John 12:32–33

The Lord described the way He would die as being lifted up out of the earth. Death by stoning would not have matched this. John 3:14; John 8:28; John 12:32. We also read that He was made a curse for us; for "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree." Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:23. So the blessed Lord, in saving rebellious man, went down to the very lowest form of death.

In His dying for us the foundation of Christianity was laid. He was "lifted up," not crucified on the earth, as He says, "Lifted up from the earth." He had to be a completely rejected Christ, rejected even to death. Otherwise there could be no point of attraction for men.

Note the completeness of verses 31 and 32 of John 12. The death of Christ judges the world, and Satan (shown to be its prince) is cast out. But then, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." See how the cross shows both things at once! It shows the complete condemnation of the world, and with it the overthrow of Satan. It also shows grace — grace in the attractive object, and in its own effective work towards all.

His death opened up the way to glory "above," in the Father's house. It opened it not to Jews only, but to Gentiles. The words "all" and "whoever" include both. The "other sheep" were Gentiles (John 10:14-16).

How blessed to know that He is God's centre of attraction, at the present time, for all men, as we read in verse 32... This means "all men without distinction," but not "all men without exception." Not all men have been drawn to Him. It is in keeping with the character of John's Gospel, which takes in the whole world in its scope, and not just the Jews.

The key to this lies in the incident of the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. They can be taken as representatives of all the families, peoples, and languages that will one day bow the knee to Jesus. So when the Lord speaks of drawing all men to Him after being lifted up, we cannot doubt what He means. He points to what will happen in this world, in the world to come, the thousand years, when everyone will confess His supremacy and authority... in virtue of His death and exaltation, all will be drawn, either by His attractions or His power, in subjection to His feet.

The cross of Christ is the divine necessity of divine light and love. Jesus crucified will always attract people to God. As long as the world lasts, this marvel will stand: the story of the sufferings and the death of Jesus draws men from the glory and the glitter of the world. It draws them from its fame and its shame, right to God Himself... Jesus crucified is the sacrifice for sin and the friend of sinners. He is the mighty magnet God uses to draw us to His heart of love. Christ crucified is the irresistible force that no power of Satan or of the world can withstand.

Three times in the Gospel of John the Lord speaks of being lifted up. Only in John 12 do those significant words follow: "will draw all people to myself." It is lifted up "from the earth." He has left the earth, and we are to leave the earth in our affections as He attracts us.

The Jews might stone Stephen in an outburst of religious fury. Herod might kill James with the sword. But the Son of man had to be condemned by the Jewish chief priests and scribes, and crucified by the Gentiles. All mankind had to prove its guilt to the last degree.

In mentioning this He signified crucifixion as the manner of His death. Now this was the Roman way of executing the death sentence, but seeing that all the animosity against Him was in the breast of the Jew, it signified that He would die a death of utmost shame, repudiated by both Jew and Gentile. He was lifted up from the earth in order that He might be contemptuously dismissed — the extinguisher dropped, so to speak, upon His cause and His Name. And the result to be attained is precisely the opposite. He who once was crucified is to be the universal and everlasting Object of attraction!

He is no longer of this world at all, nor in heaven either. Here is a Saviour rejected, suffering, dying, who has left the world for ever — a Saviour shamefully rejected, driven away, cast out by the world. He is no longer on the earth, and not yet in heaven. He is exposed to the gaze of men, lifted up from the earth, alone between the two with God, like the altar that was neither in the camp nor in the tabernacle. He is the refuge that draws those who would flee the world that has rejected Him. He opens for them the way into heaven.

Our attention is therefore called to the fact that He was cast out of this world, lifted up from the earth, and crucified on that shameful cross. But we behold in this God's triumph over man's sin, and the Lord's own victory over death, the grave, and Satan's power. Man lifted Him up from the earth, as unworthy to live on it any longer. To add to the shame of His death, they crucified Him between two thieves. But God stepped in. After His burial, God lifted Him up higher still — to the highest place in the universe, to His own right hand.

The word for lifting up and being exalted is the same. We are plainly told that the Lord used it to show by what kind of death He was going to die. It is still true that His exaltation comes by His death and follows from it, and that it is the exalted Christ who will draw all men to Himself. So may it be that we are meant to include His exaltation in His being lifted up?

"We have heard," they said, "out of the law, that the Christ abides for ever: and how do You say, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" It was a difficulty they had no answer to. True, the Christ will abide for ever (Ps. 72:15-17; Isa. 9:7; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 7:14). But that would be in resurrection, when He reigns in power. His humiliation and death were foretold just as clearly, and they had not grasped that.