“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die.” John 12:27-33
Here we are the Monday of Jesus’ Passion week and hopefully we are looking forward to Easter morning. He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Now our text tells us what was going on, on that Sunday afternoon of Easter Week as the events began to unfold; the loud and forceful “Hosannas” have given way to a great disturbance in Jesus’ soul—no hesitation, but a profound deep seated dread. He knew the people’s unbelief, “Though He had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘LORD, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?’ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” (John 12:37-40; OT references from Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10 respectively) Knowing the heart of His own people and the rejection that had come upon them by God Himself He is greatly troubled because their rejection was so full, just like when He wept for Jerusalem because of their unbelief. And, at the same time, there lay the work before Him that He had come to fulfill.
However, no surprises awaited Him, just an overwhelming task, which He had planned with the Godhead before the world began (Eph. 1:3-14). Within days, He would take the judgment we deserve to give us the grace we could never earn. At the end of the week, His “bruised heel” (Gen. 3:15) would crush the head of the “ruler of this world” and cast him down in defeat—once and for all, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” Richard Sibbes reminds us, “He hath trod upon the necks of all our spiritual enemies, and conquered them all. Fear not, for if once you be risen with Christ, you are begotten to a lively hope.”
At the end of the week, He gladly paid the price for the salvation of God’s immense covenant family (Heb. 12:2-3)…children of grace redeemed from every nation, tribe, people, and language; daughters and sons of mercy, as numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand of the beaches, and the dust of the earth (Gen. 12-17). Jesus said here in John, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” …all His people! As He had said earlier, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
It was for this purpose He came from eternity past into time and space. For this very reason He emptied Himself of His glory by taking the form of a servant-man—the Lord’s Servant; to this end He became obedient—even obedient to death on the cross (Phil. 2:5-11). So understandably our Lord Jesus’ heart was overwhelmed. Like a soldier who knows that he must give up his life for his buddies who are penned down with nowhere to go. On one hand, he could do nothing and maybe…just maybe…he would live… or, he could do something that might just save all the others…and he would die. Like the soldier, the spilt second agony of choosing the only option He knows He can choose (because that was the plan before the beginning), Jesus says immediately, “But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” He knew what He was there to do …to glorify His Father by dying to save His people. He knew what He was called to do.
So let us remember, since He was fully forsaken, we are forever forgiven. Because… His death exhausted God’s judgment against our numberless sins, we now live in the gift of His perfect righteousness. As the events of our week now unfold, I pray that God would grant to us His grace to slow our pace and quiet our hearts, that we might survey the wonders of His sacrifice and love for us. Let’s begin by bowing our heads in humility so that we can rise up in joy.
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
