John 12

32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. That is, when Jesus is lifted up on the cross and then is lifted up into heaven (Acts 1:9), He will draw men into the kingdom of heaven (see John 6:44 and comment). He will begin to free men from bondage to Satan.

Jesus says here: “I… will draw all men to myself.” That means He will draw all believers to Himself. And He will draw believers from all nations, not just from Israel (see John 3:14-15 and comment).

33 John here explains that in the above verses, Jesus has been talking about His death on the cross and about His resurrection and ascension into heaven.

34 The crowd understood that Jesus was talking about His death. They had supposed from reading the Law, that is, the Old Testament (John 10:34), that the Messiah would never die (Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 7:14). Now Jesus had said that He, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on the cross. The crowd was confused. Many of them thought that Jesus was the Messiah; but the Messiah wasn’t supposed to die. Yet Jesus had said that the Son of Man must die. Therefore, the crowd asked, “Who is this Son of Man? Is He the same as the Messiah?”

The crowd had understood only part of the Old Testament. It was true that the Christ, the Messiah, would never die. But the Old Testament also taught that Christ in His bodily form would pour out His life unto death (Isaiah 53:12). To understand fully who Christ is, one must read all of Scripture, not just part of it.

35 Jesus did not answer their question directly. But He did say that they were going to have light just a little while longer. The light was Christ Himself. Let the people listen to Him and believe in Him while they had opportunity.

Every man receives some spiritual light from God. If he rejects that light and turns from it, he will soon fall into spiritual darkness. The light will be withdrawn from him. Therefore, each man must walk while he has the light. He must walk according to the light he has received. Today, perhaps, a man’s heart is sof t, his mind open. Tomorrow his heart may be hard and his mind closed. Today, perhaps, a man is ready to believe; but tomorrow it may be too late, and he will have lost the chance to receive salvation. … now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

The Jews in Jesus’ day had received a great light—Christ Himself. But they rejected the light, and from then on they walked in darkness. They lost their nation, and they lost their souls (see John 1:4-5; 8:12 and comments).

36 In verse 35, Jesus said, “While you have the light, walk in it.” Here in verse 36, He says, “While you have the light, put your trust in it.” To walk in the light is the same as to believe in the light. The light is Christ. It is not enough only to see the light; we must believe in it. Moths see light and come to it. But when we see the light, we must believe in it. That is, when we see Jesus, we must believe in Him and follow Him.

When we believe in Christ, we become sons of light (see Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessa-lonians 5:5). That is, we become sons of God (John 1:12). God is light (1 John 1:5). Sons receive the character and qualities of their father. Thus, when we believe in Christ, we receive the character and qualities of God Himself.

After He finished speaking, Jesus hid himself. He knew that He was going to die at the hands of men. But He would not die before the appointed time.

37-38 Jesus, a Jew, had come to be the Messiah of Israel. Yet the Jews themselves rejected Him. How could this be? John says this happened in order that the prophecies of the Old Testament might be fulfilled. Isaiah the prophet wrote: Who has believed our message? No one. To whom has the arm of the Lord (that is, Christ’s mighty works) been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1). Christ did mighty works, but the Jews did not see the arm of the Lord in them. Christ was revealed, but they did not recognize Him.

39-40 John then says that the Jews could not believe because God had blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts. But God didn’t blind them at first. They first chose to reject God’s prophets. They chose to turn from God to sin. It was only as a result of their sin and disobedience that God gave them up to hardness of heart and unbelief. After that, they could not believe. The person who says to God, “I will not believe,” soon finds that he is unable to believe (see Romans 1:24,26,28 and comment).

John here quotes from Isaiah 6:10. This same passage is quoted by Matthew, Mark, and Luke in slightly different forms, but the meaning is the same (see Matthew 13:1415; Mark 4:12; Acts 28:26-27 and comments).

God knew that the Jews would reject Jesus. He knows everything that will happen in the future. He knows who will accept Christ and who will reject Him. But even though God knows in advance what each man will do, each man is still free to do as he chooses. If a man rejects Christ, he does so by his own choice. He is responsible. He cannot blame God (see Romans 9:14-21 and comment; General Article: Salvation—God’s Choice or Man’s Choice?).

41 When Isaiah wrote this prophecy, he was writing about the glory of the Messiah. In a spiritual way, he saw in the future the glory of Christ and knew that the Jews would reject that glory.

42-43 But many Jews, including some of the Jewish leaders, did not reject Christ’s glory. The Pharisees had thought that no Jewish leader had believed in Christ (John 7:48). But John here says that many believed in Him secretly. Only two of them are mentioned in the New Testament: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (John 3:1; 19:38-39). It is doubtful whether the other Jewish leaders had real faith, because John says that they would not confess their faith. The person who refuses to confess Christ because he fears what men will think usually does not have true faith (see Matthew 10:32-33 and comment).

Then in verse 43, John gives the reason why these leaders did not confess their faith: namely, they loved praise from men more than praise from God. They knew that if they believed in Christ and served Him they would receive honor and praise from God (verse 26). Nevertheless, they preferred the praise of men more than praise from God (see John 5:44). They didn’t want to take the risk of being put out of the synagogue, because, for a Jew, to be put out of the synagogue was a very great disgrace (see John 9:22).

44 These words of Jesus recorded by John in verses 44-50 are His last words to the public. In these verses Jesus gives a final call for men and women to believe.

Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus has talked about His unity with God. He who honors Jesus honors God (John 5:23). He who has seen Jesus has seen God (John 14:9). He who hates Jesus hates God (John 15:23). He who accepts Jesus accepts God (Matthew 10:40; Mark 9:37; John 13:20). And here Jesus says that he who puts his faith in Him puts his faith in God also.

45 Here Jesus repeats the idea of verse 44. When we look at Jesus through the eyes of faith, we do not see only a man; we see God Himself.

46 See John 8:12 and comment.

47 Those who hear Jesus’ teaching and reject it will be judged. Jesus Himself does not judge men in this life. He did not come into the world to judge but to save (see John 3:17-18 and comment).

48 However, in the last day, that is, at the end of the world, Jesus will be our judge (see John 5:22,27). But even then Jesus Himself will not have to judge the person who rejects His word. Jesus’ own word will judge him. And on the last day the “judge” (Jesus’ word) will say to that person: “The word of salvation came to you, but you rejected it. You may not enter heaven.”

Here a question arises: What will happen to the person who has never heard God’s word in his lifetime? That person will not be judged according to God’s word. Instead, he will be judged according to the spiritual light and knowledge he has received from God (see Luke 12:47-48; Romans 1:18-20 and comments).

49 Jesus’ word is a fitting “judge,” because it is, in fact, God’s word. All that Jesus spoke was exactly as the Father commanded. When a person is judged by Jesus’ word, it is the same as being judged by God Himself (see John 5:30; 8:16 and comments).

50 Jesus spoke according to God’s command (verse 49). God’s command is not harsh. It is the promise of eternal life to all who believe and obey it. Moses at the end of his life said to the Jews: I have set before you life and death. … Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (Deuteronomy 30:19). Today Jesus says the same thing to every man and woman.