Troubled to win

Troubled to win

John 12:27-36

November 17, 2024 READ TEXT

A couple of weeks ago, I was coming into town, and as I came into the valley off of Melba Hill, I was blessed with an amazing site. The clouds were thick and dark but as the sun was starting to crest over the eastern mountains, there was a gap between the cloud cover and the mountain tops. The sun could just coat the valley floor with its light.

Imagine please that scene. The darkness of the clouds was low and the gap was small but the light that pressed down between the clouds and the earth was concentrated under the pressure of the clouds. It was almost like God was saying, today will be dark but for a few people who are able, you will see concentrated, brilliant light for a short time.

It was an amazing gift! Due to the angle of the light, it penetrated the autumn leaves on the trees making them more brilliant than I have seen in years. It was an amazing scene! But the time that I got to enjoy it was short-lived. As the sun came up, the clouds won over the light and the gloom of the day took away the brilliance of the light.

Today our Lord uses light yet again to get us to see something that the dark wants to shroud from our eyes. This message is not another in the sin series but it could have been. The apostle John wants you and I to understand in this passage a progression from trouble and oppression to a win of eternal proportions. And our LORD uses light to teach us this lesson.

Let’s catch up with Jesus in our passage because it has been 6 weeks since being in John. Jesus has just come into Jerusalem for His passion week. He had just cleared the temple, again, and the people who were left were listening to Him preach and teach. Jesus was just a few short hours away from His arrest and trial. With that as a setting, He has a very powerful message for you and me today.

1. Troubled in spirit.

We just spent 5 weeks looking at sin the way God sees it. In this passage, I want us to see it yet again from a different angle than how we normally do.

Vs 27 27 “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.[1]”

This passage has been the subject of many wrong presentations and teachings. Some would say, look at how Jesus is dreading the cross! Look at His humanity on display. While I agree that He is fully human I do not want us to miss the divinity that is really on display here.

The word “troubled” here is: (tarassō): cause great distress, trouble, disturb cause a riot, throw into confusion[2]

JC Ryle writes:

To say, as some do, that the only cause of our Lord’s trouble was the prospect of His own painful death on the cross, is a very unsatisfactory explanation. At this rate, it might justly be said that many a martyr has shown more calmness and courage than the Son of God. Such a conclusion is, to say the least, most revolting.

Has anyone heard of the Clapping Martyr? According to the Foxx’s Book of Martyrs, he records the death of a man by the name of Thomas Hawkes. He was drug before the catholic bishop on account that he would not recant on the blasphemies and teachings of the Catholic church.

In response, he was sentenced to death. Upon hearing this, his friends were worried about the pain of being burned. His response was that he would give them a signal from the burning. Foxx writes:

“With God’s help “the most exquisite torments were to be endured in the glorious cause of Christ”, by lifting his hands towards heaven before he died, and this he did. Foxe records that Hawkes “held his hands flaming over his head, and, as if in an ecstasy of joy, clapped them thrice together”.

My point in sharing this with you is this, is the cross unimaginable to face? Yes! But, countless other men and women shared the same fate as Jesus and Hawkes. So, what really troubled Christ?

The trouble was a trouble of the Spirit. I just spent 5 weeks talking about sin as God sees sin. But now, we have an opportunity to see sin as Jesus sees it. The one who knew no sin (knew no weight of it’s crushing death) was about to bear it.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [3]

God, for our sake, took the only being who NEVER knew sin to bear the weight of it all. But not the weight of just one person’s sin, all sin from eternity past to eternity future. The sinless being of Christ had yet to know firsthand the gravity of the cost.

Look closely at that word in 2 Cor 5:21 “Know” ginosko: means to understand, perceive, learn” You see, no other verse captures the gravity of what was to come. Christ, who knew NO sin, was about to know it all. He was feeling the burden of YOUR and I’s sin pressing down on Him. It was God the Father getting ready to impute (place onto the shoulders of Christ) the weight of your sin.

People say all the time in response to this verse, “See His humanity”. I say NO, see His divinity! Only a divine being can see this! This affected both his body and soul. Much like the life that He lived was just as important as the death that gave. Both divinity and humanity are present here. And that realization came with it the most crushing trouble, separation.

I cannot pretend to climb into the head of the Son of God. But, I would argue the separation from His Father was the hardest. What was one of the last statements from the cross? Matthew 27:46 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.”

