Drawing All Men - [John 12:27-36]

Well, regardless of where you come from, whether, you know, because there's all this stuff about finding your roots and your genetics and all these kind of things, wherever you come from, our system is based on the English system.

And basically, a lot of our religious heritage comes from England as well. And last night, I was stunned as I was preparing this message and, you know, just between us, I won't say between us girls because only Mike can say that, but just between us, usually the introduction is the last thing I do.

So I'm just up, you know, like finishing things up last night and this thing pops up about this religious survey in England. And I thought, well, that would be interesting. And it happened to be about Resurrection Sunday or Easter, as it's sometimes called.

So, Great Britain, when you say, when you mention Easter to somebody, what's the first thing they think of? First thing, he is risen, right? Not exactly. They think about chocolate Easter eggs. That's number one.

Seventy-six percent of Britons, first thought, chocolate Easter eggs. Number two, I don't know, this is kind of embarrassing, bank holiday. Number two, banks are closed. Sixty-seven percent. Number three, and this is not the piano song, hot cross buns.

I guess it's quite the tradition over there to have hot cross buns on Easter Sunday. Number four, Jesus Christ at fifty-five percent. Number five, the Easter bunny at forty-nine percent. Now, that tells us a lot about the spiritual state of England.

And in fact, among younger people, it gets even worse, because Jesus only got about forty-five percent, not fifty-five percent. He wasn't the first thought. In fact, among younger people, the Easter bunny rated higher.

I also found another article about how British children love to get Easter eggs, Easter chocolates, and how, you know, it's quite the thing over there, I guess. I guess our kids like it too, but here's the thing.

This article was bemoaning the fact that America wasn't more like Britain, because not only do the British children love to get their Easter eggs, but guess what the adults do who give the kids their Easter eggs?

It's a fine British tradition to get plastered, to get drunk. And I just thought, this is Resurrection Sunday in our religious, the home of our religious heritage, Great Britain. Now, how much do you think Americans will spend on Easter this year?

I was kind of surprised by this. It's $18 .4 billion, which averages out to about $152 per person. And I'm like, I think of my whole life, you know, I mean, maybe $152. But not that much, because we're kind of cheap.

But I just can't imagine spending that much money. And it really comes down to one thing. People around the world have lost their focus on Christ, because they're not Christians. But what is the reason for the season, as we like to say around Christmas?

Well, around Resurrection Sunday, it's the same thing. It's Jesus Christ, and him crucified, and him raised, him resurrected. So open your Bibles to John chapter 12. We're going to continue preaching through here, the Gospel of John.

We don't really need a special message, because the focus is going to be on Christ Jesus today. John chapter 12, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 27. Verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I've 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 heard it, and said that it had thundered.

Others said, an angel has spoken to him. Verse 30. 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. So the crowd answered him, we have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the son of man must be lifted up?

Who is this son of man? So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Now a few weeks ago, we looked at what is commonly called the triumphal entry.

And really, it's an interesting title, triumphal entry. Was it triumphal? In what sense was it triumphal? When you think of the triumphal entry, even as we talked about it, with all the pomp and the circumstance and all the yelling and the shouting and the waving of palm branches, was it triumphal?

I mean, Jesus is riding in on the back of a donkey. But certainly many of the Jews in Jerusalem thought so. They met Jesus as he came down the Mount of Olives, having left Bethany and now coming down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem.

As I said, they were waving palm branches and chanting Hosanna. Remember what that means? Yahweh save. Not Yahweh saves, but Yahweh save. Meaning they were pleading with the Lord to deliver them from Rome.

They wanted a national savior. A champion. Kind of the David to defeat Goliath sort of thing. They knew that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. They'd heard about it. And they thought, this man has a lot of power.

He has the backing of God. Maybe he is the promised Messiah, the one who will finally set us free. And they presumed that he would establish David's throne immediately, which meant ridding Israel of its hated occupier.

And as you recall, the frenzy of the triumphal entry as the crowds are chanting, all this noise is going on and people are rushing to see what's going on. The Pharisees kind of go into a panic. They knew they had to deal with Jesus, but now they were concerned that it was too late.

That they'd missed their opportunity. Now last week, we also saw that there were Greeks in Jerusalem for the Passover. And they asked Philip and Andrew to give them a meeting with Jesus. And instead of their interaction, or instead of there being an interaction between the Greeks and Jesus, the Lord takes their very presence, the fact that they've come to see him, the Greeks, as a sign that his hour, meaning the time of his death, had arrived.

And ultimately, he talks about how his death will result in many coming to follow him. Remember the wheat, the seed of the wheat would die, and that would produce a lot of, I mean, he's speaking in metaphors, but a lot of followers, a lot of people that would come to follow him.

