Alright, verse 20 and following.
There were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship
at the feast. The same came, therefore, to
Philip, which was of Bethesda, of Galilee, and desired him,
saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. He didn't know what to do about
it. He didn't know how to handle it. So Philip cometh and telleth
Andrew. And again, Andrew and Philip
tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying,
what's it? The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it brings forth
much fruit. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. He that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me,
let him follow me. Where I am, there also my servant
be. If any man serve me, him will
my Father honor. Now is my soul trouble. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came a voice from heaven
saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard said that it thundered. Others said an angel spoke to
him. Jesus answered and said, This
voice came not because of me, but for your sake. Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die. The people answered him, We have
heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. How sayest thou
the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the
light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While you have the light, believe
in the light, that ye may be the children of light, These
things spake Jesus and departed out and hid himself from them."
Now, if the extent of the death of Christ were to be raised,
if we were to ask the question, what is to be accomplished by
the death of our Lord, that awful death that he died upon the cross. The question would be then, what
falls within the scope of the intent and the extent of the
death of Christ? It would likely be, if that question
were raised, that most would only think of Him dying for our
fallen sinners the sons and the daughters of Adam and for the
elect, that he shed his blood for an atonement for the sin
of his people whom he would save because he was sent into the
world, that he died to save, that he died to make righteous
enslaved sinners that had been in the clutches of sin. And indeed,
that would be a great truth, because this is the most emphasized
aspect of the death of Christ. It is given the most prominent
treatment, not only in the scripture, but also in the Christian life. that all Scripture is flowing
toward the death that our Lord died as a sacrifice. That according to Paul in 1 Timothy
1 and verse 15, this is an acceptable saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Our Lord
Himself in Luke 19 and verse 10 the Son of Man came to seek
and to save that which was lost. He told them in Matthew 20 and
verse 28, the Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for
many. The Hebrew writer said, chapter
9, And verse 26, He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. He came in reference to sin. He came to do away with it. He came, in Hebrews 2 and verse
10, to bring many sons unto glory and to reconcile alien sinners
unto God, they that are chosen in Christ. Now, on the other
hand, There is ample scriptural evidence and testimony that the
Lord's death that he died, though first and foremost to save sinners
and the elect, yet still had fuller consequences, wider intentions,
and also than the salvation of the elect. Now, the best way
for us, I think, to get a handle on this is for us to go back
and consider the extent of the fall of Adam and of Eve and the
consequences and effect that that sin and fall had on creation. So the question is, then how
extensive was the damage caused by the sin and the fall of Adam? In other words, did it do more?
Did it proceed no further than to alienate the human family
from God so that they are lost sinners? So then that the death
of Christ only need be a remedy for human sinners and thus the
breach is closed up caused by the entrance of sin. For the
entrance of sin into the world did much more than to alienate
sinners and depraved sinners belonging to the human family.
It did more than sever the fellowship of the human family with God
and with the Godhead. True, many were made sinners
by the sin and the fall of Adam. Yet the consequences were far-reaching. The consequences reached further
than simply the depraving of Adam and Eve, extending, let
me say, beyond the depraving of the human family. Other things,
other consequences also were brought in by the entrance of
sin into creation. If I might, let me stop for an
illustration, and if we could illustrate in our own mind's
eye the example of a stone thrown into a pond or body of water. This is something that we did
to entertain ourselves in the country as kids. We'd go down
to the pond, and when the fish quit biting, first thing you
know, the kids are throwing rocks out into the pond. But on a still
day, when the pond was quiet and settled, there was a ripple
that reached all the way to the bank in every direction. It is true that the stone made
the greatest eruption and the greatest impact at the point
where it actually hit or fell into the water. We could still
hear that old chug and a violent disturbing of the water in that
particular place and then we saw the circular ripples going
all the way out to the bank in every single direction. In other words, When sin entered
into the creation of God, it had a dire consequence, and it
had consequences beyond the depraving of our first parents and of the
human family. such as death passed upon all. Romans 5 and verse 12. And the earth was cursed because
of the sin of Adam. Genesis 3, 17 through verse 19. The earth was subjected unto
bondage on account of the children of men, says Paul. In Romans
chapter 8, verse 19, through verse 22, so that Paul likens
the earth and creation to a woman travailing in childbirth. What's more, the human family
is set at enmity, not only against God, but man against man, race