God never leaves His children when they suffer. That is why Thomas Hawkes was able to clap. But, for Christ, knowing that this was going to happen it troubled Him and He had every right to be. God, in His mercy to us, poured it (cost of sin) onto the one who knew none of it’s weight, and then, according to scripture, turned from His Son while He died. That is worth being troubled over.

I would ask, would you if you were the Father do this? Would you act with this love for people who hate you? NO. So why did He do it?

2. For the Glory of the Father.

A very common question that I get along with kids teachers, youth leaders, and even some adults is this, “If God knew Satan was going to rebel, why not just not create him? Or, when he did rebel why not kill him at creation?”

Well, I want to add to that question before I answer it. Why not keep Satan from the snake? Why not kill Adam and Eve and start over right there? Why save Noah? Why the exodus? Why the 400 years of silence between OT and NT? Why did Jesus have to be born as a suffering servant? Why the cross? Why pain and suffering right now? Look, all of these questions point to the same issue. It is because of this verse:

Vs 27 But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”[4]

The answer to the question “Why create Satan” and all the others is right here. “Father, glorify Your name…I have”. If I were to ask why God gave us the Bible, many would say it is to tell us about Jesus. If I asked you the Bible's main point, many would point to the Cross. Yes, that is all true but those are a RESULT of this point, why did God do it all? It’s because it is His character on display.

It all (the story of God and man) comes down to God’s name being glorified in His Love and care for His creation. We Americans would say, man that is arrogant. But that statement comes from arrogance and pride in our hearts. God is God and His character points to the Glory of His name. Maybe you struggle with that, but let Jesus bring it together.

Vs 27 “And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”

Jesus was saying, I am submitting and obediently doing exactly what the Father said would happen at creation. It is now that I am fulfilling the plan from the start, why? It is to fulfill the Glory of the Father. “Father glorify your name.”

Jesus knows the reason, His action of obedience Glorifies the Father, and the Father audibly answers by saying, “I have, and I will”. Church, the obedience unto death on a cross glorified the Father. As a result of this action by Christ, the other attributes of the Father are on display.

I believe this is the way that sinful human beings can understand God. We would never know what love is unless we saw hate. We would never know happiness unless we never knew disappointment and we would never know our sin if it wasn't for the law and the light of the gospel.

Let’s return to our text. Imagine thousands of years and here we are, the time of the cross is NOW.

Vs 31 “Now is the judgment of this world now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I…will draw all people to myself.”

Oh, be careful with this passage. In light of this text, we must remember what He taught about the word all. Jesus is not teaching universal salvation. He is teaching “Not all without exception meaning not every single person who has ever been or will ever be born.” Some are not saved and refuse the Gospel.

Rather, Jesus is teaching all without distinction=meaning people from every tribe, nation, and kindred. Here are some passages to help you:

Rom. 5:18; 8:32; 2 Cor. 5:15; 1 Tim. 2:6; Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2

Jesus is giving the detail and providence for His win over the ruler of the world (Satan). He is teaching that by “being lifted up”, salvation will win. Culturally speaking, this was a weird thing for Jesus to say. Jews killed people by “casting them down”. Usually off the temple mount to be stoned. But Jesus said that He was going to be “lifted up”. They knew what He was talking about. There was a good chance that a Roman cross was in the backdrop.

Vs 34- 34 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?[5]

They had the law and came to this statement with an OT view. The passages in the OT that speak of Him lasting forever, conquering His foes, ruling the nation include: Iss 9:7; Ez 37:25; Psalm 89:35-37. Were they wrong? Well, no. Did they have their timing off? YES! Did they have the right person? Well, sort of.

Unfortunately, they could not see the passage that speaks of Jesus being the suffering servant first, like Is 42:1-9; 49:1-6; and 50:2-9 all speaking about Christ’s Earthly ministry, not ruling.

How many times do we take passages out of context, time and space, and or the intent of the author? We do it all the time! These verses serve as a strong warning to not allow our opinion on the Word of God to shape its meaning.

Jesus moves from troubled in spirit and now shifts his attention to the outcome of this trouble. It is found in the win over Satan.

