Sunday Lectionary: Holy Anticipation

5th Sunday Of Lent: 23rd March, 2012

As this Lenten season reaches its climax, our Sunday Mass Readings are filled with anticipation.

In the First Reading, the Prophet Jeremiah speaks of a time to come when God would make a new kind of covenant with His people, one dramatically different from the ones made before. Under this new covenant the exiled tribes would be gathered together. It would signal a new era and a new level of intimacy with the Lord. After hearing these words of Jeremiah, God’s people waited in eager anticipation of this promised future.

In our Gospel Reading, Jesus is approached by some Greeks. At their arrival Jesus declares that “The hour has come…”. The “hour” of which Jesus speaks refers to His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension. With the coming of this “hour”, what was promised through the Prophet Jeremiah will finally reach fulfillment through Christ. Not only will the Children of Israel be gathered together, but so too will all people, “wash[ed]…and cleanse[d]” as we sing in today’s psalm.

Jesus says that He must die in order to bring eternal life. If Jesus is the Head of the Church, then His Body must do likewise:

Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. – John 12:25

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead – Philippians 3:10

The new life which Jesus brought to mankind is made present to us at every Mass in the Blessed Sacrament. Sometime this week, in preparation for Easter, why not spend an additional Holy Hour asking for the grace to live a life in imitation of our Lord?

 

 

Reading I: Jeremiah 31:31-34

This week’s First Reading comes from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah came from a priestly family and he is one of the most Christ-like of the prophets. During his ministry he admonished kings, priests and the people. As you can imagine, this won him few friends.

Today’s First Reading is the longest Old Testament citation found in the New Testament (Hebrews 8:8-12; 10:17-17). It is one of the most important Old Testament prophecies, sometimes known as “Jeremiah’s Spiritual Testament”:

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant, and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Questions:

• What does Jeremiah say is coming?
• Who is the “house of Israel”? Who is the “house of Judah”?
• Will this covenant be the same those before?
• What was the problem with the earlier covenants?
• What is the difference between the old covenant and the new one prophesied by Jeremiah? What does God promise to do?
• What will no longer be necessary with this new covenant? What does this mean?
• Finally, what will accompany this covenant? Why is this good news?

Commentary:

The days are coming, says the LORD, …

This is a phrase that often refers to the Messianic era.

…when I will make a new covenant…

This is the only time the Old Testament uses the phrase “new covenant”. Likewise, the New Testament only records the use of this phrase at one particular event, at the Last Supper:

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” – 1 Corinthians 11:25

The Old Covenant was brought about through the blood of animals, but the New Covenant is brought about through the Blood of the Lamb of God:

… to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel – Hebrews 12:24

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance —now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant – Hebrews 9:15

This phrase “new covenant” has come down to us via Latin as “new testament” and this therefore became the name for the second part of the Biblical canon.

…with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 

After Solomon’s death in 930 BC the Kingdom of Israel fell into civil war and the kingdom was divided into the north (“Israel”) and the south (“Judah”):

“In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance” – Jeremiah 3:18

In this new covenant the Davidic Kingdom will be reunited.

It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; …

This new covenant will be rather different from the covenant made at Sinai. This covenant will later be known as the “old covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:14) or the “first covenant” (Hebrews 8:7; 9:15,18).

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. -2 Corinthians 3:6

The new covenant will not abolish but fulfill and transcend those previous covenants.

…for they broke my covenant, …

The problem with the previous covenants (and the covenant of Sinai in particular) was that the people (and not God) did not live up to their end of the bargain.

…and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD. 

The Hebrew word rendered here as “master” has the root word of “ba’al”. Instead of following Yahweh, the people went after other “Baals”…

There are actually a couple of different ways of rendering this text from the Hebrew. If we assume that this rendering “master” is correct, then we might say that in the Old Covenant God was seen more as “Master” than “Father”.

An alternative rendering of the Hebrew would be “they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them”. In this rendering, God expresses His covenant relationship with Israel is terms of marriage. This analogy is used many other times in Scripture (and infidelity to Yahweh is described as “adultery”).

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel…

This is referring collectively to both Israel and Judah.

…after those days, says the LORD. 

The phrase “after those days” is used a lot in Jeremiah to indicate the period in which Yahweh would intervene in the course of Israel’s history.

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; 

This was the promise given by God through His prophet Ezekiel:

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh…And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” – Ezekiel 11:19, 27

The “heart” referred to here does not simply comprise of emotions. In Hebrew thought the “heart” is the centre of the will and intellect.

When God’s law is in the heart then it comes to bear on every aspect of one’s life, affecting every thought, every decision. When God’s law is in the heart it is an internal, interior reality, rather than simply being present externally on stone:

 Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets – Exodus 32:15-16

However, even at Sinai, something very similar was expected:

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts… Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” – Deuteronomy 6:6; 11:18

However, this will be brought to reality by the new covenant.

I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

This has always been the purpose of God’s covenants, to unite humanity to Himself:

I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. – Jeremiah 7:23-24

The problem has always been though that we have  always disobeyed.

No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. 

When this new covenant is established, there will be no more ignorance among the people.

All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, …

Knowledge of the Lord will not be restricted to a particular group. Instead, everyone will know Him. This “knowing” is experiential knowledge rather than academic knowledge (such as the difference between the verbs “saber” and “conocer” in Spanish).

