Calvary Road Baptist Church
“CHRIST HONORED BY GOD THE FATHER”
John 12.27-36
I want to bring another message related to this topic called honor. Honor is a concept that has different significance in different cultures.
Anyone who knows anything about Japanese culture knows that for a couple of thousand years in Japan, culture has been considered a topic of preeminent importance.
Anyone who knows anything about Jewish culture before the time of Christ knows that honor was a topic of extreme importance. David sent several men to visit a king who mistrusted David’s motives. His response to cut off half the beards of David’s men. They were so dishonored by that they refused to return to Jerusalem until their beards had grown out because they were dishonored.[1]
Honor is a concept that held great sway in medieval Europe. If you think that all those who immigrated to the American colonies from England had the same philosophy of life and the same culture, let me disabuse you of that errant notion. I would suggest you purchase and read a book titled Albion’s Seed, in which the author points out that there were four different cultures that settled in the American colonies.[2]
There were the Pilgrim/Puritans who settled in New England. There were the Quakers who settled in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. There were the Highlanders who settled in Kentucky and Tennessee. And there were the Cavaliers, who settled in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and in that region.
The Cavaliers were from South of London and tended to be the upper-class Brits who fled the country when King Charles was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell. If you go back and trace American history, you will find that these four cultural groups in the United States, each of them would support the country going to war for different reasons (or not go to war).
The Pilgrims and Puritan group, those of New England, historically, would be willing to wage what they called a “holy war.” The Quakers who settled Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware would not ever be willing to go to war for any reason, because they were essentially pacifists.
The Highlanders, who were from the border region of Southern Scotland and Northern England, who settled in Kentucky and Tennessee (the Hatfields and McCoys), were willing to go to war at any time for any reason, because they had a thousand years of internecine fighting going on in their home country, and they brought that culture with them to the New World. They are the people of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and used to be Southern California, whose attitudes were that all wars were good wars.
Then there were the Cavaliers of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, places like that. For them, the issue was a matter of honor. They would be willing to go to war over issues of honor because a man was willing to live or die based upon his honor. They would have duels in other colonies, but it was those Southerners over matters of honor who would stand back to back and take ten paces before turning to fire.
In modern times we have different branches of the military who address this matter of honor differently. Honor does not seem to be important to the Coast Guard or the Air Force. It is somewhat more important to the Army. But a culture of honor is cultivated in the Marine Corps. Honor is a big deal in the Marine Corp.
Down through the centuries men have always (primarily men, and not so many women) have had issues related to this matter called honor. When we open the Word of God, we find that the concept of honor that is observed, practiced, and held out there is a spin-off of the concept of honor that is found first in the Word of God.
In Exodus chapter 20, God told Moses, and he brought it down the mountain and told Israel, “Honour thy father and thy mother.”[3] “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”[4] That’s the background from which we approach this next message dealing with honor.
Let me define the term with the definition that I have used throughout this series of messages: “Honor is a public claim to worth or value and a public acknowledgment of that claim. Positive shame is a concern for maintaining and protecting one’s worth, value, reputation. Negative shame is the loss of one’s honor. Refusing to be concerned about one’s honor is to be shameless.”[5]
Wednesday night, I brought a message concerning the honor of a man’s pastor, that man’s sons, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren showed to him in life and at his memorial following his death. Honor is important to God and ought to be more important to us than it typically is shown to be by us.
For forty-five years I have stood by and watched men dishonor men, wives dishonor their husbands and husbands dishonor their wives, and parents dishonored by their children, thereby guaranteeing that in due course they will be dishonored by their children. Of course, this reflects the common tendency in our culture to dishonor God.
Perhaps you were in attendance five Sundays ago when I brought a message from John 12.1-11 concerning Mary’s exhibition of honor toward the Lord Jesus Christ and the reactions of others to what she did, including her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha. Some were indifferent, and others were opposed to the Savior being honored.
Four weeks ago, based upon John 12.12-19, which is a passage usually described as the record of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, I brought a message dealing with the honoring of the Lord Jesus Christ by the multitudes assembling for the Passover. Again, some honored Him, others were indifferent, and still, others were opposed to honoring Him.
