John 12 34 through verse 41 and
you'll see our text in there our subject as we go across it
verse 34 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 and Who is this son of man? Then Jesus
said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knows not whether he go. While you have light, believe
in the light that you may be the children of light. These
things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because that Isaiah said again, He had blinded their eyes, hardened
their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor
understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw His glory and spoke of Him." Now look at verse 34 again.
We've heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. How say you, the Son of Man must
be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Now, of course, the verses here
that we have read have a most definite connection with those
things that go before. For the observation or the question
in verse 34 from those Jews that stood by is a direct reaction
to what the Lord had been saying in the hearing the people by
the way there are several references in this chapter if you notice
to quote the people unquote there are and let's make a little word
study here and then be on our way there are some five words
I think that are used in the New Testament and are translated
by the word people and in our language. There is the word ethnos,
a nation, a nationality, a race, or a tribe, as in Acts chapter
10 and verse 35, often this word is translated Gentiles or the
nation. Then there's the word demos as
in Acts 12 verse 22 and 17 and 5, and we would say the public. The people are the public. Four times we find it in the
book of Acts. Then there is the word Anthropos
translated men in John chapter 6 and verse 10 and hundreds of
other places in the Bible by men. And as W. E. Vine in his word study said,
without respect to gender, male or female, the term men. And then there's the word oklos,
as in John chapter 12, and it refers to many, a great number,
or a multitude, a crowd, as we might say. a large audience and
there were many in John chapter 12 for it was the feast of the
Passover in Jerusalem and many were there for the celebration
of the feast of the Passover and some of these people that
were in the city and heard our Lord speak began to interact
with the Lord concerning what they had heard him say, or some
things that they had heard him say, especially that the Son
of Man must be lifted up. That got their attention, that
got their focus. The Son of Man must be lifted
up, he said. And that reminds us John 3 and
14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. You have it again in Numbers
chapter 21. He spoke often of being glorified. That was back in verse 23. He
likened his death, back in verse 24, to a corn of wheat in the
ground, dead and and bringing forth much fruit. He spoke of
being lifted up. He spoke of judgment and things
like that. They heard while he was speaking
a voice from heaven, an audible voice. But now we look at verse
34. There are at least two very interesting
things to consider, which were raised by the people who interacted
with our Lord. Number one, we've mentioned it.
They said we have heard out of the law that Messiah abideth
forever, that Christ abideth forever. And how do you say that
the Son of Man must be lifted up? And there's a hint there
that they understood what our Lord meant by His being lifted
up. And then secondly, they asked
the question, who is this Son of Man? Now, the first thing
for us here to consider, they make an observation And then
they raise a question from it. Notice their observation. We
have heard out of the law, verse 34, that Christ abides forever,
to remain forever. that Christ remains unto the
ages, and the ages, and the ages. And we have heard that out of
the law, out of the scripture. While we have heard that out
of the law, you on your part are saying that you must be lifted
up. And their point, I guess, is
this seems to be contrary to the scripture, what we have read
in the law. that the Son of Man, it behooves
Him to be lifted up. Now, let's be clear here on something,
and that is that their reference to the law in this place is not
a reference to the moral law or the ceremonial law, neither
is it confined to the writings of Moses as so often it was in
the New Testament. Rather, it is a broad reference
to the Old Testament scripture, the law, the Old Testament word
of God. It is not unusual for the New
Testament writers and speakers to call the Old Testament scripture
by the title of the law. And that to their understanding,
they say, the teaching of the Old Testament scripture was that
Christ, the Messiah, when he came would abide forever and
ever unendingly. Such things as Psalms 110 and
verse 4 might have been in their mind. Thou art a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. There's a verse in Daniel chapter
2 and verse 44. It tells us of a time when the
