Take your Bibles with me, if you will, please, and turn to John chapter 12. Before we go there, if you would, just put a marker in Deuteronomy chapter 21. We’ll be there shortly. Deuteronomy chapter 21. Just put a marker there, and then let’s look at John chapter 12.
We’re still in our series of Redemption Accomplished, trying to investigate the various aspects of significance of the Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Today we come to the subject, “Jesus Lifted Up.” Jesus lifted up.
Now we have—I’ll give you a little warning ahead of time—we have a number of biblical themes, in particular themes in the Gospel of John, that converge in John chapter 12. And we will try to look at them, but I’m going to have to spend time looking at each of them individually, and then hopefully by the end of the message bring them all together. But you will need to listen carefully to follow what I think John is doing here.
All right, John chapter 12. Let’s begin. Let me back up again. Keep your hand there, but look at John chapter 3, verses 14 and 15. I’ll wait for you to get there. John 3:14 and 15: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” And then John 8 and verse 28: “So Jesus said to them, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as my Father taught me.'”
And now, chapter 12, I’ll begin with verse 20:
“Now among those who went up to worship at the feast, there were some Greeks. Keep that in mind; it’ll be important later. Those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world shall keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice from heaven came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, ‘The voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.'” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of the light.”
Let’s bow together for prayer.
Our Father, it has been good for our souls to investigate all of the various aspects of Christ’s atoning work, all that he has done for us. It’s been a joy to our hearts, and we pray that this morning you would minister your word to us again in this way. Help us to see the significance of Jesus lifted up. And may we go from here as a result rejoicing in Him and in what it is to be His. We thank you in His name. Amen.
Jesus Lifted Up
Every society generally has had its chosen method of executing criminals. In Israel, it was stoning. In Rome, it was crucifixion. Babylon, it was the fiery furnace. Persia, it was the lion’s den. France had the guillotine. The United States used to have hanging. As I say, in Rome, their chosen method of crucifixion of criminals—at least some class of criminals, usually the worst—was crucifixion.
Crucifixion was an awful process. It wasn’t just up and done. It involved the whipping and the scourging, and then even on the cross it involved an extended time of torture. The person was not intended to die quickly but to endure humiliation and shame as well as prolonged agony and to stand as a deterrent to the people against the crimes. It was a horrible, horrible way to die. Sometimes the victims would hang on the cross for a matter of a couple of days before finally dying. The descriptions we have of it in the ancient literature that’s been preserved is just gruesome and it’s horrible. It is an ignominious death, a shameful, humiliating, agonizing, prolonged way to die.
In John, that crucifixion is referred to in Jesus’ lips as “lifting up.” In a very literal sense, lifting up on a cross. We saw it in John chapter 3 verse 14: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Jesus mentions it again in John chapter 8, that “when I am lifted up, you will know that I am he.” Both of those are just full of significance that we can’t take time to explore this morning.
But then here in John chapter 12, we have it again. Jesus—this time it’s very explicit—verse 32: “When I am lifted up from the earth.” And then verse 33 clarifies for us, in case you missed it: “This he said to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”
So it’s interesting, I think, first of all, that this, by crucifixion, was the way that Jesus died. And what’s also interesting about it is that it was the Jews who demanded it. The Jews’ preferred method of execution was stoning ever since the law of Moses. And here they find this man guilty of blasphemy. They want him dead and, rather than stoning him themselves, they turn him over to the Roman authority to Pilate and demand that he be crucified.
Now, it’s an interesting thing that they would do that. Why not just take care of the matter themselves? Now what they did, in fact, was plead to Pilate and say, “Your law doesn’t allow us to put a man to death. You have to do that.” But in point of fact, the laws there, as they were carried out, wouldn’t have cared at all. And Pilate couldn’t have cared less if another Jew was put to death. And it certainly didn’t stop them when it came to Stephen in Acts chapter 7, did it? So it’s not like the Jews hesitated putting people to death for blasphemy. They did it. But in this case, they didn’t. They instead turned Jesus over to the Roman authorities to be crucified.
And that’s interesting then, that it was because Jesus’ enemies, the Jews, who had brought about then, by turning him over to the Romans, a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And John doesn’t miss that. In John chapter 18, he tells us, “Pilate said to them, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.’ The Jews said to him, ‘It’s not lawful for us to put him to death.'” This was to fulfill—and this is John’s interpretive comment to the event—this was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he would die. And in fact, there are hints of that also in the Old Testament, in Zechariah in particular, about the one who is pierced and so on. So that the Jews here had brought about the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy by handing him over to be crucified.
