Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
31. Now now ] With prophetic certainty Christ speaks of the victory as already won.
the judgment of this world ] The sentence passed on this world (see on Joh 3:17 and Joh 5:29) for refusing to believe. The Cross is the condemnation of all who reject it.
the prince of this world ] Literally, the ruler of this world. This is one of the apparently Gnostic phrases which may have contributed to render this Gospel suspicious in the eyes of the Alogi (see Introduction, Chap. II. i): it occurs again Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11, and nowhere else. It was a Gnostic view that the creator and ruler of the material universe was an evil being. But in the Rabbinical writings ‘prince of this world’ was a common designation of Satan, as ruler of the Gentiles, in opposition to God, the Head of the Jewish theocracy. But just as the Messiah is the Saviour of the believing world, whether Jew or Gentile, so Satan is the ruler of the unbelieving world, whether Gentile or Jew.
shall be cast out ] By the gradual conversion of unbelievers. This is a process which will continue until the last day.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now is the judgment of this world – Greek: crisis. This expression, doubtless, has reference to his approaching death, and whatever he means by judgment here relates to something that was to be accomplished by that death. It cannot mean that then was to be the time in which the world was to be finally judged, for he says that he did not come then to judge the world Joh 12:47; Joh 8:15, and he has clearly declared that there shall be a future day when he will judge all mankind. The meaning of it may be thus expressed: Now is approaching the decisive scene, the eventful period – the crisis – when it shall be determined who shall rule this world. There has been a long conflict between the powers of light and darkness between God and the devil. Satan has so effectually ruled that he may be said to be the prince of this world; but my approaching death will destroy his kingdom, will break down his power, and will be the means of setting up the kingdom of God over man. The death of Christ was to be the most grand and effectual of all means that could be used to establish the authority of the law and the government of God, Rom 8:3-4. This it did by showing the regard which God had for his law; by showing his hatred of sin, and presenting the strongest motives to induce man to leave the service of Satan; by securing the influences of the Holy Spirit, and by his putting forth his own direct power in the cause of virtue and of God. The death of Jesus was the determining cause, the grand crisis, the concentration of all that God had ever done, or ever will do, to break down the kingdom of Satan, and set up his power over man. Thus was fulfilled the prediction Gen 3:15, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Now shall the prince of this world – Satan, or the devil, Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11. He is also called the god of this world, 2Co 4:4; Eph 6:12; The rulers of the darkness of this world – that is, the rulers of this dark world a well-known Hebraism. He is also called the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, Eph 2:2. All these names are given him from the influence or power which he has over the men of this world, because the great mass of men have been under his control and subject to his will.
Be cast out – His kingdom shall be destroyed; his empire shall come to an end. It does not mean that his reign over all men would entirely cease then, but that then would be the crisis, the grand conflict in which he would be vanquished, and from that time his kingdom begin to decline, until it would finally cease, and then be free altogether from his dominion. See Luk 10:18; Col 1:18-20; Act 26:18; 1Co 15:25-26; Rev 20:14.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 12:31-33
Now is the Judgment of this world
The worlds hour of deepest revolution
It was the signal
I.
OF ITS JUDGMENT. To judge is to verify the moral condition. The judgment of the world is based upon the Cross, inasmuch as this discloses the moral condition of man in his natural state. Man, by raising this throne for Jesus, judged himself, and manifested the enmity to God which is in his heart. Having erected it, he judges himself still more decidedly by his relation thereto; for either by faith he finds therein his salvation, or by unbelief his condemnation. Of this choice the final judgment will be only the ratification. Thus the judgment of the world dates from Good Friday. Its first external manifestation was the destruction of Jerusalem; its second will be the judgment of the Church; its third the last judgment predicted (Mat 25:1-46) on the very day on which these words were uttered.
II. OF THE EXPULSION OF ITS ANCIENT MASTER. The Cross filled up the measure of tolerance granted to the perversity of the Prince of this world. The Crucifixion was the most odious and unpardonable transgression of Satan; this crime put an end to the long suffering of God concerning him, and, consequently, to his dominion over mankind. The Rabbis habitually designate Satan the prince of this world, but place the Jews outside his kingdom, while Jesus includes them as well as the heathen therein (chap. 8) Out signifies not only out of his office and power, but chiefly out of the world–his ancient realm–as is shown by the connection of these words with the preceding, and the opposition between Joh 12:31-32.
III. THE ACCESSION OF ITS NEW SOVEREIGN. The overthrow coincides with the accession. Jesus declares Himself appointed to fill this part. But, strange to say, it is not upon this earth, whence Satan is cast out, that He will establish His kingdom. He will not become, as the Jews expected, the successor of His adversary, and, consequently, another prince of this world; He, as well as His rival, will leave the earth; He will be raised from it and above it, and in a higher sphere He will draw to Himself His subjects and realize His kingdom. Lifted up must be understood here in the same amphibiological sense as at Joh 3:14; Joh 8:28. His lifting up on the cross, that throne of love, appears to Him as the gloriously ironical emblem of His elevation to the throne of glory. And this comparison is based on a deep truth. For was it not the Cross which created the abyss between Christ and the world (Gal 6:14), and rendered the purely heavenly form of the kingdom of God for the present necessary? From or out of the earth designates an ignominious expulsion from earthly existence by any capital punishment, and cannot refer to the small distance between the ground and the feet of the crucified. It is lifted up, which refers to the Cross. The Cross and the Ascension united freed Jesus from all earthly ties and national obligations, and placed Him in a position to extend His agency to the whole world (Rom 10:12). Once raised to heaven, Jesus will draw around Him a new people, strangers to earth, and, like Himself, of a heavenly nature. He will be both the Author and End of this Divine attraction. (F. Godet, D. D.)
The Cross
In the Cross Christ saw a provision for three great objects. By it
I. THE WORLD SHOULD BE JUDGED. God judged our sins in the person of Jesus, visited our guilt upon Him condemned in our place. That is the true measure, as it is the most awful punishment of our guilt. If men sin on they may see, as clearly as if it were come already, their eternal doom. How can a sinner be so deluded as to think he will escape when he sees the Son of God hanging there. Let him look and realize who He was, and then feel, I am condemned. Thus Christ knew that the Cross would convince men of sin. What the law could not do, what no mercies or judgments of God could do, this would effect, and His heart exulted in the thought that men at last would see that there was no hope for them save in turning to God through Him.
II. THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD REJECTED. That being whose empire none else could shake, whose dominion over mens minds and habits none else could destroy, Jesus saw dethroned. God had predicted this. The seed of the woman, etc. To accomplish this was the end of His coming. For this purpose is the Son of God manifested, etc. This end is gained when Satan is banished from the human heart. The Cross avails for this
1. By having procured the gift of the Spirit who turns men from the power of Satan unto God.
2. By furnishing the most powerful motives to turn from sin, inasmuch as it reveals the guilt and danger of sin, and endears believers to the Saviour who died to reconcile them to God, and therefore weans them from sin.
3. By securing powerful help in such a view of the love of God as inspires faith and hope.
III. HUMAN SOULS DRAWN TO CHRIST.
1. The means–wondrous, the last, apparently, calculated to serve this purpose.
2. The method–draw, not compel, by the attraction of love.
3. The object–all men. Gentiles as well as Jews.
4. The result–to Me. (B. W. Noel, M. A.)
The death of Christ and its results
I. THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
1. The fact of His death predicted. It was a wonderful thing that He should die, for death is the penalty of sin and He was sinless, and can only take effect on humanity, whereas He was Divine.
2. The manner of His death described–crucifixion. The mystery thickens. If He must die, surely it should be naturally and peacefully, or if not, gloriously, as a hero, and amidst the blessings of His race. No, He must die as a felon, a death
(1) profoundly humiliating;
(2) excruciatingly painful.
3. The nature of His death unfolded. Its manner partly indicates its nature.
(1) It was penal. He suffered under Roman and Divine law, but how differently.
(2) It was vicarious, since He was innocent.
(3) It was expiatory (Isa 53:5-6).
II. ITS RESULTS.
1. The judgment of the world.
(1) What this means. In the Scriptures to judge means to govern. Hence the Judges. As King and Ruler the Messiah is frequently predicted as Judge. This interpretation agrees with the context. The Son of Man is glorified by being made King of the world; how, therefore, is the world to be judged by being ruled by Him? A new order of Divine administration has been commenced, having for its object the subjection of the world to God.
(2) How is this judgment the result of Christs death?
(a) It was the promised and richly-merited reward of His death Isa 53:10-12; Php 2:5-11).
(b) It is the necessary means of His carrying into accomplishment the great design of His death, the salvation of His chosen people Joh 17:2).
2. The expulsion of the prince of this world (Joh 14:30; Joh 16:8-11; Eph 2:2).
(1) Who is he?
(a) A real personal existence.
(b) A potentate.
(c) Exercising dominion over this world.
(d) But not independently and uncontrolled, but largely as the executioner of Divine justice, and limited in power by the duration of this world.
(2) What is his expulsion? His being cast out
(a) From the human heart.
(b) From the religious and civil institutions he had controlled.
(3) How is he cast out?
(a) Christ bore the penalty of that for which he held men in bondage, and men paid their debt and suffered their punishment in Christ their substitute.
(b) By the power of the Spirit, by which men can resist the devil and make him flee.
3. This drawing of all men to Christ.
(1) What this drawing is.
(a) All men, without exception, become the subjects of His mediatorial government.
(b) All men, without distinction, become the objects of the invitations of His gospel.
(c) All whom the Father has given Him, an innumerable company out of every kindred, etc., are put in possession of the blessings of His salvation.
(2) How it is connected with His lifting up. Had not atonement been made there could have been no salvation to offer, or give or receive. Christs death removed all obstacles to this, and secured the effectual agency of the Spirit. (J. Brown, D. D.)
I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me
The uplifted Saviour
Nothing is more wonderful about Christ than His unfaltering confidence in the boundlessness and perpetuity of His power, especially when we consider the circumstances in which it was expressed and the grounds on which it was based. The assertion before us is that of a fanatic or of a God.
I. THE EXTENT OF THE SAVIOURS DRAWING. All men.
1. The meaning of universal terms in Scripture must be determined
(1) By its great acknowledged principles. One of these is the freedom of the will. So the text signifies merely that there is sufficient power in Christ to draw all men; but the melancholy fact is that many will not come unto Him that they may have life.
(2) By the context. Spoken as it was in connection with the visit of the Greeks, the text means that the benefits of Christs redemption were not restricted to the Jews, but were thrown open to the world.
2. While, however, some shall reach destruction because they will choose the broad way, there is a vastly preponderating aggregate who shall he brought to Christ. The drawing commenced with the dying thief. Seven weeks afterwards three thousand were drawn. Then the whole of the Acts furnishes illustrations. Then eighteen centuries of Church history, particularly great movements like Methodism and missions. Finally, the Apocalyptic visions shall be realized.
II. WHAT IS THERE IN THE UPLIFTED SAVIOUR SO CALCULATED TO ATTRACT. In Him is disclosed
1. The ground of full and free pardon for the very chief of sinners. This gives hope to the most despairing, who can get rest nowhere else.
