pray. Our Father, as we come to consider this passage this morning, we ask that you would open our eyes, open our hearts, help us to see and understand all that you have for us. In Christ's name, amen. Our passage today begins in verse 27 of chapter 12 of John's Gospel. Jesus has already entered Jerusalem to great fanfare. Remember, this Gospel is unlike the others in that really from chapter 11 through chapter 21 is about the last week of Jesus' earthly life. So he's entered Jerusalem. You know the scene, to great fanfare. He's greeted with hosannas, palms are laid down in his path. The Pharisees and authorities tell Jesus, tell your disciples to stop calling out hosanna. And Jesus' response is, if these do not cry out, even the rocks will cry out. See, the chief priests and Pharisees that we learned from chapter 11 had already planned to kill him because he was gaining such popularity, had done so many signs and miracles that people were beginning to follow him. And the Pharisees and chief priests were afraid that they would lose their place. And Jesus knows this. Jesus knows this. Jesus knows this. Jesus knows this. And the latest spectacle convinced the Pharisees and chief priests even more that Jesus had to go. Jesus has actually come to Jerusalem for this purpose. In Luke chapter 9, he said, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And then near the end of the chapter, it says, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, meaning to ascend, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. So Jesus knew what he was doing. He knew that he was going to Jerusalem in order to be crucified. And Jesus knows what is coming, which is why he says, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Now we know that in the gospels, when Jesus refers to his hour, he is talking about the hour of his death. Remember in John chapter 2, when the young couple that were getting married ran out of wine and Mary came to Jesus and said that they were out of wine. Jesus said, woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. He was referring to the hour of his death. Later in John chapter 8, he refers to the hour of his death. From the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus knew that it was pointing to the hour of his death, death on a cross. So he says, my soul is troubled. Now that might seem strange because after all he is the son of God. He is the son of God. He is perfect in every way. He's sinless. He knows that after he does give himself as a sacrifice for sin, that he will be raised and be taken back up to glory. And yet his soul is troubled. And the question is why other people throughout the history of the world have faced death with seemingly more composure than Jesus is in this account. One writer mentioned Socrates when he was convicted. He had to drink hemlock and he did so with grace and composure so that his student Plato would be able to get his son of God. You think of soldiers and sailors who have gone into the battle knowing, many of them knowing that they might not and maybe even in some cases probably aren't going to come back and yet they go. They go willingly in the face of death. We know stories of first responders who run toward danger knowing full well that they may not survive. Think of the fires in LA and the fires a couple of years ago in here in our province and plus the fires out west where firefighters went into the fray and some of them lost their lives. I think of the firefighters who ran up the stairs of the World Trade Center knowing they probably weren't going to come back down. Just think of the courage that that would take, the composure that would take to strap on all of that heavy equipment to fight whatever fire there may be when they get there and to try to save however many people they can and yet they go and they run up the stairs. But here Jesus is troubled. Certainly he was stronger than the people I've mentioned. So why? It's because he knew that he was going to face something even worse than those things I've mentioned. He was going to face the judgment of God for sin. He was going to experience the wrath of God. He was going to experience and suffer the rejection of his father. Now all of us have probably at some point in our life experienced some kind of rejection. Maybe you applied to a university and you got the letter and it's thin instead of thick. If it's thick that means you've been accepted because they've got all kinds of things they need to tell you. If it's thin it's just a letter that says thanks but no thanks. So maybe you've experienced that and that's painful. Or maybe when you were in high school or at university some person you were dating decided to end the relationship. That's painful. The closer you are to somebody the more pain rejection is. So if rejection comes from a friend or a family member or worse yet from a mother or a father or a spouse it hurts even more. Why am I mentioning that? Because there's never been anybody closer, had a more loving, longer permanent relationship than God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit from all of eternity. And so for God the Son to become a man and then face the rejection of His Father. Remember my God my God why have you forsaken me? He says on the cross and He knows that's coming. And then He's going to experience the wrath of God and then He's going to be subjected to hell. That's why Jesus says my soul is troubled and yet He's willing. Father save me from this hour for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name. Jesus is willing to submit His will in obedience to His Father and the voice came out of heaven I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Some people thought it was thunder some people thought it was an angel and it says judgment is coming into the world now this ruler of the world will be cast off out. Judgment implies a judge. God himself is the judge and the ruler of this world is Satan. And what Jesus is saying what Christianity teaches is that God through His Son Jesus Christ defeated the devil and He did it in a way that's totally opposite of any way that we might have come up with ourselves to defeat an enemy. When we think about defeating an enemy we think of power, we think of domination, we think of strength. I don't know who your favorite hockey team is but you want them to overwhelm the opposition. You want them to have the puck most of the time you want them to score more goals you want a close game might be exciting but what you really want is for it to be decided halfway through. Four to nothing five to nothing. Eight to two something like that so you can bask in the glory of