And he spoke of the high cost of following him, and also the high reward that they would be honored by the Father. Now this morning, as we look through the next passage, we're going to see six actions.

There's going to be six brief sentences. I've just kind of broken it up into sections. And they're not all the same length. As Pastor Mike likes to say, not all the points are the same. In fact, number six is amazingly short.

So I have six short sentences, so that we can kind of have stepping stones as we go through this passage. Our first short sentence is very short. Jesus prays. Jesus prays. They all feature Jesus. Jesus prays.

Now as he contemplates the suffering and death that await him in the hour that has now arrived, the hour of his glorification, as he said, he is internally in turmoil. In fact, look at the verse here in 27.

It says, now is my soul troubled. Now you're sitting here and you're thinking, well, how can he be troubled? How can he be concerned? He's God. He's God in the flesh. But as he is also human, the Holy Spirit is making him more and more aware of what lies before him.

And he is troubled in his soul as he feels the full weight of bearing the sins of all who would ever believe. This is something that he looks forward to and he does so with trepidation. He is concerned.

He doesn't want to do this. How do we know that? Because we're going to see that revealed to us. So what does he do? He's concerned. He's troubled. What does he do? He prays. Verse 27. Again, the second half of it.

What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? Question mark's not in the original, but I think it's okay. And really, this scene is reminiscent, even though there's this big crowd there, it's reminiscent of his prayer in Gethsemane.

It's not the same setting. Obviously, he's not in Gethsemane. But it's not hard to imagine that as he looks forward to what is in front of him on the cross, that he thinks about it more than once. He is, what's the word again?

He is not vexed. He is troubled in his soul. I'd say it's fair to guess that he would think about it more than once during this week, that he would pray to the Father more than once during this week. And the crux of it, the point of his prayer here is, if there is some other way, some other way other than the cross, if there's some other way to meet the righteous demands of the Father, to pay for the sins of his people, other than going to the cross, Jesus wants that revealed to him.

He wants to know about it now. The man Christ Jesus is troubled in his soul. But he's not bailing on the mission. He's going to complete it. But let's just go, let's turn and let's look at Gethsemane for a moment.

Turn to Matthew 26, if you would. This is, again, a different instance, a little bit later. Matthew 26, beginning in verse 39. And going a little farther, he, Jesus, fell on his face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

The Spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again, he came and found them sleeping.

For their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. You think he was troubled? Do you think he was concerned? Let's go back to John.

But three times in Gethsemane, he prayed that he would not have to drink the cup of wrath. The cup of wrath for all sins of all the people who would ever believe. The full fury of God poured out on him on the cross.

And as he's with that crowd and he's contemplating this, he's no less concerned about it. He knows how horrible this is going to be. He knows the pain he will suffer. I can't help but think also, you know, as you think about on the cross, where he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That he senses that that moment is coming and he doesn't want that either. He senses that he's going to experience as a man this separation, this feeling of separation from God, the Father. Something he's never experienced, something he's never known, when the Father turns, as it were, his face away.

And in Matthew 26, verse 39, and in our text, the very next word after his request is Allah, which in the Greek is but. And it's meant to show a sharp contrast. In Matthew, when we read that word, it was nevertheless.

And in John, it's just but. But it's the same word in the Greek. In other words, this is what I want, but. Whatever your will is, Father, I will follow your will. My desire is not to go this way. It's not to suffer that.

I'm a man, but I'm also fixed on doing your will. Whatever your will is. Jesus was still fully convicted, still fully wanting to redeem his people. In fact, he just spoke, spoken in verse 24 of the fact that the harvest would come.

Why? Because the seed would die, the seed of wheat would die, and there would be a harvest from that. He came into this world for one reason, to save his people from their sins. He's not going to shirk that responsibility.

That doesn't mean that as a man, it can't terrify him, can't concern him. He can't dread that moment because he does. But from before eternity even began, this was the plan of the triune God. This was the plan of the Father for Jesus to submit to the will of the Father throughout his earthly existence, throughout all time.

Jesus was not going to turn away from the cross now and all that it represented. And so he prays in verse 28, Father, glorify your name, much like he said, right? In verse 27, but for this purpose I've come to this hour, right?

But this is why I came. I'm here to do this. This is my appointed destiny from you. And now, Father, glorify your name. Glorify your name through my obedience as I go to the cross anyway, even though I don't want to.

Jesus is still speaking about the cross when he prays glorify your name, but his request is simply that the Father glorify his name. In other words, he was determined to obey the Father, your will, Father, not mine.