2. Ample provision for the purification of sinful hearts.
3. All those qualities calculated to draw the sympathies and aspirations of the renewed heart.
(1) The love of truth is satisfied in Him, who is the Truth.
(2) The yearning for fellowship is satisfied in His Brotherhood.
(3) The sense of right binds us to Him as our Redeemer Sovereign.
(4) The desire for spiritual beauty is gratified in Him, who is the altogether lovely.
(5) Impulses to serve our brethren are sanctified and empowered by the constraint of His self-sacrificing love.
III. THE AGENCY EMPLOYED.
1. The power of Providence or government of the world is committed to the Redeemer for the ingathering and completion of the Church.
2. The Holy Spirit draws hearts to the Saviour. He is Christs Witness and Glorifier. No man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost. For this purpose He abides with the Church forever. Hence
3. The Church is Christs visible agency for this great work, which is discharged
(1) By private testimony.
(2) Public proclamation. (J. Graham.)
Christ lifted up
Christ crucified
I. CHRISTS GLORY. Because
1. The manifestation of glorious love.
2. The demonstration of glorious fortitude.
3. The completion of glorious work.
4. The achievement of glorious triumph.
II. THE MINISTERS THEME. Christ lifted up, and not
1. Hell and damnation.
2. Mere doctrine.
3. Inoperative morality.
4. Sacred or secular learning.
III. THE HEARTS ATTRACTION. Christ draws
1. Like a trumpet attracting men to hear the proclamation.
2. Like a net drawing men out of the sea of sin.
3. With the bands of love.
4. As a standard in the centre of gathering.
5. As a chariot in which souls are drawn to heaven. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Why Christ was lifted up
Expression of text used three times to teach that the Son of Man must be lifted up in order
I. TO GIVE A DEMONSTRATION OF HIS DIVINE MANHOOD (chap. 7:28).
1. Christ proved Himself to be true man by dying as every man dies.
2. He proved Himself to be Divine by dying as no other man ever died.
(1) His death unique in its supernatural accompaniment.
(2) In its voluntariness.
II. TO BRING TO BEAR THE MOST POWERFUL DIVINE ATTRACTION UPON MAN (Joh 12:32).
1. The strongest bonds of attraction between man and man are love and sympathy. These two are braided together in a two-fold cord in Christ crucified.
2. He was lifted up to draw men out of and keep them away from the sins that had kept them from Him.
III. TO ACCOMPLISH A DIVINE REDEMPTION FOR MAN (chap. 3:14). Salvation is absolutely fastened to Christ crucified.
1. Without the shedding of blood is no remission.
2. The Divine imperative must. (A. J. Gordon.)
The great attraction
1. Christs death must have seemed to His apostles an unmitigated misfortune; but He showed them that it was really the most hopeful of all points in His history.
2. The text must be illustrated by doctrines that are concealed in it, and facts with which it is connected. The prince of darkness enticed poor foolish man to his destruction as fish are taken by the bait, birds lured by decoys, barques wrecked by false lights or sucked into the whirlpool. Christ came to produce a counter attraction. But men stood at a distance from their best Friend; but since man does not come of himself, even when he perceives the gracious errand of Jesus, He condescends to attract him, and that by means of the Cross.
I. WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION OF JESUS CRUCIFIED? It lies in that which some count its weakness and reproach. Certain preachers have missed all in forgetting this. Socinians have fondly dreamed that His holy life will provide the attraction. Such has not proved to be the case. Nor has the millennial glory of Christ proved attractive; but men have been drawn to the Cross
1. By the disinterested love there manifested. Scarcely for a righteous man, etc.
2. By the satisfaction there rendered to justice, through which pardon is provided, and may be accepted honourably.
3. By its exact suitability to mans necessities–thirsty, here is living water; naked, here is a robe of righteousness; vile, here it a fountain; lost, here is salvation.
4. By its agonies, the culmination of all previous sorrows.
II. IN WHAT DIRECTION DOES THE CROSS ATTRACT.
1. From despair to hope.
2. From fear to faith.
3. From dread to love.
4. From sin to obedience.
5. From self to Jesus.
6. From earth to heaven.
III. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS AND QUALITIES OF THIS POWER.
1. Gentle.
2. Gracious.
3. Wide.
4. Effectual.
5. Present. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Wondrous attraction
In the Paris Salon some few years ago there was a bust of the painter Baudry, by Paul Dubois. Mr. E. Gosse was sitting contemplating the bust, when an American gentleman passed, caught sight of it, and, hovering round it for some time, came and sat down by his side and watched it. Presently he turned to Mr. Gosse, inquiring if he could tell him whose it was, and whether it was thought much of, adding, with a charming modesty, I dont know anything about art; but I found I could not get past that head. Would we could so set forth Christ that His word might be fulfilled! I, if I be lifted up, etc. (H. O. Mackey.)
Invisible attraction
A little boy was flying a kite, which had soared so high as to be almost out of sight. Seeing him looking so intensely upward, a gentleman asked him what he had there. A kite, sir, was the boys reply. A kite! said the gentleman; how can that be, I dont see it? Ah! I feel it pulling, sir, was the boys unanswerable reply. This should be our evidence that our Saviour is above–we should feel Him pulling. (T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.)
The attractiveness of Christ
This subject ought to be attractive. There is the attraction of one dew drop for another, as they hang together on the same blade, and, running together, fall from their momentary glory into a common grave. There is the attraction of the flame for the moth, as it flutters and darts around the fatal glow, until at last it falls, wingless and scorched, upon the floor. There is the attraction of the magnet for the particles of matter through which it is passed, in virtue of which it draws some of them to itself, and has no influence upon others. There is the attraction of the moon for the sea, its pale light shining in tremulous bars on the bosom of the melancholy deep, as it rises and falls, like a dark and guilty conscience heaving and sobbing under the ghostly memories of its past misdeeds. And there is the attraction of the sun for all created things within the circle of the worlds that sweep around him as their centre, finding life and gladness in his beams. The latter is the highest and most glorious form in which the principle of attraction displays itself, and it is that which is exerted by the Sun of Righteousness. Christ is the luminous centre and the effulgent source of all vitality and blessing in the universe of souls. (F. Ferguson, D. D.)
The attractiveness of the cross
There is a moral power in beauty; it elevates the heart of the man who sees it. It is not enough that a man should display the law of holiness; he must display the beauty of holiness. There are some whose religion has every quality but one–attractiveness. They are animated by the sincerest motives; they are ruled by the tenderest conscience; they are influenced by the purest desires; yet their religion is withal a weapon in the hand, not a magnet in the heart; it drives, but it does not draw. They are impressed above all things with the power of the Lord, and they would like to display His power; but they do not see that the uppermost garment of the religious life must be the beauty of the Lord. They have not measured the force of the words of the text. The highest power of the Cross is ability to allure–its beauty. The glory of religion lies in the number of things it can attract. (G. Matheson, B. D.)
The attractive power of Christ
I. THE IMPORTANT EVENT THE TEXT ANTICIPATES.
1. Primarily the Crucifixion (Joh 3:14-15).
2. Christs exaltation to the mediatorial throne.
3. The preaching of the gospel, which displays both the Cross and the throne. This comprehends
(1) The recital of the manner of the Redeemers death.
(2) The declaration of the great design of His death.
(3) The proclamation of His power to save, with the terms on which He saves.
II. THE GRAND PURPOSE THE TEXT REVEALS.
1. The point to which He attracts. Me. The centre of humanity, toward which all should gravitate.
2. The manner in which He attracts. By Himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. But the uplifting is adapted to the end.
(1) What is more calculated to arrest attention than the spectacle of such a Sufferer dying for the sake of a sinful world.
(2) The view of the Divine character presented is eminently attractive.
(3) The felt wants of our nature are here supplied.
3. The scale on which He attracts. All men. Some resist. Objects are interposed between the magnet and the substance. But Christ attracts men from every race. (J. Rawlinson.)
The attractive power of Christ
I. Observe HOW UNIVERSALLY OPERATIVE IS THAT MYSTERIOUS LAW BY WHICH MEN ARE DRAWN TO CHRIST. Explain it how we may, Christ is today the central figure in the thoughts of the civilized world, and is becoming more and more so. For the past 1800 years interest in Him has been Steadily growing. How many volumes it would take, e.g., to present a faithful account of Christ in Song since Luke penned the Overture of the Angels down to the time when Keble wrote Sun of my Soul! Is the world tired of singing about Christ because He has occupied the central field so long? It is a fact of no little interest that Christ is the only Person all nations of the world have ever united to praise in the same forms of speech. Again, it might be shown that Christ occupies the same position through the ages in art and general literature. No one has ever received such tributes from men of genius as Christ, and about no one is the printing-press so busy.
II. WHAT IS IT IN MAN THAT IS THUS DRAWN OUT TO CHRIST. With some it is admiration for His character and teachings; with others it is the interest that a reformer awakens; with others a sense of His Divinity. But if we stop here we shall lose sight of the true reason, so well stated by Napoleon. Jesus alone founded His empire on love, and to this very day millions would die for Him. It is the human heart that is drawn out towards Christ. As we test the power of the magnet by the weight we attach to it, so Satan experiments with the heart of man. Take a typical case–that of Paul. He weighted Pauls heart with worldly allurements; but Paul cried, What things were gain to me, etc. (Php 3:21): then with persecutions; but Paul said, I take pleasure in infirmities, etc. (2Co 12:10): finally with death; but Paul exulted, Who shall separate me Rom 8:35-39). When a bar of soft iron is brought into contact with a powerful magnet it becomes magnetic, and continues so while in contact; but remove it, and its virtue is gone. So the believer, to be attractive, must live near to Christ (chap. 13:35).
III. WHAT IS IT IN CHRIST THAT HAS SUCH POWER TO KINDLE NEW AFFECTIONS AND SET UP NEW RELATIONS AMONG MEN? Not merely the influence of His life or doctrines, or of the mysterious union of the Divine with the human, but supremely His Cross. And why His Cross we cannot exactly analyze. We cannot explain the mysterious principle that we see operating in the galvanic battery; but there is clearly something, and we call it Magnetism. And the mysterious something in the Cross we call Love 2Co 5:15; Jer 31:3). Here is a love that has at its command the resources of the Godhead. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead, and a perfect sympathy with all human weaknesses Heb 4:15). What wonder that sinners are drawn to such a Saviour.
IV. THE MANNER IN WHICH THAT POWER IS BROUGHT TO BEAR UPON MEN. By drawing (Psa 110:3; Son 1:4; Psa 73:28). (J. G.Lowrie, M. A.)
The attractive power of the crucified Saviour
1. When a man is leading a great religious movement, the worst thing that could usually happen is that he should die. The death of a pastor is often a hindrance to a good work. But here is one great religious Leader who, through death, draws all men to Himself.
2. But if the death of a religious leader is a disgraceful one, what damage his influence suffers–e.g., Dr. Dodd, who was hung for forgery. But behold a wonder I The death of Jesus on a malefactors cross is the secret of His highest influence.
I. THE ATTRACTIVE POWER OF THE CRUCIFIED SAVIOUR. Himself.
1. Some suppose that Christ was lifted up to draw men unto the priests.
2. To draw men to a church might satisfy a religious bigotry.
3. But Christ alone can satisfy their souls.
II. HOW THAT POWER IS EXERCISED TODAY. There are degrees of drawing. Those who have never heard of Christ are drawn in a sense, for the world is pervaded with His influence.
