Calvary Road Baptist Church
“THE LORD JESUS CHRIST CLAIMS HONOR FOR HIMSELF”
John 12.44-50
John chapter twelve contains a record of seven events that occurred between the Saturday evening following our Lord’s journey from Jericho to Bethany (a suburb of Jerusalem where He likely spent the Sabbath at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus) and Wednesday, the day before He instituted the communion of the Lord’s Supper in the Upper Room, and two days before His crucifixion and burial. Thus, we are getting right down to it.
The first event is recorded in John 12.1-11 when Mary honored the Lord Jesus by anointing His feet. This was almost certainly in response to her gratitude for the Lord’s raising of her brother, Lazarus, from the dead in John chapter 11.
The second event, found in verses 12-19, is an account of the gathered masses honoring the Lord during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They were likely reacting both to the news that the Lord Jesus Christ had given sight to blind Bartimaeus and his friend in Jericho two days earlier, and also the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy when He rode into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass.[1]
The third event can be found in verses 20-26, where we read of the Greeks honoring Him by seeking an audience with Him in or near the Temple.
Fourth, God the Father honored Him in verses 27-36 with a voice from heaven that was heard by multitudes.
Verses 37-41 is the fifth account of the honor paid Him by Old Testament prophets. Specifically, it is a reference to Isaiah’s vision of Christ seven centuries before His incarnation, high and lifted up, in Isaiah 6.1-8.
Sixth, He was honored (however imperfectly) by some of the chief rulers in Jerusalem, according to verses 42-43. Sadly, they were cowered, as so many are in similar situations, by the anticipated opposition to Christ of the Pharisees.
Read and reread John chapter twelve, and you may (as I did) overlook what the Apostle sought to do with this collection of incidents, especially since the word honor appears only in verse 26 of this chapter. However, based upon Matthew Henry’s insight into this twelfth chapter, I am convinced the apostle shows us something in this portion of his Gospel as a prelude to the appalling dishonor showed toward the Savior that culminated in His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary.
Before reading verses 44-50, it will be good for us to review this notion found in God’s Word called honor. You will no doubt remember that the first of the Ten Commandments dealing with an individual’s relationship with other human beings is the fifth command, found in Exodus 20.12:
“Honour thy father and thy mother.”
Of all the things God might have commanded people concerning their dealings with others, what He issued to the Israelites was a command in connection with one’s parents, and it was a directive to honor them. That is profoundly significant. If you accomplish nothing else with your children, make sure you accomplish your parental charge to raise them to honor you, which is to obey you while they are living at home, to show respect in speech and conduct toward you when they have reached adulthood and vacated your home, and to look after you as God provides opportunity in your old age.
You might have thought God would have started with honoring Him instead of parents. But He did, don’t you see? The first four of God’s commands are directives to honor Him. As we might expect, additional instructions are found in other portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, including the directive to honor the LORD with offerings, Proverbs 3.9:
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”
The matter of honor is so significant in the Bible, and is so intertwined with God’s glory (the two words being so linked in approximately twenty verses in Scripture), that I need to restrict my comments at this time to honor as it is found in John’s Gospel. That done, we will take up today’s text.
In John 5.23, the Lord Jesus Christ claims that He should be honored as God is.[2] In John 8.49 He declared that He honored His Father, while His Jewish opponents dishonored Him.[3] In John 8.54 He states that the Father honors Him, who the Jews say is their God. Then, in John 12.26, our Lord predicts that His Father will honor those who serve Him and follow Him.
I will leave it to you to review the many passages in Scripture that deal with God’s glory, and that shed light on the importance of honor. As you read, look for the intersection of honor and glory and how honoring someone is key to giving them glory.
Now, let us now stand to read together John 12.44-50:
44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
You might have noticed in the passage we just read that the Lord Jesus Christ does not here assume honor so much as He asserts His honor, as He relates to His audience His mission and errand into the world. As well, do not demand from John’s Gospel a strict chronology of events, though he generally lists events in sequence. I point this out because verse 36 indicates the Lord departed and hid from public scrutiny. Thus, the text before us tells us accurately what happened without showing us strictly when it happened.