I will obey, I will submit. So our first brief statement is Jesus prays. Second one is Jesus is answered. Jesus is answered. Verse 28, then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.

Well, how had he glorified it? The Father had glorified him on many occasions, glorified his name on many occasions. How? Through all these miracles. People saw him do these things that only the power of God could do.

Now, during his earthly ministry, there were only two occasions, two, where an audible voice was heard. Before this, there were only two occasions where an audible voice was heard during Jesus' ministry.

Those two occasions. Everybody knows the first one, when he was baptized. Second one? Transfiguration. Good. So it's safe to say that this is a significant event, right? Hear all these people and they hear this voice.

He's going to glorify his name. How? Through the humiliation of the cross, the horrible death of crucifixion. The Father would glorify the triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit by fulfilling his eternal plan.

God is glorified, we could say, by exercising his sovereignty, by making sure his plan comes to pass. By the way, no human mind would ever conceive of such a thing. And that's why this is boggling this audience, right?

How do you bring glory to God? By a shameful death, death on a cross. But as we read, or we mentioned last week, and I read earlier this morning, for those of you, you know, the elect who were here, it pleased the Father, what Isaiah says, to crush him, to crush Jesus, to have him killed for our sins.

And in so doing, to reap a harvest of countless souls who would be saved from their sins and dwell with Jesus in heavenly glory forever. How is God going to glorify himself through the cross? By redeeming countless people for his glory.

The response, well, there are two responses. The first response here, in verse 29, to this voice. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Not that the voice had thundered, but that it sounded like thunder.

Now, how could it be that they're standing there and they failed to understand what the Father said? Well, it may be that they simply said that it had thundered, right? People, well, like about the resurrection, they deny a physical resurrection.

He only appeared to raise from the dead. Or, you know, the Muslims say that Jesus only appeared to die on the cross. So this may be a case where, you know, it sounded like thunder. It could have been thunder.

It might have been. Looking for any kind of explanation that wouldn't affirm what it was. The other possibility is that they just didn't understand it. But in either case, it was because of a desire not to understand it.

Of a desire not to bow the knee, as it were, to God. Response number 2 in 29. Others said, an angel has spoken to them. In other words, they heard the voice. They heard the words. But they weren't willing to say it was God.

That's better, right? At least they're saying it's a heavenly messenger. But it's wrong. I mean, who did he pray to? The Father. A voice comes back. Well, no angel is going to, like, pretend to be the Father.

He addressed the Father. And twice he said, I will. I will do this. Not, he will. God the Father said, I will glorify my name. Not, if it was an angel, it would be, he will glorify his name. That's not what they said.

That's not what the voice said. Jesus responds to their responses. He gives them their answer. Verse 30, Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Jesus was going to obey no matter what, no matter how in his humanity, it made him tremble.

It concerned him. He was going to obey because he was the sinless, spotless lamb of God who was going to carry it out. He was fully man and also fully God, and he was going to obey the Father. But these words, Jesus says, were not designed for him.

They were designed for the crowd. They came, why? Those words came, why? So that they could think, this is, in fact, the Son of God. This is the one he says he is. This is the Messiah. And again, they really shouldn't doubt that, having either seen or heard of the many miracles that Jesus had performed.

They should have known that he operated by the power of God. But think about it, they were there, and Jesus prays, and there's an immediate response of a voice from heaven saying, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it.

And still, they're trying to explain it away. They were truly without any excuse. So we've seen Jesus prays, Jesus is answered, and now number three, short sentence number three, Jesus prophesies about the results of the cross.

The results of the cross. First result, Satan will be defeated. Look at verse 31, now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. Notice there that it's will, he will be cast out.

He's talking about the world system, the judgment of the world system. The government of Rome, the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, all the leaders. Now the cross is an odd way to defeat the ruler of this world, isn't it?

Again, who would think of such a thing? Don't you suppose, you know, not to get too speculative, but don't you suppose that Satan was not in the least bit disappointed on the day when Jesus Christ was crucified.

That in some sense, he must have thought that there was victory in this. There wasn't, it was ultimately to his defeat. Now who would come up with something like this? God would. We know that from 1 Corinthians 1, 18 and 19.

Listen, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.

Who would think of such a thing? Who would come up with such a plan? God would. 1 Corinthians 1 again, verses 22 to 24. For Jews demand signs and Greeks wisdom. This is right here. This is right where we are.

The Greeks are coming for wisdom. The Jews have seen all these signs. And Paul says, but we preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews. And we see that right in this passage. And folly to Gentiles.

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. His wisdom is beyond us. It's beyond Satan. Of course, Satan has yet to be cast out. He's still running the world system, but he is defeated.

