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NASB | John 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 12:32 "And I, if and when I am lifted up from the earth [on the cross], will draw all people to Myself [Gentiles, as well as Jews]." |
Subject: THE MOST POWERFUL VERSE IN EVANGELISM |
Bible Note: Kathy: I like your motive, and Tim's. But I am afraid we simply have to look to other scriptures. Can it be that Jesus was using the word with a double meaning, when he spoke in the passage at hand of being lifted up? If we looked it up we’d get G5312: hupsoo From G5311; to elevate (literally or figuratively): - exalt, lift up. How could we decide if Jesus was using the word literally, or figuratively, or both? By looking at the word we could not tell. And that is why I say again, we do not look at the word. We get the meaning from the context. From the context we understand that the word is to be taken literally and not figuratively. Why could it not be taken figuratively? We need to look at the context of the rest of Scripture. When Jesus went to the cross was he being exalted? No. He was being degraded. He was brought low. He was despised and rejected. No one in heaven or in earth was rejoicing. Even his persecutors were watching in apprehension, wandering if he would come down from the cross. But he was wounded for our transgressions. His body was high, but his spirit was low. He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. He was being made sin for us. He was being made a curse. He was put to grief when his soul was made an offering for sin. He was not being exalted in any way. A word can always have many meanings. It is the context that gives it the real meaning. So again I say, we can lift Jesus high. But not on the cross. John 12:32 does not suggest it, and John 12:33 does not allow it. Hebrews 6 says if we put him back on the cross we crucify him afresh and bring him to an open shame. We can praise him for what he accomplished on the cross, but we do not rejoice to see him there. The cross is a place of sorrow and shame, and I think we ought to leave it at that. But now, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor. He is risen, and ascended. He is at the right hand of the father. One more we can sing “Glory to God in the highest”. |