Now it’s interesting also because although Israel did not crucify in order to execute their criminals, there were times when the Jews would lift up a dead body—sorry to be so gruesome this morning—on a stake or a cross of some kind to show that it had been cursed of God. Now, I want you to see that back in Deuteronomy chapter 21. If you’ll go back to that where you’ve left your marker, Deuteronomy 21, look at verses 22 and 23:
“If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, you will hang him, that is the dead man, on a tree.” Now, the word “tree” means some kind of a wooden stake. This is not an Old West lynching; it is impaling him on a stake. “His body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him that same day, because a hanged man is cursed of God, and you will not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for inheritance.”
So a man’s committed a crime. He’s put to death, presumably by stoning. You take the body, you impale him on a stake, but then you make sure you take him down before nightfall because it would be defiling to the land because that man hanging there, having been put to death by the Jewish authorities, he’s under the curse of God. Now notice that significance. The one hanged, the one impaled on the stake, nailed to the stake, is under the curse of God. And that’s why he can’t be left out all night.
Now that’s reflected, if you’ll remember, in John chapter 19, after Jesus is crucified, that some of them went to Pilate to ask for his body so that he could be buried that same day. It’s in keeping with this aspect of Moses’ law. Now did that ever happen in ancient Israel? Well, there are a couple of examples where it did, yes. In Numbers chapter 25, we have the incident with Balaam. You remember Balaam tried to curse Israel for Balak? Three times he tries to curse Israel and fails. He can’t do it. “I can’t curse these people. I don’t know why it doesn’t work. But I know what you can do.” And he convinces them. Here’s our plot. And he sets out a plan to seduce the men of Israel with their own women. And there’s acts of immorality—it’s probably some idol worship, the fertility gods and things like that—that went on. And by doing this now, seducing them, he got them to worship false gods. The god of Baal, Baal Peor is the incident, it’s the god of that area, Peor. And there they committed this awful, awful crime.
As a result, the wrath of God, you remember, came on Israel and some 24,000 people died from this plague before it was over. In Numbers chapter 25 and verse 4, it tells us how the plague was turned away. Listen to this, Numbers 25 verse 4: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.'” So take the leaders from each of the twelve tribes, put them up on a stake before the Lord. There they are cursed before the Lord, and that will turn away God’s wrath from the people of Israel in this particular plague. Now we don’t have any direct indication whether or not these heads of the tribes were guilty of the crimes themselves. They may have been; they may not have been. We don’t know. But there they were placed in a representative capacity. And there they bore the curse of God, and the wrath of God was turned away from Israel.
We have another incident of it in 2 Samuel chapter 21, where Israel this time, now under the reign of David the king, is enduring a terrible drought, a famine. And come to find out that this has come because of a sin of Saul, the previous king. He had broken a treaty with the Gibeonites back years before. Joshua had made an agreement with them—was tricked into an agreement with them—and it was still being held, and Saul sought to wipe them out. And God was angry because Saul had broken this treaty, and now we have Israel suffering because of this sin of King Saul, this famine. And so again, what was the result of all of this? David inquired before the Lord, it tells us, and he learns that this was a result of Saul’s sin. And so God says to David, “Ask the Gibeonites how you can turn away my wrath.” Well, it’s an odd thing to do. So he talks to the Gibeonites, and they say, “Give us seven sons of Saul and we’ll hang them before the Lord.” And so they did and the wrath of God was turned away. Again, these seven sons of Saul were hanged in a representative capacity and by their execution, Israel was spared. They became cursed instead of Israel.
So in ancient Israel, to see a man hanging on a stake is to see a man cursed of God. Now all of that seems significant when we get here to John chapter 12, verse 33: “He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.” It seems to explain for us why it was so important for Jesus to die by crucifixion. His lifting up speaks not only in a very literal sense of the way he died—crucifixion—but it speaks of the kind of death that he died. He died under a divine curse. And so in other words, the manner of death becomes in the sweep of things an indication of the meaning of Jesus’ death. He died under a curse.
You might remember that this whole thing comes up in Galatians chapter 3, where Paul summarizes the gospel crisply for us. And he says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us.” Redemption by substitution, taking our place. He became the curse; we are rescued from the curse. And then he offers this as support, and he quotes Deuteronomy 21 that we have read: “For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'” I say this every time I’m in this context. I just can’t miss it. You can’t help but see that pre-conversion Saul preached this in the synagogues: “These crazy Christians, they’re preaching a Messiah who’s been hanged on a cross! And we all know, Moses’ law says it, he was cursed of God. How could he be the Messiah?” And of course, what Paul tells us now in Galatians 3 is he adds two words to it that make all the difference in the world: He was cursed for us. And there’s the gospel.