1. Some say that the force that draws man is light; but men are sometimes driven away by light. They rebel against it, and use the truth to their own detriment.
2. Men are won to Christ by the force of love. Even earthly love is powerful. Swayed by love, what have not mothers done. Jesus power lay in His irresistible love.
3. By His sufferings. In the old martyr days, what made England Protestant was the death of martyrs.
4. By the instrumentality of other men. Not by ministers only, but by holy life and loving words.
III. WHAT IT EVIDENTLY IMPLIES.
1. That men were far off from Christ. The older philosophers taught that men started like a sheet of white paper, and decried original sin. But the newer philosophers tell us that we have inherited all the desires and vices of our animal ancestors.
2. That men would not come to Christ unless He drew them.
3. That if we feel ourselves drawn, the wisest thing for us to do is to yield. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The attractive power of Christ crucified
1. Standing alone, these words might be understood to refer to the Ascension. St. Peter twice applies the expression to that event. But St. John explains the text according to our Lords own meaning in Joh 3:14; Joh 13:28.
2. The Apostle has preserved the text for the purpose of enforcing his main theme–the Divinity of Christ–whereas the stress in the other Gospels is on the manhood, although neither side of our Lords Person is overlooked by either. This general difference culminates in the picture of the Crucifixion. To the Three that is the lowest depth of Christs humiliation, and their task is to train our sympathies with the perfect Man. But to St. John the cross is not a scaffold but a throne; not defeat but victory; not a repulsion but a world-wide attraction.
3. If Christianity had come from man its chief attraction would not have been placed here, but to Christ on the Mount or beyond the stars. The wisdom of the Teacher, the prowess of the Conqueror, the majesty of the King would have been put forward, and a veil drawn over these dark hours. Instead of this, Christianity boasts of that which to human eyes must have appeared a failure. Twenty years after this prediction St. Paul echoes it, We preach Christ crucified, and implies that that is the compendium of all Christian doctrine and morality, I determined, etc. Wherein consists this attraction? In
I. THE MORAL BEAUTY AND STRENGTH OF SELF-SACRIFICE. This fascinates because
1. It requires a moral effort of the highest kind, and commands admiration exactly proportioned to its intensity.
2. It is rare. The mass of men follow self. The majestic power of keeping well in hand the forces that belong to the life of nature is as rare as it is beautiful. As we admire gems and flowers for their rarity as well as for their beauty, so we are drawn to great examples of self-sacrifice.
3. It is fertilizing. It is not unproductive moral beauty or energy run to waste. All the good done among men is proportioned to the amount of sacrifice employed. To witness sacrifice is to breathe a bracing atmosphere, and to be capable of it is already to be strong. All intense labour, and particularly that which is at the same time unrecognized or discouraged, is sacrifice of a high order. Such has been that of discoverers whose discoveries have been made public after death. Faradays life was one example of disinterestedness and vast results of sacrificial labour. There are also lives in which sacrifice is pure suffering, undergone for a great cause or truth. The old pagans knew how to appreciate, e.g., the deaths of the three hundred at Thermopylae. And who that has ever witnessed the welcome a man receives who saves a fellow creature from a watery grave, or a burning house, can doubt the empire of sacrifice over every class in society. Our Lord said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. That each gift of what is dear to self adds immeasurably to moral capital is a matter of experience. Wealth consists not in the abundance of things external to ourself but in internal possession, in the force and freedom of the will to do good. That is God-like and Christ-like. Christ surrendered long before all that man cares for most, but on the cross He gave His life. Had He come amongst us without this mark, not doctrine, prowess or majesty would have drawn us to Him.
II. THE SUFFERINGS ENDURED.
1. Life is made up largely of pain of body or mind. Some have not begun to feel it, but all do before life closes. What account can be given of this empire of pain.
(1) It is a punishment–the advertisement that a deeper evil lies beneath.
(2) A purification.
(3) A preventative.
2. Still, an abstract doctrine in justification of pain is not sufficient to support us. We need the sympathy of a fellow sufferer. Now, if Christ had come fenced in among all the comforts of life by a superhuman power, and, after teaching the true theory of pain, had died on a soft bed, He might have been honoured as a great teacher, but would not have drawn all men unto Him. As it is, He is the Universal Sympathizer. It behoved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren. Therefore, after a life of varied suffering, He enforces His teaching by a supreme example of an excruciating death.
III. THE ATONEMENT HE OFFERED.
1. The prevalence of sacrifice expresses a truth recognized universally by the conscience, viz., that man carries about him that which is offensive to the purity of heaven. The depth of the sense of sin is proportioned to the souls vision of moral truth, which becomes clearer as the law of God is more clearly revealed. The law affords a standard of duty, but gives no means of realizing it. Would, then, Christ have drawn all men unto Him had He only left the Sermon on the Mount? Nay, they who have felt the reproaches of the Decalogue would have felt more keenly the reproaches of the Beatitudes.
2. Christ draws all men because He alone offers relief to this our deepest need. The Bible describes three forms which a sense of sin takes, and how Christ crucified relieves us from each.
(1) It tells man that sin is like a tyrant who keeps him fettered, and then points to Christ as paying down a ransom by His death.
(2) It tells us that since God is holy, sin makes God and man at enmity; and that Jesus removes this by an atonement.
(3) It insists that sin once committed is not like a vapour which melts away into the sky, but that it leaves a positive load of guilt behind it, and then it points to Jesus as taking this load and offering for it as a propitiation His supreme act of obedience.
3. Faith unites us with the all-sacrificing Christ. Conclusion:
1. The Cross is the one real principle of unity to the human family.
2. To this common centre we are drawn one by one.
(Canon Liddon.)
The attraction of the Cross
This is one of Gods paradoxes. Christendom gathers once a year to commemorate and contemplate a brutal public execution. How is this? The Cross is
I. AN ATTRACTION OF ADMIRATION.
1. Who has not felt his heart burn within him as he reads or sees a life given for another? If a man saves his wife or child from a burning house and perishes we have a natural admiration for the sacrifice. If the sacrifice be one all of duty; if the captain remains with the wreck and dies at his post, or still more, if a man die as a martyr the self-devotion demands higher praise. Yet once more, if the life be thus given not in heat and emotion, but with calm reflection when it might have been avoided, the consideration is heightened.
2. Christ attracts in part with the help of admiration. This is the first feeling a man has who contemplates the Cross. We see there, even before reaching the higher ground of the Divinity and Incarnation, an innocent person, the victim of an old-world formalism, the best of men enduring voluntarily the worst of deaths as a condition of giving life to the world. The observer of the Crucifixion desires to penetrate the heart of the Sufferer, and as he passes in review the prayer for the murderers, the gentle answer to the penitent, the tender consignment of His mother to John, what heart can find no affinity of admiration? For here in its highest form is what men most admire–strength, courage, presence of mind, tenacity of purpose, might of will, and all combined with perfect tenderness, love and sympathy.
II. AN ATTRACTION OF FAITH, growing, in due course, out of admiration. The object of the lifting up was no mere exhibition of a superhuman excellence, but the bearing away of sin. The moment you rob the Cross of this, you take out of it the magnetic virtue. As a mere display of heroic courage other deaths have rivalled it; other martyrs have yielded their life: we admire the sacrifice, but it would be a misnomer to say that it draws us to them. Though admiration may draw us towards Him, faith alone can draw us to Him. Put thy trust in that death: it has in it the balm of all sorrow, the satisfaction of all want, the healing of all disease, and the quickening of all death. (Dean Vaughan.)
The power of the Cross
The gospel, with the Cross as its centre, is destined to exert an influence over the whole race.
I. WHEREVER IT IS PROCLAIMED IT CREATES A GENERAL INTEREST AND EXERTS A UNIVERSAL INFLUENCE. The fact is as startling as the assertion. Millions of sympathetic hearts cluster round the Cross, of all orders of intellect, all nationalities, etc. Even infidels, in spite of their antipathies, are drawn to the Cross to write lives of Christ. How can we account for this great influence?
1. The life and sufferings of Jesus are in the highest degree expressions of the Divine mind and heart. Nature is full of attractions. It is uphill work to scale the mountain, but the tourist is drawn up by an irresistible influence. We are always ready for another country walk. Man soon gets tired of human productions, but never of the works of God. The Divine alone can capture the spirit of man, and the Cross is the sublimest exhibition of the Divine.
2. Christs life and sufferings supply a particular craving in the human breast. What an attraction a fountain has for a crowd of thirsty people, and the Cross attracts because there is that in it which alone can quench the thirst of the spirit. The great questions, How shall a man be just with God? How shall conscience be satisfied? are only answered there.
3. The same life and sufferings have conferred inestimable blessings on mankind. The influence radiating from the Cross has banished superstitions, liberated slaves, promoted peace, good government, etc., and therefore forces the most reluctant to give it a silent tribute of respect.
II. THE SPECIAL INFLUENCE OF THE CROSS IS THE SALVATION OF OUR SOULS. Some lives are more effective at a distance; but the nearer we come to Christ the better. Thousands are near enough to the Cross to be touched by its influence, but not its transforming power. There is here
1. A sacrifice for sin. The Cross is the power which draws us to God for reconciliation.
2. Sanctification from sin–Whereby the World is crucified unto Me.
3. Elevation above sin Unto Me. (T. Davies, Ph. D.)
The attraction of the Cross
(Missionary Sermon):–The text presents us with
I. THE GREAT OBJECT OF MISSIONARY ZEAL. Such an object associates our cause with
1. The design of the Son of God in redemption, the salvation of the human soul.
2. The ultimate end of all Providential arrangements. Providence is the direction of all human events with reference to the kingdom of Christ.
3. The best interests of the human race. If we succeed in drawing men to Christ we save their souls from death, and provide them with a blissful eternity; besides which religion is a civilizing process, and has the promise of the life that now is.
II. THE GRAND INSTRUMENT OF MISSIONARY EXERTIONS–the doctrine of the Cross. We see something resembling the splendid fable of Constantines conversion–By this conquer. We preach a true crusade whose object is not the recovery of the holy sepulchre, but the setting forth of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, and whose weapons are not carnal but spiritual.
1. What is included in the doctrine of the Cross.
(1) The manner of Christs death–agonizing, ignominious.
(2) The design of Christs death, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation.
(3) The Divinity of Christs Person as constituting the value of His satisfaction. While the hope of a guilty world can rest nowhere but on an atonement, that in its turn can be supported by nothing short of the Rock of Ages.
(4) The gratuitous manner in which its blessings are bestowed: by faith that it might be by grace.
(5) Its moral tendency and design as respects the heart and conduct of those by whom it is received. I am crucified with Christ.
2. The various powers of attraction which the doctrine of the Cross exerts.
(1) The stupendous fact arrests and fixes the attention. The whole fabric of Christianity, both as to doctrines and duties, is founded on a fact; and that fact, drawn out into details more touching and tender than can be found in any history or romance. Conceive the effect upon pagans, conversant with nothing but the puerilities of a barbarous state, who heard for the first time of the death of the Son of God.
