Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

John 12:31-34

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be expelled.

Joh 12:32 And me, when I am lifted up from the ground I will draw all people to myself.”

Joh 12:33 He said this indicating what kind of death he was about to die.

Joh 12:34 Then the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will stay permanently. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man has to be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

escape plan

The cross was not what the crowds expected. They imagined a Messiah who would remain forever, a king whose power—especially the power to raise the dead—would guarantee His own permanence. They were right to believe He could conquer death, but they did not understand how He would do it. Before Jesus would rise, He would have to die. Before He would be exalted, He would be lifted up on a cross.

And His death was unlike any other. Because He had no sin of His own, He alone could die for the sins of others. The gospel is, at its core, an escape plan—God’s rescue mission for humanity. But for us to escape permanent death, Jesus had to surrender His right to permanent life. He stepped into mortality so that we could step out of it. He embraced the cross so that we could embrace resurrection. He entered the darkness so that we could walk in the light forever.

The unexpectedness of the cross does not diminish its glory; it magnifies it. What looked like defeat became the doorway to life. What seemed like the end became the beginning of the world’s redemption. The Messiah did stay forever—but only after laying down His life to save ours.

A prayer rises naturally from this truth:

Lord, thank You for making our escape possible. Thank You for giving up what You deserved so that we could receive what we never could.