John 12:27-33: The Victorious Cross

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 2:14–15 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Intro

The Crucifixion of Jesus was the darkest day of human history.

For a moment it looked like Christ had failed, and all of Christ enemies had won.

Christ was dead.

The Jews and the Romans had plotted together to kill Him remove Him out of the way.

And behind them both Satan had been working… even gotten God’s own people to reject the Messiah and hand him over to be crucified.

For those three days it looked like darkness had won.

That God had failed.

That Christ had been defeated.

But it was the day of Christ’s defeat.

It was the day of His great and glorious victory over all God’s enemies and the salvation of His people.

The cross of Christ was not a tragedy or a defeat.

It was a victorious triumph where Christ, by His mercy and grace, accomplished the fullness of our salvation.

It was a victorious Cross by which God saved us from all our sins.

Christ’s victory was our victory.

What Christ accomplished… He accomplished for us.

So the question I want to answer today is what did Christ accomplish on the cross.

What victory and almighty power did He work for you… for me… and for all those who trust in Him?

John 12:27-33 tells us all that Christ accomplished on our behalf in His victorious death on the cross.

By His death, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh and delivered us from the power of the devil to give us eternal life.

Let’s go to John 12:27-28 to see the great victory and salvation Christ accomplished for all of us in His death on the cross.

John 12:27–28 “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 came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

Trouble

Jesus said Now is my soul troubled.

So often we brush over words like that… words that speak to Jesus’ heart and the anguish of His soul, thinking let’s just get to the theology.

But this is theology!

The word troubled means to shake or to stir up.

Its the same word used for the stirring up the waters of the pool of Bethesda (John 5:7).

Here it carries the sense of revulsion or horror.

Jesus’ soul was stirred up or disturbed within Him.

Its the same word the Psalmist used in Psalm 42 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (Psalm 42:11).

Its like Jesus is saying, “My soul is horrified within me. My soul is greatly troubled and disturbed by what I am facing.”

That of course was the cross.

That’s what this hour was referring to.

Jesus’ death and crucifixion.

His bearing the wrath of God in our place for our sins.

Suffering God’s wrath and becoming a curse for us… drinking the cup of God’s wrath full of fire, sulfur, and scorching wind down to the dregs (Galatians 3:13, Psalm 75:8, Revelation 14:9-10, Psalm 11:6).

This was a Garden of Gethsemane where as there, Jesus’ soul was in agony praying earnestly to the Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42-44).

And the tense of the Greek verb shows that it was ongoing struggle… a continual anguish and trouble of Jesus’ soul.

It wasn’t momentary or fleeting… but continual… persistent… always there the closer Jesus got to the cross.

The Old Testament gives us a picture of this kind of trouble and anguish of soul when facing the wrath of God.

Nahum 2:10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!

That’s that horror or revulsion we are talking about.

Psalm 22:14 - a Messianic Psalm specifically prophesying Jesus’ prayer and experience as He hung on the cross…

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd.

And Job 23:16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.

That’s the trouble and anguish of soul Jesus is talking about here.

Shadow

And we’ve touched on this before, but what this shows us is that Jesus lived His entire life in the shadow of the cross.

It was always before Him.

But Jesus set His face like flint and marched that long road to Calvary’s Hill. (Isaiah 50:7, Luke 9:51).

This is where the theology comes in.

By living His life in the shadow of the cross, Jesus showed us His courage, His faith, and His love.

Courage

His Courage.

Jesus was the most courageous man that ever lived.

He knew the death, the shame, the agony, and the wrath of God that awaited Him…

And He kept marching on in perfect obedience to the Father.

And that’s His faith.

Faith

Jesus lived His whole life continually entrusting Himself to the Father.

Continually obeying Him and submitting Himself to Him.

As we are going to see in a moment this is why we are saved.

He obeyed God perfectly on our behalf.

And He did it all for us.

That’s Christ’s love.

Love

Christ laid down His life for us.

He faced the cross.

He didn’t run away.

But He died in our place for our sins, knowing that without His sacrifice we would all be lost forever in Hell.

He didn’t just die to suffer the legal requirements of the Law… as if the only thing at stake was a legal transaction…

He died for us.

