I invite you to open to John chapter 12. It's been a couple weeks since we were in this series, and last time we were, we considered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus rode into the city on the foal of a donkey, and this was to signal the arrival of a king who brings peace. He is the king bringing peace. The crowds were elated. They waved their palm branches and they shouted, Hosanna, blessed be the King of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem on that original Palm Sunday is recorded in all four of our New Testament Gospels. But what we're about to consider next is yet another section that is unique to John's Gospel. So we're gonna pick up the narrative here in verse 20, John 12 and verse 20. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come. The son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me, And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake unto him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 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. This he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever, and how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light. that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed. and did hide himself from them. Let's pray. Our Father, we just ask for your help this morning as we look into this passage of scripture. We thank you for inspiring John to record these things for our edification. We thank you that we can study these things and understand what was transpiring during this time of Jesus' ministry. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to close out of our minds all the distractions, all the thoughts that we might have that would take us away from our focus on the scriptures today. And I pray that our focus would be entirely upon your word and your message to us. In Jesus' name, amen. The cross of Calvary is very much in the foreground of this passage. Jesus knew that his visit to Jerusalem would lead ultimately to his death. Jesus knew that he was about to be lifted up on the old rugged cross. He knew this. And so he is of sober mind during this exchange. His thought is on being lifted up. Jesus was to be lifted up on the cross. And as we look into this passage this morning, We're going to see six facts pertaining to Jesus being lifted up on the cross, six facts. First of all, we see in this passage that Jesus was lifted up for all, for all. Now this passage begins in verse 20 with these Greeks arriving. These Greeks were drawn to Jesus. They've come, they visit Jerusalem, and our best understanding would be that these are Gentile God-fearers, perhaps semi-proselytes or full proselytes to Judaism, but they're probably Gentiles, they're Greek speakers, and they have come to observe the Passover feast in Jerusalem. So they're basically honoring the tenets of Judaism. And during their visit, they are drawn to Jesus. They were true seekers. They first approached Philip and they say to him, we would like to see Jesus. Oh, that more people in our day would say that. We would like to see Jesus. Why did they go to Philip? Well, there's a few factors that may relate to this. First of all, Philip is one of the few disciples that followed Jesus who had a Greek name. His name is Philip. He's called Philip. It's a Greek name. Secondly, this Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee. This is on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, very close in proximity to a number of Gentile villages and cities, including the Decapolis, the 10 cities of the Greeks. And so it's very likely that he had regular contact with Greek-speaking Gentiles. And the third factor that may relate, this is a bit speculative, but it's possible that one or more in the group personally knew Phillip. It's possible that they in fact had engaged in commercial trade with Philip because we know that Philip was associated with the sons of Zebedee in a fishing business. And so it's very possible that there was some trade that went on. It's a bit speculative, but these are the possible reasons why they went to Philip. Well, Philip doesn't know quite how to respond to these Greek people coming and requesting to see Jesus. He may have recalled that Jesus said on one occasion, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So maybe he's kind of trying to figure this out. Well, what do I do then with these Gentiles, these Greeks that have come requesting to see Jesus? So he goes to Andrew. Well, Andrew is one of these disciples that's very eager to bring anyone to Jesus, let Jesus decide what to do with them. And so it is that they both went to Jesus. The Greeks here in this passage serve for us as representatives of Gentile nations in general. In John 19, it's very interesting the flow in John's record here. In John verse 19, John recorded the reaction of the Pharisees to the triumphal entry, and what they said was, behold, the world is gone after him. And right after those words are recorded in our text, John mentions the visit of the Greeks, kind of as anecdotal evidence of the fact that the whole world has gone after him. Jesus is, after all, the Savior for the whole world, for the Jew, for the non-Jew, and for the pagan, for the religious. He was lifted up for all, that's the point. And as we go on, verse 32 in this passage further emphasizes this fact that he was lifted up for all. Look at verse 32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw, what's the next word? All men unto me. All. All men would include men and women. All people is the point here. The Lord said he would draw all people unto himself. Now, I need to quickly point out this is not all in a universalist sense. We understand the theology here. This is not that everyone in the world is saved. No, this means all in the sense