Three weeks ago, with John 12.20-26 as my text, I dealt in my message with the way Greek-speaking Gentiles who had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover honored the Lord Jesus Christ. The theme of honoring the Lord Jesus Christ is an important one to the Gospel writer, and ought to be an important one to you and me.
Do you take a position on whether the Lord Jesus Christ should be honored, should be honored by you, or are you indifferent to the matter of honoring Him as is suggested by your conduct in this regard? If you are indifferent about honoring the Lord Jesus Christ, how do you feel about honoring others and being honored by others? Are you yet advanced far enough beyond childhood that you recognize honor as an important topic of consideration?
Taking up the theme of honoring the Son of God again, I would like you to turn to John 12.27-36. When you locate that passage, I invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word:
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
I find it remarkable, in the way the Word of God is in so many ways remarkable, that this passage dealing with the Savior being honored by His heavenly Father, comes on the heels of our Lord declaring to His audience, in verse 26, that “if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” Thus, He speaks of the Father honoring people immediately before the Father honoring Him.
I would like to make four observations in connection with the honor that is showed in this passage to Christ by His Father’s voice from heaven:
First, MY OBSERVATION ABOUT CHRIST’S ADDRESS TO HIS FATHER
Remember, as I read, that Mary honored her Lord six days before His crucifixion, with the triumphal entry being five days before His crucifixion. It may be that the Greeks honored the Savior on the same day that we are currently considering, Monday, which would be four days before the Lord’s crucifixion.[6] Notice, in verse 27 and the beginning of verse 28, what the Son of God said to His Father:
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name.
Does it strike you as a bit unusual for the Lord to declare to His Father that His soul was troubled, especially after being honored by Mary, being honored by the multitude, and being honored by the Greek-speaking Gentiles? Why might He have expressed Himself so to His Father? Five things for us to consider:
First, Christ’s comment might have been prompted by the dread of His impending passion. He said,
“Now is my soul troubled.”
Could it be that consideration of what He would soon face was rising in His conscious thoughts so that His impending betrayal, agony, and death for our sins was producing an emotional and physiological response that resulted in His cry to His Father? Impending death produces a response in human beings, the Savior included. But it was not agony and death alone that He faced, was it? It was also becoming sin for us Who knew no sin.[7] What horror the Holy One of Israel must have anticipated in becoming sin for us. How could He do it? A phrase in Hebrews 12.2 reads, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” This was not joy that the Savior was presently experiencing, but the joy that He anticipated once His passion and the terror of His saving work was accomplished. So, you see, the Savior accomplished the task before Him the way we are called upon to do the same. We do not do any saving work, of course. But we are called upon to do difficult things in anticipation of fulfilled promises and experiencing joy, Second Peter 1.4:
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.”
Second, the severity of His situation seems to be reflected in His next comment:
“and what shall I say?”
Please note that the Lord Jesus Christ does not ask “What shall I do?” There is no question but that He will do the Father’s will. What He is doing here is setting up the request that someone would normally ask of God in this situation, but which He does not actually ask of God.
Third, His prayer to God in this difficult situation is most certainly not what most people think it is:
“Father, save me from this hour?”
My opinion is that the Lord, with this phrase, forms the words of the type of prayer everyone else would set before God were they in this type of situation. But our Lord does not set this prayer before God. He merely verbalizes the prayer everyone except Him would pray.
Fourth, He declares why He does not plead with God using the words He has just spoken:
“but for this cause came I unto this hour.”
Some think that the Lord Jesus Christ asked His Father for relief from His impending crucifixion and then retracted His prayer. I am strongly opposed to this understanding of the verse. In First Thessalonians 3.3, the Apostle Paul reminded the new Christians in Thessalonica of the proper course of action when afflictions come upon them:
“That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”
Thus, it seems very clear to me that the Lord would have done no less than what Paul called on new believers to do. Our Lord did not pray for relief and then change His mind and retract His prayer for relief. Instead, He indicated what someone would normally do in that situation. But He did not pray for relief because He knew that it was for this cause that He came to this time.