Summary

All that theology in that one little word.

And the love of Christ to endure the cross for us to save us from our sins.

Because He said…

And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”

For Christ, there was no question what He would choose.

For this purpose I have come to this hour.

[For] the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

Positive Righteousness

As I said, this verse is why we are saved.

On the cross, Jesus did not only pay the penalty for our sin [For the wages of sin is death]…

The cross was also the culmination of Jesus’ perfect… righteous… and holy obedience to the Lord.

He became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

Jesus obeyed God the Father personally, perfectly, entirely, and perpetually (1689 19:1).

He didn’t just pay the penalty for our sin, He lived a perfect and righteous life on our behalf.

He kept God’s Law and fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law we failed to live and by His perfect work… purchased for us eternal life.

We are declared righteous in Christ.

Not only is our sin forgiven… we are clothed in His perfect righteousness and made acceptable to God.

And not just acceptable… but beloved… beloved as God’s own beloved sons and daughters adopted in the eternally beloved Son of God!

All because on the cross Christ didn’t just pay for our sins… but He obeyed God the Father to the point of death, and He obeyed on our behalf so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

And so Jesus prayed, Father, glorify your Name.

Name

We saw last week God’s Name… Yahweh… reveals God as:

Almighty, Sovereign, Eternal God…

And Covenant Keeping Lord of our Salvation.

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:6-7).

And Jesus prayed that God would glorify His Name.

That through His death… through His hour… God would judge sin and forgive sinners.

That He would be the Just and Justifier of the one who trusts in Jesus (Romans 3:26).

And God answered Jesus’ prayer with a voice from heaven… I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

Seal

This is one of 3 times the Father spoke audibly from Heaven in the life of Jesus.

The first was at the outset of Jesus’ ministry at His Baptism when the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove.

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17).

The second was at the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus revealed His glory to Peter, James, and John in the presence of Moses and Elijah to say that Jesus is the point and the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets.

And there God said This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him (Matthew 17:5).

And here, just a few days before would die for the sins of the world… the Father speaks again.

So at the beginning and the end of Christ’s Ministry the Father set His seal… His approval on the Person and Work of the Son.

When God said I have glorified it and will glorify it again… He is essentially saying two things:

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).

And by His death, God would glorify His Name and save sinners.

It was a testimony for us.

That’s why verse 29 and 30 says

The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.”

The Father spoke for the benefit of those standing there and the benefit for us who hear those words today.

With these words God is essentially saying This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased… listen to him!… Trust in Him… Believe in Him… cast all your soul upon Him.

He is the only way to be saved!

This is God’s own testimony that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God and that His death would save sinners… that His death would glorify God’s Name as Just and Justifier for all those who trust in Him.

Have you believed Heaven’s testimony?

Have you believed God’s own Testimony concerning His Son and trusted in Jesus?

Can you have a surer word from Heaven of Christ’s power to save?

But you must have ears to hear.

Come to Christ.

Do not harden your heart like this crowd saying that these words are just thunder and noise and not Heaven’s own testimony and promise of eternal life…

A sure word from Heaven for how you might be saved!

Believe in Christ and trust in Him.

Humble yourself and come before Him with a simple prayer, “Jesus… will you please save me?”

And by God’s own testimony… God’s own promise of eternal life in His Son Jesus Christ… you will be saved.

If not the trouble of the wrath of God we talked about earlier that so greatly troubled Jesus’ soul will fall on you.

God has promised I have glorified it and I will glorify it again…

He has set His seal on Christ and His work and promised to all that come to Him and trust in His substitutionary death on the cross they will be saved and will not come into trouble but will receive eternal life.

Victorious Cross

‌And then we come to verse 31 where Jesus explains what His hour, what His death on the cross would accomplish…

How God would glorify His Name and save sinners.

And these are going to form our three points today.

Because Jesus’ death would not end in tragedy… It would end in victory.

His cross… His hour… was not a defeat… It was a victorious cross by which He:

Condemned sin in the flesh

Conquered Satan

And Saved all those who trust in Him.

So let’s look at all Christ accomplished… the Victory of the Cross… with point number 1…

I. By His Death Jesus Condemned Sin in the Flesh

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world…

The world for John can have several different uses depending on its context.