God of heaven would set up a kingdom that would not be destroyed and
shall stand forever. Remember what the angel said
to the virgin in Luke chapter 1 and verse 33 that Jesus would
reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there
would be no end. Back in Psalm 89 and verse 36
and verse 37 we read His throne as the sun before
me, it shall be established as the moon. Now these scriptures
and many more that they might have in mind that it would be
inconsistent, they think, with the scripture should Messiah,
having come, then be lifted up or put to death. Should he be
lifted up to die, the long-promised one. And so they emphasize those
passages which speak of the everlasting dominion of Messiah over all
things. And as George Hutcheson wrote,
they use them as an objection to Christ's doctrine of his suffering
and of his death, be it so that he was the Messiah. That if he
be killed, he must not then be the Messiah. That if he be put
to death, it must end his claims of being the Messiah. On the
other hand, as John Gill wrote, out of the very same scripture,
out of the very same law, they could have read and been taught
of the suffering and the death of God's Holy One. such places
as Psalm chapter 22, that great prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53,
that he was to be stricken, smitten of God, cut off out of the land
of the living and afflicting. And this is not inconsistent
with his everlasting reign. It is not inconsistent with his
reign that he die. For as in Psalm 16, 18 through
verse 10, he would not see corruption, his flesh would rest in hope,
and he would be raised up to sit at the right hand of God. Another example, if we might,
that is that the death of our high priest, the death of Jesus
as our great high priest, has not left us without an high priest. Although he died, God had raised
him up and he has entered into the heavenly sanctuary in the
very presence of Almighty God. There he ever lived to make intercession
In fact, we are at no disadvantage because of the death of our great
high priest. In fact, it is the ground of
every redemptive blessing that ever flows to us by the death
of our blessed Lord. they could also have been under
another fatal delusion. And that's the same one that
I think we see repeatedly made even in our day. And that is,
if not understanding and not distinguishing that the person
of Christ consists not of one nature, but of two natures. One human, but the other is divine. that while one can be weary and
tired and hungry and suffer and be sorrowful and die, the other,
that is the divine nature of our Lord, can experience none
of these things, none whatsoever. So it would seem that these Jews
understood what the Lord meant by, number one, His being lifted
up, His death, that He would die. And number two, they understood
that He referred to Himself as the Son of Man, that He is the
one described as the Son of Man. On one occasion, the Lord, I
think, is much too clear to be misunderstood as he asked his
disciples, remember that great passage in Matthew 16 and the
13th verse, Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am? He calls himself that in front
of his inner circle. That I, the son of man, am. And as Gill suggests, since they
evidently took him to be a man, even a Jewish man, that is, the
people did, what man did they take him to be? What man did
he claim to be? And the disciples are able to
name some famous Jewish men that the people had surmised Christ
the Son of Man might be. Somebody said we've heard some
people say that you're John the Baptist That seems absurd since
for a time they both were Contemporary some said he was Elijah. No doubt from the prophecy of
Malachi other said Jeremiah and other said that prophet or one
of the prophets mighty and in word and in deed. And let's point
out, these were not the words of open slanderers or enemies
of our Lord, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees often were,
but these were people who put him in the class of a prophet
of God. But in doing that, they still
came short of the true identity of the Son of Man. A prophet
He was, yea, a prophet of all prophets, but a prophet and more. When Peter and the disciples
confess Him to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, in
that passage in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 16, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now, back to John chapter
12, and if this is repetitious, then I beg you for a moment of
patience. But in verse 34 that we read,
the Jews did seem to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ to
be saying that by his being lifted up, it referred to his death,
and that by the Son of Man, He claimed messiahship and yet at
the same time foretold and predicted his death. And what stumbled
them about this was the words that we read. We have heard out
of the law out of the scripture our scribes our rabbis our doctors
and our scholars in interpreting the prophecy have taught us that
