2017.05.07                                 John 12: 27-36

                     Five days to the Cross

              The Father speaks from Heaven

Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of Jesus… Once again this morning we are studying the Gospel of John…

Open your Bible to John’s gospel chapter 12… We have come to the last week of His life in Jerusalem… Jesus is headed for the cross on Friday…  Look at John 12… v27-36…

John 12 : 27-36                           NKJV   slt 2000

§27 “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. 28 Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” 29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.

§31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 34 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?”

§35 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. 36 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.

Many times Jesus said that He was going to lay down His life…    This passage looks at the cross…  it´s impact…    and its power… God´s wonderful plan of Redemption… Jesus Suffering in our place… And for our sins…

This is why He came…So that through His death… many could find life... He knew He was God’s chosen sacrifice… The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost... By giving His life a ransom for many… It was the perfect plan of God the Father…

Revelation 13:8 says, “He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world… 

The Cross and the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead… Is the great theme of Scripture…

His death is the reason for the incarnation...  The shadow of the Cross was already over the manger in Bethlehem…

 In the book of Hebrews… we have a wonderful picture of the purpose of the Incarnation and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ… It begins with God´s self revelation… He revealed Himself in creation…. He spoke to first to Adam… And some of the prophets… NOW He Has spoken to and through His Son… His self-revelation is perfect and complete in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself… look with me at Hebrews 1: 1,2…

Hebrews 1: 1,2                         NKJV  slt 2000

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

1 Nachdem Gott in vergangenen Zeiten vielfältig und auf vielerlei Weise zu den Vätern geredet hat durch die Propheten, 2 hat er in diesen letzten Tagen zu uns geredet durch den Sohn. Ihn hat er eingesetzt zum Erben von allem, durch ihn hat er auch die Welten geschaffen;

The Father points to Jesus… The theme of the  Cross and Redemption dominate the wonderful  book of Hebrews…    

Jesus becomes the source of Eternal Salvation… He tasted death for   Everyone who would repent and cry out to Him for Salvation… That is Hebrews 2  v9… look with me at  Hebrews 5 v 9... 

Hebrews 5: 8,9                 NKJV   slt 2000

8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

8 Und obwohl er Sohn war, hat er doch an dem, was er litt, den Gehorsam gelernt; 9 und nachdem er zur Vollendung gelangt ist, ist er allen, die ihm gehorchen, der Urheber ewigen Heils geworden,

The New Testament writers look at the cross… And describe its meaning and its significance in Glorious detail… Then over and over again…. The cross is applied to our lives… If we are genuine believers…. It will affect the way we live… If He died for us, how can we not live for Him?  Jesus Himself applied His coming sacrifice on the cross to our lives too… Deny yourself… take up your cross and follow me… Luke 9…v23…  Everywhere we look … We are confronted with the cross and the implications of the death of Christ… Jesus died to give us new life… So that that we might live to His honor and His glory… Beginning in verse 27… We see Jesus deeply troubled… scroll down for the list…

Jesus looks at the Cross

1 The Son’s troubled soul… v27

2 The Fathers Answer from Heaven… v28

3 The Cross as victory… v32

Scroll down for John 12…v27-30…

Point 1 Jesus is troubled…

v27… 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.”   His soul is troubled?  How can His soul be troubled?  He is God… 

How is it that the Son of God, the incarnate God is  troubled?       

Well we know that it was possible for Jesus to be troubled… He has been troubled before… in John ch11… v 33… when He arrived at the tomb of Lazarus… it says   He was deeply moved in His Spirit and was troubled… He was troubled when He faced the consequences of sin in the death of Lazarus… What does the word “troubled” mean?  It’s a Greek word tarassō…  It literally means “to shake or to stir up.” In a figurative sense, it could be translated anguish…    He was deeply disturbed…       

It can be translated terrified or horrified... How can He be so distressed?    

This isn’t being horrified at the thought that He will be flogged and hung on a cross…   He knew everything that was to come…   

That wasn’t what tormented Him…    His trouble came  from anticipating the Divine wrath of God for our sin…        He was troubled by the prospect of divine wrath and separation from His eternal Father…   

So, in His trouble, He asks, “What shall I say?  Shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from his hour?’   No… I came for this purpose…   

He is totally willing to suffer for us… Remember He said… I lay down my life… John 10:17…  

Nevertheless… The spiritual battle is profound…  Good News…  Jesus wins the battle… And the Cross points us to our Heavenly Father… We learn about God by looking at the cross… Jesus´ suffering on the Cross shows His love for the Father… And His perfect obedience will glorify the Father…  How does the cross glorify the Father?… I made another  list… scroll down for the next slide…

The cross points us to the Father

1 God´s love

2 His righteousness

3 His Mercy

4 His Grace

5 His Judgment

6 His divine Wisdom

It displays many of God’s qualities and attributes...  And God is glorified when we understand the greatness of who He is...  On the cross… We see God´s love… He sent His beloved son…

We see both His righteousness and His mercy… We see God’s grace in action…   We also see His judgment and His wrath… He demands Justice…  And in the cross we see His divine wisdom too…  We see prophecy being fulfilled...  His Word is confirmed…  What grace and unfailing love…     All of this is on the cross...            