In John 3:16 it can mean just humanity in general in the pitiful misery of their sin.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.

It can refer to the physical earth or the entire created universe (John 17:5).

It can even be used for unbelievers (John 7:7), the general public (John 12:19, 7:4), or even world as in Jews and Gentiles together or just the Gentile world on its own (John 1:29, John 1:10).

But in this case, in John 12, it refers to fallen Humanity in rebellion against God under the dominion and control of Satan.

Now is the judgment of this world… Now is the judgment of this sinful world in rebellion against God.

In His death on the cross, Jesus judged the world - fallen humanity in rebellion against God in their sin - by revealing to the world the judgment that our sin deserves.

On the cross, Jesus revealed the sinfulness of sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh.

Why was it necessary for Jesus to have to suffer such a cruel, shameful, humiliating, and agonizing death under the wrath of God?

Because that’s what our sin deserves.

Everything about the cross points to and exposes our own condemnation.

The pain.

The humiliation of being mocked and ridiculed.

The forsakenness and being abandoned to die all alone.

The thirst… sorrow… weeping and hopelessness…

The agony.

Even Jesus’ nakedness showed us the shame of our sin.

Remember how they cast lots for His garments?

Before sin… the man and the woman in the Garden were both naked and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).

Afterwards… Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths to try and cover their nakedness because they were both ashamed (Genesis 3:7).

That’s us in our sin, naked and ashamed before God (Hebrews 4:13).

And spiritually, Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs.

On the cross, Jesus judged our sin - fallen humanity in rebellion against God - by showing us what our sin brings and what our sin deserves.

The same wrath and the same judgment that will fall on all those who reject Him and do not repent and trust in Christ.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Why? For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

In the death of Christ we see the condemnation our sin deserves… the judgment of this world.

But the good news of the gospel is that’s not all we see.

If we believe in Jesus Christ… then we don’t just see the condemnation our sin deserves…

We also see the condemnation of our own sin in Christ’s own flesh.

Romans 8:3–4 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

As Peter said He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24).

In the likeness of sinful flesh doesn’t mean Christ had any sin or a sinful nature.

In means that in His incarnation Jesus became fully and truly human.

While never ceasing to be God he took on human flesh to fulfill all the righteous requirements of the law and to offer His life as a sacrifice for sin.

That phrase alludes back to the Old Testament to talk about Christ offering His life as a sin offering.

And in His flesh… in His human nature… Christ condemned sin in the flesh.

He paid for our sin in full so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

In other words, He died in our place for our sins so that now there is no condemnation for all those in Christ (Romans 8:1).

Our sin… and all of our sin… has been condemned… judged… paid for once for all in Him.

As Christ hung on the cross… there was our sin… our judgment… the wrath of God our sins deserved.

And as Colossians 2:14 says [He canceled that] record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

By His death, Jesus judged the world - fallen sinful humanity in rebellion against God - and condemned sin in the flesh.

Number 2…

II. By His Death Jesus Conquered Satan and Delivered Us from Under Him

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

The ruler of this world is Satan.

Ruler

Now we need to be clear here because there is a lot of bad theology about Satan going around today.

I think a lot of Christians seem to implicitly think Satan is the one running the show down here… that he’s the sovereign over the world and what goes on in the world.

After all 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls him the god of this world.

And he is the god of this world in the same sense that he is the ruler of this world but the Greek of 2 Corinthians 4:4 It calls him the god of this age… as opposed to the age to come.

He is the God of this fallen, sinful, broken age. This fallen, sinful, broken world.

Satan is not God. He is not equal with God.

There is not a tug of war in heaven going on for the souls of men.

As Luther said the devil is God’s devil and in the book of Job we see that Satan is not free to go about and do as he pleases but he is subject to God almighty.

He is a finite created being… a fallen angel who led a rebellion against God.

As such He is the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24).

But he is not the sovereign over this world… Christ is.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matthew 28:18).

Heaven is His throne, and the earth is [His] footstool (Isaiah 66:1).

According to the biblical teaching Christ and Christ alone is the God of this world.