It could very well be that what we are looking at was the Lord’s last public comment, a farewell sermon to the Jewish people if you will. Everything after this will be private dealings with His apostles. Matthew Henry brings our attention to how our Lord Jesus delivered this parting word, Proverbs 1.20,
“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets,”
and Proverbs 8.1,
“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?”
The raising of His voice for the last time before His crucifixion is similar to the final sermon of Moses to the children of Israel before his death, where in Deuteronomy 30.15-20, He said
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil ... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life.”
Picture in your mind’s eye the Lord Jesus Christ preparing to leave the Temple Mount and the multitudes gathered, but not before He lifts up His voice to declare three things:
First, HE DECLARES THE PRIVILEGES AND DIGNITIES OF THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN HIM
What the Lord Jesus Christ says in verses 44-47 is very encouraging to us who believe in Christ. His words prompt us to declare our faith in Him, because,
First, by believing in Christ, we are brought into a relationship with God that honors both God and His Son, Jesus Christ:
44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
To believe in Christ is more than trusting in a man, though He was a man and was taken to be a man. But He is more than merely a man. He is the Son of the living God, and equal in both power and glory to the Father. He is the God-man. Thus, to trust Christ as your Savior, to believe in Him, is to exercise a faith that reaches far beyond Him, because faith in Him does not end in Him. Faith in Christ reaches to God, Who sent Him. The doctrine of Christ, then, is believed and received as the truth that comes from God. The resting place of every believer is God through Christ as our Mediator. We trust in Christ so that we might someday be presented to God. Thus, the Christian faith is made up, not of philosophy or politics or ritual, but direct reliance on the provision of God; that provision being the Lord Jesus, Himself. This is illustrated in John 12.45:
“And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.”
By coming to Christ, we come to the knowledge of God. This is because God makes Himself known in the face of Christ, Second Corinthians 4.6, Who is the express image of His person, Hebrews 1.3. You cannot know Christ without thereby knowing God the Father.
Second, by believing in Christ, we are brought into a good place, spiritually and morally, John 12.46:
“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
In this verse, our Lord declares His character and shows that He is preexistent, having come into the world already being a light. The apostle previously said as much in John 3.19:
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
The Savior also provides for the comfort of Christians:
“whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”
Darkness speaks of blindness, ignorance, death, and a lost condition. But we do not continue in that state with Christ, who is Light. Now we no longer abide in darkness, but delight in true comfort, joy, and hope. Will we experience dark times? Yes, but we will not continue in that condition. We are delivered from that darkness which is perpetual, and which lasts forever, that outer darkness where there is no eternal respite, light, or hope.
Next, HE DECLARES THE PERIL AND DANGER OF THOSE THAT BELIEVE NOT
By doing this, He gives fair warning to those who persist in their unbelief, verses 47-48:
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Here is spelled out the doom of the unbeliever:
Who are they whose unbelief is condemned here? They who hear the words of Christ, the One who is the way, the truth, and the life, yet refuse to believe Him. Every person will be judged according to the light he has been exposed to. Those that have sinned without law shall be judged without law. But those that have heard, or might have heard, and would not, will find the hand of judgment weighing very heavy on them.
What is the precise nature of the unbelief referred to here? They have not received Christ’s word, verse 48:
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
Notice that rejecting Christ’s words is rejecting Christ; they are the same. This denotes a rejection with scorn and contempt. Where the Gospel is declared, no neutrality exists; every man is either a subject or an enemy. Remember what the Savior said on another occasion, Luke 11.23:
“He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.”
Everything hinges on the unbelief of those who thereby dishonor both God and His Son. Thus, those who fool themselves by insisting, “I just can’t believe that,” are fooling only themselves. The proper phrase is not “cannot believe,” but “will not believe.”
The certain and unavoidable judgment of unbelievers at the Great White Throne will be a terrible thing for those who dishonor Christ and God, but it will be a time of vindication and justice for Christ and for God. How does one escape such a terrible judgment? The writer to the Hebrews asks such a question in Hebrews 2.3:
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.”