of whosoever will may come. Whosoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. It doesn't matter your background. It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Greek. It doesn't matter if you're a Gentile. It doesn't matter your religious background. It doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter your family upbringing. Whosoever will may come, whosoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. In God's kingdom, there will be people from every tribe, tongue, people, group, and nation. And it's a blessing to consider that. And it's wonderful to see that kind of diversity in the church. You know, we welcome all whosoever will may come to Christ. So Jesus was lifted up on the cross to draw all to himself, and this is the first fact, he was lifted up for all. Second fact, he was lifted up to die, to die. Verse 33 speaks of the manner of his death. In fact, this is John's commentary on what Jesus said, this he said signifying what death he should die. Jesus knew the manner of his death. He knew that he would be nailed to a Roman cross. He would be lifted up on that cross, and he would suffer on that cross, and he would die on that cross. He knew this. He knew that he was going to be lifted up as a spectacle for all the world to see. And that his death would be a slow and agonizing death by crucifixion. He knew all this. He was lifted up to die. The manner of his death would be crucifixion. And then Jesus in verse 24 presents this metaphor of death. He says, verily, verily, I say to you, he introduces this as saying, this is very important. These are attention-getting words, verily, verily, truly, truly. I really want you to pay attention to what I'm saying here. He says, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it will abide alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Yeah, so this grain of wheat has to die, it has to germinate in the ground, and then it will spring up and it will produce fruit. From that one grain will come many grains. That's the point. So he presents this metaphor of death, which of course, not only applies to his own death, but now in verses 25 and 26, he takes this metaphor, And he applies it to those who would be his disciples. He says a true disciple of his has to spiritually die to himself. That's his point. Has to die to this world and all that this world offers. Has to willingly serve him as Lord and follow him wherever he leads. This is what has been called the cost of true discipleship, dying to self. But with that cost comes a tremendous reward. The disciples reward is eternal life, a life that begins in the here and now and extends into the kingdom age, into all eternity. And the rewards of discipleship, of dying to self, are literally out of this world. And Jesus even says that those who will die to themselves, my father, he says, will honor. Think about that. So we see here that Jesus was lifted up for all. He was lifted up to die. Third fact, he was lifted up to be glorified. Verse 23, Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. He says, it's time. It's time for me to accomplish My mission, Jesus says. It's time to die, to accomplish the greatest deed ever performed on behalf of the human race, that is to become the redeemer of the human race. It was indeed time for Jesus to accomplish what was announced by the angels to the shepherds. And that was to bring goodwill toward men, an offer of salvation through his substitutionary death. It was time for Jesus to be glorified as the Redeemer, as the Savior, as the victor over sin and death. It would be the time of his glorification, the hour of his glorification. He was lifted up to be glorified. Now, why does Jesus respond to the Greeks by talking about his hour? This is an interesting response. Well, one commentator, C.K. Barrett, says this, the arrival of the Greeks means to Jesus the evangelization of the Gentiles. which does not belong to his earthly ministry. The way to accomplish this is through crucifixion and resurrection. It will be the mission of the church that will accomplish this. Jesus' ministry to the Jews must finish before the true spiritual conversation with the Greeks may begin." End quote. And he's basically echoing Jesus' words here where he came really to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That was the primary focus of his ministry. And though he did minister to those who were non-Jews, that was his focus for his first advent. And it really now is incumbent upon us as the church to reach the lost of the world. To go into all the world and proclaim the good news of the gospel, it falls to us. Now in this verse, in verse 23, Jesus again refers to himself with his favorite title, the Son of Man. And I just want to remind you of the connection to the prophecy of Daniel 7, 13. where Daniel sees one like the son of man who appears before God. In verse 14 of Daniel 7 says, and there was given him dominion, and the very next thing says, and glory. We're talking about Jesus being lifted up and glorified. There was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people and nations and languages should serve him. You see the worldwide evangelistic purpose of God is even found in the Old Testament. And the nation of Israel was to be a light for the Gentiles, to draw even the Gentiles unto God. Now it's true that Jesus' glorification comes through the veil of death. He is as that grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies, but it springs forth unto life. And Jesus was resurrected on the third day. And we're reminded of a verse in Hebrews that says that he brings many sons to glory. Hebrews 2.10 says, for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Yes, he was perfected in the sense that he completed his mission. He had to suffer