4Facing the Cross  (John 12:27–34)

“Now My soul has become 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 out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon 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 men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” (12:27–34)

Of all the truths in the Christian faith, the death of Jesus Christ, accompanied by His resurrection, is the most precious. Had He not died, there would be no substitute for sin. Were there no substitute, there would be no offer of salvation. Were there no salvation, there would be no hope. And were there no hope, there would be no future but hell.

It is no wonder, then, that the Christian faith centers on the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious truth that the Son of God came to earth to die as a sacrifice for sin is the heart of God’s redemptive plan. The Bible teaches that His death was predetermined by God in eternity past. Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8 NKJV); His sacrificial death “was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20 NKJV). From start to finish, the Scriptures emphasize the crucial significance of Christ’s sacrifice as an offering for the sins of all who would ever believe—a substitutionary offering that satisfied or propitiated the wrath of God on behalf of all the elect (cf. Isa. 53:4–6;2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).

First, His death fulfilled prophecy. Though Israel failed to grasp it (1 Cor. 1:23; cf. Luke 24:25–27), the Old Testament clearly taught that the Messiah was to come and to die. According to Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks of years, after sixty-nine weeks (seven plus sixty-two), “the Messiah will be cut off” (Dan. 9:25–26). In Zechariah 12:10 God said,

As a result of Messiah’s death, “A fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity” (Zech. 13:1).

The most detailed Old Testament prophecy of Messiah’s death is in Isaiah 52:13–53:12, which predicts that Messiah would be “pierced through for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities” (53:5); that “by oppression and judgment He [would be] taken away … cut off out of the land of the living” (53:8); that “His grave [would be] assigned with wicked men, yet He [would be] with a rich man in His death” (53:9); that “the Lord [would be] pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief,” that “He would render Himself as a guilt offering” (53:10); and that God would bless Him “because He poured out Himself to death” (53:12).

The Old Testament also gave specific details concerning Messiah’s death—every one of which was fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ. Psalm 41:9 predicted that He would be betrayed by someone close to Him (cf. John 13:18); Zechariah 11:12–13 gave the exact amount of money His betrayer would receive (cf. Matt. 26:15). Isaiah 50:6 foretold the physical abuse that Christ would suffer at His trial (cf. Matt. 26:67; 27:26; Mark 15:16–19). Psalm 22 graphically depicted Christ’s death by crucifixion, a form of execution foreign to the Jews:

Psalm 69:21 predicted another detail of Christ’s crucifixion: “They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (cf. Matt. 27:34, 48). Psalm 31:5 gave the words Christ would speak as He yielded up His life: “Into Your hand I commit my spirit” (cf. Luke 23:46), while Psalm 34:20 accurately depicted the fact that none of His bones would be broken (cf. John 19:32–36).

The Old Testament sacrifices all pointed forward to the final sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. The burnt offering (Lev. 1:3–17; 6:8–13) symbolized His atonement; the sin offering (Lev. 4:1–5, 13; 6:24–30) His propitiation; and the trespass offering (Lev. 5:14–6:7; 7:1–10) the redemption His death provides. That Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifices is also an important theme of the book of Hebrews (cf. 9:11–10:18).

Our Lord prophesied accurately the fulfillment of these predictions and gave even further details about His death before any of it had occurred at the hands of rejecting Jews and ignorant Romans:

Second, the death of Christ is the subject of the New Testament. Roughly one-fifth of the material in the gospel accounts is devoted to the events of the last few days of His life. The death and resurrection of the Lord Christ is the climactic point to which all previous material concerning His life leads, and from which the Acts and all the Epistles flow.

Third, Christ’s death was the chief purpose of the incarnation. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,” Jesus declared, “and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The writer of Hebrews noted that same truth when he wrote:

The apostle John said of Jesus, “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin …. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:5, 8). Summarizing the importance of Christ’s death in connection with the incarnation, Henry C. Thiessen wrote,

Fourth, Jesus’ death was the constant theme of His own teaching. Immediately after Peter’s confession that He was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), “Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day” (v. 21; cf. 17:22–23; 20:17–19; 26:2). To Nicodemus, Jesus declared, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14; cf. 8:28; 18:32); while in John 6:51 He said of Himself, “The bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” After His resurrection, Jesus chided two of His disciples for failing to grasp the necessity of His death: “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25–26). Shortly afterward He reminded the eleven apostles, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day” (v. 46). In Revelation 1:18 the glorified Christ proclaimed, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”

Fifth, the death of Jesus Christ was the central theme of apostolic preaching. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). In the first Christian sermon ever preached, Peter declared to Israel, “[Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:23–24). He and his fellow preachers would repeat that theme throughout the early years of the church (Acts 3:13–15, 18; 4:10;5:30; 7:52; 10:39; 13:27–29; 17:3;26:23).