So in what sense is Satan the ruler of this world?

Well the key is in this world.

What did we just say that mean in the earlier part of the verse?

Fallen sinful humanity in rebellion against God under the control and dominion of satan.

He is the ruler of this world in the sense that he is the ruler of unbelievers in all their sin and rebellion against God.

We get the sense of it in Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now 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.

So Satan is the ruler of this world… the god of unbelievers… the spirit at work the sons of disobedience and children of wrath… keeping the sons of disobedience… the offspring of the serpent… in bondage and chains by their slavery to their sin.

That’s is why Jesus said You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires (John 8:44).

And john said in 1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

Satan became the god of this world when we gave him the throne of our hearts and followed him in sin and rebellion against God.

But by His death, Christ conquered and overcame the devil and delivered us from the evil one.

So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed (John 8:36).

Cast Out

Notice it says Now the ruler of this world is cast out.

With the Now being connected to Christ’s death and crucifixion.

This is not something we are waiting on heaven to be fulfilled.

This is a reality now.

Christ conquered Satan at the cross.

This is what God promised in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

That’s Satan and His offspring and Christ and His offspring… that’s all those who put there faith in Him.

And he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

That’s the cross.

At the cross Satan bit His ankle… Christ suffered and died.

But in His death, Christ ultimately triumphed over Him where Adam failed to and crushed the head of the serpent!

Now don’t get me wrong…

Satan is still around… He’s still prowling about like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).

But Christ’s victory is already accomplished and assured.

The death blow has already been dealt.

Satan is slain and falling to the ground and everything we see know is him lashing out in His death throes like a wild animal clinging to survival.

But the cross was a decisive and utter defeat.

Christ broke the power of the devil and delivered us from His power and influence no longer slaves of sin and children of the devil, but slaves of Christ and children of God.

And Christ’s victory is so certain… so final… and so all encompassing… that Jesus says now will the ruler of this world be cast out out.

That’s what it says in the Greek.

Cast out outside.

Its a total and utter defeat that Jesus has in view.

A great exodus where that Pharoah Satan is rendered powerless, broken, and destroyed and all of God’s people are delivered out his kingdom of darkness into Christ’s Kingdom of marvelous light.

Post cross and the ministry of Jesus the Bible describes Satan as:

Bound - Matthew 12:29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

This idea of binding and plundering in terms of delivering God’s people from condemnation and slavery.

Jesus says the ruler of this world is judged (John 16:11).

Rendered powerless (Hebrews 2:14-15).

And disarmed and conquered - He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Colossians 2:15).

All of this is wrapped up in the idea of Satan being cast out.

Utterly defeated. Judged.

He will crush the head of the serpent.

At the cross Jesus conquered and triumphed over Satan and delivered us from him.

He broke the devil’s power to accuse us under the Law saying we deserve death for breaking GOd’s law by becoming a curse for us and paying the full penalty of our sin.

Jesus condemned sin in the flesh so that now Revelation 12:11 we have overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb.

And by conquering Satan Jesus bound the strong man and is now plundering his house.

We are that plunder.

By His death, Christ has delivered us from Satan’s power and influence where we were enslaved to follow him by our slavery to sin.

by delivering us from our slavery to him and freeing us from our sin.

We were captured by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26).

But Christ freed us and made us children of God for if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed (2 Timothy 2:26, John 8:36).

Summary

That’s probably the best way I can describe what practical difference Jesus conquering Satan and crushing the head of the serpent has in your everyday life.

Because of Christ’s finished work on the cross… because He crushed the head of the serpent and triumphed over him…

You are no longer a child of the devil enslaved to your sin and bound to follow Him as a child of wrath living out the passions of your flesh.

You are free! Free from condemnation and free from sin.

Because of Christ, you are now a beloved son or daughter of God and your inheritance is not the inheritance of Satan… condemnation and death… but the inheritance of your heavenly Father… eternal life!

That’s what it means that Jesus conquered Satan on the cross and delivered us from Him.

Christ destroyed the devil and all his works and by doing so He brought the fullness of redemption for all those who trust in him.

So By His Victorious death…

Christ condemned sin in the flesh.

Conquered and delivered us from Satan.

