Scriptures: John 12:27-36
The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up
John 12:27-36a
“Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this time. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
29 The multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus answered, “This voice hasn’t come for my sake, but for your sakes. 31 Now is the judgement of this world. Now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
33 But he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die. 34 The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of Man?”
35 Jesus therefore said to them, “Yet a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn’t overtake you. He who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going.
36 “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.”
Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.
Scripture: “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this time?’ But for this cause I came to this time. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” (John 12:27-28)
My takeaway from this reading is the voice of God coming out of the sky. In response to Jesus’ words, “Father, glorify your name,” the Father replies: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
I was reminded of 2 other times that his happened with Jesus. The first was at his baptism and the second was at the Mount of Transfiguration.
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:17)
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5)
And then I remembered how God’s voice thundered on Mount Sinai when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the law. We read this in Exodus 19 and 20:
Exodus 19:9 BSB
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you, and they will always put their trust in you.” And Moses relayed to the LORD what the people had said.
Exodus 19:16-19 BSB
On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
Exodus 20:18-21 BSB
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.
“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” “Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.” And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
God’s voice was so loud and powerful that it made the people tremble, and put the fear of the Lord inside of them, to keep them from sinning (so it say in 20:21).
And this story is recalled in Hebrews 12, and about the power, majesty and terror of God’s voice. The sound of God’s voice made even Moses tremble with fear.
Hebrews 12:18-29 BSB
For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; to a trumpet blast or to a voice that made its hearers beg that no further word be spoken. For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.” The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that the unshakable may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. “For our God is a consuming fire.”
Even though we see here that we no longer have to be afraid of God’s voice, we still must worship before him with reverence and awe. We must remember we are talking to the maker of the universe, the one who awesomely created us, and to Jesus who bought us with his own blood. And remember our God is a consuming fire. We not take “God spoke to me” glibly, as some do when the say: “God spoke to me.” Did they hear thunder from heaven?
Let us heed the words of someone who witnessed this. Peter, the apostle, says this in his second letter:
2 Peter 1:16-21 BSB
For we did not follow cleverly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
For He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And we ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation. For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.