Who Is This Son Of Man?
So the Jews understood this “lifting up” as death, being cursed of God, shameful, and all of that. And because they evidently understood it in those terms, they’re confused. Look at verse 34: “The crowd answered him, ‘We’ve heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?'” This doesn’t make sense.
Now he’s using the term, his favorite term, “Son of Man.” Who’s that? That’s the figure in Daniel chapter 7, remember? He’s this heavenly figure who arises on the clouds, riding on the clouds out of nowhere, stands, and he’s presented before the Ancient of Days, receives the kingdom, and he’s got authority to rule over God’s kingdom. And all tribes and nations and tongues bow down before him and worship him. That’s the Son of Man. That makes sense. And so later in Matthew 26, when Jesus says to Caiaphas during one of his trials, “From now on you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,” that makes perfect sense. He’s claiming to be Messiah and glorious and all that. He’s a blasphemer; let’s put him to death. But now you’re saying the Son of Man must be lifted up? What in the world is that all about? That doesn’t fit with what the Son of Man is.
Well, what’s further interesting here—I think this is just so curious—is another pun that’s involved in all of this, and we’ll see a couple more of these. This terminology: “lifted up.” Lifted up. Does that sound like exaltation? Praise? In fact, this word chosen here is not a couple of other words that he could have used that simply mean physically to raise up. This word here, “lifted up,” is often used in terms of praise and exaltation. For example, in Acts chapter 2 and verse 33: “Being therefore exalted”—this is Peter preaching at Pentecost—”being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.” You see all of these great events at Pentecost? This is the exalted Christ—there’s our word, the exalted Son of God—he has received this authority. That sounds like Daniel 7, doesn’t it? He stands before God, receives the kingdom. That’s what’s going on.
Another one: Acts chapter 5, verse 31. Again, Peter: “God exalted him”—that is Jesus—”God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” That word translated “exalted” is the same word here. Lifted up. God lifted him up. He exalted him. There’s a play on words, “lifted up,” and is intended by Jesus and John to signify, one, his physical lifting up on a cross, crucifixion; and evidently there’s this pun involved, his exaltation, which is just the height of irony. Lifted up on a cross, exalted? Those two don’t go together. They don’t fit. And yet that’s evidently the intended meaning.
And in fact, there’s an Old Testament precedent for this. In Isaiah, you remember the great servant song of Isaiah 53? It actually starts in Isaiah 52. And in Isaiah 52 verse 13, we read, “He shall be exalted,” and that he shall be exalted—that’s our word in the Septuagint, the Greek translation there. It’s our same word that’s used here in John. “He shall be exalted.” And then it goes on to say, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He bore our iniquities.” And so, exalted, bore our iniquities. No wonder the prophet says, “Who has believed our report?” This doesn’t fit together. But there’s evidently this intended play on words “lifted up” both in terms of the crucifixion and in terms of his exaltation. Something about his being lifted up in that awful death is his exaltation.
The Hour Has Come For The Son Of Man To Be Glorified
Now there’s another play on words going on here, and this is this glory terminology. And I want you to see that. In John 12, verse 23: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Now what kind of way is that to talk about his crucifixion? The Son of Man, the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Verse 27: “Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?” This is the hour of his death. “For this purpose, I’ve come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Evidently, he’s speaking here of his death as in some terms of success, accomplishment, triumph. Glory!
So, lifted up on a cross, exalted, glorified. Seems strange. Verses 32 and 33—all of this is tied to the “lifted up” language. “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw people to myself.” Again, speaking of his success in death. If you want to think ahead or even look ahead here, in John chapter 17, in Jesus’ great high priestly prayer, he prays for us: “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes.” That’s not our same term; it’s a different Greek word there. “He raised his eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you.'” Something about his death is his success, his triumph, his exaltation. And of course we see this from the rest of the story. Here he secures our salvation for us in his death and therefore is exalted in death.
And so we have this theme now coming together of Jesus—can you say it this way?—his shameful, humiliating glory. They come together, standing in our place. God’s curse was on him for our sins, as our substitute. He renders satisfaction to God, succeeds in securing a people for himself, and that is his moment of glory.