(2) As an exhibition of unparalleled love, it melts and captivates the heart. John calls it the manifestation of love, as if nothing more now remained to be known of love in any age or world; St. Paul speaks of it as the commendation of love, as if nothing more could now ever be said upon the subject; and Christ uses the remarkable emphasis, God so loved, etc. There is a mighty power in love, and the heart which wraps itself up in the covering of a stubborn and reckless despair against the attacks of severity, like the flower which closes at the approach of the angry blast, will put forth all the better parts of its nature to the smiles of love, like the tendrils of the sea anemone when it feels the first wave of the returning tide upon its native rock.
(3) As a system of mediation, it allays the fears of a guilty conscience, and draws the soul into confidence in God. The idea of retributive justice seems far more easily deducible by the sinner from the light of nature, than that of mercy. What is the meaning of all those bloody sacrifices? But the Cross puts an authorized and perfect satisfaction to justice in the sinners hand.
(4) By admitting an individual appropriation of its benefits, it appeals to all the feelings of self-regard and personal interest. It is the glory of the gospel that, while it makes ample provision for the world, it lays its blessings at the feet of every individual.
(5) By the suitableness and certainty of its blessings, it awakens hope and establishes faith. Are we guilty, here is pardon; rebels, here is reconciliation; unholy, here is sanctification; agitated, here is peace for a wounded spirit; without knowledge of or hope for the future, here is life and immortality.
3. The effects which the doctrine of the Cross has produced.
(1) In Judaism, at the metropolis, and in heathen lands.
(2) In heathenism at Antioch, Corinth, Athens, and more recently in India, etc.
III. THE FIRST CONSUMMATION OF MISSIONARY SUCCESS.
1. Review the present results of missionary zeal.
2. Forecast its future triumph. (J. Angell James.)
The attraction of the Cross
The Crucifixion furnished a significant type of the influence which the Cross would exert. Witnessing that spectacle were all classes of men. In the Roman centurion behold a representative of the intellectual and sceptical convinced, saying, This is the Son of God. In the multitude remark the careless and thoughtless roused and agitated, smiting heavily on their breasts. In the thief see the power of the Cross to stir and still the guilty clamour within. Whatever the intellect of man there is an argument in the Cross to convince him; whatever his heedlessness there is an energy in the Cross to rouse him; whatever his guilt there is a magnetism to draw, a magic to change, and a mystery to save him. (R. Fuller, D. D.)
Christ the Great Magnet
When I was a student at Princeton, Professor Henry had so constructed a huge bar of iron, bent into the form of a horseshoe, that it used to hang suspended from another iron bar above it. Not only did it hang there, but it upheld four thousand pounds weight attached to it! That horseshoe magnet was not welded or glued to the metal above it; but through the iron wire coiled round it there ran a subtle current of electricity from a galvanic battery. Stop the flow of the current one instant, and the huge horseshoe dropped. So does all the lifting power of a Christian come from the currents of spiritual influence which flow into his heart from the living Jesus. The strength of the Almighty One enters into the believer. If his connection with Christ is cut off, in an instant he becomes as weak as any other man. (T. L. Cuyler.)
The great attraction
Our world has two forces: it has one tendency to run off at a tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal power, and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is kept in a perpetual circle. Oh, Christian! thou wilt never walk aright, and keep in the orbit of truth, if it be not for the influence of Christ perpetually attracting thee to the centre. Thou feelest (and if thou dost not feel always, it is still there)–thou feelest an attraction between thine heart and Christ; and Christ is perpetually drawing thee to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to His love, to His bosom, and in that way thou art kept from thy natural tendency to fly off, and to be lost in the wide fields of sin. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The moral attraction and separation of the Cross
He was lifted up, that He might draw all men unto Him by drawing them out of, and away from, the sins that had put them so far off from Him. The sun, lifted into the meridian heavens, draws through its far-reaching beams from ten thousand lakes, and rivers, and oceans. But there is separation as well as attraction. Here a crystal drop is lifted from a muddy pool, but with no trace of impurity remaining in it; and there another drop is drawn from the Dead Sea waters, but with no taint of the acrid salts left in it. There is attraction and separation in one process. So, the beams of love from Christs Cross fall upon this sinful world, and draw men to Him. Not alone to win you to Himself did Jesus die; but also to win you away forever from the sins that have held you in the bondage of corruption. Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins. (A. T. Gordon.)
The universality of Christs attraction and resistance to it
The image, which most naturally suggests itself to the mind on reading the declaration, is that of the loadstone attracting on all sides the iron to itself. But this is a defective image; the loadstone draws only one kind of substance; Christ declares that He will draw all men, however diverse their character. Some of the ancient philosophers, observing the attractive power of the earth, by which various bodies are made to fall towards its surface, inclined to the opinion that the earth itself was one huge loadstone. Sir Isaac Newton fairly argued that the earth attracts a feather as much as a piece of iron; whereas the loadstone attracts only iron, and he therefore contended there could be nothing analogous between the loadstone and the earth. Now it will follow from this, that Christ must be thought of as having the properties of the earth rather than of the loadstone. Some bodies indeed are so light that they float in the air, but this is not because the earth attracts them not, but simply because the air resists their descent. If there were no air, the tiniest leaf would fall as rapidly as a mass of lead. And here we cannot but observe a beautiful analogy. Only a few are actually drawn to Christ, the great mass of men continue at a distance. But Christ, like the earth, attracts all–though, as with the earth, all come not to Him. Why, then, are not all literally drawn unto Him? Oh! just because there is a carnal atmosphere round them, which neutralizes, as it were, the attractive power; and thousands float in it, who, if it were destroyed, would rush eagerly to Jesus as their centre. So that in these respects the earth, though not the lodestone, is the exact emblem of Christ; there is attractive virtue enough in each case to draw all; but in each case there is also a resisting medium which prevents the lighter bodies from descending. And it is possible, that this is something more than imagery, and ought to be received as interpretation. It is clear that the fact of one substance drawing another does not depend on the two being actually brought into contact. The earth draws the feather as much as it draws the lead; yet the feather falls not, and the lead rushes. Thus with Christ: it is not that He did not die for all; it is not that He does not love all; it is not that He does not invite all; and therefore we cannot be warranted in saying that He does not draw all–just as the earth draws all. But the feather of the unstable and worldly mind descends not, whilst the lead of the weary and heavy-laden spirit approaches Him rapidly. All are drawn; but one is inflated with vanity, and therefore floats; another is burdened with sin, and therefore falls. So that by illustration, at least, if not by argument, we make out that Christ might say of Himself that He would draw all, and yet know that all would not come to Him for life. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The mighty magnet
The attraction of gravitation is an invisible force, whose centre is the sun. This natural force illustrates the attractive power of the Cross. The Cross attracts
I. BY ITS EXHIBITION OF JUSTICE (Rom 3:25).
1. Violated law demands the punishment of the guilty. This principle is inherent in mans conscience. There is a distinction between chastisement and punishment. The one originates in love, and its end is the good of the offender; the other originates in justice, and its end is the maintenance of the majesty of law.
2. The Cross of Christ satisfies the demand of conscience for justice. Christ is the propitiation for our sins (1Jn 2:1-2).
(1) The sufferings of Christ were penal. He bore our sins (Isa 53:4-6). He was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13). God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin (2Co 5:21).
(2) The sufferings of Christ were vicarious (1Co 15:3).
(3) All the difficulties of this truth find their practical solution in the union of the believer with Christ (Heb 10:22).
II. BY ITS EXHIBITION OF LOVE.
1. It has its origin in love (1Jn 3:16).
2. It reconciles the attributes of God. The substitution of Christ for sinners is not a mere arbitrary interference (Psa 85:10).
3. The sacrifice of the Cross was voluntary, and in accordance with a covenant arrangement between the Father and the Son (Joh 10:17-18).
III. THIS EXHIBITION OF LOVE AND JUSTICE IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS THE MIGHTY MAGNET OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.
1. The power which draws near to the Cross is the work of the Holy Spirit Joh 16:8-11).
2. There is no passion, affection, or desire of the human heart which the Holy Spirit cannot subdue by the Cross.
3. The attractive power of the Cross, through the influences of the Holy Spirit, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Homiletic Review.)
Christ drawing all
Note:
I. CHRISTS SUBLIME CONFIDENCE. He knew that the triumphal procession to Jerusalem was but a funeral march. The Church has had many moments of despair since then, but never one like that. There is much to weary and depress in the slow progress of the Church, yet how much brighter is our outlook than His. Yet He never faltered. And He is standing in the midst of His waiting Church today, sure of Himself, and of His truth and His destiny.
II. THE CONDITION OF VICTORY lifted up. Eighteen hundred years were needed to explain this–lifted up out of the passions of men, their prejudices, errors, misconceptions, sins–He was so far above His age that it has taken eighteen centuries of moral growth to enable men to partially understand Him. By and by the world will see the King in His beauty, and then this promise will be fulfilled.
III. THE TRUE CHARACTER OF CHRISTS POWER–draw. It is the magic attraction of Divine beauty, and not the compulsion of Divine terrors. He would have no slaves, but free men. He disdained to entice men by the bribes of this world or the next. He had faith in human nature, and laid hold of its aspirations with His love.
IV. THE VAST KINGDOM OVER WHICH CHRIST WILL REIGN–all men. The text lies parallel to Christs prophecy of one fold and one shepherd, and the apostles anticipation of the complete victory Christ will win when He shall put all things under His feet. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
Christ drawing, not dragging
The words and differ. In , as in our drag, there lies always the notion of force, e.g., the headlong course of a river; and it will follow, that where persons, and not merely things, are in question, , will involve the notion of violence Act 8:3; Act 14:19; Act 17:6). But in this notion does not of necessity lie. It may be there (Act 16:19; Act 21:30; Jam 2:6), but not of necessity, any more than in our draw, which we use of a mental and moral attraction, or in the Latin traho. Only by keeping in mind this difference can we vindicate from erroneous interpretation this doctrinally important passage. The word here is . But how does a crucified, and thus an exalted, Saviour draw all men unto Him? Not by force, for the will is incapable of force, but by the Divine attraction of His love. Again Joh 6:44) Father which hath sent Me draw him ( ). Now, as many as feel bound to deny any gratia irresistibilis, which turns man into a mere machine, and by which, willing or unwilling, he is dragged to God, must at once assert that this can mean no more than the potent allurements, the allective force of love, the attracting of men by the Father to the Son; compare Jer 31:3 ( ), and Son 1:3,
4. Did we find on either of these occasions (not that I can conceive this possible), the assertors of a gratia irresistibilis, might then urge the declarations of our Lord as leaving no room for any other meaning but theirs; but not as they now stand. In agreement with all this, in , is predominantly the sense of a drawing to a certain point, in merely of dragging after one. Thus Lucian likens a man to a fish already hooked and dragged through the water. Not seldom there will lie in the notion of this dragging being on the ground, inasmuch as that will trail upon the ground (Isa 3:16), which is forcibly dragged along with no will of its own: as for example, a dead body. We may compare Joh 21:6; Joh 21:11, with Joh 21:8 of the same chapter, in proof of what has just been asserted. At Joh 21:6; Joh 11:1-57 is used: for there a drawing of the net to a certain point is intended: by the disciples to themselves in the ship, by Peter to himself upon the shore. But at Joh 21:8, gives place to , for nothing is there intended but the dragging of the net, which had been fastened to the ship, after it through the water. (Abp. Trench.)