and die on that cross to accomplish the redemption of humanity that whosoever will may come. So Jesus was lifted up on the cross to draw all to himself. He was lifted up for all. He was lifted up to die. He was lifted up to be glorified. And connected with his own glorification, he was lifted up to glorify the Father. We see this in verses 27 through 30. It begins with Jesus in prayer, and he's kind of having this internal contemplation, and then he utters this prayer. He says, now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. And then here's his prayer. Father, glorify thy name. Now we see here that Jesus is genuinely troubled in his human soul. Troubled here is a very strong word. It kind of is one of these picture word. It kind of pictures the surface of a sea or a lake that is really troubled, stirred up by a turbulent storm. And there are all these waves and all this turbulence in the water. That's kind of the picture of this word here. He was troubled like that. He was troubled because the time had drawn nigh for him to suffer and die. And as he pauses to deliberate, He voices here the natural human impulse of self-preservation. Do I really have to die like this? But then he quickly affirms that his entire earthly ministry was pointed in the direction of the cross. He knew that was his destiny. He was going to the cross. He was going to suffer and die. He was about to fulfill the very purpose for which he had left heaven's glory and allowed himself to take on human flesh. He did all this in order to become the sacrifice for sin, for our sin, for my sin, and for your sin. And in this moment, Jesus then prays, and His prayer was that God the Father would glorify His own name. The Father would glorify the Father's name. How would this be accomplished? By manifesting His divine attributes through the giving of His Son. God so loved the world that He gave His Son. Pastor John MacArthur writes this, God receives glory when his attributes are manifested and nowhere was his magnanimous love for helpless sinners, his holy wrath against sin, his perfect justice, his redeeming grace, his forgiving mercy, or his infinite wisdom more clearly seen than in the substitutionary propitiatory death of his son. Yeah, when you look upon Jesus on the cross, you see the love of God there. You see the righteousness of God. You see the anger of God towards sin. You see the holiness of God. You see the determination of God to save his creatures from eternal destruction. And so all the attributes of God are perfectly on display there with Jesus on the cross. Love and mercy meet together at the cross. So that's Jesus' prayer and immediately the Father gives an answer even in verse 28. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The father's immediate response was to proclaim the answer to Jesus' prayer, to proclaim it aloud so that those who were present could hear the answer. And the father declares that he has glorified his name and he did so by sending his son in the first place. And he will glorify his name again by giving his son to be that sin substitute. that offering for sin, that atoning sacrifice for the human race. And then the father is going to raise Jesus up from the dead and glorify his name even further, demonstrating his power over sin and death. And he will further glorify his name by receiving his glorified son into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. Now those present knew they heard something, but it seems that they didn't understand what was said. Some thought they heard thunder, like a rumbling sound of some sort. Some thought perhaps an angel had spoken. It's sad, isn't it? That they didn't recognize the voice of God who had spoken and said these things. But Jesus assured them that the Father had spoken and he had spoken these words for their benefit, not for his. And the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle John to record these things. for our edification today. We can read these words and we can be edified. So Jesus was lifted up on the cross to draw all to himself. We're looking at six facts that are associated with him being lifted up. Number one, he was lifted up for all. Number two, he was lifted up to die. Number three, he was lifted up to be glorified. Number four, he was lifted up to glorify the Father. Number five, he was lifted up to gain the victory. And we see this in verse 31. He declares, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. So we see here in this one verse, victory over the world and victory over the prince of this world. He says in the first part of the verse, now is the judgment of this world. The cross brings judgment. The cross draws a very bright line between those who are saved and those who are not. Those who look to the cross and they see the Lamb of God slain for their sins, they're judged by the cross. to be children of light. But those who look at the cross and turn away in disgust and unbelief are judged by the cross to be children of darkness. Children of darkness belonging to the prince of darkness, Satan himself. And so we see Jesus gaining victory over the world and also victory over the prince of the world. In the last part of verse 31 it says, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Satan is called here the prince of the world. The world is somewhat on loan to Satan. He's called the serpent of old. And we know the prophecy that's given back in Genesis of the serpent crushing the heel of the seed of the woman. Well, Satan did that at the cross. He crushed the heel of the son of God. He did so through the agency of wicked men And he had Jesus nailed to that cross. He bruised Jesus' heel. But the Lord Jesus, through the power of his own resurrection, crushed the serpent's head. Satan was then dethroned as ruler of