when Messiah comes he will abide in ever and ever. Their problem,
how to reconcile this with the teaching of Jesus, that he would
be lifted up and die. For they concluded, if you are
about to die, for the scriptures teach Messiah's kingdom to be
an everlasting one, how then do you put in your claim to be
the Messiah? John Brown wrote, and he wrote
well on these things, the violent death of the Messiah is not incompatible
with the perpetuity of his life and his kingdom, unquote. It is not at all incompatible. I'll give you an example. The
death of a saint's body is not incompatible with eternal life,
but actually is a part of it and a way to it. Now, concerning
their interpretation of the scripture, says Messiah will abide forever. Therefore, he cannot die, or
if he die, he is not the Messiah. Now, we also read in the Old
Testament scripture the word of our Lord concerning the mosaic
economy. And I want to take a little short
detail here just to make a point, it won't take long. But in connection
with the Old Testament or mosaic economy, we read terms like these,
an ordinance forever, Exodus 12 and verse 17. In verse 14, throughout your generation and
ordinance forever. In Exodus 29 and 42, we read
of a continual burnt offering throughout your generation. And one more, in Exodus 31 and
verse 16, the Sabbath is called a perpetual covenant, my point. Yet these things were fulfilled
done away in Christ or they morphed into some spiritual blessing. But some would revive them and
keep them alive forever. But let's go back to John 12
34. Who is this son of man? And the difficult question for
me has been, and yet is, exactly what are they asking? When I look at that, look at
it, mull it over, exactly what are they asking? And do they
ask in sincerity and for enlightenment, or do they do it to mock the
Lord, as if to say, your claim to being Messiah is empty if
you are brought to an end by death. But first, an observation. The designation here, the Son
of Man. We spoke a little about that
last week, but it is a reference in these contexts to the incarnate
son of God Most High. Jesus used it referring unto
himself. In fact, I think I'm safe in
saying this is the most frequent way by which our Lord referred
to himself in public. As in Matthew 8 and verse 20,
the son of man has not where to lay his head. I use that because
I think it may be the first time in the New Testament that we
meet with that term, that is chronologically. In Mark 2 and
10 he said, the son of man has power on earth to forgive sin
and he cured the man of his palsy. In Luke 9, And verse 22, the
son of man must suffer many things, our Lord said, far too many times. Our Lord used this designation
of himself for us to mention them or to trace them out this
morning. But the Lord used this as a description
of himself, the son man and it's interesting that when Stephen
was martyred and you have it in Acts chapter 7 and verse 56
as he was about to die Stephen looked up and he said I see the
heavens opened and the Son of Man not the Son of God but the
Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Now it is true the
Lord is called the Son of God and he is the Son of God in a
unique way and his being called the Son of God takes nothing
away, rather his being called the son of man, takes nothing
away from his deity. For he gave not up his deity
or his divinity to assume flesh and blood. So we have the most
unique person ever in the history of the world. And when our Lord
came in the flesh, he did not exchange one nature for another. He did not put off the divine
in order that he might assume a human nature, but he assumed
a human nature in union, in a hypostatic union with the divine nature
of God. Now as the Lord Christ was both,
He was both son of God and son of David. We read that in the
Gospel of Matthew. And as he was both son of God,
son of David, so he is also son of man and son of God. If I mistake not, these words
are used in the New Testament for the first time in that passage
in Matthew 8 and verse 20. It is the Lord that uses it,
that applies it unto himself. Now some have been industrious
and they have counted as many as 80 times in the New Testament,
in the gospel, that our Lord referred to himself as this title,
and 33 of them in the book or the gospel of Matthew alone. All of them except three used
by the Lord himself. The exception, John 12, 34, Acts
7, 56, which refers perhaps to Matthew 26 and 64. Some say that
the Lord first used it to designate Himself, it being unknown and
unused before. There are others who say, or
think, that it comes from Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. where he spoke of a son of man. Linsky wrote that Jesus always
used the expression as a subject or as an object and always in
the third person when he used it and spoke. And we might add,
and be sure to remember, always in the singular, never in the
plural. Son of man, not son of men. And at the same time, we grant
