❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
The One Who Changed History and Changes Our Lives
(John12:27-36a)
MARI IKEDA
Today we continue our series on the Gospel of John by reading 12:27-36. In this passage, Jesus speaks about the time of His death and that it is to signify the beginning of a new era and to change each individual’s life. First, let us read verses 27-33.
A. The “time” when history changes （27-33)
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
A. The “time” when Jesus dies
Jesus begins here by saying, “Now my soul is troubled,” showing for a moment the turmoil and conflict within Himself. Jesus knew that the time of His death on the cross was approaching. But He quickly puts that turmoil behind Him and says, “But I have come for this very hour,” renewing His awareness that dying on the cross is the purpose for which He came to this world. God’s purpose in coming to this world as Jesus was to offer his life for the sake of all people. It may seem foolish and shameful for the all-knowing and all-powerful God to not only become a man, but also to make a plan to offer his own life. God can do anything, so there is no need for Him to go to the trouble of choosing the path of suffering, and for a God to offer up His life is a contradiction in terms. But God loves us so much that He made such a plan and carried it out. When Jesus dies, it is when God dies. It was, without a doubt, the first and last time that has ever happened in history.
2. The “time” when God’s glory is revealed
But this seemingly hopeless event was indeed a manifestation of God’s glory. In verse 28, Jesus asked, “Father, glorify your name!” and God responded, and a voice from heaven was heard. It was a voice that said, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” It is not clear exactly to which event “I have glorified it.” But it is clear that the words, “I will glorify it again,” refer to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, “I have glorified it” may refer to the event of Jesus’ resurrection of his friend Lazarus from the dead. But I do not think that God’s glory refers only to the manifestation of supernatural power, such as the resurrection of a person from the dead. I believe that God’s glory is more than an expression of God’s power; it refers to the realization of God’s love. Jesus resurrected Lazarus because He loved him. Also, God resurrected Jesus in order to free us from the power of sin and death. Therefore, I believe that the manifestation of God’s glory refers to God’s own concrete work to prove that nothing can separate us from Him. God came to this world only once in history. Jesus died and was resurrected only once. It was the only time the eternal God intervened in our finite world. But that one-time event radically changed our history.
3. The “time” when the rule of God’s love begins
In verse 31, Jesus says, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” The “prince of this world” refers to Satan or the devil. Satan is an entity that opposes God and tries to turn our hearts away from God. We do not need to know much about Satan at all, but we do need to know that our minds can be unknowingly controlled by Satan. Being controlled by Satan is not only about consciously engaging in devil worship or engaging in antisocial or destructive behavior. Satan controls our minds in more obscure ways. For example, if we feel, “God doesn’t love me,” that is what Satan wants. It also pleases Satan to think, “I don’t need to depend on God.” Satan uses both our arrogance and lack of confidence to draw our hearts away from God. For Satan, anything that makes us not believe in God’s love is good enough, and the further we are separated from God, the stronger Satan’s control over us becomes. However, Jesus ended this reign of Satan forever. For with His death and resurrection, He proved that Satan’s power can never prevail over God. Satan’s ultimate goal is to turn our hearts away from God, resulting in our death of despair. But although Jesus seemed to die in despair on the cross, He rose from the dead and despair turned to hope. The sins of those who crucified Jesus were forgiven, and instead of punishment, forgiveness and mercy were offered. It was proven that God does not stop having mercy and loving us even when we reject Him and betray Him. It also proved that not even physical death can separate us from God. Satan is powerless before the magnitude of God’s love and mercy. No matter how weak or bad we are, God will never stop loving us, and Satan cannot take away our hope in that knowledge. In this way, the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection free us from the power of sin, evil, and death, and instead invite us to come under the reign of God’s love. This invitation is extended to all people, for in verse 32 Jesus says, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” By all people here He means all people, “whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free men, whether male or female” (Galatians 3:28 and others). To put it in modern terms, the path of trusting God’s love is open to everyone, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, regardless of birth or social status, regardless of what they have believed and how they have lived their lives, and regardless of any gender identity or sexual orientation. Opening that path on God’s part is already complete. Now it is up to us to decide for ourselves whether or not we want to follow that path. That is the question Jesus also asks us in the second half of today’s passage; let’s read verses 34-36.
B. The event that changes our lives (34-36)
34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”
1. Our knowledge and pride get in the way
I suppose the crowd listening to Jesus’ words had some understanding of what He was saying about His death. And they were expecting that if Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior prophesied in the Old Testament, He would protect their people from other peoples. It was impossible for them to think that the Messiah would be arrested and executed, and I think they thought that if such a thing were to happen, then that person was not the Messiah. In their minds, the Messiah had to be righteous and strong and could not have just died helplessly.
What hinders us from acknowledging the weakness of our own hearts and choosing to live trusting in the love of the cross of Jesus is, like this crowd, the imperfect knowledge and selfish expectations we have about God. It can be our own pride in what strength and righteousness should be. And we may be overconfident that we would never do something so terrible as to cause suffering to an innocent person, or we may try to take advantage of God by assuming that our thoughts are absolutely correct and that God is always on our side. We can never outgrow this kind of arrogance for the rest of our lives. So we need to keep asking Jesus to humble us before His cross.
2. Becoming children of light
Jesus did not directly answer the crowd’s question. Again let us read Jesus’ words in verses 35-36.
You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.
Here, the crowd is seeking knowledge of “what is the Messiah and who is Jesus,” to which Jesus responds with the existential question, “What do you depend on to live your life?” What Jesus is telling is, “What is the light that guides your life? Can you really depend on that light? I have come to be your light. Trust in me. And you will be the light that guides others.” We are already living in a history that Jesus has changed. We live in a time when the power of sin, evil, and death no longer rules over us, but instead God’s forgiveness and love are poured out unconditionally. Each of us must make our own decision whether or not to believe this. We are weak people who make up our minds once we believe and then forget, so we need to remind ourselves repeatedly, but the first decision is still a major life-changing decision. To invite into the center of our hearts the person of Jesus, who until then had nothing to do with us, is something that feels very strange at first, and it means admitting that the self-centered way we had lived up to that point was wrong. It is a decision that requires humility and courage, but it is a path that leads to solid hope and never-ending joy. It is the beginning of a life of finding joy, never losing sight of hope in any situation, feeling close to God who never abandons us. That hope and joy is contagious from us to those around us. In this way, the history that God has changed becomes the power to change the lives of each of us and transform this world. The fact that God came to this world, died for us, and rose again will never be undone, and His love is indeed unconditionally poured out on all of us. We can receive that love or reject it. But God does not reject us even if we reject Him. Even if we forget Him, He will never forget us. If we accept that as true, we have no choice but to change our way of life. We cannot help but rejoice in knowing such a wonderful person and such a wonderful love.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, please come into the heart of each of us. Show us that You gave Your life on the cross, that Your suffering and love are for us. Even when it seems that we live alone, You are always with us. Please help us to always find hope and joy in You. May we not rely on our own strength, but may we trust in You and surrender our anxieties to You. Lord Jesus, we give you our sincere thanks and pray in your name. Amen.
Summary
Jesus came to this world to die on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, the old era in which the power of human sin and evil ruled ended, and a new era in which God’s love rules us began. Jesus opened the way for all of us to begin a new way of life. It is the path of admitting that we do not have the power within ourselves to lead our lives in the right way, and living trusting in Jesus’ love and mercy.
For Discussion
1. How did Jesus change history?
2. What does it mean for us to become children of light?