Sixth, the New Testament Epistles also instruct in the theology of Christ’s death. In Romans 5:8–10 Paul noted that the cross demonstrates God’s love for repentant sinners, justifies them, and reconciles them to God:

Peter declared that “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18), while the writer of Hebrews added that “Jesus, because of the suffering of death [was] crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9; cf. v. 14).

Seventh, the death of Christ is of supreme interest in heaven. At the transfiguration Moses and Elijah, “appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The “sufferings of Christ” are something “into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:11–12). At the empty tomb after the resurrection, the two angels said to the women, “[Jesus] is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:6–7). In the apostle John’s inspired vision of worship in heaven, “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb … And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation’” (Rev. 5:8–9). Uncounted thousands of angels echoed that mighty chorus, “saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing’” (v. 12).

Finally, the death of Christ is the heart of the church’s ordinances. Baptism pictures the believer’s union with Christ in His death (Rom. 6:1–4; Col. 2:12), and in the Lord’s Supper believers remember and “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Cor. 11:26; cf. Luke 22:19–20).

In the previous passage (vv. 23–26; cf. the exposition of those verses in chapter 3 of this volume), Jesus spoke of His impending death. In verses 27–34 we see the God-man grappling with the implications of that death. The passage reveals the anguish of Jesus, the answer of the Father, the anticipation of victory, and the abandonment by the people.

THE ANGUISH OF JESUS

“Now My soul has become 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.” (12:27–28a)

Knowing that His death was central to God’s redemptive plan, Jesus “for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2). But there was another side to the cross, which the writer of Hebrews alluded to when he spoke in that same verse of the Lord “despising [its] shame.” The anticipation of bearing the shame of sin, experiencing God’s wrath, and being separated from the Father caused Christ’s soul to become troubled. Troubled translates a form of the verb tarasso, which literally means, “to shake,” or “to stir up” (cf. John 5:7, where it describes the stirring up of the pool of Bethesda). It is a strong word, used figuratively to speak of severe mental or spiritual agitation; of being disturbed, upset, unsettled, or horrified (cf. Matt. 2:3; 14:26; Luke 1:12; 24:38; John 11:33; 13:21; 14:1, 27; Acts 15:24). The perfect tense of the verb suggests that this was an ongoing struggle for the sinless Savior, as He recoiled in revulsion from the implications of bearing divine judgment for sin (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).

Christ did not go to the cross detached, indifferent, without feeling. “The Johannine Jesus is no docetic actor in a drama, about to play a part which he can contemplate dispassionately because it does not really involve himself” (F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983], 265). In His humanness, Jesus felt all the pain associated with bearing the curse for sin (Gal. 3:13). Because of that pain, “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Heb. 5:7).

Some commentators disconnect the two phrases what shall I say and Father, save Me from this hour, ending the former with a question mark and making the latter a petition to the Father. It seems better, however, to adopt the NASB punctuation and view the two phrases as expressing one hypothetical thought (cf. Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004], 381). Here, as in Gethsemane, Jesus in His humanity agonized over the unjust, cruel, shameful death that awaited Him.

The Lord voluntarily gave His life, as He declared in John 10:17–18:

Rebuking Peter for attacking one of those who came to arrest Him, Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). In other words, Jesus was no victim; He could have called on the Father to rescue Him at anytime.

But Christ would not deviate from God’s eternal plan of redemption, which called for Him to die as a sacrifice for sin (1 John 2:2; 4:10). Therefore He immediately answered His own hypothetical question in the negative: But for this purpose I came to this hour. Jesus would, in view of His own eternal joy, complete the mission the Father had assigned Him (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 18:37; Heb. 10:7).