The power of Christs death
I. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE POWER OF CHRISTS DEATH.
1. Evidences of this power are to be found in the national and social life of countries wherever His death has been proclaimed. Is it not marvellous that an obscure teacher, who spent but a few years in making known His doctrines to a despised people, and was so despised by them that they put Him to death, should draw to Him the steadfast gaze of all who have heard His name?
2. Within the broad circle of popular homage to Christ, there is the narrower one containing those who are personally attached to Him. He who was despised and crucified is loved by millions with an ardour that death cannot quench.
3. Whatever may now be the power of Christs death, it will be greater still. Every knee shall bow to Him. The fulness of the promise is not yet realized; but because the stream of homage has daily risen higher, the hope is kindled that the whole family of man will be gathered into the household of God.
4. But if this hope be not realized, in yet another sense all men will be drawn to Christ. When He cometh with clouds every eye shall see Him.
II. WHENCE COMES THIS ATTRACTIVE POWER?
1. Christs death is significant, because in it He triumphed over the prince of this world (Joh 12:31). He shook the kingdom of evil to its foundation, and gave to all the power to become the sons of God. So men are drawn to Him as their Deliverer.
2. Christs death exemplifies the highest form of self-sacrifice, and declares with greatest emphasis the love of God. The world knows of no greater forces than love and self-sacrifice.
3. Christs death is the ground of the impartation of spiritual life (Joh 12:24). (F. Carter.)
The centripetal power of Christ overcoming the centrifugal attraction of sin
I. MAN THE WANDERER. The centrifugal influence of sin has been felt not only by devils, but by men. It has so separated man from God that he has neither the disposition nor the ability to return.
1. Cain-like he has gone out from the presence of God.
2. Prodigal-like he has gone into a far country.
3. Pharaoh-like he has asked, Who is the Lord that I should serve Him?
4. Eve-like he has been seduced from his allegiance.
II. CHRIST THE RESTORER. A Divine Person, one representative and a substitute.
1. He has provided for our restoration by the Cross. He was lifted up in the very heart of Satans kingdom. In the midst of fiery flying serpents He heals our diseases and restores us to our place of duty in His kingdom.
2. From earth to heaven. Led captivity captive. A highway shall be there. I am the Way. Thus only is the wandering star brought back to its orbit by the attraction of the Sun of Righteousness.
III. THE BLESSINGS THUS SECURED.
1. Man is freed from sin; its guilt, pollution, love, power, alienation, and curse.
2. Mammon is no longer His Master. As the greater fire extinguishes the less, so the love of Christ puts out the love of Mammon.
3. He is drawn to Christ. This first; to Church and ordinances after. Union is followed by communion. Being like Him, we shall spend eternity with Him.
IV. APPLICATION. Men by nature are drawn by sin to hell; they must by grace be drawn from sin to heaven. Which power controls you, the centrifugal or the centripetal? The one will land you in the zenith of glory; the other sink you in the nadir of despair. (Homiletic Review.)
Christs kingdom
I. THE OBJECT OF CHRIST WAS TO DRAW ALL MEN UNTO HIM. The opposition in which He sets Himself to the prince of this world (Joh 12:31) shows us that by drawing He means attracting as a king attracts to his name, claims, standard, person. Note some of the characteristics of this kingdom.
1. It is a kingdom; a community of men under one Head. Those who are attracted to Christ are formed into one solid body or community. Being drawn to Christ, we enter into fellowship with all the good who are labouring in the cause of humanity. Every man out of Christ is an isolated individual.
2. It is a universal kingdom–all men. The idea of universal monarchy has visited the great minds of our race. But an effectual instrument has ever been wanting. Christ turns this grandest dream into a rational hope. He appeals to what is universally present in human nature, and there is that in Him which every man needs. He does not say that His kingdom will be quickly formed. If it has taken a million ages for the rocks to knit and form for us a standing ground and a dwelling place, we must not expect that this kingdom, which is to be the one enduring result of this worlds history, and which can be built up only of thoroughly convinced men, and of generations slowly weeded of traditional prejudices and customs, can be completed in a few years.
3. Being universal it is necessarily inward. What is common to all men lies deepest in each. Christ knew what was in man, and knew also that He could sway all that was in man. This He would do by the simple moral process of drawing. It is by inward conviction, not outward compulsion, men are to become His subjects. And because Christs rule is inward, it is therefore of universal application. The inmost choice being governed by Christ, all conduct is governed by Christ. The kingdom of Christ claims all human life as its own. If the statesman is a Christian, it will be seen in his policy; if the poet, his song will betray it, etc. Christianity does not mean churches, creeds, Bibles, but the Spirit of Christ. It is the most portable and flexible of all religions, and therefore the most persuasive and dominant in the life of its adherent.
II. THE CONDITION OF HIS ATTAINING IT. Not His remarkable life, but His shameful death. Wherein then consists the superiority of the latter as a constraining force?
1. Because it presents in a dramatic and compact manner the devotedness which is diffused through every part of the life, and was the culmination and seal of the life.
2. Because Christ was the representative of God, and His death the last syllable of the utterance of Gods great love for man. It draws us because the very heart of God is laid bare to us. It is this which is special to the death of Christ, and separates it from all other deaths. Nothing could be more noble or pathetic than the way in which Roman after Roman met His death. But beyond respectful admiration they win from us no further sentiment; they have no connection with us. But Christs death concerns all men, and the result of our contemplation of it is not that we admire, but are drawn into new relations with Him whom that death reveals. (Marcus Dods, D. D.)
A lesson for preachers and churches
You have, said the Hon. and Rev. W.B. Cadogan, to a young clergyman, but one thing to do; exalt Jesus, and the promise is, I will draw all men unto Him. The Moravians laboured in Greenland for a number of years with no apparent fruit. When they spoke to the savages of the being and attributes of God–of the sin of man–of the necessity of an atonement–of the evil of sin–of the excellence of holiness–of the glories of heaven, or of the horrors of hell–their hearers talked of soul catching, and said they did not understandthese things. But, on one of the missionaries one day describing to them, with unusual minuteness, the sufferings and death of Christ, one of the savages suddenly stepped forward, and said, How was that? Tell me it once more. I also would fain be saved. This amazed and delighted the missionaries, and led them to adopt a new method with their pagan disciples. They preached the Cross. They held up Jesus, lifted up from the earth, and virtue came forth from Him. The poor brutalized Greenlanders were interested; their dark understandings were enlightened; their stubborn hearts melted; in a word, they were drawn to Christ; the Spirit wielded resistlessly His favourite instrument–the Cross. (J. Brown, D. D.)
Nothing but the Cross draws for any length of time
Take Unitarianism, for instance, Christianity with the Cross left out, the Gospel with the Atonement struck off. What is the result? It does not draw. One of the leaders of English Unitarianism declared publicly in Birmingham the other day that Unitarianism failed to draw. The English public will not attend their chapels. That is just what Christ foresaw. He knew that nought save His Cross would serve to draw men. And I, if I be lifted up, will draw. It is not His character, though spotlessly white, not His teaching, though sublimely pure, not His person, though mysteriously Divine, but His Cross that is the centre of the worlds attraction. The popularity as well as the efficacy of Christianity is mainly dependent on the Cross. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world] The judgment spoken of in this place is applied by some to the punishment which was about to fall on the Jewish people for rejecting Christ. And the ruler or prince, , of this world, is understood to be Satan, who had blinded the eyes of the Jews, and hardened their hearts, that they might not believe on the Son of God; but his kingdom, not only among the Jews, but in all the world, was about to be destroyed by the abolition of idolatry and the vocation of the Gentiles.
The epithet sar ha-olam, prince of this world, is repeatedly applied to the devil, or to Samael, who is termed the angel of death. The Jews fabled that, into the hands of this chief, God had delivered all the nations of the earth, except the Israelites. See Lightfoot. The words are understood by others as addressed to these believing Greeks, and to have the following meaning, which is extremely different from the other. “In a short time (four or five days afterwards) ye shall see what sort of a judgment this world passes. I, who am its ruler and prince, shall be cast out, shall be condemned by my own creatures, as an impious and wicked person. But do not be discouraged: though I be lifted up on the cross, and die like a malefactor, nevertheless I will draw all men unto myself. The Gospel of Christ crucified shall be the grand agent, in the hand of the Most High, of the conversion and salvation of a ruined world.” But see on Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The terms judgment and world are taken so variously in the New Testament, and particularly in this very Gospel, that they have given interpreters a great liberty to vary in their senses of this passage. It seemeth reasonable to agree that our Saviour doth expound in this verse what the voice from heaven uttered; that the Father had already glorified his name, and would yet further glorify it. How?
Now (saith he) is the judgment of this world; that is, (say some), the condemnation of the wicked men in it: and certain it is, that the term world doth sometimes so signify, Joh 15:19; Joh 17:6,9; 1Co 6:2; 1Co 11:32. But this sense seemeth not to agree with Joh 3:17, where Christ tells us, that this his first coming was not to condemn the world. Others do therefore here by judgment better understand, the dispensation of Divine providence, by which a great change or catastrophe was to be made in the world by the reformation of it; the beginning of the time of the restitution of all things, Act 3:21. But it seems best to be understood of the deliverance and vindication of mankind from the power of the devil, who had a long time held mankind in an unjust possession. The devil had got a dominion over mankind by the fall of Adam, and had exceedingly tyrannized over them, keeping the far greatest part of the world in slavery by idolatry, and keeping many others, who were no open idolaters, yet captives to his will. Now, saith our Saviour, the time is come when this shall be altered; Satan shall be bound up; I will deliver a great part of the world from the yoke of idolatry; another part of them from the power and dominion of sin. The devil, who is not by any right the prince of this world, but boasteth himself to be so, Mat 4:9, and acts in it like a prince, powerfully working in the children of disobedience, Eph 2:2, and as the god of this world blinding mens eyes, 2Co 4:4, taking the world as his house, and keeping it as a strong man, Mat 12:29, shall be cast out of my redeemed ones; so as though he will still be going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and molesting the best of men by his temptations, yet he shall not prevail over them, God will bruise him under their feet; he that had the power of death shall (as to his dominion) be destroyed, and those who are in bondage through the fear of it, shall be delivered, Heb 2:14,15; the tempted shall be succoured, Heb 2:18, and God with the temptation shall give a blessed issue. And the devils kingdom kept up by idolatry, shall also in a great measure be destroyed in the world; many nations now under that slavery shall embrace the gospel, and throw away their idols.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. Now is the judgment of thisworldthe world that “crucified the Lord of glory”(1Co 2:8), considered as a vastand complicated kingdom of Satan, breathing his spirit, doing hiswork, and involved in his doom, which Christ’s death by its handsirrevocably sealed.
now shall the prince of thisworld be cast outHow differently is that fast-approaching”hour” regarded in the kingdoms of darkness and of light!”The hour of relief; from the dread Troubler of our peacehownear it is! Yet a little moment, and the day is ours!” So it wascalculated and felt in the one region. “Now shall the prince ofthis world be cast out,” is a somewhat different view of thesame event. We know who was right. Though yet under a veil, He seesthe triumphs of the Cross in unclouded and transporting light.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now is the judgment of this world,…. That is, in a very short time will be the judgment either of the Jewish world, when that shall be reproved, convinced, and condemned for their sin of rejecting Christ, and crucifying him, by the Spirit, in the ministration of the Gospel; and they still continuing in their impenitence and unbelief, in process of time wrath will come upon them, upon their nation, city, and temple, to the uttermost; or of the Gentile world, when there shall be a discrimination, and separation made in it, of the chosen of God, who shall be called by special grace, and with the converted and believing Jews, shall form a Gospel church state, separate from the world of the ungodly; or of the world of God’s elect among Jews and Gentiles, whose cause, being undertook by Christ, he will now vindicate it, and redeem them from sin and Satan, who have usurped a power and dominion over them: hence it follows,
now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The phrase,
, “the prince of the world”, is much used by Jewish writers d, by whom an angel is meant; and they seem to design the angel of death, which is the devil: and it is certain, that he is here intended, and is so called, not because he has any legal power and authority over the world; but because he has usurped a dominion over it, and has great power and efficacy in the hearts of the children of disobedience, who yield a voluntary subjection to him, as if he was their proper lord and sovereign: now the time was at hand, when he should be cast out of the empire of the world he had assumed, and out of the temples of the Gentiles, and out of the hearts of God’s elect among them.
d T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 16. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 94. 1. & Cholin, fol. 60. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The judgement (). No article, “A judgement.” The next few days will test this world.