Now actually that is—John brings that forward to us with one other important phrase in the Gospel of John, and that’s the phrase, “my hour.” Earlier in this series on one occasion, we took time just briefly to run through those occasions in John’s Gospel where Jesus speaks of his hour. You remember, “My hour is not yet,” John chapter 2. A little bit later, they didn’t lay a hand on him because his hour was not yet. Or they didn’t arrest him because his hour was not yet. And there’s this hour that he’s coming to and nothing else can interfere because his hour is an hour that he must surely go. And you get this sense that this is going to be his great hour of triumph, his hour of success.
And then we come to John chapter 12. Verse 23: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” speaking of his cross. Verse 27: “For this purpose I came to this hour.” That’s his cross. And this is the hour—in a sense we could say this, we could paraphrase this—his finest hour. This is his hour, his moment of success, the climactic moment when he accomplishes the divine mission of rescue. And so, it is the hour of his death, his crucifixion; it is the hour of his exaltation and the hour of his glory. All of this comes together. In John 12, verses 23 and following, all of that converges together: my hour, lifted up, glory. All of that referring to the successful mission that he accomplished in his saving death.
Verses 23 and 24 again, let’s look at it. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Now here he’s just talking about the way seeds grow. But it’s an analogy. You keep a nice fresh green seed, nothing will happen with it; it’s just a seed. You plant it, it decays, dies. A harvest, right? Jesus says, “That’s what will be with me. When I’m lifted up, it’ll be like planting a seed and it’s going to bring out a harvest.” You see the imagery? It will be his finest hour. In his death will be his moment of success.
In verses 28 and following then, he speaks of it as the hour, the occasion of his glory—glory for both the Father and the Son. And then verses 31 and 32 explain for us why this is the occasion of his glory. Finally, he interprets it a bit for us. We’ll see this in more detail next Sunday, or next time. Verse 31, why is this an occasion for his glory? Why is this his finest hour? Because in this hour the world is judged. “Now is the judgment of this world.” It just brims over with irony, doesn’t it? Here the world pronounces its condemnation, its judgment on Christ, and in doing so establishes him as the world king who will be their judge. Isn’t that fascinating? Drips with irony.
We have it again, the rest of verse 31. In this hour, the world’s ruler is overthrown. “Now is the ruler of this world cast out.” This is the old ancient Christus Victor theme that we find in the New Testament several times over. And again, this just drips with irony. If ever there were a moment of Satan’s success, he would seem to be here. Here he’s got the Son of God himself incarnate, crucified. Surely Satan and his demons are having a party. “We’ve got him. That’s the end of him.”
But now keep in mind the context. We’ve got these Greeks who come to see Jesus. And so they talk to Philip. “We’d like to see Jesus.” And Philip behaves just like you shouldn’t behave if someone wants to talk about Jesus. Philip says, “You want to see Jesus? Yeah. Hold off on that. I’m going to go check on that.” So he goes, “Andrew, Greeks! Greeks! They want to see Jesus. I don’t know about that. Jesus, we got Greeks out here that want to see you.” And Jesus says, “Yeah, to put me to death would be like putting a seed in the ground and bringing forth a harvest. Don’t think this is just for you. I’ll have a crop of people the world over.”
And again it drips with irony. If ever there were a moment where Jesus’ enemies thought they got him, and thought they would end this thing, it was here at the cross. “Now we’re done with him. Nobody will follow this guy now.” And Jesus says, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all peoples to myself.” This is a worldwide endeavor, and notice the confidence with which Jesus speaks. Again, “If I be lifted up, I will”—this is verse 32—”I will draw all people to myself.” His cross marks not just his death and not his defeat. The cross marks his success, not his failure.
Jesus’ Humble Glory
Now all of these themes come together. We’ll see more of it next time. Some years ago, one of the praise choruses that came out—it’s no longer quite, can’t quite call it contemporary; it’s been enough years back, but it was a contemporary Christian music chorus that came out, praise chorus. I think some of you will remember it: “Lift Him Up.” Remember that? “Lift him up, lift him up. Lift the name of Jesus higher. He said, ‘If I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto me.’ Lift him up, lift him up.” So clearly we have a chorus taken from this passage speaking of Jesus being exalted, praised—”lift him up, he’ll draw all people to himself.”
At the time, when the song became popular, many people who were reading their Bible a little bit more carefully said, “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. That passage in John 12 is not talking about Jesus’ exaltation, his praise. It’s talking about his death.” That’s what verse 33 says: “This he spake, showing what kind of death he would die.” It’s his death, not his exaltation. And almost nobody thought to say, “Wait a minute, it’s both.” It’s his death—his shameful, humiliating, seeming defeat—that becomes the occasion of his success and his glory.
