“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.’” John 12:27-28.
The striking thing about verses 27-28 above is that they plainly state Christ’s purpose in coming into the world; that is to die.
As mentioned in another place, there are those who would have us believe that Jesus came to this earth to give us an example of how to live a good, peaceful and prosperous life. They often add that His message was interrupted by His crucifixion.
It is true that the Lord left us an example to follow as Christians and the Father wants us to become like Him, but it is a demonic lie that He was interrupted by His untimely crucifixion.
Jesus said plainly, “But for this purpose I came to this hour.” it is difficult to twist this statement to mean anything other than Christ had an exact hour; not too soon, not too late, not by accident.
“Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.” Acts 2:23-24.
Christ not only had an exact hour rapidly approaching, He stated, “Now My soul is troubled…” He is troubled by it.
Here is a quote from the garden of Gethsemane.
“Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:43-44.
Many have mocked the sweating of great drops of blood. However the verse says His sweat became like drops of blood, so it could mean that they merely resembled drops of blood.
Whether they were drops of blood or just looked like them it has been shown scientifically that a person can, under great stress sweat blood, due to the capillaries rupturing in times of extreme anguish.
It is likely that they were the real thing, blood drops. That is a lot of stress my friends; little question that His soul was troubled.
Jesus then called out, “Father, glorify Your name.” The words, glorify Your name, is not a secondary reason, it is the primary reason Christ came to earth.
“…[Jesus is] the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:3.
Jesus is the revelation of God’s glory.
Old Testament believers who had studied Scripture over fourteen hundred years could only see a minute portion of whom God is; it is Christ “…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…” who reveals God to men.
We see in Jesus, God’s love in sacrificing His Son. We see in Jesus God’s love as Christ dealt with those around Him, we see in Jesus God’s love when He gave Himself willingly for our sin, we see in Jesus God’s, humility, kindness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, along with His wisdom and courage.
In John 12:21, Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” It would be wonderful if all men, even Christians would seek to really see Jesus.
Jesus said:
“Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’” John 12:28.”
God was glorified in the life of Christ; He was glorified in the death and resurrection of Christ. Who is now seated at the Father’s right hand; and He will be glorified at Christ’s return to rule forever.
Soon, we shall all see God, the Creator of everything, from the atoms which make up all matter, to things of every sort from microscopic to behemoth, of our very souls, and the owner of all; in time you will see that God’s glory is who He is.
“Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’” John 12:29.
This is the third time that the voice of God the Father came testifying about Jesus. The first time was at the Lord’s baptism.
“Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew 3:16-17.
The second time it was heard only by His disciples, Peter, James and John, when God said.
“This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Luke 9:35b.
The third time God spoke, it is recorded that those who stood by thought that it had thundered.
Perhaps these folks were focusing on Jesus’ words and missed hearing the Father’s voice. However, there are those not attuned to God’s voice, nor do they care to be.
The proof in this latter thought is the fact that God speaks to all of us today, perhaps not audibly but in our heart through the things that we see and hear.
Some would say no, but I would question their truthfulness, indeed, one would question their truthfulness to themselves.
People often want a certain result in their investigation of a matter; even if they have to twist the facts in their own mind. When someone lies to you it may injure, kill or destroy you, when you lie to yourself, it truly will destroy you.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” Romans 1:18-20.
Be honest with yourself, not to me, or anyone else, but to the one person you can trust, you.
Why is it that a man can look across a room and tell that a picture is not straight, even by a fraction of an inch?
How did your inner ear develop cilia connected to nerves and floating in a solution to keep your sense of balance? Or, how do those same cilia transmit sound to your brain to interpret and how did they come to perform this dual function?
At what point did monkeys develop their inner ear so they could escape predators by swinging through trees? How many would die before developing these traits?
How would the male and female sex organs develop independently and still be able to function properly?
What evolved first, the heart or the blood it pumps through miles of arteries, veins and capillaries?
Science has the answer, over billions and billions of years, over billions and billions of years, over billions and billions of years – keep repeating the mantra, soon your intellect will go to sleep.
Then your life will evolve into something that climbed out of the primordial ooze which becomes part of an eternal process of living, dying, rotting, then another takes your place lives, dies, and rots, ad nauseam.
The wretched circle of life, drowning in despair. Children are taught this despair in school, and then their teachers wonder why they kill themselves or each other on a whim, or are confused when they bring guns to school.
For most of four hundred years, every household in this country had a gun in it, without this pandemic of violence. The difference is that those households had one other thing, hope. This country is without God and hope.
“Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.’” John 12:30.
Yet another plea to the people, “I have raised the dead, healed the sick, fed the poor, preached the good news to the people, fulfilled prophecy and glorified, not Myself, but God the Father.
I have led a life so sinless that there is none to accuse me of sin. There are many witnesses to the resurrection of a man dead and in the grave four days.
Now God the Father speaks audibly to Me before you all, will you not receive Me as your Messiah?” The answer came when Pilate stood before the Jews and asked them this.
“But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” Then they all cried again, saying, ‘Not this Man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a robber.” John 18:39-40.
“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.” John 12:31-32.
At this point we come to a huge shift, the cross changes everything, Satan, who took control of this world from Adam and Eve in the garden will now lose his ownership of this earth and it will revert to man, the Man Christ Jesus.
As for Satan and his fallen angels they will be cast into the abyss at the return of Christ, and in time they will be thrown unceremoniously into the eternal lake of fire.
The world itself will be judged and those who reject Christ will eventually suffer the same fate as Satan. The cross both condemns those who reject Christ and it saves those who receive Christ as their savior.
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32.
Many people interpret this as meaning that if they preach Christ (lift Him up) all men will come to Him. While it is true that to reach men, Christ must be preached.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.
It is also true that not all men will receive Him.
The Greek in this verse implies that the meaning is not, will draw all peoples to Myself, rather it means, will drag all men to Myself. Those who receive Him as savior will come to Him, and those who reject Him will be dragged before Him on Judgment Day.
“…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth [in hell], and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11.
Everyone from the God hating atheist to the fallen angels will come before Jesus Christ and bow the knee before Him, no exceptions.
There are those who think that they will stand before Him defiantly and give Him an obscene gesture. I assure you, there will not be an ounce of courage among the lot of them, for on that day all defiance will end.
“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?’” John 12:33-34.
Their response is quite understandable because the Old Testament had many very clear passages that Messiah was indeed to rule forever.
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7.
“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14.
“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; so the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.” Micah 4:6-7.
The reason Jesus does not respond to their question is likely that He had made His case, it was up to them to accept Him or reject Him on the light that they had.
“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 12:35-36.
Jesus is and was the light of the world. In a world dark in sin, Jesus appeared in sinless perfection and dispersed the darkness.
This contrast must have been so glaring to those who were around Him; one either wanted to live in the light or flee from Him, for their deeds were evil.
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:4-5.
“That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world.” John 1:9.
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” John 8:12.
“I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5.
“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46.
Those who embrace Christ have this light dwelling within them in the form of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit fills us with His light which flows out to others around us drawing them out of spiritual darkness into His light, rescuing yet another from Satan’s dark realm.
“Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!
Trim your feeble lamp, my brother: Some poor sailor tempest tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor, In the darkness may be lost.
Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save.”
“Let the Lower Lights Be Burning”, by P.P.B.
“These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.” John 12:36b.
Too often God’s words are spoken and then they evanesce like a wisp of smoke and those who should have learned become even more dead.
A Voice from Heaven, John 12:27-36 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 2-12-13, updated on 12-25-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.