this world. And the Son of Man is enthroned. And yes, we await the ultimate fulfillment of that reality when Jesus comes to this earth and establishes his earthly kingdom. And yes, we know that Satan is now the prince of the power of the air of this world. He's got a limited amount of time to do his dirty work. But the day will come when Satan will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit. So Jesus was lifted up to gain the victory. Victory over the world and victory over the prince of the world. And the sixth and final fact pertaining to Jesus being lifted up. He was lifted up as a shining light. We see this in verses 34 through 36 where the crowd presents a question really here They say, we have heard out of the law that Christ, the Messiah, abideth forever. And how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man, they ask? Now, the Jewish scriptures predicted that Messiah would rule forever. And it's mentioned several times in the Jewish scriptures. For example, in the Psalms, in Psalm 89, verses 35 and 36, it says, once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever in his throne as the sun, S-U-N, before me. And so it was God's intent that a descendant of King David would endure forever and his throne would be established forever. And the Jewish people knew this and they understood, they were looking for a Messiah who would come and establish this kingdom and reign forever. They were looking for a Messiah, a forever Messiah, who would immediately begin his rule. How then, they ask, could Messiah be lifted up and put to death? I mean, they understood Jesus' use of this messianic title, Son of Man, in reference to himself. So in effect, they're asking Jesus, well, who are you then? I mean, this does not add up to us. This does not compute. This does not correlate with what we're expecting in Messiah. Who are you then? They just cannot understand how He could be the Messiah and how He could be crucified. Now Jesus responds to them without directly answering their questions. Maybe you noticed that. And his response begins here in verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. Jesus knew that time was short. He didn't have time for a lengthy dialogue with the crowd. He would be with them in mortal flesh only for a few more days. And so he had to jump right to the point here. Now back in John 9, 4, Jesus had declared, as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Now he tells his listeners, believe in the light in order that you may become children of light and walk in the light. He's getting right to the point. You better believe in me. You better believe that I am that Messiah. Regardless of your distorted expectations, I am the Messiah. You better believe in me, Jesus is saying. Believe in the light. Because if you don't, if you remain in your state of unbelief, you will be children of darkness, walking in the darkness and continuing in that darkness until you fall headlong into perdition and are shut out from the light forever. There are no second chances after a person dies. No second chances. So make your choice, for time is short. Now, after Jesus said these things, John says, Jesus departed and hid himself from them. No doubt to allow him to have a few more days of ministry before he would be taken into custody, put on trial in kind of a kangaroo court multiple times, and then crucified. So we're told that Jesus departed and concealed himself, and this is kind of John's way of punctuating the conclusion of this large section in John's Gospel that deals with Jesus' public ministry. After this, for the rest of the chapter, John himself is going to kind of summarize some of the highlights of Jesus' public ministry. kind of point out certain key sayings of Jesus. But after that, then when we get to the next chapter, we're going to begin a new section in John's gospel that focuses on Jesus' private ministry, especially with his disciples. And so this kind of leaves us with this thought of Jesus being lifted up, lifted up on the cross, to draw all to himself. Lifted up for all. Whosoever will may come. This is the gospel invitation. It's an open invitation. Whosoever will may come. Whosoever will believe on Jesus Christ will be saved. He was lifted up to die. To die on that cross. to pay the debt of sin for those who put faith in Him. He suffered on that cross, an excruciating death. He died, He was buried, and He rose again. He rose again to bring many sons to glory. He was lifted up to be glorified. He was lifted up to glorify the Father. He was lifted up to gain the victory. He was lifted up as a shining light for all the world to see. Theologian F.F. Bruce says, it is from the cross of Jesus that the true light shineth brightest. And the closing question is, are you walking in the light? Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you become a child of light? Or are you yet walking in darkness? I urge you to come to the light. Come to the cross. Come to Christ. Our Father, we thank you for this passage of Scripture. We thank you for inspiring John to write these things. We thank you for what is pictured here and the Greeks coming, seeking to see Jesus. And oh Lord, I pray that more and more people in this world would come seeking Jesus. Help us to go to the highways and byways and compel them to come into your house. that they might find Jesus. Father, as we meditate upon these things, help us to reflect upon our Lord's great sacrifice on that cross. To reflect upon the fact that he went to that cross willingly. that he laid down his life for us, his friends, willingly. We thank you for his great sacrifice on our behalf. Help us to be among those true disciples who died a self that we might be fruitful in this life. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.