John 12:26-30 If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor. 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.

Israel Is Faithless, But God Is Faithful

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the word spread that the Messiah had come. The people of Israel celebrated! As Jesus rode into Jerusalem during the Feast of the Passover the people cried out:

John 12:13 … Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The word “Hosanna” is a contraction of three Hebrew words in …

Psalm 118:25 SAVE NOW, I BEG YOU, O Lord which is the Hebrew yāšaʿ nā’ ‘ānnā’ (pronounced yaw-shah’ naw awn-naw’)

The crowd was crying out to God to save them, and believed that the salvation would come through Jesus Christ, the King of Israel!

Jesus could have easily provoked the crowd into rising up, and help Him throw Rome out of Israel. Jesus could have saved Israel from Rome. But Rome wasn’t Israel’s enemy. Israel’s enemy was SIN. God had promised Israel many years before:

1. Prominence above all other nations. God told His people.

Deuteronomy 28:1 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth ..

2. God promised prosperity, both urban and rural.

Deuteronomy 28:3 … You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country

Deuteronomy 28:8 … The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you

3. God promised healthy families.

Deuteronomy 28:4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks

4. God promised the destruction of all enemies.

Deuteronomy 28:7 … The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven

Deuteronomy 28:10 … Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you ..

5. God promised Israel would be a world leader.

Deuteronomy 28:13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom

Israel was not fallen to Roman rule because God is faithless or because God has forgotten His people. Israel is in bondage to Rome because Israel CHOSE to be in bondage to Rome. Israel turned away from faith in God, and began to intermingle with the world. As Israel became more secular and worldly, God withdrew His hand of blessing. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the population wanted relief from Rome. They needed a solution for sin.

Jesus Christ Kept His Focus On His Purpose

Jesus is the solution for sin. Jesus will have to go to the Cross and make payment for your sins and mine – yes, for the sins of the whole world. This is why Jesus says:

John 12:27 (KJV) 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.

Word Study: The word translated “troubled” is the Greek tarassō, which means “to be agitated, to have inward commotion, to be struck with fear and dread, to be anxious or distressed”. This was not the first time that Jesus was tarassō, so stirred up emotionally. The word was used of our Lord as He stood at the grave of Lazarus:

John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled {tarassō} …

Later when Jesus would contemplate Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Himself, we read:

John 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled {tarassō} in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

Jesus told us in John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled {tarassō} ye believe in God, believe also in me.

We are not to be troubled – disturbed – discouraged – or filled with dread or fear, because Jesus would take our burdens upon Himself. Our escape is Jesus. But Jesus has no escape. There is NO …

Acts 4:12 … salvation in any other: for there is NONE other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

As God, our Lord Jesus knows what He must do. But as Perfect Man, Jesus dreads what is coming. The Scripture says:

Ephesians 1:7-8 (ESV) IN {Jesus} we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

Because of what Jesus was going to do during this Passover Feast, we would be REDEEMED from sin, REDEEMED from Satan, and RETURNED to Sonship with God if we receive Him. What Jesus was going to do would be unimaginable. As we could not pay for our sins, Jesus would pay for them. The Psalmist foresaw what Jesus would do on the Cross:

Psalm 22:1-8 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving Me, from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them. 5 To You they cried and were rescued; in You they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see Me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!”

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew that the Father would turn His back on Him, as our sins were poured out on Him on Calvary. Jesus will groan from the Cross, but the Father will not answer! Though others like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have cried out to God, and God has answered them, God will not answer Jesus’ prayers. Why? Is it because the Son is not loved? Is it because the Son does not please the Father? No, for God has said:

Matthew 3:17 … This is My BELOVED Son, with whom I am well pleased.

The Father calls Jesus “BELOVED”. The Father says of Jesus that “with whom I am well pleased”. There is nothing Jesus did in His earthly life that would have displeased the Father. Jesus said,

Luke 2:49 … I MUST be about MY FATHER’S BUSINESS

John 6:38 (NLT) For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.

John 14:9 (NKJV) … He who has seen Me has seen the Father;

Jesus was always about the Father’s business. He is the “faithful and true witness” (Revelation 1:5; 19:11). He has never let the Father down, and will not do so now. This is why Jesus says:

John 12:27 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.

Though He knew the horror before Him, Jesus kept His focus on Hs mission. Let’s do a bit of application.

When we as believers suffer, do we keep our eyes on our PURPOSE in being here, or on OURSELVES? I must admit that many times when suffering, I beg God to remove the suffering. Yet we should, as believers, be more focused on our continued purpose in being here until the Lord calls us home. Though Jesus prayed, and even sought relief (Father, let this cup pass from me – NEVERTHELESS not my will but THINE) – He never gave up. The Bible says:

Hebrews 5:7-9 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Father, Glorify Your Name

There are many great prayers in the Bible. The greatest prayers are those which the Father answers. Jesus’ prayer was not long – just four words:

John 12:28 Father, glorify Your name …

Though a short prayer, God the Father IMMEDIATELY responded with:

John 12:28 … I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

Jesus prayed but 4 words, and the Father answered with but 11. Jesus prayed that the Father would GLORIFY HIS NAME through the Son’s sacrifice. The Father immediately replied, “I have BOTH glorified it, and WILL GLORIFY IT again”. Jesus entered this world to bring glory to the Name of God. God will always glorify His Name. And we, no matter what we are going through in life, should seek to glorify God’s Name. When Jesus taugvht us the Lord’s Prayer, He taught us the need to make the Glory of God the center of our prayer. Jesus taught us

Matthew 6:8-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer begins with glory to God, and ends with glory to God. Any prayer is golden that seeks to bring glory to God’s name!

People Have Absolutely NO ACCESS
To God Without Christ

John 12:29-30 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.

The reason that the Father spoke was NOT so that Jesus could hear Him, but so that we could see how desperately we need Jesus. There were three sets of ears listening when Jesus prayed this day. One set of ears, the sons of God, heard what the Father said. The sons of God heard:

John 12:28 … I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

They heard the Father and what He said. Those who are saved by faith in Christ have access to the Father, because of the Son and the Spirit. The Son has paid for our sins, so that the Holy Spirit can “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). A son of God by faith in Christ has access to the Father. God can speak, and we can hear.

But the lost only heard “thunder”, whereas others thought “an angel spoke to Him”. The lost cannot hear the message, for they have turned away from the Gospel. Jesus had to go to that Cross to make other sons of God. Mankind without Christ are utterly without God! Jesus is going to the Cross to make a way for us to become sons of God, so that we might serve God in this life.

Sons of God glorify God in their lives. We live for Him, not for ourselves. We previously read Jesus’ statement:

John 12:26 If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.

I’ll close with these words from C.H. Spurgeon, from a sermon entitled “The Rule and Reward Of Serving Christ”:

Learn hence, then, all of you who would have Christ as your Savior, that you must be willing to serve Him. We are not saved BY service, but we are saved TO service. When we are once saved, thenceforward we live in the service of our Lord. If we refuse to be his servants, we are not saved, for we still remain evidently the servants of self, and the servants of Satan. Holiness is another name for salvation; to be delivered from the power of self-will, and the domination of evil lusts, and the tyranny of Satan,— this is salvation. Those who would be saved must know that they will have to serve Christ, and those who are saved rejoice that they are serving him, and that thus they are giving evidence of a change of heart and renewal of mind.

May God bless us as we learn to glorify Him and do service to Christ while we walk this earth. Amen and Amen!