3. Win over Satan.

Church, Satan does NOT win in Christ’s trouble. Going back to that tough question, why didn’t God just kill Satan, I answered it by saying, it was God’s glory on display that God did not destroy Satan. But, allow me to make that come alive in your mind. You see, Satan played his role according to his nature. You would think he has the end of the book known, but sin does not strategize or pre think. It only seeks to destroy.

You know, I was thinking about this, if I was Satan and had the end of the book known, I would have done everything I could to not allow Jesus to go to the cross. But, that is not how sin works! Satan operates in the dark and only knows darkness. He acts according to his nature and his nature is to destroy. His sights were on Christ. But in His death, Christ wins over the ruler of this world.

Through Him being lifted up, Satan is conquered. But, from a world perspective, one could argue that that is not what we see. Look around, would you say that evil and death have lost their sting? Please hear me, maybe you are here today and you would say that in your mind, in your life, death and evil is winning. What hope do I have?”

You may be saying, “How can God allow all this pain?” Oh, dear brother and sister, you are forgetting that God has an answer for your pain. He has an answer to the weight of that question. You see, to the believer, they hear God’s voice. They do not hear thunder and fear it’s strike of lightning. Rather, they hear the voice of the Father saying, I have a plan, and it’s going to crush evil.

The view of the world and the cross is how Satan views it. That view is that pain always wins, death always comes calling, and hope is always out of reach. But to the believer, the cross is a victory cry!

4. Embrace the win of Christ.

Vs 35, 36 “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”[6]

Let’s go back to my intro. As I watched the sun force its way under the clouds, the darkness could not do anything to cast a shadow, if only for the span of a little time. Jesus, the Light of the World, (John 8:12) is only here physically for a little longer; then the dark will cast its shadow.

There is a Latin term that says “Post Tenebras Lux”: meaning first the dark then the light

In all of Jesus’s Earthly ministry, did He ever give the impression that time was not valuable? Was He ever “chill” about His message? Did He ever act like He had all the time in the world? NO! With Christ, there is always a sense of urgency. In our text today, we are talking hours. He said, “I have come to THIS hour…” There is Light now, but darkness is coming.

This is one of the last recorded public invitations to the crowd. This is one last attempt to get people to see the darkness of sin and its death in exchange for the saving Grace of the Light of the world, Him.

Just as the sun was blocked by the cover of clouds, our Lord’s time of light was offered to people who did not recognize their need for that light. This is why the “Gospel” is such good news! There is an answer for that darkness of sin. There is a force stronger than the dark. This is good news! Now, we MUST act like it is good news!

What do I mean by “acting like it is good news?” THERE IS NO COMPROMISE BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK. FOR THE BELIEVER, WE MUST NEVER COMPROMISE WITH DARK.

Imagine a dark room, with no light at all. You can’t so much as see your hand 1 inch from your face. Now, turn on the flashlight, flick the light switch, and light a match. What happens? Darkness cannot stand in the way of light!

Now, as a believer, are you living that way or are you liking that darkness? Allow me to give you some symptoms of darkness in your life:

a. You flirt with and enjoy the same sin without remorse.

b. You anger easily at little things all the while restricting your forgiveness.

c. You welcome and pacify the sin of the world.

d. You seek your own glory NOT God’s and when God demands His Glory, you say it’s an arrogant proposition from God.

These symptoms are that of a child of the dark. But look closely at this last statement of our Lord:

Vs 36 “While you have the light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of the light.”

Oh church, what does it mean to be “sons and daughters” of the light? It means exactly what Jesus said in Vs 28 “Father, glorify your name.”

How do I glorify His name? Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and you will be saved. This is the ONLY way to Glorify the Father. There is no other way! See now how His Glory comes full circle back to His Son? Why Is this so important? It is to the Glory of the Father to save sinners like you and me through the Son.

Look maybe you are here and you still say that that is an arrogant position of God. Maybe you think that by limiting the plan of salvation to only one way is mean. To say that means that darkness and the sin of pride that separated Satan from the throne room of his Creator lives in you. You are NOT God. You had absolutely nothing to do with your creation.

The one who fashioned you carefully has made it clear. The only means to your salvation is there on the pages of scripture. He says, “Believe in the Light, that you may become sons of light.”

Romans 8:16, 17:

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. [7]

There is that glory again. We who are IN Christ are heirs of God with Christ for His glory. My desire for you and I, to walk in, believe in, and be in the Light that He provided, Christ!