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John 12:32-33 JESUS LIFTED UP AND DRAWING ALL MEN

Introduction:

	The time of the Jewish Passover was drawing near.  The
time of the crucifixion of Jesus was also drawing hear.
Jesus said that He would draw men near.  He would draw men
near to Himself.

I.  The One Person who can save, V. 32 ("And I")

	The language structure in this verse places emphasis on
the word "I."  This is true even in the English translation.
The repetition of the word "I" places emphasis upon it.  The
emphasis is even more pronounced in the Greek language in
which it was originally written.  Thus Jesus places emphasis
on the fact that He would be lifted up.
	This emphasis does not mean that He and He alone would
be crucified.  Many men had been crucified before Him.  Two
men were crucified with Him.  One was on one side of Him and
the other on the other side of Him.
	But the emphasis does mean something.  It means that
only His crucifixion would provide a way whereby lost
sinners could be saved.  He and He alone is an innocent
substitute to suffer in the stead of the guilty sinner so
that the guilty sinner may go free.  All other men are,
themselves, guilty of sin.
	There is no other Savior for mankind.  There is none
other name given among men whereby we must be saved.  Jesus
said, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man cometh
unto the Father but by me."

II.  The certainty of His death ("if I")

	In our modern language we so frequently use the word
"if" to express doubt that we may be inclined to think that
it does here.  But such is not the case.  Jesus did not
intend for the word "if" to express any doubt that He would
go to the cross.
	Jesus had already expressed certainty of His death.  He
had already expressed certainty that His death would be by
crucifixion.  He had told Nicodemus back in John 3:14-15
that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and
put it on a pole, even so He must be lifted up and put on a
pole.  A few months prior to our text Jesus had told the
Jewish leaders that He would be lifted up and that they were
the ones who would be responsible for it happening, John
8:28.  On the trip from Capernaum to Jerusalem to observe
the Passover, Jesus had told His disciples that He would be
put to death by the Jewish leaders and that His death would
be by crucifixion.  On this very day He had already told
this very crowd of people that He would no be crowned as
their king.  He would be put to death.
	So Jesus was not in any way expressing doubt that He
would be put to death.  He was certain.  By the way, I
understand that this verse could be correctly translated by
using the word "since" instead of "if."  The verse could be
translated "Since I will be lifted up."

IV.  The certainty of Jesus drawing all men to Himself  ("if
	I be lifted up ---- will draw all men unto me."

	Jesus was saying, "Just as certain as I will be lifted
up, just that certain I will draw all men unto me."  Jesus
was certain that He would be lifted up.  He was just that
certain that He would draw all men unto Himself.  He was
talking about drawing men to Himself so that they could be
saved.
	Some understand Jesus to mean that God has pre-selected
certain ones to be saved and that these are the only ones
whom Jesus draws to Himself for salvation.  They say that
all others are left to perish in their sins and that there
is no way for them to come to Jesus and be saved.  Thus they
deny that Jesus draws all men to Himself.  This is contrary
to the words of Jesus in this verse.  Jesus said that He
would draw all men unto Him.  They understand that the
reason some do not come to Jesus for salvation is simply
because Jesus does not draw them.  They say that God has
deliberately left these to perish in their sins and that
they was no way they could come to Jesus and be saved.
This, too, is contradictory to the words of Jesus in our
text.  This is also contrary to II Peter 3:9 which says that
God does not desire that any should perish, but desires that
all should come to God in repentance.   God has left all
others to suffer the penalty for their sins and that there
is no way these people can ever be saved.
	Some understand this to mean that all men are drawn to
salvation and, therefore, all men will be saved.  The
acknowledge that not all men are saved now.  They
acknowledge that not all men are saved at the point of
death.  But they hold to the idea that eventually all men
who die unsaved will have another opportunity to be saved
and that all will be saved.  This is contrary to what Jesus
said in Matthew 7:13-14.  Jesus said that there is a strait
gate and an arrow way which leads to eternal life and that
there are relatively few who enter into that gate.  On the
other hand, He said that there is a wide gate and a broad
way which leads to destruction and that there are many who
enter this gate and travel this way.
	But Jesus, Himself, said that He would draw all men to
Himself.  This means that He would draw every man, every
woman, every boy and every girl.  It means that Jesus would
seek to draw them to Himself so that they would be saved.

