John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.”
Using the phrase, “if I be lifted up from the earth”, Christ signified “what death he should die”. This phrase indeed pointed to the Cross upon which our Blessed Savior would be Crucified, to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). So that the Jews could understand it, our Lord explained His Crucifixion this way: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” (John 3:14). When the Children of Israel looked upon the Brazen Serpent that Moses had “lifted up”, they didn’t die; thus, the Jews would understand that our Lord’s Crucifixion was their deliverance, much like the Brazen Serpent was to Old Testament Israel. Now, even in our day, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). Paul explained that “we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (I Corinthians 1:23)! It is still so in our day, to a very loud part of our society, “the preaching of the cross is … foolishness” and “a stumblingblock” to many. The adversaries of Christ tried to get rid of Him by Crucifying Him, but that only served to “draw” more of His People after Him. In our day our Lord’s adversaries are still at it; they try to squash and distort the Word of God, make things difficult for the Churches, demean the faithful and the Gospel, and overwhelm the faithful with ungodliness and immorality. Our defense is to just simply keep right on preaching Christ “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (I Peter 2:24) and “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” (I Peter 3:18)!