The prince of this world ( ). This phrase here, descriptive of Satan as in possession of the evil world, occurs again in John 14:30; John 16:11. In the temptations Satan claims power over the world and offers to share it with Jesus (Matt 4:8-10; Luke 4:5-8). Jesus did not deny Satan’s power then, but here proclaims final victory over him.
Shall be cast out ( ). Future passive of . Note , clean out. The Book of Revelation also proclaims final victory over Satan.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The prince of this world [ ] . The phrase occurs only in the Gospel; here, Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11.
Shall be cast out [ ] . In every case but one where the word ejkballw occurs in John, it is used of casting out from a holy place or society. See Joh 2:15; Joh 9:34, 3; 3Jo 1:10; Rev 12:2. Compare Joh 10:4.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Now is the judgement of this world,” (nun krisis estin tou kosmou toutou) “Now and hereafter is (exists) the judgement of this world;- It was then being entered by Jesus in His sifting, trials, and testings, as He began heavily to bear the weight of man’s inhumanities in judgement against and upon Him. The testing ahead was to be of mankind, not of Jesus.
2) “Now shall the price of this world be cast out.” (nun ho archon tou kosmou toutou ekblethesetai ekso) “Now and hereafter the prince of this world shall be cast outside and away;- Satan was that counterfeit prince of the power of the air, whom by Divine Decree Jesus was to conquer, and gain the right from His Father, to cast one day, into the bottomless pit. That Prince of this fallen world order is Satan, himself, Luk 10:18; Mat 12:29; Heb 2:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
31. Now is the judgment of this world. The Lord now, as if he had already succeeded in the contest, boasts of having obtained a victory not only over fear, but over death; for he describes, in lofty terms, the advantage of his death, which might have struck his disciples with consternation. Some view the word, judgment ( πρίσις) as denoting reformation, and others, as denoting condemnation. I rather agree with the former who explain it to mean, that the world must be restored to a proper order; for the Hebrew word משפט, mishpat, which is translated judgment, means a well-ordered state. Now we know, that out of Christ there is nothing but confusion in the world; and though Christ had already begun to erect the kingdom of God, yet his death was the commencement of a well-regulated condition, and the full restoration of the world.
Yet it must also be observed, that this proper arrangement cannot be established in the world, until the kingdom of Satan be first destroyed, until the flesh, and every thing opposed to the righteousness of God, be reduced to nothing. Lastly, the renovation of the world must be preceded by mortification. Accordingly, Christ declares:
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out; for the confusion and deformity arise from this, that while Satan usurps tyrannical dominion, iniquity everywhere abounds. When Satan has been cast out, therefore, the world is brought back from its revolt, and placed under obedience to the government of God. It may be asked, how was Satan cast out by the death of Christ, since he does not cease to make war continually? I reply, this casting out must not be limited to any short period of time, but is a description of that remarkable effect of the death of Christ which is daily manifested.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(31) Now is the judgment of this world.For the word judgment comp. Notes on Joh. 3:17-19; Joh. 16:11. There is here, following on the coming of the Greeks, which He reads as a sign, and upon the voice from heaven, which was a sign for the multitude, the thought of the Messianic kingdom, of which the first members were then present, and which was to comprehend all men. This thought includes(1) the judgment (condemnatory) of this world; (2) the casting out of the prince of this world; (3) the establishment of His spiritual kingdom (Joh. 12:32).
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.The title prince of this world was the regular Rabbinic title for Satan, whom they regarded as the ruler of the Gentiles, the Jews not being included in his kingdom. The reign of the true Messiah is over the Gentile and Jewish world alike; Gentiles as well as Jews are at this moment in the temple listening to Him; Jews as well as Gentiles have been subjects of the prince of this world (Joh. 8:44; Romans 2). The world itself, as opposed to Christ, is condemned, for its unbelief crucifies Jesus Christ; but the Resurrection and Ascension are Heavens witness that He is the Son of God. The worlds condemnation is followed by the casting out of its ruler.
The whole future is present to the mind of Christ, and in the confidence of victory He uses the emphatic now of both the judgment of the world and the dethronement of its prince. It should be noted, however, that the tenses differ. The one is thought of as the immediate result of His death; the other is the gradual victory of truth, and is spoken of in the same future as the drawing all men of the following verse.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Now During this period of passion and of resurrection. For be it specially noted, that during this passage the entire future of death and resurrection is held as conceptually present.
Judgment of this world
Prince of this world Satan, whom the fall has enthroned on earth, and whom the hearts of men so willingly obey, is here pronounced to be, not de jure, by right, but de facto, in fact, prince of this world.
Cast out Here, by another wonderful concentration, all the results of the crucifixion are condensed into the crucifixion. The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head now. For now the great blow is given. Satan cast out of heaven at first, shall be cast down from the supremacy over earth, and shall be cast down to hell. All this is done by the cross, and it is done now.
‘ “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”. (He said this to show by what death he would die).’
The cross would declare that God had passed judgment, not on Jesus, but on the world. As He died there for men it would be because of God’s sentence of death on the world. It was proof that apart from Him the world was rejected. He was suffering what they should have been suffering. Furthermore it was a sentence on the rulers of the world. They too were cast out as a result of their act and would be replaced. They were no longer to be listened to, for their words had resulted in the cross. Rather must men look to the crucified One, lifted up to death and glory, Who will draw all men to Himself.
But the ruler of this world is not only to be seen as each physical ruler. There is one who lies behind them, and he too will be cast out. (Compare Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11. The constant use of the singular must surely hold this meaning). His forces would be defeated and degraded, and his power would be broken. (See Mat 12:29; Mar 3:27; Luk 10:18; Luk 11:20-22; 2Co 4:4; Eph 2:2; Col 2:15). Thus the world which kept men in ignorance of the truth, and the ruler of this world who tried to hold them in his sway, blinding men to the truth (2Co 4:4), will be defeated as men are drawn to the crucified one. The Strong Man will be defeated by the Stronger Than he, and the weak who respond to Jesus will be set free (Mat 12:29 and parallels).
‘Will draw all men to myself’. Men of every type and race will be drawn to Him through the cross. While ‘draw’ could theoretically mean simply that all men would feel the urge to respond, this could only be true if there were a universal revelation, and it is therefore apparent that ‘all men’ here must indicate all types and races (compare Act 2:17). This is thus the effectual drawing power of the Father (compare Joh 6:44).
Joh 12:31-33. Now is the judgment of this world: The subject of our Lord’s address to the Father, and the answer which he received, naturally led him to meditate on the happy effects of his coming into the world; namely, the destruction of Satan’s kingdom,andtheexaltationofthe faithful with himself into heaven. These grand events afforded a prospectvery reviving, amid the melancholy thoughts which now afflicted his soul. Wherefore, that his disciples might share with him in the comfort of them, he foretold them, as the necessary effects of his sufferings, “Now is the judgment of this world; the time of the destruction of wickedness is come: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. The devil who has so long reigned in the hearts of the children of disobedience, is about to be dethroned: (compare Eph 2:2 and 2Co 4:4.) And I, if I be lifted up, &c. Joh 12:32.”Our Lord cannot be supposed in this passage to talk of his own death as a thing uncertain; and therefore the original, , should be translated, when I am lifted up; a sense which the word sometimes bears. See Deu 7:1. Jdg 6:3. LXX. Dr. Heylin gives a somewhat different interpretation of this passage. “It appears from Joh 12:27 says he, that our blessed Saviour had been in great trouble on account of his approaching sufferings, by which he was to redeem the world.” He was now about to accomplish that great work; therefore he saith, Now is the crisis of this world; wherein its fate would be decided, the usurper ejected, and the Redeemer established in the acquisition that he makes of it by his death. When I shall be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself. To be lifted up from the earth, is a Hebraism to signify dying; we have met with it twice before in this gospel; and that it was then familiar, and commonly understood, appears from the immediate answer of the Jews, who use it in the same sense. “We are taught by the law, say they, that the Christ is to live for ever. Why then do you say, that the Son of man must be lifted up; that is to say, die.” They meant only death in general; for that was all that the phrase imported.
But our Lord made use of this, rather than other phrases which were equivalent, because it so well suited the manner of his death on the cross. See the note on Ch. Joh 6:44.
DISCOURSE: 1674 Joh 12:31, Joh 12:32. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
INCONCEIVABLY arduous was the work which Christ had undertaken: yet amidst his heaviest trials his confidence never for a moment forsook him. He had just complained of the insupportable weight of his mental agonies; yet not so complained, but that he had desired his heavenly Father to glorify his own name, whatever sufferings he might have to endure for that end. For the satisfaction of those who would otherwise have drawn wrong conclusions from those sufferings, the Father answered him by a voice like thunder, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again: and immediately Jesus, with his wonted calmness, resumed his discourse respecting the nature and necessity of his approaching death, and confidently predicted,
I.
The issue of his conflicts
The world and Satan were his great adversaries: and though by his death they would appear victorious over him, yet he declared that by his death,
1.
The world would be judged
[What we are to understand by the judgment of this world, we cannot absolutely determine: but we apprehend the import of that expression to be, that his death would be the means of exhibiting in the clearest view, first, the wickedness, and next, the desert of the ungodly world.
Who would have conceived the wickedness of the world to be so great as it really is? Who would have conceived, that, if God himself should become incarnate, and sojourn in a familiar manner upon earth, and cause the light of his perfections to shine around him, and diffuse innumerable blessings by the unbounded exercise of omnipotence and love, his creatures should rise up against him, and put him to death? Who would conceive too, that this should be done, not by ignorant savages, but by the people who had enjoyed the light of revelation, heard his gracious instructions, beheld his bright example, and received the benefit of his miraculous exertions: yea, that it should be done too, not by the inconsiderate vulgar, but by the rulers themselves, and by the priests and ministers of Gods sanctuary? This shews what human nature itself is, even under the greatest possible advantages: and humiliating is the picture which it exhibits to us.