Jesus is totally obedient… even though He is in anguish...  It was a tremendous struggle… We will see more in the garden of Gethsemane… But Jesus showed perfect, willing, loving obedience… The cross results in the forgiveness of sin… the establishment of the kingdom of heaven… It produces a new heart and mind…  New life for all who repent and believe the Good News…   All of this was dependent on Jesus being obedient to death even death on the cross… Phil 2:8… by the way… That is part of one of the early creeds of the church… Phil 2: 6-11… And so Jesus obeyed… Even though sin bearing was totally alien to Him… It troubled Him deeply… scroll down to again at that first list… It is a kind of three point outline for today… let´s look at point 2… scroll down for the list…

2 The Fathers Answer from Heaven…  scroll down for v27-30…

v28a… “Father, glorify Your name..     The reason Jesus     came for was to glorify the Father…

v28b… I have both Glorified it and will glorify it again… And so The Father speaks again from heaven… He puts His divine stamp of approval on Jesus every step of the way…

v30… Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.’”   

Now, the Father did speak to Jesus from heaven a couple of other times… The Lord Jesus is affirmed by the Father at the beginning of His ministry… At His baptism… Matthew 3:17…  And at His transfiguration… Matthew 17…   

Now in our text today… God speaks out of heaven to affirm the cross… 

So when the Father says in verse 28… “I have both glorified it…  He means throughout your whole ministry I have put My power and glory on display through You…  “And I will glorify it again,” The Father is saying… I will glorify My name through your death too...   

v30… Jesus is telling the disciples and others who were there… This voice from Heaven is for you… So that you can Believe… I am going to die… You need to know that it is the plan of the Father… He will be Glorified in it… This is the divine heavenly affirmation of the Substitutionary Atonement of Christ...

Jesus died to glorify God… and God will glorify Himself through His death…   God has spoken… God has validated and  affirmed the coming death of His Son next point…scroll down for point 3…

3 the cross as victory… scroll down to v31-34…

What began as anguish and even terror for Jesus…   turns to joyful anticipation…. As Jesus hears His Father’s voice He is reminded of certain Victory… The Father has strengthened Him… He has reminded Him that glory is coming through His death… Glory is coming to the Father…  and to Him…  Now Jesus focuses on the salvation of lost sinners… He looks forward to the Miracle of the Cross… The miracle of the cross includes three massive far-reaching realities… scroll down…

The Miracle of the Cross

1 The judgment is on the world… v31

2 The ruler of this world will be cast out… v31

3 The Son will draw all men to Himself… v32

1  The world was judged...  The world is doomed by the rejection and murder of the Son... scroll down for v31-34…

v31… Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out...    

Think about this…  

The cross would judge and condemn all who reject the Lord Jesus…  The purpose is redemption… The horrible consequence of refusing to repent is condemnation…   The verdict is in…   The question is simple… Are we in Christ… Have repented from our sins and cried out to the Lord Jesus to forgive us and save us… look with me at John 3… v14…  John 3: v14…

John 3: 14-19                       NKJV  slt 2000

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

This text is clear… Redemption is freely offered… The second part of the Miracle Point 2… scroll down…  

2 The ruler of this world will be cast out.  Who is that?  We know that this is Satan…  Satan was dethroned at Calvary…     It looked like Satan triumphed…   Satan thought he had conquered Christ at Calvary… but in reality… Christ had crushed his head… The cross dealt Satan the death blow…  He has nothing on us…  Satan is totally defeated by Christ at the cross…  Hebrews 2:14,15…   

Hebrews 2: 14,15                    NLT  Neues Leben

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

Let´s look at the last section… scroll down for John 12…v35,36… John 12: 35,36…

35 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. 36 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.

Jesus is prophesying His death and warning of Judgment… Then we have this positive note of triumph… Walk in the Light… Believe in the light…. I am the light of the World… John 8:12…  We know that The Glorious light of the Gospel shines out from the Cross…. Down through the centuries and into our hearts…  What does the Cross mean for us? Well…  as genuine believers… We can walk in the light…. Walk in the light of His love and grace and mercy…. We can shine as lights in this lost and dying world… We can deny ourselves and pickup our cross daily…. We see that we really have nothing to fear… Death is dead… Jesus has the victory… We are no longer slaves to sin… We are no longer fear death…. Because our forever is secure… Our sins are forgiven forever…washed away… Jesus paid it all… It also means that we are free to Live for the Lord Jesus…

v36… “Believe in the Light so that you may become sons of Light.”    Jesus was right there with them for a little while longer… He says… The Light is here...  It is time to believe…

He is a gracious and compassionate God… but He has limits...     Jesus was warning Israel… and through this book… God is warning you…  warning anyone who hears… Do not test the limits of God’s patience...  If your heart is still at all sensitive to the gospel… if you are feeling the pull of God to believe in Jesus Christ, confess Him as Lord… turn from your sin… repent of your sin… and follow Him… Now for believers… Paul gives us some very practical advice… Look at 2 Cor 6… v1… 2 Corinthians 6:2…

2 Corinthians 6: 1-10                 NLT   Neues Leben

1 As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. 2 For God says,“At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.”Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. 3 We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything

Let´s pray…