Fifth, He urged upon His Father the course of action determined from the foundation of the world:
“Father, glorify thy name.”
See how He honors His Father? Those who are honorable honor others. Those who are dishonorable think nothing of honor and do not honor others. In seeking His Father’s glory, He honored His Father.
Next, MY OBSERVATION ABOUT THE FATHER’S ANSWER
Did the Father hear the words of His Son? Always. Did He respond? He most certainly did. Two things to notice about the Father’s answer to His Son:
First, notice how the Father’s answer was given. The answer came as a voice from heaven:
Verse 28:
“Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
In Matthew 3.17, we are told the Father spoke on the occasion of His Son’s baptism:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And in Matthew 17.5, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father said to Peter, James, and John,
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
Notice that on the other two occasions of the Father speaking, He spoke to those who were in His Son’s company, but not in answer to any request. Here it seems He spoke to His Son in answering Him, but also for the benefit of those in the Lord’s company
Next, notice what the Father’s answer was:
“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
This is a direct answer to Christ’s prayer urging His Father glorify His name. How would the Father glorify His name? How had the Father already glorified His name? At creation? The Flood? The Exodus? The name of God had certainly been glorified in the life of Christ, in His doctrine and miracles, and all the examples He gave of holiness and goodness. And He soon would glorify it again in the death and sufferings of Christ. His wisdom and power, His justice and holiness, His truth and goodness, were greatly glorified when the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died, and then rose from the dead in great victory. Matthew Henry wonderfully writes that through Christ’s redemptive work
“... the demands of a broken law were fully answered; the affront done to God’s government satisfied for; and God accepted the satisfaction, and declared Himself well pleased. What God has done for the glorifying of His own name is an encouragement to us to expect what He will yet further do. He that has secured the interests of His own glory will still secure them.”[8]
Third, MY OBSERVATION ABOUT THOSE STANDING BY WHEN THE FATHER SPOKE
Verse 29:
“The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.”
The first half of verse 29 refers to people who stood by and heard the Father’s voice. I take this to be those who were not disciples of Christ and who were not numbered among the Greek-speaking Gentiles earlier referred to. There are two reactions recorded in the last half of the verse, keeping in mind John records only what they said and not what they realized:
The first reaction John provides for us is that some who heard the voice of the Father, “said that it thundered.” These were witnesses to the event who chose not to comment on what was communicated by the Father. Instead, they spoke to the power and volume of the voice of God. I find that to be an interesting diversion tactic adopted by some who heard the voice of the Father but who were unwilling to admit the content of the message they had heard.
Others said, “An angel spake to him.” These were those who admitted they heard words but were unwilling to attribute the words they heard to an immediate and direct response to Christ by His Father. Rather than admit the Father spoke, they said it was an angel that spoke, thereby implicitly denying the authority of the voice they heard.
Amazing, is it not? This is the crowd of people who had heard multiple witnesses recount Christ’s miracles (giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, etc.) and observed His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Still, even when they hear the voice of God speaking in immediate response to Christ’s prayer to His Father, they played intellectually dishonest games to avoid facing the reality that the God of Israel has just publicly, audibly, honored His Son.
Fourth, MY OBSERVATION ABOUT THE SAVIOR’S EXPLANATION OF HIS FATHER’S VOICE
30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
This passage records two things the Savior did in response to His Father, honoring Him by speaking as He did:
First, He explains why the Father did what He did: Verse 30:
“Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.”
Had the Father sought to bless His Son only He could have done so by whispering in His ear. But He did not whisper in His ear. He spoke from heaven in an audible voice, honoring Him in that way for the benefit of Christ’s audience, including both His disciples and those who were not His disciples.
Next, He stated what the meaning of the words was by which the Father honored His Son. Let us quickly survey the four parts of verses 31-36:
First, the Savior describes the significance of the Father’s voice from heaven, verses 31-33:
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
This, of course, is all about the crucifixion that would take place in four days. When Christ died on the cross the world was thereby judged by God (showing His righteous disposition toward sin), the prince of this world (Satan) was cast out, and all men would be drawn to the One crucified. Verse 33 clarified in unmistakable words that Christ being lifted up was not a reference to His ascension to the Father’s right hand, but to His death on the cross. God spoke to Him to publicly honor Him because profoundly significant things were soon to occur. Next, the crowd responds in a way that reveals their confusion:
“The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?”
