Joh 12:32-33 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord speaks of a new “now”. The previously used “now” refers to His coming into the world ( ). The ”now” the Lord uses here refers to the cross. If the Father has spoken of the glorification of His Name in connection with the resurrection of Christ, it means the judgment of the world and the ruler of the world. The resurrection of Christ is the proof that the Father no longer has any connection with the world and that He must deliver the world to judgment as incorrigibly evil. This new ”now” also has consequences for the devil. He will be cast out (cf. ; ). Although it will take some time before this judgment is carried out, it is fixed by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. For the believer this means that because of his connection with Christ in the resurrection, he no longer belongs to the area of authority of the devil. For all His own, Christ when He hangs on the cross becomes the point of attraction. There, on the cross, He draws His own from the present evil age to Himself ( ). By pointing out the lifting up from the earth as the manner He will die, the Lord announces His death on the cross. Death on the cross is the only death that takes place by lifting up someone from the earth. In the same way, Scripture will be fulfilled that He will die on a tree ( ; ). With this the Lord excludes that He would be killed by stoning, the usual way of execution among the Jews. The crowd knows that He referred to Himself as Son of Man. That title is known to them from Daniel 7 ( ). Now He speaks of His being lifted up. Perhaps they have understood that He spoke of the cross ( ). They may also have thought of going to heaven because He spoke about that before ( ). In any case, they know from the law that the Christ, once He is on earth, will always remain on His throne on earth ( ; ; ). This does not involve a lifting up on the cross or a going to heaven. So could He be the Son of Man? And if He was not, then Who is He? Their reasoning always leads them in the wrong direction, because they do not know – and do not want to know either – about a suffering Son of Man. That is because they forget what is written in Psalm 8 ( ). There it says that He is to be made “a little lower than the angels”, as the Darby Translation says in Psalm 8:5a. From Hebrews 2 we know that this is because of the suffering of death ( ).

‏ John 12:32-33

If I Am Lifted up From the Earth

The Lord speaks of a new “now”. The previously used “now” refers to His coming into the world (Jn 5:25). The ”now” the Lord uses here refers to the cross. If the Father has spoken of the glorification of His Name in connection with the resurrection of Christ, it means the judgment of the world and the ruler of the world. The resurrection of Christ is the proof that the Father no longer has any connection with the world and that He must deliver the world to judgment as incorrigibly evil.

This new ”now” also has consequences for the devil. He will be cast out (cf. Lk 10:18; Rev 12:9 ; Rev 20:3 ; 10). Although it will take some time before this judgment is carried out, it is fixed by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. For the believer this means that because of his connection with Christ in the resurrection, he no longer belongs to the area of authority of the devil.

For all His own, Christ when He hangs on the cross becomes the point of attraction. There, on the cross, He draws His own from the present evil age to Himself (Gal 1:4). By pointing out the lifting up from the earth as the manner He will die, the Lord announces His death on the cross. Death on the cross is the only death that takes place by lifting up someone from the earth. In the same way, Scripture will be fulfilled that He will die on a tree (Deu 21:23; Gal 3:13). With this the Lord excludes that He would be killed by stoning, the usual way of execution among the Jews.

The crowd knows that He referred to Himself as Son of Man. That title is known to them from Daniel 7 (Dan 7:13). Now He speaks of His being lifted up. Perhaps they have understood that He spoke of the cross (Jn 8:28). They may also have thought of going to heaven because He spoke about that before (Jn 6:62). In any case, they know from the law that the Christ, once He is on earth, will always remain on His throne on earth (Psa 89:4 ; 36; Isa 9:6-7; Dan 7:14). This does not involve a lifting up on the cross or a going to heaven. So could He be the Son of Man? And if He was not, then Who is He?

Their reasoning always leads them in the wrong direction, because they do not know – and do not want to know either – about a suffering Son of Man. That is because they forget what is written in Psalm 8 (Psa 8:5a). There it says that He is to be made “a little lower than the angels”, as the Darby Translation says in Psalm 8:5a. From Hebrews 2 we know that this is because of the suffering of death (Heb 2:9).