What is your answer? You might not want to answer that question now, but you will have to answer that question then. How will you escape certain judgment? “I will avoid Him.” But how do you avoid Him when Hebrews 4.13 declares,
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
The issue on Judgment Day, the criteria by which you will be judged, will be the very words He has spoken that you have refused to receive. That is the conclusion of verse 48.
Finally, HE DECLARES THE AUTHORITY BY WHICH HE DEMANDS OUR FAITH AND THE REQUIREMENT THAT WE RECEIVE HIS WORDS
John 12.49-50:
49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
Observe what the Lord Jesus Christ says about the commission He discharges:
First, take note of the source of His commission:
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”
What our Lord said in verse 49 is not a new thing. He is not springing anything on His audience but is restating what He has declared before. John 7.15-16:
15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Christ, the Son of man, did not speak that which was of human contrivance or composure. As the Son of God, He did not act separately, or by Himself, but what He said came from God. As the Mediator, His coming into the world was voluntary, and with His full consent, but it was no arbitrary action undertaken by Him. What He said, the words He spoke, God the Father gave to Him. Thus, He had a commission. God sent Him as His agent to conduct matters between Him and man. No wonder He is designated the Apostle of our profession in Hebrews 3.1, with apostle referring to the sent one. With that in mind, reflect for a moment on the implications of refusing to honor someone sent by another, of refusing to listen to the message of someone who is carrying a special dispatch from another. By rejecting him you reject the one who sent him. By dishonoring him you dishonor the one who sent him. Thus, to reject the Lord Jesus Christ is to reject God the Father. Failure to receive the words of Christ is failure to receive the words of God. And failure to honor Christ is failure to honor God. Failure to honor one’s parents under the Law of Moses was a serious matter. How serious a matter do you think it is to dishonor God by dishonoring His Son, which happens when you do not receive His words?
Next, take note of the scope of His commission, verse 50:
“And I know that his commandment is life everlasting.”
The scope of God’s commission to Christ extends to the everlasting state of all mankind, and bears upon the eternal well-being of every human being. The instructions the Father gave to the Lord Jesus Christ as a prophet were to reveal and convey eternal life, First John 5.11:
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
The authority the Father gave to the Lord Jesus Christ as a king was to grant eternal life, John 17.2:
“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.”
Thus, the command given Him was life everlasting. This the Lord Jesus Christ says He knew:
“And I know ... so I speak.”
How justly those will perish who reject Christ and His words. Those who disobey Christ despise everlasting life, and renounce it, so that not only Christ’s words will judge them, but even their own words. So shall their doom be. They have decided the matter. Who can argue against it?
Finally, notice the satisfaction of His commission:
“And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”
Christ stated the discharge of His commission and instructions given to Him by His heavenly Father, and His faithful execution of that commission:
“Therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.”
Our Lord was intimately acquainted with the counsels of the Godhead, being Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity. And He was faithful in executing His commission to the human family and kept back nothing that was profitable. This is a tremendous encouragement to our faith. The sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ, rightly understood, are what we depend upon and act upon. His is a great example of obedience. He said as He was commissioned so was He faithful. And so must we be. He communicated what the Father had said to Him; we must communicate what He said to us. In the face of opposition, what did Peter and John say in Acts 4.20?
“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
How diligent we must, therefore, be, striving to do the same.
Throughout this chapter in which John recounts the respect paid to the Lord Jesus Christ, these final six verses reveal to us the honor He ascribes to Himself, that what the Father had said to Him He spoke, and in the manner, as He was directed so He spoke. He was greatly honored by His great commission. This was His glory, that, as a Son, He was faithful to Him that appointed Him.
Our duty, obligation, responsibility, and privilege is to receive every word of Christ, believe every word of Christ, and respond by subjecting ourselves to every word of Christ. We must give Him the glory due to His name.
This begins, for the unsaved person, with a willingness to receive His Word, a serious pondering of the claims of Christ in His Word and turning from sin in repentance to Christ by trusting Him to be your personal Savior.
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[1] Zechariah 9.9
[2] Gerhard Kittel, Editor, Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament, Vol VIII, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), page 179.
[3] Ibid.
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