Hate this world’s life; you’ll gain eternal life,”
Jesus taught Greeks, as well as temple Jews,
During the last week of His earthly strife!
“To be lifted up is the Son of Man;
Should I ask my Father this trial to spare?
No! The very reason I’m in this land
Is to die for sin so men may heav’n share!
Lifted up, I will draw all men to me;
My Father’ll be glorified by the cross.”
A voice from heaven spoke and did agree,
“I’ve been glorified before; you’ll add gloss!”
Jesus advised, “Walk while you have the Light;
I won’t be here long; then it will be night!”
Scripture Quoted: John 12:27-28, 32 (NIV)
“ ‘Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say,
The term “Greeks” here means Greek Jews who have come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast; it possibly means ethnic Jews who live in Jerusalem, but who speak Greek. When Alexander the Great conquered the world (including Judea), he had all his conquered nations learn to speak Greek. The Septuagint is the name of the Hebrew Bible translated into Greek. Jews who spoke Greek had their own synagogues; some forgot their Jewish language. Since at Passover thousands of Jews came from all over the Roman Empire to Jerusalem, the city was very crowded.
When Jesus used the term “lifted up”, He had three distinct meanings in mind. First and foremost, He was referring to Friday when He would be lifted up on a Roman cross in crucifixion. Second, He was alluding to the future when churches would use crosses as spires, making the cross a symbol that brings Jesus to the minds of lost people when they see it. Third, He was referring to His resurrection from the grave after death and His ascension from the Mount of Olives to heaven, where today He sits on the right hand of His Father. It even refers to the sermons and devotionals that “lift the name” of Jesus to a lost world. This is another example of spiritual language that worldly people have difficulting understanding.
Being human, Jesus was troubled in His mind about the cruel suffering He would have to undergo on Friday. He was musing aloud when he asked the rhetorical question of whether He should ask His Father to spare Him the coming trial. He always told His Father “not my will, but yours, be done”. The use of “light” to refer to Himself is another spiritual word. “Light” means to live in the knowledge and fellowship of Jesus; “darkness” means to live in the world ignorant of the gospel and the teachings of Jesus. He thought of Himself leaving earth as light leaving the world in darkness; however, one reason He came was to bring the good news of the gospel and have it preached throughout the world. In that sense, the “light” will never leave the world, although false religions and other Satanic forces have tried to extinguish it.
The Bible has a lot to say about how Christians should not love this world or anything in it. If we love the things of this world, we are apt to spend our lives in them, thus ignoring the God who created it, thus breaking the First Commandmentm which is ro love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If you do that, nothing in the world will ever be more important to you than God.
"For God so loved rhe world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not die, but have everlasting life," (John 3:16)
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
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