In keeping with that resolve, Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify Your name” (cf. Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2), essentially the same prayer that He would soon pray in Gethsemane: “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Our Lord’s request indicates that as He had done perfectly throughout His life (John 7:18;8:29, 50; 17:4; cf. Luke 2:49), He would glorify the name of the Father in His death. God receives glory when His attributes are manifested (cf. Ex. 33:18–19; 34:5–8), and nowhere was His magnanimous love for helpless sinners (Rom. 5:8), His holy wrath against sin (Rom. 5:9), His perfect justice (Rom. 3:26), His redeeming grace (Heb. 2:9), His forgiving mercy (Col. 2:13–14), or His infinite wisdom (1 Cor. 1:22–24) more clearly seen than in the substitutionary, propitiatory death of His Son.

THE ANSWER OF THE FATHER

Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. (12:28b–30)

For the third time in Christ’s earthly ministry, the Father’s voice came audibly out of heaven. On the other occasions, at Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:17) and the transfiguration (Matt. 17:5), the Father’s voice affirmed that He was pleased with His Son. Now, as the cross approached, the Father again authenticated Him, thus reassuring the disciples that Christ’s impending death in no way signified His disapproval. On the contrary, just as He had already glorified His name through Jesus’ life and ministry, He would glorify it again through His death. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection would mark not only the successful completion of the mission the Father had given Him to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) and to “give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45), but also His return to His full glory in the Father’s presence. It was for the latter that Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer:

The Father’s audible voice confirming that He had heard and answered Jesus’ prayer was obvious to all, though the bewildered crowd of people who stood by and heard it were unable to grasp its true significance. Some, seeking to explain the powerful voice as a natural phenomenon, were saying that it had thundered. Thunder was often associated in the Old Testament with the voice of God (e.g., Ex. 19:16, 19; 2 Sam. 22:14; Job 37:2–5; 40:9; Pss. 18:13; 29:3), while in Revelation it emanates from heaven (Rev. 4:5; 11:19; 14:2). Others, though they did not understand the words, at least recognized the sound as a voice. They speculated that an angel had spoken to Jesus (angels frequently spoke to people in the Old Testament; e.g., Gen. 19:1–22; 1 Kings 13:18; 19:5; Dan. 4:13–17; 10:4ff.; Zech. 1:9, 14ff.; 2:3; 3:1; 4:1). Both theories were incorrect—the sound was neither thunder nor angelic speech. Like those who accompanied Paul on the road to Damascus, the crowd heard the sound of the voice, but did not understand the meaning of the words (Acts 9:7; 22:9).

The crowd’s inability to understand God’s voice illustrates the hard-heartedness that was typical of the people, who had likewise failed to hear the voice of God’s word (Mark 4:15) and His Son (John 8:43). The issue is not that God is silent, but that fallen, sinful people are deaf. This reality is the result of sinful fallenness and divine sovereign judgment (cf. Isa. 6:9–10; Matt. 13:14–15; John 12:40; Acts 28:26–27). Therefore “while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt. 13:13). Unbelievers, being dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), members of Satan’s kingdom (Col. 1:13), and blinded by him to the truth of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4) have no capacity for understanding God’s Word. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14).

The heavenly voice, Jesus told the crowd, has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. At first glance the Lord’s statement seems puzzling. Since the voice came in response to His prayer, “Father, glorify Your name,” how could Jesus say that it was not for His sake? In keeping with Semitic idiom (cf. R.V.G. Tasker, The Gospel According to St. John, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975], 152–53), the meaning appears to be that the voice did not come exclusively for Jesus’ sake (since He did not need to hear the Father’s audible voice to know that His prayer was answered [cf. 11:42]). The voice came to strengthen the faith of those standing nearby (cf. similar expressions in v.44;4:21). In particular,

Even though the bystanders did not understand the words, the Father’s audible answer to Jesus’ prayer still conveyed to them divine affirmation of the Son.

THE ANTICIPATION OF VICTORY

Now judgment is upon 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 men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. (12:31–33)

As He anticipated the triumph of the cross, Jesus rejoiced in three significant victories it would accomplish. First, His death would bring judgment … upon this world. As it does frequently in John’s writings, the term world designates the evil, satanic system and all who are in it, who are in rebellion against God (cf. John 7:7; 8:23, 44; 14:17; 15:18–19; 17:9, 14–16; 1 John 2:15–17; 3:13; 4:4–5; 5:4–5, 19). The world’s apparent victory over Christ at the cross was in reality its own death knell; the doom of the unbelieving world was sealed by its rejection of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 17:31). Though Jesus came to save, not to judge (v. 47; 3:17; cf. Luke 19:10), those who reject Him through all of history since then condemn themselves to the eternal judgment of hell (3:18, 36; 9:39; 12:48).