Roman Catholic art typically portrays Jesus as a pitiable figure deserving of our sympathy. The reformers, and even in the early church, there was a great emphasis on Jesus reigning from the cross. Here he establishes his kingdom. Here he has taken the sin of his people to himself. He has cast out Satan. Satan’s whole grip on humanity was due to human sin. Now he’s dealt with the whole problem of human sin. Satan’s grip on humanity is gone. He has succeeded in accomplishing a people from the world over. He reigns from a cross.
Traditional systematic theology in the seminaries has a rather helpful distinction that is made between the states of Jesus’ incarnation. There’s the state of his humiliation and the state of his glorification. State of his humiliation, state of his glory. And it turns, in systematic theology in these categories, it turns at the resurrection. In the resurrection of Jesus, we have him entering into his glory. We have his humiliation climaxing in his death. And now we have his glory beginning in his resurrection and his ascension into heaven, and finally culminating in the return of Christ.
And all of that is helpful as it is, but when you read the Gospel of John, you say, “That’s gotta be tweaked a little bit, doesn’t it?” Because the cross itself, though it is humiliating, though it was awful, shameful, it was at the same time the moment of his success and the moment of his glory. Here he secured a people for himself for the Father. And so there has been, since the fourth century, a theme from the Gospel of John that has been recognized as what Origen, one of the Church Fathers, called “Jesus’ humble glory.”
That doesn’t fit, does it? Jesus’ humble glory. Lifted up, crucified in shame, and exalted and successful and glorified, all in the same moment. This Gospel of John is, in fact, the Gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ, but it is, in fact, a humble glory. There He is, the eternal, transcendent Son of God, incarnate, humbling himself, humiliating himself, being humiliated by his own creation—eternally glorious, but now that eternal glory climaxing in his utter humiliation and seeming defeat in the cross. That’s his glory.
So think of it in terms of what we’ve been learning. The Son of God sent on a saving mission. He goes to the cross. He takes the sin of all of his people to himself. He endures their curse, and he renders satisfaction to God, bearing their sin and taking their curse. Because God’s justice is satisfied, they are redeemed, they’re set free, and they’re reconciled to God. And it’s here in Jesus’ death then that we, his people, see his glory.
I remember—this is a number of years ago, many years ago—attending a church one Sunday evening where we were at the time. The congregation stood to sing a hymn that we don’t have in either of our songbooks. It’s a good hymn. It’s by Fanny Crosby, “I Shall Know Him.” Some of you know that song, “I Shall Know Him”? “When my life’s work is ended and I cross the swelling tide, in a bright and cloudless morning, I shall see. I shall know my redeemer when I reach the other side, and his smile will be the first to welcome me.” And the chorus goes, “I shall know him. I shall know him and redeemed by his side, I shall stand. I shall know him, I shall know him by the prints of the nails in his hands.”
We sang that, congregation was seated, pastor came to the pulpit, and with kind of a scoffing tone—I hate to ruin a song for you—he said, “But when we get to heaven and see Jesus, we’ll know him by something else entirely. We’ll see him in his transcendent glory.” And I thought, you know, as right as he is, how wrong he is. He’s missed something that Fanny Crosby caught in her hymn.
Remember in Revelation chapter 5, that great scene we’ve had in chapter 4: God on his throne and all of creation bowing. Who’s going to carry out his purpose, take the scroll? And someone finally shouts, “Look, there’s a lion of the tribe of Judah!” There’s glory. And everybody turns and looks. You remember what they see? They see a Lamb as it had been slain. And they all break out into song and say, “You are worthy because by your blood you have redeemed a people for God out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue.”
I suspect Fanny Crosby caught it right. When we go to glory, yes, we’ll see the transcendent and glorious exalted Son of God in all of his brilliant glory, whatever that will be. But what will be striking to us is that he bears in his body the marks of our redemption. This is the one who secured my salvation. His cross was his moment of glory. And when we see him on a cross, whatever other emotions might attend to that that are right, we must see him as in his moment of success, securing our redemption. Christ reigning from a cross.
The whole thrust of the Gospel of John is to tell us this is just the Savior you need. He’s the Savior come from heaven. And in his weakest moment, in his moment of shame and defeat and utter humiliation, he triumphed in securing our redemption to God. Amen. Let’s pray.