the victory. One to nothing two to one those games are nail biters. But whether it's a sporting event or a military battle you win through strength you win through overwhelming the enemy but that's not what's happening here. Jesus defeated Satan in the most unlikely way. Listen to what the words of the writer of the Hebrews chapter 2 beginning in verse 10 says for it was fitting that he meaning Jesus for whom and who he was and who he was and who he was and who he was and who the King was and who he was and who they were and what he did and what positive they sum how to come to his place and I believe in how these wonderful people I've conceptually know I believe he was one of the mostStypticians some of the most>: Life was the most forward For He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers. I'm going to back up just a second. In verse 10 where it says, for it was fitting that He, that refers to the Father, this He, that is why He, Jesus, is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell you of your name to my brothers in the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise. And again I will put my trust in Him and again, behold, I and the children God has given me. He goes on to say, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself, again, God the Son, likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. Do you see the strangeness of this? Do you see the upside-downness of this? Do you see the inside-outness of this? That Jesus, God the Son, became a man to live a perfect sinless life in our place and to die in order to defeat the devil. That doesn't sound like what we would do as humans. But He defeated, He destroyed the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not the angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham, that's us. Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. So Jesus, God the Son, had to become one of us. He entered a womb. He was born to a poor working family. He was raised. He didn't sin. He was a carpenter. He was just like us. He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God. To make propitiation, propitiation, that word, we've talked about it many times, it means to satisfy the wrath of God, which is why Jesus said, my soul is troubled, because He knew that He was entering Jerusalem the last week of His life. It was going to end with His resurrection, but before that, He was going to have to be subject to the wrath of God on the cross for the sins of the people, for because He Himself had suffered when tempted, He's able to help those who are being tempted. So Jesus will defeat Satan through his suffering, and that's why He says in verse 32, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. When I am crucified, when I am lifted up from the earth, you know, the Scriptures say, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And so listen to the strangeness of this. Jesus is going to hang on a tree, which the Scriptures say, He's cursed. But when that happens, He's going to draw all people to Himself. In John chapter 3, He says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life. And if you don't know the story, in the Old Testament, the people rebelling against God for bringing them out of Egypt. They were mumbling and grumbling against God. They were complaining about the manna that they had to eat. They were complaining about Moses. So God sent fiery serpents into the people of Israel, and when they were bitten, they died. Moses prayed, and God said, set up a statue, really, of a figure of a serpent on a pole, and anybody who looks at the serpent after their bit, if they look at the serpent, they will be healed. They won't die. All they had to do was look. They didn't have to crawl there. They didn't have to pray even harder. All they had to do was look. And that's what Jesus is saying here, is all you have to do is look to me for salvation, and you will be saved from the fiery serpent and the bites of sin. You will be saved. In verse 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 8, 28, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he. When he has lifted up on the cross, you will know that he is God. And remember, at the end of the Gospel of Mark, when he is dying on the cross, one of the Roman soldiers said, surely this is the Son of God. So why must Jesus be lifted up? Why must he be crucified? There are two reasons here in the text. There are many, many reasons, but there are two in the text that I want to mention. First is there's a judgment coming. We don't like to think about that. There's a judgment for sin, a judgment for rebellion. That's what sin is, rebellion against the reign and rule of God. Many people don't like, many modern people don't like the idea of judgment. Depending on where you are in the world, in the western world, which includes Canada and the United States and most of Europe, people don't like the idea that God is going to judge. Now some places in the world, they're fine with judgment. They don't like the idea that God is going to forgive. But listen, if there is no judgment, then the most evil people in the world got away with it. I mentioned this several times, but they did. They get away with it. You say, well, what if they're caught and they're executed? So what? Everybody dies. The only way that there is justice is if there's judgment at the end. Think of all the people who have done horrible things and got away with it and they've never been brought to human justice system. Rapists, murderers, thieves, embezzlers. There's all kinds of people like that who constantly get away with doing the things that they do, mostly because they think there is no judgment. But there's a judgment for sin. And I think our tendency, because we are sinful human beings, is to take sin lightly. Some sins such as murder and rape, we can all agree, are heinous. And yet, all sin is rebellion against God. One that I'm going to mention this morning is the sin of abortion. Killing babies before they're born is a horrible sin. Millions of babies worldwide have been killed through abortion. Now, last week, the 19th, was the sanctity of life Sunday. But a lot of churches say you can celebrate it either then or today, or I'm not sure celebrates the right word, acknowledge it today or last week or next week. But you know, that was one of the marks of the early church. They didn't have abortions, per se, but what they would do if people didn't want their baby, they would just leave it out in the street. And it would die from exposure, or a wild animal would come and get it. Or someone were thrown into the garbage. And Christians would come out at night and