Probably one of my least favorite stories

May 06, 2026

Jesus Draws All People

===

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

John 12:32 (NET)

===

I believe this is an allusion to the story in Numbers.

The one where the fiery serpents had attacked the people of Israel and God told Moses to create a bronze serpent. If the people who were bitten would lift their eyes to the statue then they would be healed.

As someone with a healthy fear of snakes, this isn’t my favorite story.

Yet it’s an important message from Christ:

Both to indicate the kind of death He would die and the mission He was on.

We know it’s an indication of the death on the cross because John tells the reader that in the very next verse.

But we can infer that the mission Jesus went on was to make a way to draw all people back to God.

I’m sure there are ways to read too much into that (e.g., universal salvation is not supported throughout the Bible and using this verse for that would be deceptive selective scholarship).

But praise God we have a way out of the mess of sin.

Some days are hard enough dealing with the struggles in life.

I really don’t know how non-believers handle things sometimes.

For me, having the eternal hope in Christ -- a bright future ahead -- renews my tapped out strength. It helps me get up every morning and face the world.

I don’t know what you’re facing, but God’s got you.

He’ll be with you every step of the way.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Daily Scripture Minute

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?