To quote Martin Luther, his doom is sure. How do we know that? Revelation 20 tells us that. Verse 10. His doom is sure. The cross sealed it. The cross will also not just defeat Satan. But it will draw all people.

Look at verse 32. 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. And we'll see in a moment that the Jews understand this very well.

They knew he was speaking of the crucifixion. And what Jesus is saying is, when I am lifted up, when I am crucified, I'm going to draw all people to myself. And this, of course, raises a theological question.

If all people are drawn to Jesus, then why don't all they believe? Or why don't they all believe? Was Jesus wrong? Are all men drawn or not? Is he incorrect? Well, to the idea that he might be incorrect, I say, may it never be.

To presume, as some do, that Jesus draws all men, and that they exercise their free will to reject him, is not what the text says. It says he will draw all men to himself. Now, on the other hand, if we look at the context, what just happened right before this?

As I mentioned earlier, the Greeks approach Andrew and Philip, and they say, we want to see Jesus. He's already drawing all men. Because all men doesn't refer to every single person on the planet, it refers to all kinds of men.

Men not just from Israel, but from Greece. Jews and Gentiles, all people. The Greeks are really representatives of all men. We also know that most people will not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we know that?

Well, it's pretty easy if we just take a religious census. We look around the world, 1 .6 billion Muslims. They don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They believe in him as a prophet, but they deny his death on a cross, therefore they deny his resurrection.

Hundreds of millions of Buddhists, Catholics, and even Protestants, and may I say just a few Baptists, do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And here, Jesus is simply saying this, that he has sheep in every tribe, who speak every tongue on the planet, every language.

They will be drawn by the cross, and that drawing is not one that they will reject. I mean, to be consistent, in John 6 he says that all who are given to him by the Father will come to him, and they will be raised on the last day.

And he will lose how many? None. None. Now, around the world, as we think of all people, how do we ever get people to listen to the gospel? I've been watching advertisements over the last few days on Facebook for churches, and how they're trying to draw people in.

How do you draw people, especially in New England, where people don't want to hear about Jesus? They don't want to hear about sin. They don't want to hear about redemption. They don't want to hear that he is risen.

They don't want to hear about the cross. What do you do? Charles Spurgeon had a little bit of advice. He said, Christ is the only trumpet that you want to trumpet Christ. Preach the gospel, and the congregation will come of themselves.

The only infallible way of getting a good congregation is to do this. Jesus builds his church, and how does he do it? By the preaching of the gospel. People hear the good news, and the Holy Spirit convicts them, regenerates them, and they're saved.

Those who are being drawn, or those who will be drawn, are those who the Spirit has enabled to hear about Christ. Let others have their cartoon characters in full costume, their airborne Easter egg hunts, and their juggling clowns.

The people of God want to hear about Christ, because he has drawn them. He has won their hearts. He is their king. He is the object of their greatest affection. They love the one who has saved them from their sins, who has saved them from hell.

Christ is both the end, in other words, our ultimate goal, and he is the means. We preach Christ and him crucified. Why? So that people might know Christ and him crucified. Jesus will draw all that the Father has chosen, all for whom he died, and all the Holy Spirit will seal.

A .W. Pink says, this is a bitter pill for the pride of man to swallow, but it is biblical truth. God the Father has given his Son to a particular people. I'm sorry. God the Father has given his Son a particular people in eternity past, as a gift of love that is called the Bride.

And those are the people whom Christ came to redeem. They are a specific people, a chosen people, a set-aside people, his elect. The number of them won't be plus or minus one at the consummation of all things.

What he's saying there is, everyone that the Father elected will be drawn, and they will be saved. There won't be one more, and there won't be one less. Christ will lose none of his sheep. All people will be drawn to the cross, but that doesn't mean everyone will be drawn to the cross.

Number four, short statement. Jesus is questioned. Jesus is questioned. Verse 34,. So the crowd answered to him, We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?

Who is this Son of Man? The Jewish crowd, again, they had their own understanding of the Messiah. He's going to establish his kingdom forever. He's not going to die, and certainly not on a cross. That's a shameful death.

That's a horrible death. This is what they've been taught, and this is what they understand from the Old Testament. Notice that they do understand that he's claiming to be the Son of Man. In their minds, rightly, the Son of Man and the Christ are one and the same.

So their question, essentially, is not so much a question, but a statement. The real Son of Man, the one who is revealed to us in Scripture, would never die like that. Now, it's kind of interesting and important to note that of the 80 or so times in the Gospel that the term Son of Man is used, this is the only time that anyone other than Jesus uses it.