It is clear that the audience understands the comment about being lifted up to refer to crucifixion, and, therefore, death. That perplexed them because they understood from the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah’s reign was perpetual.[9] Thus, if the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, as they understood His claim to be, how is it He would die on the cross? How can the Son of Man referred to by Daniel be the same Son of Man who dies on a cross? Third, the Lord points out to them that they are running out of time, verse 35 and part of verse 36:
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.
Recognize that the issue they faced was not an intellectual challenge to be understood but a moral issue requiring deliverance. The audience was attempting to reconcile a paradox while the Lord Jesus Christ pointed out that the issue for them was moral (light and darkness), and their time was running out. Notice His words (“Yet a little while,” “while ye have the light,” While ye have light.”). Notice, also, that their inability to understand was related to faith and not their intellect (“believe in the light, that ye may be children of light”).
The same applies to some of you who are here today. You have heard the claims of Christ. You grasp God’s demands that you turn from your sins and come to Christ. There are paradoxes you do not understand fully, and you think the right thing to do is work out the minute details of your understanding and then trust Christ. But the Savior pointed out that the primary issue is a moral one, not an intellectual one. You are being called upon by God to trust Christ, not to understand everything. Once you trust Christ and become children of the light, you will see so much more clearly. As well, you, too, are running out of time. The Gospel call is not extended to sinners forever.
Then, closing out verse 36, the Lord Jesus Christ once more vanished from their sight, as he had done in John 5.13, John 8.59, and John 10.39:
“These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.”
We again see a pattern concerning honoring. The Lord Jesus Christ was speaking to His audience about God’s willingness to honor those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
While addressing the matter of God-honoring those who serve Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ then seeks to honor His heavenly Father by calling upon Him when His soul was troubled by asking Him to glorify Himself. Reflect upon that.
After stating how most people would respond in anticipation of what He would face in four days, the Lord Jesus Christ responds so very differently by seeking God’s honor by praying for God’s glory. God then honored the Lord Jesus Christ by speaking from heaven, audibly in answer to His beloved Son’s prayer. Isn’t that amazing? God the Father answered immediately and audibly to His Son’s prayer, and He did so amid a crowd of people.
Think, my friend. If God the Father immediately and in an audible voice honored the Lord Jesus Christ by answering His prayer, giving Him His desire, do you not think it wise to so honor the Lord Jesus Christ by giving Him what He desires from you?
That crowd in Jerusalem had difficulty reconciling in their minds the fact that one portion of God’s Word said the Son of Man would reign forever, yet this man who they were beginning to think was the Messiah was talking about dying on a cross. How can the Messiah reign forever and also die on a cross?
They thought the thing to do was clear up the paradox in their thinking. But the Lord Jesus Christ skipped right over that line of thinking and told them the issue is one of light and darkness, meaning the problem for them was a moral issue and not an intellectual issue. The proper response is not to figure it out. The proper response is to believe in Christ.
Understand, the Bible is not anti-intellectual. Neither is the Bible irrational. That said, the Bible shows that the ultimate issue for you to deal with is not mental, but moral. And the solution to your problem is not to figure things out, but to believe in Christ. You are a sinner who needs to be saved, and He is the Savior who saves sinners from their sins. Therefore? Trust Christ.
__________
[1] 2 Samuel 10.1-4
[2] David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways In America, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
[3] Exodus 20.12
[4] Proverbs 3.9
[5] https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0077.xml
[6] A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels For Students of the Life Of Christ, (New York: Harper & Row, 1950), pages 157-159.
[7] 2 Corinthians 5.21
[8] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary On The Whole Bible, (Bronson, MI: Online Publishing, Inc., 2002), bible@mail.com
[9] Psalm 89.4; 110.4; Isaiah 9.7; Ezekiel 37.25; Daniel 7.14
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