This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to day five of our look through John chapter 12 in
daily drive time devotions. We're going to take a look at verses 29 to 50 today.
We're taking these verses together because in these verses we see that
everything is about to change.

Let me read for you verses 29 to 33. And as I read these verses, listen, listen
for Jesus talking about the world, for Jesus talking about Satan, for Jesus
talking about himself, and for Jesus talking about all men, for the world,
Satan, Jesus, and all men. Listen for those phrases, verse 29.

The crowd was there and they'd heard that it had thundered. Remember yesterday,
this is my son, I will glorify him. Others said that an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus said, the voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for
judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out, but I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.

He said this to show the kind of death that he was going to die. Now let's go
back to what Jesus began to talk with us about yesterday. The hour has come.

And here we see the hour has come and Jesus is talking about what that means
that the hour has come. He talks about the world. He says the world is going to be
judged.

Now is the time for judgment on the world. Now Jesus says, the people of this
world are going to see me for who I really am. And there's a sense here, judgment
on the world, that the world's way of doing things is going to be judged in what
Jesus is going to do.

The time of judgment in my life is when I die. That's when the time of judgment
is for people. But the judgment on this world, Jesus is going to cast his final
vote, and it's the only vote that matters, on the cross and in his resurrection,
for what's really important in this world.

And the world's way of doing things, it doesn't matter. Jesus' way of doing
things, it will last. The world will be judged.

Satan, he says, the hour has come will be driven out. Now he calls Satan here
the prince of this world. The truth is, God has given Satan a limited authority
in this world, but it's just for a time.

Now he has that authority based on our choice as human beings to follow him, to
do what he wants us to do. But it's not for long. It is not for long.

Satan will be driven out. And Jesus says, here's what I want you to know about
myself. I'm going to be lifted up.

We're going to see in the following verses in a moment that the crowd understood
what he meant by that. Jesus says, I will be lifted up, lifted up on a cross.
And in that, all men, all men will be drawn into me.

And that's not saying here that everyone's going to be saved. That's saying
everyone's going to be drawn. We still have a choice whether we're going to be saved
or not, but everyone is drawn to the cross.

Everyone is drawn to Jesus, because the Holy Spirit draws us. This is the hour
that's come. So don't miss this, what Jesus is saying here, because it may be
the most important moment in the book of John.

The hour has not yet come. Jesus has said again and again and again throughout
this book of John. And here we come to the point where he says, all right, it's
here.

The hour has come. And we're going to see that Jesus has a tremendous spiritual
struggle in his life when the hour comes. That's always true.

But God comforts him. God comforts him by speaking. God comforts him by speaking
to his heart, but he also speaks audibly to the crowd.

The crowd hears that day. Jesus says the voice was for your benefit. Now it's
interesting, you might have this question.

Some of the people said it had just thundered, while others said an angel had
spoken to him. Some people didn't understand. So if the voice was for their
benefit, why didn't they understand it?

Let me just say to you, don't be afraid to ask the obvious questions of the
Bible. It often gives some good insight. The reason they didn't understand it is
they really didn't want to hear it.

They missed it. They argued about it. Now, just think about us.

Would we ever do that? Would we ever mistake or mishear or not listen to the
obvious voice of God? Well, the Bible, God has incredibly and miraculously put
God's word, His Bible, into our hands.

But we still argue about it. Some people say this about it. Some people say that
about it.

To say that we would never miss, we would never ignore the clear word of God is
to miss all those times when we do miss and ignore the clear voice of God in the
Bible. It's easy to turn a deaf ear to the voice of God. That's what we're
reminded of here.

The hour has come. Jesus said, "I'm going to be lifted up. " Now, the crowd had
a question about that, verses 34 to 36.

The crowd spoke up. We've heard from the law that the Christ will remain
forever. So how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up?

Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus told them, you're going to have the light
just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light before darkness
overtakes you.

The man who walks in the dark doesn't know where he's going. Put your trust in
the light while you have it so that you may become sons of light. When he
finished speaking, Jesus left and he hid himself from them.

This crowd has questions about what they've heard. Jesus says, "I'm going to be
lifted up. " And they knew that that meant to die, to die on a cross.

It was a common expression in that day. And yet they expected that the Messiah,
and they thought Jesus was the Messiah, they expected that the Messiah was going
to live forever. Jesus was a different Messiah than they expected.

So they were confused, they were in the dark and Jesus' challenge is very
simple. Jesus says, "Walk in the light. Put your trust in the light.

That's how you become sons of light. " He's the light, Jesus is the light of the
world. And he's talking about the light that he wants to bring into every one of
our lives.

And that happens when I, this is pretty obvious seemingly, when I walk in the
light and I trust in the light. Now that may sound simple, but it goes to the
core of everything about us and every decision that we make. I cannot find light
in the darkness of my selfish soul or in the darkness of the direction of this
world.

Trying to find light in the darkness is foolish and frustrating. And yet many
people spend their entire lives in that empty pursuit. Jesus says, "Find light
in the light.

