Quotes & Notes 

John 12:20-33 

• Verse 32:  "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." 
• These pronouncements are not unconnected with the Greeks' request.  They cannot "see" Jesus -- that is, experience messianic salvation -- until after he has been crucified. 

- Reginald H. Fuller, Preaching the Lectionary 
• It is at once the humiliation and the exaltation.  It is the shame and the glory... He draws, not drags. - D.D. Whedon, Commentary
• The magnetism of the Cross is now known of all men, however little they understand the mystery of the Cross. 

- A.T. Robertson, Robertson's Word Pictures 
• Lifted up, first, to the cross; second, from the grave; third, to heaven and the eternal throne.  - B.W. Johnson,  People's New Testament
• And being lifted up between God and the world, in obedience, on the cross, bearing that which was due to sin, Christ became the point of attraction for all men living, that through Him they might draw nigh to God. -John Darby,  Synopsis of  the New Testament
• This is a Hebraism which signifies dying. Death in general is all that is usually imported. But our Lord made use of this phrase, rather than others that were equivalent, because it so well suited the particular manner of his death. I will draw all men - Gentiles as well as Jews. And those who follow my drawings, Satan shall not be able to keep. 

-John Wesley,  Notes Upon the New Testament 
• The Evangelist says, that Christ pointed out the manner of his death; and, therefore, the meaning undoubtedly is, that the cross will be, as it were, a chariot, by which he shall raise all men, along with himself, to his Father. - John Calvin,  Commentary
• Christ used a word which has a double meaning, for it signifies either to lift up or to get out of the way: for he intended them to think of his death, but the Jews seemed to take it another way. - Genevea Study Bible
• The death of Christ is here signified by his being "lifted up from the earth", in allusion to the lifting up of the brazen serpent on the pole; and shows, that his death would not be natural, but violent, and would be public, and not private; and fitly expresses his mediation between God, and men, being lifted up between the heavens and the earth; and points out the death of the cross...- John Gill,  Exposition of the Bible
• The allusion here, is to the setting up of a standard or ensign, to gather persons together. Christ's cross is the standard, his love is the banner, and he himself is the ensign, which draw souls to himself, and engage them to enlist themselves under him, and become his volunteers in the day his power; see (Isaiah 11:10) . 

- John Gill,  Exposition of the Bible 
•  It is to Christ that we are drawn: "I will draw them to me as the centre of their unity.’’ The soul that was at a distance from Christ is brought into an acquaintance with him, he that was shy and distrustful of him is brought to love him and trust in him,—drawn up to his terms, into his arms. Christ was now going to heaven, and he would draw men’s hearts to him thither.  - Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary
• And truly, the death of the Cross, in all its significance, revealed in the light, and borne in upon the heart, by the power of the Holy Ghost, possesses an attraction over the wide world--to civilized and savage, learned and illiterate, alike--which breaks down all opposition, assimilates all to itself, and forms out of the most heterogeneous and discordant materials a kingdom of surpassing glory, whose uniting principle is adoring subjection "to Him that loved them."

- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary 
• While the distinctions between the three statements are not to be insisted upon, yet they suggest that the first is a saving sacrifice, a priestly work (John iii. 14); the second is mentioned as the convincing credential that he is the prophet sent from God, speaking the message of God (John viii. 26-28); and in the passage before us, he is evidently the king who shall wrest his kingdom from the usurping Satan. 

- McGarvey & Pendleton, Four Fold Gospel

Hymns
Bob VanWyk, Lectionary Hymn Reviewer
 
 

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See also:  220.7 - Bible Commentaries; 251 - Homiletics;  252 - Sermon Texts

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