But the desert also of the world is manifested to us in the death of Christ: for Christ suffered the penalty due to sin: to redeem us from the curse of the law, he became a curse; and all the misery that he endured both in body and soul as our surety and substitute, was our deserved portion. He indeed, by reason of his office, could endure it but for a time: but the soul that perishes in sin, must endure it to all eternity. Death, which to him was the period of his release, will be to the condemned soul the commencement of its sorrows, of sorrows that shall endure to all eternity. The hidings of Gods face and the sense of his wrath will be co-existent with the soul itself.]
2.
The prince thereof would be cast out
[Satan is called the prince, and the god, of this world, because he exercises an universal government over men who are his willing subjects [Note: Eph 2:2. 2Co 4:4. 2Ti 2:26.]. That which has given him this power is sin: on account of sin, God has delivered men into his hands as their jailor and their executioner. But Jesus Christ has finished transgression and made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness; and has thus rescued from the hands of Satan a countless multitude, who shall be eternal monuments of his electing love and his redeeming power. Whilst yet he hanged on the cross, the Lord Jesus bruised the serpents head [Note: Gen 3:15.]; yea, he spoiled principalities and powers, triumphing over them openly upon the cross [Note: Col 2:15.]. At that moment did Satan fall from heaven as lightning: and though he still retains a sway over the children of disobedience, yet he is forced continually to give up his vassals to the Lord Jesus, and is made to flee from those [Note: Jam 4:7.] whom he lately led captive at his will. Moreover, the time is shortly coming, (yea, in the Divine purpose it was, as it were, then present,) when he shall be bound in chains of everlasting darkness, and be cast into that lake of fire which has from the beginning been prepared for him and for his angels.]
Next, our Lord predicts,
II.
The triumphs of his grace
By being lifted up from the earth was meant, his crucifixion. The expression refers to the lifting up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, which was a type and emblem of the death of Christ [Note: Compare Num 21:8-9. with Joh 3:14-15.]. The Evangelist himself tells us, that our Lord intended to intimate the peculiar kind of death which he was to suffer: and the people themselves understood him as speaking of his removal from them by death [Note: ver. 33, 34.]. Nor did his words convey the idea of uncertainty, which seems intimated in our translation: the event was fixed in the Divine counsels from all eternity; and he spoke of it as certainly to be accomplished [Note: should be when, and not if.].
Here then are two things to be noted;
1.
The event predicted
[Christ will draw all men to himself: He is that Shiloh, to whom the gathering of the people should be; and we see on the day of Pentecost the commencement of this great and glorious work. Would we understand precisely the import of the expression, there we behold it exemplified in the clearest view We must not indeed imagine that every individual of mankind will be drawn to Christ; for in every age many have rejected him: but some of all nations, professions, and characters, shall be drawn to him; and at last they shall be found a multitude that no man can number [Note: Dan 7:13-14.] ]
2.
The manner in which it shall be accomplished
[Men are not drawn to him like stocks and stones, but in a way consistent with the perfect exercise of their own free will. The power indeed is Christs; and it is exerted with effect: but it is made effectual, Next, he draws men by the attractive influences of his grace. Because men know not how the Holy Spirit works upon the souls of men, they are ready to doubt, or even deny, his operations. But who doubts the agency of the wind? yet no man knows whence it comes, or whither it goes. It is visible in its effects, and therefore its operation is acknowledged, notwithstanding it is involved in the deepest mystery. Why then should the operation of the Holy Spirit be doubted, merely because the mode of his agency is not understood [Note: Joh 3:8.]? Were it possible to question the evidence of our senses, we should deny the virtue of the loadstone, and represent any one as weak or wicked who should profess to believe it. But we behold its effects; and our incredulity is vanquished. So then must we confess the agency of the Holy Spirit upon the souls of men, though we cannot comprehend every thing respecting it. Our Lord has told us, that no man can come unto him, except the Father draw him [Note: Joh 6:44.]: and the Psalmist affirms, that God makes us willing in the day of his power [Note: Psa 110:3.]. It is sufficient for us to know, that he draws us rationally, with the cords of a man, and with the bands of love.
Lastly, he draws men by discovering to them the wonders of his love. Let but a glimpse of his incomprehensible love be seen, and every thing in the whole creation will be darkened: just as a view of the meridian sun renders every other object invisible. Paul tells us, that the love of Christ constrained him: it carried him away like a mighty torrent: nor will the soul of any man who feels it, be either able or desirous to withstand its influence. As well might the angels in heaven be averse to serve their God, as the man that has tasted of redeeming love.
In this way then does the grace of Christ prevail; and in this way shall it triumph to the ends of the earth.]
Application Seek to experience the attractions of his grace
[Nothing under heaven is so desirable as this Say then, with the Church of old, Draw me, and I will run after thee [Note: Son 1:4.] ]
2.
Fear not the counteracting influence of men or devils
[Men may oppose you, and vaunt themselves against you: but they are already judged by the word of God; and, if they repent not, they shall be judged by the same at the tribunal of their God. If they do not themselves become such despised creatures as they esteem you to be, they will ere long awake to shame and everlasting contempt. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. (32) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me, (33) This he said, signifying what death he should die.
I only pause over those verses to remark, what a beautiful correspondence there is between what the Lord Jesus here saith of divine drawing, and the uniform language of scripture on this point. The gracious act belongs to the whole persons of the Godhead, and every poor sinner drawn to Christ hath the witness in himself that it is so. Read these scriptures in proof. Jer 31:3 ; Joh 6:63Joh 6:63 ; 1Jn 5:7 .
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Ver. 31. The prince of this world ] Gratian saith, the devil is called the prince of this world, as a king at chess, or as the cardinal of Ravenna, only by derision. The power he hath is merely usurped, and because the world will have it so, which even lieth down in that wicked one, as St John hath it, that is, under the power and vassalage of the devil, 1Jn 5:10 . It is wholly set upon wickedness, as Aaron saith of the people, Exo 32:22 .
31. ] All this is a comment on , Joh 12:23 : and now a different side of the subject is taken up, and one having immediate reference to the occasion: viz. the drawing of the Gentile world to Him.
] He speaks of Himself as having actually entered the hour of His passion, and views the result as already come.
, not (Chrys., Cyril, Aug [169] , Grot.) “the deliverance of this world from the devil;” nor, “decision concerning this world,” who is to possess it (Bengel): but (see ch. Joh 16:11 ) judgment , properly so called, the work of the Spirit who was to come, on the world, which , 1Jn 5:19 .
[169] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo , 395 430
. . . . ] The of the Jews, Satan, the of 2Co 4:4 ; see also Eph 2:2 ; Eph 6:12 . Observe it is , not , because the casting out ( , , Euthym [170] , Grot., or better perhaps, out of , his former place) shall be gradual, as the drawing in the next verse. But after the death of Christ the casting out began , and its first-fruits were, the coming in of the Gentiles into the Church.
[170] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
Joh 12:31 . It was a trial not so much of Him as of the world: . In the events of the next few days the world was to be judged by its treatment of Jesus. Cf. Joh 3:18 , Joh 5:27 . Calvin, adopting the fuller meaning given to the Hebrew word “judge,” thinks that the restoration of the world to its legitimate rule and order is signified. A fuller explanation follows in the clauses, . Two rulers are represented here as contending for supremacy, the ruler who is spoken of as in possession and Jesus. The ruler in possession, Satan, shall be ejected from his dominion by the cross, but Jesus by the cross shall acquire an irresistibly attractive power. “Si quis roget, quomodo dejectus in morte Christi fuerit Satan, qui assidue bellare non desinit, respondeo ejectionem hanc non restringi ad exiguum aliquod tempus, sed describi insignem illum mortis Christi effectum qui quotidie apparet.” Calvin. The is a general expression looking to the ultimate issue of the contention between the rival rulers. Hellenistic for Attic .
judgment. Greek. crisis (App-177.); i.e. the crisis reached when the world pronounced judgment against Christ and His claims.
prince = ruler. Greek. archon; applied to Satan as prince of this world (kosmos. App-129.) three times, here, Joh 14:30, and Joh 16:11; as prince of the demons in Mat 12:24. Mar 3:22; and as prince of the power of the air in Eph 2:2. The same word used in Rev 10:5 of the Lord. The prince of this world was a well-known Rabbinical term (Sar ha `olam, prince of the age) for Satan, “the angel”, as they say, “into whose hands the whole world is delivered”. See Dr. John Lightfoot’s Works, xii, p. 369.
cast out. Same word as in Joh 9:34, Joh 9:35. Mat 21:39. Mar 12:8. Luk 20:15. Act 7:68; Act 13:50. In Luk 4:29, rendered “thrust”.
out (Greek. exo) = without, outside.
31.] All this is a comment on , Joh 12:23 : and now a different side of the subject is taken up, and one having immediate reference to the occasion: viz. the drawing of the Gentile world to Him.
] He speaks of Himself as having actually entered the hour of His passion, and views the result as already come.
, not (Chrys., Cyril, Aug[169], Grot.) the deliverance of this world from the devil;-nor, decision concerning this world, who is to possess it (Bengel):-but (see ch. Joh 16:11) judgment, properly so called, the work of the Spirit who was to come, on the world, which , 1Jn 5:19.
[169] Augustine, Bp. of Hippo, 395-430
. . . .] The of the Jews, Satan, the of 2Co 4:4; see also Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12. Observe it is , not , because the casting out (, , Euthym[170], Grot., or better perhaps, out of , his former place) shall be gradual, as the drawing in the next verse. But after the death of Christ the casting out began, and its first-fruits were, the coming in of the Gentiles into the Church.
[170] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
Joh 12:31. , now) Now, at this moment. This now, is to be taken in the precise sense, in antithesis to the lifting up from the earth [Joh 12:32], which followed a few days subsequently. From this point of time Jesus, with the sweet toil [efforts] of His soul, strove [pressed forward] towards the glorifying of Himself more than heretofore: ch. Joh 13:31, Joh 14:30, Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me; Joh 17:1, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee. Comp. , now, by a new step in advance, Rev 12:10 [ , , , Now is come salvation, and power, and the kingdom, etc.]-, of the world) not, by the world; not, into the world. It is the Genitive of the object: the judgment concerning this world, is as to who is hereafter about to be rightful possessor of the world. Comp. ch. Joh 13:3, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, Joh 16:11, The prince of this world is judged; Col 2:15, Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (the cross); Heb 2:14. Himself likewise took part of the same (flesh), that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.- , the prince of this world) This appellation is referred to at ch. Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11, and occurs nowhere else. Comp. 2Co 4:4, The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. He had been rather the adversary of this world through sin and through death.-, shall be cast out) An abbreviated expression: i.e. he shall be judged [taken out of Now is the judgment, etc.] and condemned, and cast out from his former possession as one tried and found guilty. Afterwards, being led in triumph, he is cast out as an accuser: Rev 12:9, [10] Satan was cast out into the earth-the accuser () of our brethren is cast down.-, out) from the bounds of the kingdom, given to Me on high. With this corresponds the word , when I am [if I be] lifted up, occurring presently after. Satan never possessed the kingdom itself, which was given to Christ on high; but he from time to time entered its limits and borders, from which he is doomed ultimately to be cast out.
