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And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
John 12:32 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
  • KJV And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
  • BSB And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.”
  • NASB And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”
  • NLT And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jesus says that when he is lifted up, he will draw all people to himself. The cross is the magnet of salvation.

Overview

Being 'lifted up' refers to Jesus' crucifixion, exaltation, and the saving power of his death. He promises to draw people of every kind, Jew and Gentile alike, to himself. Faithful Christians differ over whether 'all people' means all without exception or all without distinction, but the verse clearly proclaims the worldwide, gathering power of the cross.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • John 8:28Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things.
  • John 3:14As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
  • 1 Pet 2:24who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
  • 1 Jn 2:2And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
  • John 1:7The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
  • John 6:44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
  • 1 Tim 2:6who gave himself as a ransom for all; the testimony in its own times;
  • Gal 3:13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
  • Heb 2:9But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone.
  • Rom 5:17–19For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
  • Hos 11:4I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.
  • 1 Pet 3:18Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
  • Rev 5:9They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
  • Deut 21:22–23If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree;
  • Isa 49:6Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
  • John 19:17He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”,
  • Ps 22:16–18For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
  • John 12:34The multitude answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ remains forever. How do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up?’ Who is this Son of Man?”
  • 2 Sam 18:9Absalom happened to meet David’s servants. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the sky and earth; and the mule that was under him went on.
  • Song 1:4Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 12:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 12:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.