For This Purpose

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”  John 12:32  NASB

Will draw – First we need some background.  Back up one verse and see how the opening statement fits this conclusion.  “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.”  Who is Yeshua talking about?  The Devil?

We need to recognize that the Tanakh has almost nothing to say about “the Devil.”  Its sparing use of ha-satan indicates that this person (if we can even use this word) is best described as “the adversary” or “the accuser,” and his role is carefully circumscribed and assigned by YHWH.  He is not a free-wheeling, super powerful bad guy, reeking havoc on everyone and everything.  Basically, he does what God assigned him to do.

By the time we get to Yeshua’s first century view, more has been added to the role of ha-satan, but it is still a far cry from the typical Christian view of Satan.  In fact, most of our ideas about Satan come from the Dark Ages.  It takes a Christian paradigm shift to interpret Genesis 3 as an incarnation of Satan, to see Lucifer in Isaiah as Satan and to identify the dragon in Revelation as Satan.  We should probably note that Christian imagery of Satan typically associates him with the body of a pig or a goat.  Where did those images come from?  Can you guess?

If we follow the usual Christian orientation, Yeshua’s statement about the “ruler of this world” becomes a circumlocution of Satan.  But is this necessary?  Put yourself in the place of the audience when Yeshua spoke these words.  Who would you think of as the melech (ruler, king)?  Would you think of ha-satan, the obscure functionary of YHWH, or would you think of Caesar, the Emperor of the whole known world?   What would the words mean to the first audience that heard them – the Jews of the first century?  Would they conjure up images of red tails, pitchforks, half-goat, half-man Philistine or Canaanite male gods?  Would they think like Dante?

If the statement about the “ruler of this world” is a description of Caesar, then the verse about being lifted up changes as well.  There is little doubt that Yeshua is referring to the crucifixion but we must remember that crucifixion is a Roman symbol.  It is, in fact, the paradigm Roman symbol of power over the Jews.  If Yeshua is speaking to an audience that associates power with Rome, then His statement that the ruler of this world will lose all his power when the paradigm symbol of that power becomes a reality in the life of Yeshua changes quite a bit about what we think.  The power of the Roman cross is the power over life and death.  Yeshua’s crucifixion brought that power to an end.  The Emperor’s claim is finished.  The kingdom of Rome has ended.  It has been replaced by a Kingdom that will never end because its King will never die.

Why will all men be drawn to the one who is lifted up?  Because without this King, without this victory, death still holds the power.  All men will come because no man wants to die.

We need to carefully note that what Yeshua says seems to contradict an earlier statement.  That statement is that no one comes to Yeshua unless the Father draws him.  But now He says that He will draw all men.  How can both be true?  The first statement about the Father is a statement about the role that YHWH plays in attracting men to the Son.  The second statement is about the role that the victory over death plays in the hearts of men.  One pushes.  The other pulls.

Finally, notice the hypothetical condition of this statement.  “If I be lifted up.”  Apparently the event is not inevitable (but notice that the ESV changes the translation to “when” making it a foregone conclusion).  If it happens, its impact changes the world.  But even Yeshua sees that it is possible that it will not happen.  It must be a choice.  Men are drawn to the victory over death, all men, by the way, not just Jews, because death is the universal problem.  Sin as a universal problem only makes sense within a context that recognizes sin.  But death affects everyone regardless of theology.

“If I am lifted up,” then I will draw (the Greek is helkyso).  The verb is future, active, indicative.  The action will occur sometime in the future and will affect everyone.  It has the sense of “dragging.”  Whether you and I want to or not, the very idea of a man who comes back from the dead is something we cannot ignore.  We have to know what is beyond the grave.  Every religion speaks about this.  Only one offers proof.  The crucifixion and the empty tomb are about power – power that only Yeshua can wield.  Atonement might be accomplished by even fine flour (see Leviticus 14:21), but victory over death resides with no one else.

By the way, if the crucifixion destroys the power of death and death is the final stronghold of the enemy, then why do we credit the accuser with so much power and control?  Who is he anyway?

Topical Index:  lifted up, draw, helkyo, crucifixion, death, Satan