross. Who was this Son of Man, whose kingdom was to end before it had begun?”

And that’s the question these Jews asked of Jesus. Who is this Son of Man? In other words, who is this man you claim to be in light of what we know of the Son of Man the Scriptures speak of?

As far as these Jews were concerned there were two separate people being discussed. The Messiah of the Scriptures and the Messiah Jesus was claiming to be whose kingdom was about to come to an end as He would be lifted up on a cross.

They weren’t looking for an explanation as much as they were pointing out to Jesus that He was not who they were looking for, which is partly why Jesus responds the way He does.

JOH 12:35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

This seems like an odd response to someone who has just asked the question, “Who is this Son of Man?”

The more normal response would be for Jesus to explain one more time that He was the Son of Man, and here are the reasons. But that’s not what Christ has done, or so it appears.

But upon closer examination that is precisely what Jesus has done. In answering them the way He does He simply continues to state that He is the One they are looking for as He refers to Himself as the light.

He doesn’t need to defend Himself as to their unbelief, He simply gives them the truth of who He is. And by the way, there is something we can learn from this. Often times we think that unless we can come up with a persuasive argument for why someone must come to Christ that we will not be able to convince them into the kingdom of God.

Now, it is true that we need to be able to articulate the gospel of Jesus Christ and as Peter puts it in 1PE 3:15 “... Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...”

But that is different from trying to convince someone into the kingdom of God simply with persuasive speech, something that even Paul didn't rely on..

1CO 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,
5 so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

We can become so intimidated with the world and people we come into contact with, when it comes to Christ, that we can feel that unless we can be persuasive they’ll never come to Christ. Unless, we can put on some great evangelistic crusade here in our community no one will ever hear of Christ. Unless we can get the Power Team to come in and draw crowds we’ll never see the church grow.

This doesn’t mean our Lord can’t use such means, but if we rely on those types of things then we’ve relegated the drawing of people to Christ by our own means rather than allowing Christ to draw men. Is that not what He says, But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

It is Christ who draws men, not a stage show, or cleverly devised means to get people in the pews. Again, there is nothing wrong with using different creative ways to get the message out to people, but it is the message, not the means, which is what we need to key in on.

And so, even if we don’t have the means to put on a show, or bring in the high powered evangelists, we still have the one thing which is the power unto salvation, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if that means sharing it with one person at a time instead of in a stadium setting then praise God for that. Just be faithful with the little things.

1TH 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,
5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.

It is the power of the Holy Spirit, not in my ability to spin a story, that convicts people of sin and turn their eyes upon Jesus for their salvation.

This is why we give people the truth whether they accept it or not because you never know how God will use that truth in that person’s life down the road. After all, we know that His word does not return to Him void. So, “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...”

In our text Jesus gives them an answer they needed to hear as He continues to show them how He is the light of the world, even though they prefer the darkness.

Here Jesus contrasts sin with salvation in the same way darkness is contrasted with light. In the light we see clearly and don’t stumble. In the darkness we don’t see and we stumble all the way to destruction.

JOH 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Jesus was saying to these Jews that He is the light and that in a short time the light would no longer be with them as He would go to the cross and die a criminal’s death. But more than that if they continued in the darkness they would never taste the freedom that only Christ could give them.

Now, this doesn’t mean that after Christ’s death and resurrection that these same Jews would not be given the opportunity to come to the light. But our Lord’s point here in our text has more to do with the awesome opportunity they were given while He was with them. If they wouldn’t believe while He was there, doing miracles and sharing the truth, then what would be their attitudes toward Him after He was gone?

He is saying, take advantage of this opportunity right now. As Paul put it when writing to the Corinthians, “I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2CO 6:2)

JOH 12:36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

There is only one way to become a son or daughter of light, and that is putting our trust in the light. For people to put Jesus off one more day, thinking that maybe tomorrow I’ll be willing to come to the light, is a very dangerous place to be, because that tomorrow may never come.

There is only one way to God and that is through the snake high and lifted up, the Son of Man who became that curse for us as he took and paid that penalty in full so that we might receive reconciliation and life.

But for we who have become sons and daughters of light, through faith in Christ, we must walk in such a way as to demonstrate that we are in the light and not in darkness, which is why Paul exhorts the Ephesians and Thessalonians and all of us to consider what we’ve been delivered from.

EPH 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)
10 and find out what pleases the Lord.

1TH 5:4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.

COL 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1PE 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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