“I will draw everyone to myself.”

 
Jesus says that the time has come for judgment and the ruler of the world. This judgment will be completed once He is raised and all will draw close to Him.
 
What does Jesus mean by judgment on this world? I thought that has not happened yet? Jesus judges souls. God judges all that was, is, and will ever be. So God has judged the souls in the past, the souls today, and those until He comes again when He will have the final judgment of everyone. “The world” means those who persist in serving the ruler of the world, Satan, rather than God.[i]
 
Who is the ruler of this world? Satan. “Satan, whose dominion over the world began with Adam’s rebellion in the garden. Christ will defeat the devil when he mounts the Cross and will destroy him when he comes again in glory.[ii]
 
What does Jesus mean when He says that He will be lifted up from the earth? The first and primary answer is the cross. It makes sense that this verse is included in the reading since the following week is Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Jesus also means His lifting up from the earth in the Ascension. “The lifting up of Jesus on the cross signifies and announces his lifting up by his Ascension into heaven, and indeed begins it.”[iii] From the cross, lifted up from the earth, the Lord attracts all men to Himself for all will be able to see Him there crucified. “On being nailed to the Cross, Jesus is the supreme sign of contradiction for all men: those who recognize him as Son of God will be saved; those who reject him will be condemned.”[iv]
 
What does Jesus’ death signify? First, it signifies the end of the rule of Satan in this world. “The coming of God’s kingdom means the defeat of Satan…They [demons] anticipate Jesus’ great victory over ‘the ruler of this world.’ The kingdom of God will be definitively established through Christ’s cross: ‘God reigned from the wood.’”[v] The Catechism continues this thought on the victory over Satan when it says, “Victory over the ‘prince of this world’ was won once for all at the Hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is ‘cast out.’”[vi]
 
Jesus’ death also signifies the establishment of God’s eternal covenant. The first reading this Sunday is from Jeremiah where he prophesied that God would establish a new covenant that would be unlike any other covenant established before. This is because every covenant that God had established with His people was broken by mankind. (Cf. Jer. 31:31-34) God always keeps His promises. God must redeem the world because sin is still part of it and man has broken the covenant with Him. In order to fulfill His promise and prophecy, God sent His son to be the sacrifice for all of mankind. The Father sent His Son and established the eternal covenant through Him. Jeremiah speaks of not needing to be taught how to know the Lord because God came into this world. To know the Lord is to see Him face to face. This is why Jesus says “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father…” (Jn. 14:9)
 
Finally, Jesus’ death shows that if we are to follow Him as the new ruler of this world, we must be willing to follow in His own footsteps, even if that means to the cross. “Every Christian, following Christ, has to be a flag raised aloft, a light on a lampstand – through prayer and mortification, securely attached to the Cross, always and in every situation, a sign to men of the saving love of God the Father.”[vii] When we put Jesus at the center of our lives, in all of our activities, at every moment, He will draw us to Him and we help make His kingdom a reality.[viii]

[i] Cf. Navaree Bible. Pg. 166
[ii] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, pg. 186
[iii] CCC 662
[iv] Cf. Navaree Bible. Pg. 166
[v] CCC550
[vi] CCC 2853
[vii] Cf. Navaree Bible. Pg. 166
[viii] Cf. J. Escriva, Christ is passing by, 183