against race, and gender against gender, class against class,
and Jew against Gentile. False religion and idolatry abound
because of the entrance of sin. Angels, some were severed from
the rest of the angelic family. John Eady put it in his commentary
at Ephesians 1 and verse 10, quote, Rebellion produced disorder. and the earth was morally severed
from heaven by the entrance of sin." Even so, according to the
purpose of God, the death of Christ was to have great consequences
beyond and above the effect of saving sinful men and women,
human salvation. This we can see in that grand
passage in Hebrews, excuse me, I keep saying the wrong book,
in Ephesians chapter 1. as there is a two-fold effect
that is accomplished by the death of Christ, and if you will, a
primary and a secondary effect, or as one called it, a primary
and an ultimate result of the death of Christ. Now the first
is by the death of Christ. The first, the great effect of
it, we have redemption, Ephesians 1 and 7, in whom we have redemption
by His blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Now the second one there
in Ephesians chapter 1 is by that same death that we have
redemption, and forgiveness of sin, all things which were disordered
by sin are gathered together again in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look down at verse 10, then also
look down at verse 20. Ephesians 1 and verse 10 says
this, that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, he might
gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are in earth. again down in Ephesians 1 and
verse 20 through 22, that God raised him from the dead, set
him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all
principality and power and might and dominion and every name and
watch and put all things under His feet and made Him to be head
over all things. Now, let's be clear. We're not
talking here about universal restoration whereby every single
sinner is restored unto God and none are lost. For some have
even said that none will be eternally lost, and some have even included
Satan in this universal restoration that they think they find in
Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 10. But now coming back nearer
to John chapter 12, and it almost requires a second view and a
second introduction to put our minds again in the frame of the
text and of the context, where John, as so often is his way
and his habit in the gospel, does explain unto his readers
what is meant by something that the Lord said. So, if you look
at John 12 and 33, he makes it clear that what the Lord had
just said in verse 31 and verse 32 pertained to the death that
he should die. This he spoke concerning what
kind of death he was going to die. The kind of death that he
was about to undergo. some of the fruits, the consequences
and the results of his death, some accomplishments of his dying. The Lord lives here in this particular
place. Now we should remember that the
Lord spoke of his death and so did the apostles, by the way,
in their preaching and in their writing. in a two-fold way. The Lord and the Apostles spoke
of His death in a two-fold way, or from two standpoints, if we
might say it that way. Number one, as being the means
of saving individual sinners. That is, death is the means of
sinners being saved. That he, as the great shepherd,
would lay down his life for the sheep he gave himself to save
sinners. Now there is a second strand
of scripture and of thought. Secondly, there are statements
from both Christ and the apostles as well that the effects of the
atoning death of Christ is not limited or restricted exclusively
to the salvation of the elect. Now along that line here is A
loose quote from George Smeaton in his book, The Atonement According
Unto Christ, that the Lord at times spoke of his death with
a consciousness that his dying would have a profound effect
upon creation. You'll see our Lord making statements
like that, as well as saving sinners. Now again, like that
stone cast into the pond, it rippled over all of creation. Its effects were far-reaching
and will have lasting effects upon creation. Now let me refer
to Smeaton's writings again, that there are two pivotal events
in the human history. A, the fall of Adam, and B, the
death of Jesus Christ. You put your finger on those
two places in the scripture, you have the two outstanding
events in the history of the human family. Both of them had
consequences upon the earth as well. as upon individual. Now in John chapter 12, our Lord
mentions three fruits of His death in verse 31 and verse 32. We read them, but here they are
again. Number one, He said, it would
be the judgment of this world. Judgment on this world. by which death he would die.
Number two, we noticed that it would be a result in the casting
out of the prince of this world. By his death that he would die,
there would be the casting out of the prince of this world. And then the third one was the
drawing of many, of all, of all kinds of people unto Him. He would draw all kinds unto
Him as a fruit of His death. Now granted, there are some words
here, there are some phrases here that we must consider very
carefully and move carefully lest we miss the meaning and
err at what our Lord has said. Such is we ask the question,
what is this judgment? this judgment upon this world. Number two, what world is referred
to here? For we are aware that the word
world is used in several different ways in the New Testament. Thirdly,
we ask, who is this prince of the world that is to be cast
out? Fourthly, we ask ourselves the
question, what is this lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ that
He talked about, that He would be lifted up? And then number
five, who are they that shall be drawn unto Christ? Is it all without exception or
is it all without distinction that shall be drawn unto Him? Let's start with the Lord speaking
of His being lifted up. Look at those words, if you will.