Not only would Christ’s death bring judgment on the evil world system, but also at the same time on its wicked ruler, Satan (cf. 14:30; 16:11; Luke 4:5–6; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19). Scripture reveals several times when Satan will be cast out. Here he is cast out in the sense that he loses his authority and influence. If his domain (the world) is judged and destroyed, he will have nothing left to rule. During the tribulation Satan will be permanently cast out of heaven, to which he has had access to accuse believers (Rev. 12:10). At the end of the tribulation, Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit for the duration of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:1–3). Finally, at the end of the millennium, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, where he will be punished for eternity (Rev. 20:10). As was the case with the world, Satan’s apparent victory at the cross in reality marked his utter defeat. In the words of the writer of Hebrews, “through [His] death [Jesus would] render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14; cf. 1 Cor. 15:25–26; Rev. 12:11).

In contrast to the first two, the final victory accomplished at the cross is couched in positive terms. When He is lifted up from the earth (a reference to His crucifixion, which everyone understood as John’s footnote in verse 33, But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die, indicates [cf. John 3:14; 8:28]), Jesus declared that He will, by means of that sacrifice for sin, draw all men to Himself. That does not, of course, mean that all humanity will be redeemed, as some universalists think. The phrase all men refers specifically to those (the “much fruit” of 12:24; cf. 6:44) who will come. The all men are those who will be drawn to salvation from all types and classes of people. The phrase also stresses that all who are saved are saved by believing in the work of Christ on the cross. There is no access to God apart from the cross, because only through Christ’s death is sin satisfactorily atoned for (Matt. 20:28; Rom. 3:24–25; Heb. 9:12; 10:4–12; 1 Peter 1:18–19; 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; Rev. 5:9) and divine forgiveness granted (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:13–14).

THE ABANDONMENT BY THE PEOPLE

The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” (12:34)

Unable to accept the truth that the Messiah was to die, the crowd then answered Jesus, “We have heard out of the Law (a reference to the entire Old Testament, not just the Pentateuch) that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’?” Based on such passages as Isaiah 9:7, Ezekiel 37:25, and especially Daniel 7:13 where Messiah is called the “Son of Man” (cf. Dan. 2:44), they assumed that He would come to defeat all God’s enemies and establish an everlasting kingdom of peace and righteousness. That, of course, is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ will do at His second coming. The crowd, however, overlooked the clear teaching of the Old Testament that at His first advent Messiah would come to die as a sacrifice for sins (see the discussion of this point earlier in this chapter). In light of that misunderstanding, the crowd’s mocking question, “Who is this Son of Man?” (i.e., “What kind of a Son of Man are you talking about?”) can only signal their belief that Jesus was not him. They could not reconcile Jesus’ prediction of His death (12:23–26) with their belief that the Messiah was to be a triumphant conqueror (cf. John 6:14–15).

Resisting all temptation to turn aside (especially in Gethsemane) from the agony of the cross, Jesus completed the mission for which He had come into the world—to die for God (cf. Heb. 10:5–9). He did so in several ways. First, Christ’s death was a sacrifice to God, paying the price for sinners’ violation of His holy law (Isa. 53:10; Heb. 7:27; 9:26, 28; 10:10, 19). Second, Christ’s death was an act of submission to God (Rom. 5:19; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8; 10:5–10). Third, Christ’s death was a substitution offered to God on behalf of sinners (Isa.53:4–6, 11–12; 2 Cor. 5:14, 21; Heb. 9:28; 1 Peter 2:24). Fourth, Christ’s death was a satisfaction to end God’s wrath against sin on behalf of the elect (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). As a result, there is no longer any condemnation for believers (Rom. 8:1; cf. John 5:24). Finally, Christ’s death redeemed believers to God (Matt. 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom. 3:24; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14; Heb. 9:12; 1 Peter 1:18–19) and reconciled them to God (Rom. 5:10–11; 2 Cor. 5:18–20; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20–22) as His sons (Matt. 5:9, 45; John 12:36; Rom. 8:14–15, 19;2 Cor. 6:18; Gal. 3:26; 4:5–6; Eph. 1:5; Heb. 12:5–8).

Thus, as the writer of Hebrews declares, “It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). Because Jesus Christ endured the death that God required for sin, believers will enjoy the everlasting glory of eternal life.