And finally… Number 3…

III. By His Death Jesus Saved All Those Who Trust in Him

John 12:32–33 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.

This is the result or the culmination of Jesus condemning sin in the flesh and conquering Satan.

What does Christ ultimately accomplish by judging sin and casting out Satan?

The salvation of sinners. Drawing all men to Himself.

Now this is not saying that Christ will save all men universally.

Of course not or else all men would be saved.

What Christ is saying is that He will save all men and all kinds of men from every tribe, tongue, and nation…

And that He will save them powerfully and effectively.

Jew/Gentile

The context of this passage is some Greeks seeking Jesus.

So by His death Christ would save not just the Jews only but Gentiles also.

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

Powerfully/Effectively

And not only that, but by His death Christ would powerfully and effectively save them.

That’s what we see in the word draw.

This is not a hopeful salvation… Its a powerful salvation.

Its the same word used in John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Its a powerful and effective drawing that overcomes all struggle and resistance of the thing being drawn.

The word is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe dragging a heavy net full of fish back to the shore (John 21:6).

Of dragging Paul and Silas before the court (Acts 16:19).

So in saying And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself… Jesus is saying that by His death He would purchase His people… accomplish all their salvation… and powerfully and effectively draw His elect.

He would save all those the Father had given Him.

No matter the opposition or resistance and the grace of the gospel is that that includes even the resistance of our own sin.

Christ powerfully and effectively saves.

Its the same idea in John 10.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…And I have other sheep that are not of this fold [meaning the Gentiles]. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:11, John 10:16).

So what this is saying is that in His death on the cross, Christ actually secured… obtained… guaranteed to salvation of all His sheep.

And as the Good Shepherd not a single one will be lost, but Christ would powerfully and effectively draw all His sheep to Himself no matter how far off they were or where they were scattered (John 11:52).

So on the cross Jesus actually purchased our salvation.

He did not secure a potential salvation.

He didn’t just die to make salvation possible.

He died to save sinners.

And all those for whom Christ died will truly, ultimately, and finally be saved.

He will seek them out and draw them all to Himself and not a single one will be lost.

Accomplished/Secured

This is a great comfort because our salvation is both accomplished and secured in Jesus Christ and His finished work in His death on the cross.

What I want you to see from this verse is that on the cross… when Christ was lifted up… He purchased and accomplished the fullness of our salvation.

He made full atonement for all our sins.

He paid for our sins in full to satisfy the wrath of God once and for all.

He removed our sin as far as the east is form the west and condemned sin in the flesh.

He became a curse for us.

He died in our place as our substitute.

And in His death He redeemed us and reconciled us to God.

He forgave our sin.

Made peace by the blood of His cross.

And not just peace where God is no longer angry or wrathful with us…

But love!

In Christ we are adopted as beloved sons and daughters of God.

Or in other words the fullness of eternal life.

Conclusion

By His death, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh and delivered us from the power of the devil to give us eternal life.

Jesus Cross was a victorious cross.

A victorious triumph that accomplished and secured the fullness of our salvation.

By His death, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh.

He judged the world revealing to the world the wrath of God our sin deserves and at the same time judging our sin in His own death so that now all our sin is forgiven and there is no condemnation for those in Christ (Romans 8:1).

He conquered Satan… that great serpent… and delivered us from our sin and slavery to Him.

He bound the strong man… He crushed the head of the serpent… He disarmed the powers and authorities…

Destroyed the works of the Devil and rendered Him powerless.

Christ cast Him out so that we are free.

Free from condemnation… free from sin… free from wrath and judgment...

Sons of God and heirs of eternal life.

And by His death, Christ saved all those who trust in Him.

He powerfully and effectively saved His sheep and all of His sheep from every tribe tongue and nation to give them eternal life.

The world looks at the cross and sees a powerless and foolish would be Savior and King.

The cross is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23).

How could you worship a “God” who died like that?

But to us who are being saved it is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24).

A victorious triumph of our victorious King who:

Paid for our sin…

Conquered our enemy…

And delivered us from slavery into eternal life.

The Victorious Cross is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

The power of Almighty God to save us once and for all from all our sin.

Let’s Pray