John Brown wrote, if not for verse 33 in this chapter, some
might take these words in the wrong way, as if it referred
to our Lord's exaltation and glorification at the very hand
of God, as if it meant that our Lord would be lifted up into
heaven, even at the right hand of of God. The hymn writer put
it this way, lifted up was he to die, it is finished was his
cry. Also this is a way that the Lord
himself refers to the means or the manner of his death. First seen in John 3 and verse
14 to Nicodemus, where the Lord said, As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. He
uses that expression again in John 8 and verse 28. When you
have lifted up the Son of Man, then you shall know that I am
He. And then it's again here in John
chapter 12. Lifted up. lifted up like Moses
lifted up the serpent of brass in the wilderness. Moses, you
remember, serpents bit the people and they were suffering and some
were dying. And God told Moses to make a
serpent of brass and put it up on a pole in the midst of the
camp, that whosoever looked upon that serpent and had been bitten
would be healed and would not die. Even though they had already
been bitten, they would not die by looking upon that serpent. Now the Lord Jesus, that was
a type of Him, and in the likeness of sinful men He was made, yet
without sin, holy and impeccable, was lifted up upon a cross. And those that believe upon Him
have everlasting life. Also, I guess you remember that
the silly children of Israel kept that brazen serpent with
them and even began to burn incense unto it. 2 Kings chapter 18 and
verse 4. Some would do the same thing
if they could get a hold of a splinter of the wood that was said to
be of the cross of our Lord where Jesus died. If they had access
to it, they would make an idol and a magical piece out of it
again. But in John 12 and 31, the Lord
mentions some fruits of His death. The first being now, as if to
refer to a time and an event right at hand. Now if we drop
back to verse 23 in John chapter 12, where the Lord said, The
hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. See also verse 27, And an immediate
fruit of that death would be judgment on the world, the casting
out of the prince of this world. Now granted, the word world has
not one single uniform meaning in the scripture. Rather than
consider all the ways that the word world is used in the scripture,
let's consider the connection here to the context and the circumstances
in which the words were spoken the world will be judged. Methinks
that they are right who see these sayings of Jesus taking their
rise out of the incident back in verse 20 through verse 22
when some Greeks That is when some Gentiles, how
be it not raw pagans as we might say, for they came to observe
the feast, they came to worship it says in verse 20, and they
sought an audience with the Lord Jesus Christ, the one they heard
had lately raised Lazarus from the dead, the one who lately
had entered into Jerusalem and caused such a stir and such excitement. And so they said, we desire to
see Jesus. You know, this is in harmony.
This is fulfilling prophecy. It's in harmony with Isaiah 1110.
Acts 15 and verse 17, to the root of Jesse shall the Gentiles
seek. There would come a day when the
Gentiles would seek to this one who is a root of Jesse. How be
it? The greatest blessing and the
greatest calling of the Gentiles was contingent upon our Lord
being lifted up to die upon the cross, contingent upon His dying. And he emphasizes that by a familiar
similitude in verse 24 of John 12, that of a seed of corn. Now you need to understand the
seed of corn is what we call dead ripe. It's not green and
thrown in the ground. It wouldn't die then. It would
ruin. But if it's dead, if it's seed
that is dead and thrown in the ground, then it germinates, it
springs to life, and it brings forth many kernels beside itself. The question now is, what is
this judgment of the world? How is it affected by the death
of Christ? And some things seem sure that
it was at hand when our Lord was speaking, and that it would
be affected by and through the death of Him upon the cross. Now, as you might expect, there
are several views of what this judgment of the world is by theologians. Though it seems beyond dispute
that both things are the fruit of Christ dying, the judgment
of the world and the casting out of the prince of this world. Some say the judgment of this
world can mean the exercise of authority and power that that
word has that meaning, to rule or to govern. And that the Lord
is to become the sovereign potentate of the world, the Lord of all.
to be after his death both Lord and Christ, Acts 2.36, and given
a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee bow and every tongue confess, as in Philippians chapter 2.
Others such as George Smeaton see the death of Christ here
as actually deciding the judicial process of who will have control
of the world. But he says that the language
that is used here refers to a case that is being adjudicated in
court before the judge, a matter that has been brought into court
for adjudication, that is to be settled, a verdict handed
down, a verdict rendered and such like. Thomas Goodwin in
opening Ephesians 2 and verse 2 brings in the last text from
John 12 and verse 31. and understands it to refer to
the reformation of the world that had stood for 3,000 years
before the death of Christ. He says little alteration had
been made in the religion of the world during that time. but
that Christ by His death, I haven't seen anybody else use these words
or explain it like this, but Goodwin used the words that Christ
by His death, quote, throw down heathenism, and set up Christianity."
