John 12:32- And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” NKJV
I was in church this week when I heard a minister say, “If I be lifted up, He said, I will draw all men to me!” Along with the rest of the congregation, I said, “Amen.” He was speaking of lifting up Jesus’ name as praise and people being drawn to Him. But then I thought, why do I say amen if I know this isn’t what Jesus was talking about?
When Jesus made the statement,
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
John 12:32 NKJV
He was not talking about having a praise service or exalting His name.
In this portion of the gospel of John, Jesus is on His way to the cross. He was troubled in His spirit and didn’t look forward to it.
“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. Father, glorify Your name.”
John 12:27-28 NKJV
We are all aware of His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, how He wrestled in His spirit about the cross. But did we know that He wrestled beforehand? That the very thought of going to the cross, of being crucified, of being without the Father for the first time in His life hung heavily on His shoulders?
He asks, “Should I say ‘Father, save Me from this hour?” And then He answers His question, “It was for this purpose that I came into the world.”
Jesus came to die on the cross for the sins of the world. He came that they might have life and that more abundantly. He came to seek and to save the lost. This is why He came. So why would He want to miss out on the cross, to avoid it? Technically, He doesn’t, but physically, maybe He does!
So, Father, glorify your name. Make it everything that You desire it to be. Do what You want with this life that I am living and have Your way.
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
John 12: 28 NKJV
God was pleased with Jesus. He was pleased with all that Jesus had done and all that He was doing, and going to do. God understood the need for a sacrifice to satisfy the sins of the world. He was all too aware of the fact that fallen man needed a Savior, and that Savior was Jesus! So, yes! He was going to be glorified at the cross!
Those around Jesus at the time heard thunder. But some said it was an angel speaking to Him. But it was His heavenly Father encouraging Him. And then Jesus said:
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
John 12:32 NKJV
Is Jesus talking about praise? Is He referring to us lifting His name up? Absolutely not! Jesus is referring to death. The very next verse tells us:
This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
John 12:33 NKJV
It doesn’t get much plainer than that. Jesus told the people that if He be lifted up, He would draw all men unto Him, signifying the method in which He would die. Why? Because the message of the cross draws men and women and boys and girls to the Savior!
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
John 12:24 NKJV
Jesus understood that alone, He was limited in what He could do. So, He had to multiply Himself into a team. When He died, He produced much fruit. Many came to salvation and worked in the Kingdom which He established. And many are still working!
Jesus wasn’t talking about praising His name, or even exalting Him. He wasn’t talking about lifting His name in song or even in a testimony. No! He was talking about the way He would die on this earth! Plain and simple!
However, I think that scripture can be used in more than one way. It can certainly be used to give Him praise or to exalt His name above other names. But that wasn’t why He said it. I think as long as the individual understands that this was a hard time for Jesus and that He was predicting His death, then to use it for other means could be okay.
But the next time you hear it, you will know that it doesn’t necessarily apply to exalting the name of Jesus. It simply means how He would die for the sins of the whole world. And that’s enough! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 