V.  The means by which Jesus draws all men to Himself

	Jesus draws all men to Himself by the work of the Holy
Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does not force anyone to trust
Jesus.  He could.  He has the power to do it.  But He
chooses not to force anyone to be saved.  He allows the
individual to make the choice for himself.  The Holy Spirit
is Sovereign God and there is nobody who can stop Him from
allowing each individual from making the choice for
themselves.
	The Holy Spirit does convict all men of their guilt of
sin.  He makes them aware of their guilt and of their need
to be saved.  If they are then willing, the Holy Spirit will
then accompany the gospel message so as to help them
understand what they must do to be saved.  He will help them
to understand that there is no work which they can do to be
saved.  They must trust Jesus to save their soul.
	Jesus uses the preaching of the gospel message to draw
all men to Himself.  He has instructed that the gospel
should be preached to all the world and to every creature in
the world.
	Jesus uses the testimony of Christians to draw all men
to Himself.  In Acts 1:8 Jesus instructed the church left at
Jerusalem to be witnesses for Him to Jerusalem, to all
Judea, to Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world.
Preachers are not the only ones who should be soul-sinners.
Every Christian should be a witness to the unsaved.
	Jesus uses difficult circumstances to draw all men to
Himself.  All men face trouble.  Jesus uses that trouble to
draw the unsaved to Himself.  Not many ever come to Jesus
when things are going smoothly.  It is when things are going
rough that they are inclined to turn to God for help and in
the process, some turn to Jesus for the salvation of the
soul.  The Philippian Jailor is an example.  That jailor did
not really get concerned about his eternity until he got all
shook up by an earthquake.  The earthquake opened the doors
of the jail so that all of his prisoners could go free.  He
assumed that they had all escaped and that he faced a death
of disgrace at the hands of the Roman government, and would
have committed suicide if the Apostle Paul had not stopped
him.  The result was that he got saved.  Most of us would
have never gotten saved if Jesus had not used some kind of
trouble in our lives to shape us up so that we would turn to
Jesus for salvation.
	Jesus uses the record of the His own crucifixion to draw
men to Himself.  John 3:16 says that God so loved the world
that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  This
means that God the Father not only sent Jesus to the world
to be the Savior, but He sent Him to the cross to suffer for
us that we might be saved.  God the Father so loved us, that
He gave His Only Begotten Son to die for us that we might be
saved.
	Likewise, God the Son so loved the world that He gave in
own life --- He gave His own body that we might be saved.
He gave His back to be cut with the Roman whip that we might
be saved.  He gave His head to be pierced with a crown of
thorns that we might be saved.  He gave His face to be
beaten with the fists of men and to be spit in by men that
we might be saved.  He gave His hands and His feet to be
driven through with spikes and nailed to the cross that we
might be saved.  He gave His shoulders to be jerked out of
joint when that cross was dropped into the hole that had
been dug for it that we might be saved.  He gave His side to
be pierced with a spear that we might be saved.  He gave His
blood and He gave His life that we might be saved.
	Let me tell you that if this kind of love that God has
for us and this kind of love that Jesus has for us will not
draw a man to Jesus for salvation, then there is no hope for
him either in this world nor in the world to come.

VI.  Some examples of those whom Jesus would draw to Himself

	Jesus would draw the people of that great crowd who
heard Him speak this text.  They would not all come to Him
and be saved, but He would draw them all and seek to get
them all to trust in Him and be saved.
	Jesus would draw those Jewish leaders who were seeking
to put Him to death and who would eventually succeed in
putting Him to death.  I am not certain that any of those
leaders who sought His death would ever repent and be saved,
but Jesus drew them and sought to get them to repent and be
saved.
	Jesus would draw Judas Iscariot, who would betray Him,
and seek to get even Judas to get saved.  He never did, but
Jesus sought to get Him to.
	Jesus would draw Pilate, who would sentence Him to
death.  Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent of the charges
brought against Him.  He should have set Jesus free and he
could have set Him free, but he didn't.  Never-the-less,
Jesus would draw even Pilate and seek to get him to be
saved.
	Jesus would draw the people who marched before Him at
His crucifixion and beat Him and mocked Him and spit in His
face and seek to get them saved.  I am glad to say that some
of these repented later and got saved on the day of
Pentecost under the preaching of the Apostle Peter.
	Jesus would draw every man, every woman, every boy and
every girl of every race, every kindred, every tribe and
every nation.  If any sinner ever goes to hell, it will not
be because the Lord Jesus Christ failed to draw him.

VII.  How it works

	Here is how it works.  The Holy Spirit of God
accompanies the word of God to the heart of the sinner.  He
makes the sinner aware that he has sinned and come short of
God's perfect standard of righteousness.  He helps to create
a desire to be cleansed from all sin and to be saved.  He
even helps the lost sinner to know that in order for him to
be saved that his own works of righteousness are not
sufficient.  He helps him to know that he must place his
faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God in order to get to
heaven.  He tugs at the heart of the lost sinner and seeks
to encourage him to turn to Jesus and call upon Him for
salvation.
	Perhaps you can identify with this.  Perhaps you can
becoming aware of your own guilt of sin.  Perhaps you can
recall feeling a tug at your own heart urging you to call
upon Jesus and place your faith in Him as your Savior.  If
so, that was Jesus drawing you to Himself through the work
of the Holy Spirit of God.
	But then, the lost sinner must make his own choice.  He
can reject Jesus as His Savior or he can call on Jesus and
trust Him as his Savior.  If a lost sinner does trust in
Jesus then he is no longer a lost sinner.  He is a saved
sinner.  John 3:18 says, "He that believeth on Him is not
condemned..."  If he is not condemned, he is saved.  But if
a sinner refuses to trust in Jesus as his Savior, he is
still lost and he will continue to be lost unless he trust
Jesus before it is too late.  Even if he just neglects to
trust Jesus, he is lost.  He is lost and condemned.  He is
condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.
	
Conclusion:
	
	It is not a question of whether or not the Lord has
drawn you to salvation.  It is a question of whether or not
you will turn to Him and trust Him to save you.
	Jesus even draws those who are saved to a closer walk
with Him in this world.
	Will you come?