Walk in the light. " In fact, in the next verses, John shows us how important it
is to walk in the light. To reject the light, he says, is to choose to be blind.

John addresses a couple of groups of people in the last part of this chapter. He
talks about those who refuse to believe, and he talks about those who believe
and yet don't live out their faith because of their fear of others' opinions.
First, look at what he says about those who refuse to believe.

Verses 37 to 41. Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their
presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of
Isaiah the prophet.

Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed? For this reason, they could not believe because as Isaiah says
elsewhere, he has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts so they can
neither see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts nor turn. I would
heal them.

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. Now, let me
just note that when in verse 40, he says he's blinded their eyes, this is not
saying that God took away their free will. Remember, back in verse 37, we began
this passage by noting that they would not believe.

That was their choice. And these verses are about what happens when you choose
not to believe in Jesus. There's some confusing phrases here to us.

And it's easy to think immediately, Lord, why is it that you would blind
people's eyes? I mean, Lord, it's your desire for everyone to be saved and come
to a knowledge of the truth. What God is telling us here is that the same truth
that causes some to see when they accept it will cause others to become even
more blind when they reject it.

And the key to understanding this passage is in the phrase at the end. Isaiah
said this because he saw the glory of Jesus. Isaiah, who wrote almost 800 years
before this, and John points out that he was writing about Jesus.

He was writing about the rejection of Jesus. The arm of the Lord here, that's a
phrase referring to Jesus. He's talking about Jesus Christ.

And what he's saying is this. God wants to heal them, but they will not be
healed because the presence of Jesus in this world has caused them to, instead
of accepting the truth, to become even more blinded to the truth, to reject the
truth. They are blinded by the light of Jesus and they are deadened by the life
of Jesus.

You see, the light of Jesus is so bright that to reject it, you have to cover
your eyes and deaden your spirit, and that's the danger. That's the danger of
rejecting Jesus. That is why it is so dangerous to think that you can wait to
accept the truth of Jesus Christ.

In order to wait to accept the truth, you have to cover your eyes and deaden
your heart. When you see the light, this is what Jesus is saying here. When you
see the light, run to the light.

Get there as quickly as you can. Otherwise, you may become blind to even the
light. John talks about those who refuse to believe here, and then he talks
about a different group of people.

He turns to the group who are controlled by the opinions of others in verses 42
to 50. Yet at the same time, many even among the leaders believed in him, but
because of the Pharisees, they would not confess their faith for fear they would
be put out of the synagogue, for they loved praise from men more than praise
from God. And then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, "he does not
believe in me only, "but in the one who sent me.

"When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. "I have come into the world
as a light, "so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. "As for
the person who hears my words, "but does not keep them, I do not judge him, "for
I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.

"There is a judge for the one who rejects me "and does not accept my words. "The
very word that I spoke will condemn him "on that last day, for I did not speak
of my own accord. "But the Father who sent me commanded me "what to say and how
to say it.

"I know that his command leads to eternal life. "So whatever I say is just what
the Father "has told me to say. " Now here in these last verses, as we've seen
earlier in John, Jesus does what the Father tells him to do, not because he's
not equal with the Father, but because he's choosing to humbly submit himself to
God.

God the Father as he walks this earth, as an example to us. And in these verses,
Jesus is responding to this group of people that, well, John says of them, they
love praise from men more than they love praise from God. What do you say to a
person who loves praise from men more than praise from God?

What do you hear God saying to you when you find yourself loving praise from men
more than praise from God? This is a message that needs to be heard by those who
are controlled by the fear of what others might think. And Jesus says, here's
what you remember.

You remember that God is greater. God sent me, he says. Remember him, remember
the one who sent me.

Jesus says, here's what you do. You focus on the light. Why follow the opinions
of others who are in the darkness when you have the light?

And Jesus says, here's what you do. You don't forget about judgment. We get
caught up in the opinions of others when we think the opinions of others are the
most important judgment in our lives.

They are not. The most important judgment in my life, your life, is the one that
we're all going to face together. It's the judgment of God.

It's the judgment of God to life, to all who have believed, and to separation
and death to all who have not. When you feel judged by the opinions of those
around you, in your mind's eye, do this. Switch to the picture of instead of
them judging you, of us all standing together before God, being judged together
before the person of God.

That, that puts things in perspective. In fact, as we talk to God today, let's
talk to him about his perspective on life. Our father, we recognize together
that you are greater.

And you might just say to God, God, I want to run to the light. And so forgive
me for those times when I allow what others think to run my life. I want to run
to the light.

I focus in this moment on what you think of me. I want to live my life for an
audience of one. Thank you, God, for your love for me.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, join us next week. We're going to take a look
together at John 13.

We begin John's focus on the time that Jesus had with his disciples in John 13
to 17, this time that was so life-transforming for them. I will believe it will
be deeply life-transforming for us. See you next week.