that scripture uses the expression the sons of men as a plural designation
of the human family. And generally, like in Psalm
8 and verse 4, the expression the son of man refers to a good
or gracious God who is mindful of those puny worms of the dust
that we men are. Remember also Job chapter 7 verse
17 and verse 18. Fallen men, weak frail man, sons
of men, frail men of the dust, and that God would visit them
or visit us in mercy, not just visit with judgment, but also
visit with mercy and with grace. But when the Lord uses the expression
in regard to Himself, the Son of Man, as one wrote, He lifts
this one Son of Man out and above all other sons of man, that though
he is truly the son of God, and yet is not an ordinary man, for
though his humanity was conceived in a woman. carried a term and
born of woman, yet he is the son of man in a way that no other
human being is truly the son of man. But in no part and no
way a partaker of human depravity. In no way did our Lord becoming
or assuming humanity partake of any of the depravity of the
race. As for the term the Son of Man,
I was reading in the new Geneva Study Bible, King James Version,
in the footnotes on Matthew chapter 8 and verse 20, and it lists
there three possible categories in which the Lord might have
used the expression of Himself. Number one, of course, it means
a human being, a son of man, a real man. Number two, Jesus
used it heavily in speaking of his redemptive person and saving
death, as the son of man must be lifted up. Number three, the
Lord used the term in speaking with regard or according to his
apocalyptic judgment which was to come. Listen to Matthew 24
and 30. When they shall see the Son of
Man coming in clouds of heaven with great power and glory. When they shall see the Son of
Man coming clouds of great glory Matthew 26 64 Hereafter shall
you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and
coming to in the clouds of heaven. Now in the third category that
is mentioned here I think we must understand realize that
the Lord ought to be understood to some or a great degree to
be speaking of that great tribulation and destruction to be visited
upon what Spurgeon called quote, the guilty capital, unquote,
meaning Jerusalem and the apostate religion and the son of man coming
in power and in judgment. I wonder if we caught some of
the words of the Lord in John's Gospel chapter 1 and verse 51. that hereafter this man would
see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man. Now if we go there and put this
into its proper context, it concerns, it is a record of the conversion
and the confession of a man named Nathaniel. And I'm amazed at
Nathaniel. I would call him, quote, one
of the easiest, unquote, converts in the New Testament. This man
was as quickly, as swiftly converted as any other that we meet. Remember the record? He was encouraged
by Philip to come and see the one that Moses and the prophets
did write about. Philip identified him as Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael replied to him at first,
can anything good come out of Nazareth? Come see Jesus of Nazareth. And his reply, his question is,
can anything good come out of Nazareth? Phillips replies, why? Come and see. And as Nathanael
approached Jesus, Jesus said this, Ah, an Israelite in whom
is no guile. In other words, a sincere Israelite,
a genuine Israelite with a heart of an Israelite, a true child
of Abraham, We might say, an Israelite indeed. Jesus said
that concerning Nathanael. Verse 48, John 1. Nathanael is
both impressed and amazed. And he asked the Lord, How is
it that you know me? How is it that you are acquainted
with me? To which the Lord answers, Before
Philip called you, I saw you when you were under the fig tree.
And Nathanael was about as impressed as the woman of Samaria who said
to her friends in John 4 and verse 29, come see a man. who told me all things ever I
did. Is not this the Christ? Though the Samaritan woman and
Nathanael were opposites in their character and in their background
more than as just their gender. So Nathanael quickly perceived
that the things that the Lord had revealed about him proved
him to be. Look at verse 49. the Son of
God, the King of Israel. This is a sound confession, a
very sound confession on the part of any. when compared to
that great confession of the Apostle Peter and the others
in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 16 and again in John 6 and verse
69. But let's look at John 1 and
verse 50. Jesus answered and said unto
him, that is, Nathanael, because I said unto you, I saw you under
the fig tree, you believe? You believe because I said, I
saw you under the fig tree, watch, thou shall see greater things
than these. Now this is not a rebuke, it's
not harsh, not an attack on Nathaniel's quick embrace that he believed
so quickly. In fact, it confirms the Lord's
words, an Israelite without any guile, and he would see greater
things than these. And here's a mysterious verse.