they would rescue those babies and raise them as their own. They'd just dig through the garbage and pull them out. And people hated them for it. See, because when you do that, when you rescue a baby like that, then they know that what they've done was wrong. And nobody likes judgment. Our church supports the open door center, we have pamphlets in the back if you'd like to pick one up, which in part deals with crisis pregnancy as well as sex trafficking. And also if somebody has had an abortion, there's care for those people after that has happened. While those sins are an attack on the image bearers of God, all sin is rebellion and all sin will be judged. Hebrews chapter nine says it's appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who eagerly wait for him. Jesus had to go to the cross to pay the penalty for all of our sin. Most of us don't understand how sinful we are, how bad we are, how prone to rebellion we are. And unless you understand that, you won't fully understand your salvation until we see him. Here's the passage in Isaiah that Edward read. Isaiah probably thought he was a pretty good guy. He was a prophet, he was a high priest, he had the privilege of going into the holy of holies. But when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, and we know from chapter 12 of John that who he saw was God the Son, the pre-incarnate Christ. When he saw him high and lifted up he said, woe is me for I am undone. Literally I am coming apart at the seams because I have seen the holy one. He knew when he saw him that how deep and terrible his sin is. But unless we understand that we don't know what salvation means. If you think about it, our sin is so terrible, so rebellious, so numerous that it required the one sitting on the throne that Isaiah saw to become one of us to live a perfect sinless life and to die in our place. And then go to hell in our place. The second specific sin that the text mentions is unbelief. Think about this, Jesus healed in diseases. He healed the lame, he restored the sight to blind people, he cast out demons, he healed leprosy, he stilled waves in the wind, he walked on the water, he turned the water into wine, really good wine. Then he fed 5,000 people, then he fed 4,000 people with just a few fish and loaves. He did even more and yet the people still didn't believe. Verse 37, though he had done so many signs before them they still did not believe. Now we might think, you know, if Jesus was here now and he did all that I would believe for sure. I heard him watch a debate between a Christian and an atheist and the Christian said, offered all this evidence and the atheist was very smug and the Christian said, well, what would convince you to believe? He said, well, if I went outside my house and God appeared taller than a mountain and shining like the stars and told me that he was God and pointed his finger at me and told me I should believe, then I would believe. And the Christian said, are you sure? He said, yeah, I would believe. He said, wouldn't you just think that you had a hallucination? You see, for some people who won't believe, there is nothing that will convince them. Remember the story probably of Abraham, I'm sorry, of Lazarus and the rich man, not the Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead. This is a parable that Jesus told and Lazarus was a poor man who always begged outside of this man's home for scraps. And so they both die and the rich man goes to Hades, terrible place of torment and Lazarus goes to the bosom of Abraham, we're assuming paradise. And so the rich man sees them across this gulf and he says, I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house, Lazarus. For I have five brothers, so they may warn them lest they come into this place of torment. Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. And he said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. See, and they weren't. All the miracles Jesus did, all the signs that he did, all the amazing things that he did, they still didn't believe. And it was what Isaiah said, he's blinded their eyes, he's hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and they would heal them. Golden belief is the ultimate sin of rebellion against God. The thing is, there's no hope for any of us unless there's an intervention from the Holy Spirit. Remember the story of Nicodemus in John chapter 3. Nicodemus says, we know that you are from God because of all the wonderful things you've done, I'm paraphrasing. Jesus said, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. And what he was telling him, unless he was born of the Spirit, he couldn't see the kingdom of God, which was standing three feet in front of his face because Jesus is the kingdom of God. John chapter 6, you can't come unless the Father draws you. We're helpless apart from the intervention of the Holy Spirit. But there is good news. Paul writes in Ephesians 2, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. I know that doesn't sound like good news, but just a second. In which you once walked, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that has now worked at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived, in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. All of us, all of us are born sinful. All of us continue to live as sinners, all of our lives. And there will be no hope for us without the intervention of God, which verse 4 says, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. The good news, no the great news, the incredible news, is despite our sin and rebellion against the God who made us, the God who loves us, he has made a way for us to be forgiven and enter into his presence. Mercy and grace. But God, being rich in mercy, by grace you have been saved. We didn't read this part, but the chapter ends with, Jesus cried out and said, whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me and whoever sees me, sees him who sent me, I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me may not remain in the dark. If anyone hears my word and does not keep them, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. When he says he will draw all people to himself, some people get confused and they think, well that means everybody's going to be saved. No, it doesn't. All people means people of every kind. But God is not miserly with his grace. He is not stingy with his salvation, because revelation tells us, before the throne of God, there will be a number of people so great from every tribe, tongue and nation that no one could count. I pray that everyone here will be in that number. Father in heaven, thank you for the word. Thank you for your gospel.