Again, another fruit of His death. Now is the Prince of this world
cast out. And who is this Prince of the
world? After all, the Lord Jesus is
called the Prince of Life in Acts 3.15. He's called a Prince
and a Savior in Acts 5 and 31. But the Lord uses this expression
three times himself in the Gospel of John, 1231, 1430, and 1611. And in John 14 and verse 30,
he distinguishes himself or he distinguishes the prince of life
from himself. He makes a distinction between
himself and the prince of life by saying, the prince of the
world comes and has nothing in me. So the word prince in these
places means a ruler. It is the word Archon, and being
more than 30 times in the New Testament. It is also translated
ruler, singular, rulers, plural, chief magistrate, prince, singular,
and princes, plural. including 1 Corinthians 2 and
verse 6, where Paul speaks of the princes of this world, that
is, the rulers, the magistrate, the civil authorities of this
world. There is little doubt that the
Lord refers here to Satan, to the devil, and to that old serpent,
the prince of this world. For let us remember the one that
Paul calls In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2, the prince of
the power of the air. And again in 1 Corinthians, no,
make that 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 2, Paul calls Him
the God of this world or the God of this age. The great, great
conflict of the ages. comes then to a head in two things. One, in the temptation of our
Lord by Satan, and two, by His death yonder up on the cross. And this settled at the cross,
the matter, once and forever, where the Lord gained the victory
over death for the children which God had given unto him. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, by destroying
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. I John chapter
3 and verse 8, for this purpose the Son of God was manifest,
that he might destroy the works of the devil. Yes, the Lord put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, Hebrews 9 and verse
26. And by this, He took away the
devil's main arsenal, the power of death. For sin and death are
evil twins in this matter, and our Lord overcame them both in
His death upon the cross. Thus the efficacy of the cross
runs in both directions. It infallibly secured the eternal
salvation of the elect. Not one that Christ died for
will be lost. They are ransomed, they are redeemed,
they are bought with a price. On the other hand, the Lord's
death also affected the complete overthrow of Satan. He is judged
at the cross. His doom is sure. He and all
of his angels and all that he has deceived will be cast alive
together into the lake of fire. Now, let us sum up some of the
effects of the death of Christ as we have one more in the text
in John chapter 12, verse 32. When I am lifted up, I will draw
all... man is in italics in the scripture... I will draw all unto me. The gospel will be sent to the
Gentiles in great number. A great change from the old economy
has occurred. And this hearkens back to those
Gentiles coming and desiring an audience with the Lord. In
verse 20 and verse 21, they would be granted repentance unto life. Acts 11, 18, Then hath God granted
unto the Gentiles repentance unto life. The church rejoiced. Acts 13 and verse 48, The Gentiles
hearing Paul were glad, and we read as many of them as were
ordained to eternal life, believed. Gentiles ordained to eternal
life and they believed. Now another effect of the death
of the Lord, the abolishing of Judaism. It is the end of temple
and sacrificial worship as seen in the renting of the veil in
the temple when Christ died upon the cross. When Christ died,
the veil in the Jewish temple rent from top onto bottom. The abolishing of the ceremonial
law came with the death of Christ. He nailed it to the cross, Paul
tells us in Colossians the second chapter, and of course the Lord's
death. ushered in the new covenant.
It brought in the new covenant, which was the covenant in His
blood. This is all explained in the
Hebrew epistle. That's the best place to understand
it, studying the epistle to the Hebrew. His blood is the blood
of the New Testament. Matthew 26 and 28. Yes, the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Hebrews 13 and verse 20. and
a fuller manifestation of the gospel of the grace of God under
the administration of the new covenant. As we saw in taking
the Lord's Supper, the Lord's words, this is my blood. of the New Testament. The New
Testament had not been introduced into the world, had not been
brought in unless Christ had appeared and had died and shed
His blood that is the blood of the New Testament. Also, the
death and exaltation of our Lord, the fact that he died and ascended
into heaven, merited for the people of God, the blessed Holy
Spirit, in a much fuller way than under the old economy. John 7, 37-39, Jesus stood, and
there's an explanation by John. This, he said, because the Spirit
was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Yes, the Spirit came in conjunction
with the death and the glorification of Christ. Peter tells them,
having received of the Father this, He had poured out this
which you now see and hear in Acts chapter 2. He poured it
forth, Acts 2.33. His death is the essence of the
gospel, for we preach Christ crucified. We preach Him dead
upon a cross, upon a tree. And by it was effected all that
sin disturbed. according to the will of God. Our Lord repaired much that sin
had destroyed or had separated, and His death brought together
again heaven and earth, and reconciled men to men. Men may be enemies
until they have the faith of Christ, and then are they brothers
in the Lord and love one another. So the death of our Lord had
this great extent that it affected these things that we have mentioned
and perhaps there are more that we don't have time for. But the
extent of the death of our Lord, the world is judged, the prince
of the world is cast out and exalted. We'll draw men to Him
such as the Gentiles.