Joh 12:31
Joh 12:31
Now is the judgment of this world:-He warned them that the contest between him and this prince of the world, the evil one, was close at hand. This contest was to take place in the grave. Jesus surrendered himself into the power of the evil one. He was carried down into the grave by the evil one-him that hath power over death and the grave. Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. (Heb 2:14). Jesus in his flesh and blood went down into the grave as a prisoner of the devil.
[Now is the vivid presentation of the near future. The worlds crisis is just at hand. Calvary will inaugurate it, and tremendous consequences flow from it.]
now shall the prince of this world be cast out.-In the grave he contended with the devil, overcame him in his own dark domain, and was a victor over him. The prince of this world was overcome, cast out of his authority by the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. In the grave the battle was fought; in the grave the victory was won that freed the world from the domain of the evil one. [His dominion is to cease. And this is to be accomplished through that very death of Jesus which Satan is now scheming to bring about, but which, unwittingly to him, is but the prelude to the resurrection and glorification of Jesus, and the rescue of humanity. Satan, like Samson, pulled his own pillar from under his building.]
judgments
The Seven Judgments.
(1) Of Jesus Christ as bearing the believer’s sins. The sins of believers have been judged in the person of Jesus Christ “lifted up” on the cross. The result was death for Christ, and justification for the believer, who can never again be put in jeopardy.
Joh 5:24; Rom 5:9; Rom 8:1; 2Co 5:21; Gal 3:13.; Heb 9:26-28; Heb 10:10; Heb 10:14-17; 1Pe 2:24; 1Pe 3:18.
See other judgments,
(See Scofield “1Co 11:31”). See Scofield “2Co 5:10”. See Scofield “Mat 25:32”. See Scofield “Eze 20:37”. See Scofield “Jud 1:6”. See Scofield “Rev 20:12”.
world kosmos = world-system. Joh 14:17; Joh 14:19; Joh 14:22; Joh 14:27; Joh 14:30; Joh 7:7 See note, Rev 13:3-8 (See Scofield “Rev 13:8”)
is: Joh 5:22-27, Joh 16:8-10
now: Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11, Gen 3:15, Isa 49:24, Mat 12:28, Luk 10:17-19, Act 26:18, 2Co 4:4, Eph 2:1, Eph 2:2, Eph 6:12, Col 2:15, Heb 2:14, 1Jo 3:8, Rev 12:9-11, Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3
Reciprocal: Lev 17:7 – unto devils Mat 4:9 – I give Mat 12:26 – his Mar 3:27 – General Luk 4:6 – and to Luk 10:18 – I beheld Satan Joh 16:33 – I Gal 1:4 – from Col 1:13 – the power 1Jo 4:4 – than 1Jo 5:19 – in wickedness Rev 9:11 – they had
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Now denotes that the time was very near when the great test was to be made. Jesus was soon to be slain as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and thus counteract the work of the prince of this world. Chapter 14:30; 16:11; Luk 4:6; Eph 2:2, shows this prince is Satan.
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
[The prince of this world.] The prince of this world; a sort of phrase much used by the Jewish writers; and what they mean by it we may gather from such passages as these: “When God was about to make Hezekiah the Messiah, saith the prince of the world to him, ‘O eternal Lord, perform the desire of this just one.’ ” Where this Gloss is; “The prince of this world is the angel into whose hands the whole world is delivered.”
Who this should be, the masters tell out: “When the law was delivered, God brought the angel of death, and said unto him, The whole world is in thy power; excepting this nation only [the Israelites], which I have chosen for myself. R. Eliezer, the son of R. Jose the Galilean, saith, ‘The angel of death said before the holy blessed God, I am made in the world in vain. The holy blessed God answered and said, I have created thee that thou shouldst overlook the nations of the world, excepting this nation over which thou hast no power.’ ”
“If the nations of the world should conspire against Israel the holy blessed God saith to them, Your prince could not stand before Jacob;” etc.
Now the name of the angel of death amongst them is Samael. “And the women saw Samael, the angel of death; and she was afraid,” etc. The places are infinite where this name occurs amongst the Rabbins, and they account him the prince of the devils.
The wicked angel Samael is the prince of all Satans. The angel of death, he that hath the power of death, that is, the devil; Heb 2:14. They call indeed Beelzebul the prince of the devils; Matthew_12; but that is under a very peculiar notion, as I have shewn in that place.
They conceive it to be Samael that deceived Eve. So the Targumist before. And so Pirke R. Eliezer; “The serpent, what things soever he did, and what words soever he uttered, he did and uttered all from the suggestion of Samael.”
Some of them conceive that it is he that wrestled with Jacob. Hence that which we have quoted already: “The holy blessed God saith to the nations of the world, Your prince could not stand before him.” Your prince; that is, the prince of the nations, whom the Rabbins talk of as appearing to Jacob in the shape of Archilatro; or a chief robber. And R. Chaninah Bar Chama saith, he was the prince of Esau; i.e. the prince of Edom. Now “the prince of Edom was Samael.”
They have a fiction that the seventy nations of the world were committed to the government of so many angels [they will hardly allow the Gentiles any good ones]: which opinion the Greek version favours in Deu 32:8; “When the Most High divided the nations” [into seventy, say they], “when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.” Over these princes they conceive one monarch above them all, and that is Samael, the angel of death; the arch-devil.
Our Saviour therefore speaks after their common way when he calls the devil the prince of this world; and the meaning of the phrase is made the more plain, if we set it in opposition to that Prince ‘whose kingdom is not of this world,’ that is, the Prince of the world to come. Consult Heb 2:5.
How far that prince of the nations of the world had exercised his tyranny amongst the Gentiles, leading them captive into sin and perdition, needs no explaining. Our Saviour therefore observing at this time some of the Greeks, that is, the Gentiles, pressing hard to see him, he joyfully declares, that the time is coming on apace wherein this prince must be unseated from his throne and tyranny: “And I, when I shall be lifted up upon the cross, and by my death shall destroy him who hath the power of death, then will I draw all nations out of his dominion and power after me.”
Joh 12:31. Now is there judgment of this world. The now is the now of Joh 12:27, the hour of Joh 12:23; and the primary thought to be taken into it is that of the suffering and death in the midst of which Jesus stood, and which in the purpose of God, and to the eye of faith, were so different from what they were to the eye of sense.
Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. Again we have the now that we have already had. The moment is the same; the cause producing the effect the same. This world culminates in its prince. The title meets us again in Joh 16:11, and, although with omission of the this, in chap. Joh 14:30. By it can only be understood Satan, whom, indeed, the Jews knew as the prince of the world excluding Israel. Here there is no such exclusion; the world is again used in the widest sense of the term. In its prince are concentrated the powers that come between man and God. But he shall be cast out, that is, out of the world which he has ruled, so that ideally he shall have no more power in it. The expression cast out is very remarkable when compared with its use in other parts of this Gospel (Joh 6:37, Joh 9:34-35). It is excommunication from a holy community, or scene, or synagogue, or world, which is, and is to be, Gods alone. The negative side of the victory of Jesus has been declared; we have now the positive.
Joh 12:31-33. Now is the judgment of this world Which I am going to conquer and condemn, that by my death my followers may both be taught and enabled to triumph over it, and those may be convinced of sin that believe not in me. Some interpreters render the clause, Now is this world come to its crisis: and others explain it of the redemption of the world, or its vindication from the bondage of Satan. But this, says Dr. Doddridge, is so unusual a sense of the word, [, judgment,] that I choose, with Dr. Whitby, to understand it of the condemnation of the world, or of the judgment passed upon its wicked principles and practices, and of the victory which Christians were to gain over it, in consequence of the death of Christ. See Joh 3:18-19; and Joh 16:8; Joh 16:11. Now shall the prince of this world Satan, who has gained possession of it by sin and death; be cast out That is, judged, condemned, cast out of his possession, and out of the bounds of Christs kingdom. In other words, The devil, who has so long reigned in the hearts of the children of disobedience, is about to be dethroned. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth This expression seems to be a Hebraism that signifies dying. Death in general is all that it usually imported. But our Lord made use of it, rather than others that were equivalent, because it so well suited the particular manner of his death. As our Lord cannot be supposed, in this passage, to speak of his own death as a thing uncertain, the Greek expression, , should be translated, not, if I be lifted up, but, when I am lifted up; I will draw all men unto me Multitudes of Gentiles, as well as Jews: and those who follow my drawings, Satan shall not be able to retain in his power. In other words, I shall lay a foundation for conquering the most stubborn hearts by so rich a display of my love, and shall, by a secret but powerful influence on their minds, persuade multitudes of all ranks and all nations to enlist themselves under the banner I raise. Signifying what death he should die Even by crucifixion, in which the person suffering was lifted up on high, and hung as it were between heaven and earth.
Verse 31
Now is; is approaching.
Jesus’ passion would constitute a judgment on the world. The Jews thought they were judging Jesus when they decided to believe or disbelieve on Him. Really their decisions brought divine judgment on themselves. By crucifying Jesus they were condemning themselves. Jesus was not saying that this would be the last judgment on the world. He meant that because of humankind’s rejection of Him God was about to pass judgment on the world for rejecting His Son (cf. Act 17:30-31).
Jesus’ passion would also result in the casting out of the ruler of this world. This is a title for Satan (Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11; cf. Mat 4:8-9; Luk 4:6-7; 2Co 4:4; Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12). The death of Jesus might appear to be a victory for Satan, but really it signaled his doom. The Cross defeated Satan. He only functions as he does now because God permits Him to do so. His eternal destruction is sure even though it is still future (Rev 20:10). God will cast him out of His presence and out of the earth into the lake of fire forever (cf. Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13; Mat 25:30).
Jesus’ passion would involve His enemies lifting Him up on a cross but also His exaltation to God’s presence. The Cross would bring people to faith in Him, and His exaltation would involve others coming into God’s presence around Him. Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension would draw all people without distinction, not all without exception, to Himself.
"Jesus is not affirming that the whole world will be saved; he is affirming that all who are saved are saved in this way. And he is speaking of a universal rather than a narrowly nationalistic religion." [Note: Morris, pp. 531-32.]
All these things would happen "now," not in the eschatological future. They are all the immediate consequences of Jesus’ work on the cross.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
THE EFFECTS OF CHRISTS DEATH
First, by shewing men their need of him. The eyes of all the wounded Israelites were drawn to the brazen serpent in the wilderness: they felt that they were dying of their wounds; they knew that no human efforts could heal them; and they were assured that a sight of that brazen serpent would effect their cure. This attraction was sufficient: they looked and were healed. Thus the jailor saw his own perishing condition, and asked, What shall I do to be saved? and was glad to embrace the Saviour proposed to him [Note: Act 16:30-31.]. This is universally the first operation of Christs victorious grace.
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Satan too may harass you: but he is a vanquished enemy: yea, he too is judged [Note: Joh 16:11.]: and though, as a roaring lion, he seeketh to devour you, you are provided with armour, whereby you may withstand him [Note: Eph 6:11-13.]: and you have the promise of God, that he shall be shortly bruised under your feet [Note: Rom 16:20.] ]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)