The only one. So they have understood his claim to the title. After Lazarus and the triumphal entry, there were likely some here who were ready to accept him. And if he had said, let's go to the temple and I'm going to set up my kingdom and we're going to take care of Rome right now, the multitudes would have followed him.

But as soon as he starts talking about his death, they're like, wait, what? This is not the Son of Man that we've been waiting for. This is not the Messiah that we want. They didn't want a martyr. They wanted a conqueror.

But they're just wrong. Henriksen writes, he is altogether unique among men. He is not a son of man, but the Son of Man. As a man, he suffers and treads the path of humiliation. He is the man of sorrows.

But this very path of suffering leads to the crown, to glory. Moreover, this glory is revealed not only eschatologically, when he comes in the clouds, but it reaches back, as it were, through his entire life on earth and through every redemptive act.

He is always the glorious Son of Man. So our first short statement, Jesus prays. Second, Jesus is answered. Third, Jesus prophesies about the results of the cross. Fourth, Jesus is questioned. Fifth, Jesus warns.

Jesus warns. Look at verse 35. So Jesus said to them, in light of their complaints, their concerns, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.

The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. Now the crowd, like so many today, want nothing to do with the Jesus who actually is, the Jesus who exists.

They wanted the Messiah of their imagination, one who gave them what they wanted. The light of the world was before them, and they rejected him. Light came into this world, and what men love, the darkness.

Every person who hears the gospel, who hears the truth about Jesus, has been exposed to that light. When you tell someone about the deity of Christ, the perfect obedience of Christ, the substitutionary death of Christ, and his resurrection, you have given them a great blessing and an opportunity to believe in Christ.

You've exposed them to the light. And some of the crowd listening had a lot more than just a little bit of light. Again, think about Judas Iscariot. All that he saw, all that he heard, and he not only rejected Jesus, but he was just a few hours from betraying him.

Many in the pages of scripture had the truth and failed to respond rightly to it, failed to believe. And that's what Jesus means when he says, walk while you have the light. To walk is to live out what you believe.

He might as well have said, repent, change your habits, change your lifestyle. It's not enough to merely intellectually accept the truth. If your life and your attitude remain the same, then the Holy Spirit has not granted you a new life.

You've not been changed. You've not been transformed. You haven't really believed. No one is perfect, but those who are saved have embarked on a process we call sanctification. If there's no change in your walk, that is to say your life, there's no change in your soul.

Becoming a Christian doesn't mean you grudgingly give up some things and start doing others. It doesn't mean you grudgingly go, you know what, instead of just going to church on Easter and Christmas, I'm going to start going every third Sunday.

That's not what it's about. It's a transformation of mind. You've been renewed in your mind. By the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, you no longer find some things attractive. And some things that weren't interesting to you now become the things that you love the most.

Scripture, which was once kind of a veiled puzzle, a mystery, is now open wide to you. It's a source of joy and truth and enlightenment. The cross, once a mystery, becomes the dearest symbol of deliverance.

Walk while you have the light. What is the darkness? Darkness in many instances, and I think here it could be ignorance, but death. Once darkness overtakes you, once you have died, there is no opportunity to believe in the light, to become a son of light.

Our final short statement here, Jesus disappears, and I told you number six was going to be fast. When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. He just leaves. He's like, okay, I'm done.

I've warned you. I've told you the truth. And he leaves. Now, to the world, Resurrection Sunday is about chocolate. It's about Easter bunnies. It's about all kinds of fun things. But when we think about it, as we even stand, as it were, next to Jesus and look forward to the cross, and we understand that what seemed like the darkest time ever was coming, the death, the horrific death on a cross, all the suffering, and then all the wrath of God poured out upon him, which only he could take.

But after darkness, light, after the horror of Good Friday and all the suffering, the resurrection, the resurrection is priceless. It's the crown jewel. It is our hope. Now, briefly, just in the last minute or two, here are the keys.

Who is God? God is the owner, ruler of everything. He created everything. He gets to set the rules. He's holy and just. He will not let anything that is sinful or even tainted by sin enter into heaven.

And our problem is we're born into this world sinners. We're sinners by design, by our birth and by our desires. We want to sin. The Bible would describe us as children of wrath, would say that we're dead in our sins and trespasses.

So you have a holy God who says nothing unholy can enter into heaven and you have all these billions of sinners. And here's the eternal plan of God, the grace of God, as it were, to send the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, to leave heaven, to come into earth as a man and to suffer even as we do, to deal with all the strife and the struggles of life and actually even more.

None of us will ever have to think, how am I going to bear the sins of the world? Jesus did that. Jesus lived a perfect life, never sinned, went obediently to the cross, died on a Friday and was raised on Sunday.