Look at John 1, 51. And he said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open and
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Now while this reminds us of
the experience of Jacob and his ladder over in Genesis chapter
28 10 through 12. When he dreamed and he saw a
ladder, it rested upon the earth, its top reached into the heaven,
and angels ascended and descended, and at that time God confirmed
the covenant made with Abraham unto Jacob. I think this might
be capable of a double application. Yes, some who did company with
Jesus saw heaven open, such as at his baptism, at his transfiguration,
and at his ascension. And angels came and they ministered
unto the Lord. But secondly, it confirms to
Nathaniel that he had caught only a small measure of the glory
of this one that was now before him. that as Gil commented on
verse 51, he, Nathanael, should soon receive larger discoveries
of the Lord, that is, of the Son of Man's person, of his nature,
and his perfection, and he should see much more than he had seen
so far, for the dead would be raised again out of their deadness. Storms would be stilled by a
simple word of our Lord. All manner of diseases and sicknesses
and afflictions would be cured, and devils would be banished
out of those in whom they dwell, and much, much more that we don't
have time to speak of. But in keeping with our subject,
Let's notice something which is even after Nathanael confessed
him in verse 49 as the Son of God and the King of Israel, Jesus
yet refers to himself as the Son of Man in verse 51. This does not mean that he repudiates
the title Son of God and King of Israel, or he accepts them
from Peter and his brethren, even calling it a blessing and
a divine revelation, Matthew 16, 17 and John 6 and 69, but
is constantly using that designation, the son of man. Now, there's another interesting
observation regarding this. that while the Lord did multiple
times refer to himself as the Son of Man, Psalm 80, as we have
said, the apostolic epistles for the most part do not use
that title. When they come to write up the
glory of our Lord, and the salvation, they seldom use that title, the
Son of Man. Yes, you have it in Revelation
1.13, and you have it in Revelation 14 and 14, one like Son of man, but the epistles
are more likely to use the title Jesus literally Savior in Matthew
1 21 or he shall save his people from their sin and to use the
name Christ our Messiah Which is the anointed one the one God
sent and anointed and they use the term son of God They use
the word Lord Over and over and it's not at all Uncommon to find
all three of these strung together the Lord Jesus Christ or Christ
Jesus the Lord in some of that combination for the epistles
are for the saints of God and they speak to us plainly not
Darkly like our Lord did to his generation and we believe and
are sure that Christ is the only begotten son of God. To us, he
is not only the son of God, the son of man, but he is the eternal,
uncreated, unbegotten son of God. Yea, to us, he is God and
man. To us, he is the God-man, as
the scriptures teach us. But in his ministry, Christ,
if I may use this analogy, never cast his pearls before swine. And at times, for a time, and
before certain people, our Lord held back a bit. He held back a bit. If we look
again at our text in John chapter 12, to wind it up there, and
the way that our Lord answers their observation and their question,
their query. He knows their hearts. He knew
that they were such as Isaiah told about, chapter 53 and 1,
chapter 6 and verse 9. They perfectly fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah. Plus, they think that they have
won their point. Messiah abides forever. You die. You are not him. But they were ignorant in the
presence of wisdom. They were blind in the presence
of the very light of the world. And Jesus tells them, soon no
more the light of the world would be among them. And with that,
the Lord noticed, withdrew himself from them, and hid himself from
them. And that's how our Lord responded
under their observation and their question. And John 12 and verse
37, the poor results of Messiah among the Jew, if he is the Messiah,
why so few converts? Isaiah 51, 53, Lord, who hath
believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? If you are the convert, if Jesus
is the Jewish Messiah, why have so few believed upon him? And with that, you have that
great word in verse 37 through verse 39 that we won't read. But the same dilemma of the Arminian,
if God loves all, Christ has died for all. Why are so many
lost if Christ and God love all and he died for all? Now notice
two things there in Isaiah's reference. Number one, Isaiah
clearly predicted the apostasy of the Jew, the unbelief of the
Jew, and the calling of the Gentile. And number two, Paul attributes
this in Romans 9 to the absolute divine sovereignty of God. Paul attributes it to the sovereignty
of God. Now by carnal reasoning, The
Lord was a failure, if we look at it from that standpoint. But
not so, for he accomplished the will of God and things came to
pass exactly as the prophets had foretold with regard to the
Jew and with regard to the Gentile. Thank God, the Son of Man. Divinely conceived, supernaturally
conceived by the Spirit of God in the womb of a virgin, born
of a woman without sin, made under the law without it cursing
him. Oh, thank God for this Son of
Man that we read about in the Scripture.