…for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

…and here’s the really good news! With this covenant comes forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness was purchased for us by Christ:

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” – Hebrews 10:14-17

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15

This psalm is a prayer for forgiveness and cleansing.

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.

Questions:

• What is the thrust of this psalm?
• What specific requests does the psalmist make? What do these mean?
• What does the psalmist promise to do in the final verse?
• How can we apply this psalm to our own lives?

Commentary:

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.

A heart free from sin.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. 

The petition for mercy is made based upon God’s “goodness” and “compassion”.

The psalmist is using the image of a piece of scroll of papyrus containing all of David’s deeds (“wipe/blot out my offense”).

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.

The psalmist wants no trace of his sin to remain.

The language of washing here may be seen to prefigure the Sacrament of baptism.

A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 

The psalmist requests that God creates for him a new heart (as we saw above, “heart” doesn’t just mean emotions). It is worth noting here that it is God who does the cleansing and it is God who creates the new heart – it is an act of His grace.

Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

The psalmist does not want to be deprived of God’s presence.

The phrase “Holy Spirit” is only used in one other place in the Old Testament (Isaiah 63:9-12).

Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you.

Forgiveness of sins results in a thankful heart and a desire to point others towards God’s mercy.

 

 

Reading II: Hebrews 5:7-9

Modern scholarship is uncertain as to the identity of the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. The work itself makes no mention of the writer’s name (this is also true for 1 John). Traditionally, the document’s authorship was ascribed to St. Paul. We find the earliest record of this in Alexandria in the Second Century. Later Early Church writers corroborate this. In the Fourth Century, Church Historian Eusebius wrote that St. Clement believed the letter to be written by St. Paul, saying that he it in Hebrew and that it was then translated into Greek by St. Luke.

The purpose of the epistle to the Hebrews is to show how the New Covenant fulfills and supersedes the Old. The document makes particular mention of Old Covenant worship and how it prefigured Jesus’ Passion on Calvary. The author describes the crucifixion as a Sacrifice and Christ as our perfect High Priest. This focus on Old Covenant worship has led some scholars to suspect that Hebrews was specifically written for converts to Christianity who were formally priests in the Temple.

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Questions:

• What is Paul referring to when he talks about Christ being “in the flesh”?
• What might he have in mind for the “prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears”?
• Who is “the one who was able to save him from death”?
• In what way was Jesus’ plea “heard”?
• In what way did Jesus “learn…obedience from what he suffered”?
• How could Jesus be “made perfect”? Wasn’t He perfect already?
• We are told that “he became the source of eternal salvation”. What condition is place upon this?

Commentary:

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh…

This refers to Jesus’ mortal life during His earthly ministry.

…he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears…

The verb “offer” which is used in this sentence is closely associated with the “offering” of a priestly sacrifice. Old Covenant Levitical priests ended their priesthood at death (or the age of fifty, whichever came sooner). In contrast, Jesus’ priesthood is eternal:

“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” – Hebrews 5:6 (Psalm 110:4)

The “prayers and supplications” mentioned by St. Paul could refer to…

1. …His earthly ministry in general…

2. …but probably specifically the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane  (Matthew 26:36-46):

[Jesus] said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” – Matthew 26:38-39

3. …and also possibly His prayers on the cross:

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” – Mark 23:34

As always, these options don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but I think #2 is probably the primary meaning Paul had in mind.

…to the one who was able to save him from death, …

The Father could save Him:

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? – Matthew 26:53

…and he was heard because of his reverence.

He was saved from death, not by avoiding it, but through the Resurrection:

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus… – Hebrews 13:20

This is how Jesus was “heard”.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 

The hymn quoted by Paul in Philippians expresses this idea beautifully:

“And being found in appearance as a man, 
   he humbled himself 
   by becoming obedient to death— 
      even death on a cross!” – Philippians 2:8

The incarnate Son did not “learn…obedience” through making mistakes and “learn[ing]” from those mistakes. No, the “learn[ing]” was the experiencing of human suffering:

“Christ, being eternally divine, possessed the fullness of knowledge from the first instant of his conception as a man. He was ignorant of nothing, so he could not learn anything new by simple recognition.

But there is also knowledge acquired by experience, and in this sense he learned obedience through what he suffered. Having accepted our weakness, he learned how difficult it is to obey, for he obeyed in the most difficult of circumstances, even unto death on a cross – St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews 5, 2.

…and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

It is important here to make it very clear that Jesus was not lacking spiritually or morally. The incarnation was “made perfect” (i.e. completed) through His suffering and overcoming of Satan and temptation.

Adam was tested and failed. Jesus as tested and prevailed.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous – Romans 5:19

Those who obey Christ participate in His life, (death) and Resurrection.

 

 Gospel: John 12:20-33

In our First Reading Jeremiah said “The days are coming…”, but in this week’s Gospel Reading Jesus says “The hour has come…”. For so long God’s people had waited for Yahweh to fulfill His promises. The wait is almost over…

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Questions:

• Why do you think these “Greeks” came to “Philip”?
• Why do you think Jesus starts saying the “hour has come”?
• Why does Jesus describe His crucifixion as “being glorified”?
• Who is the grain of wheat in Jesus’ parable?
• What demand does Jesus make of His disciples? What is the promise?

Commentary:

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast…

Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) come to Jesus. They were possibly converts (“proselytes”) to Judaism, but I think it’s more likely that they were “God-fearers”:

“Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women….” -Acts 17:4

The “God-fearing Greeks” were those who admired Judaism and attended synagogue, but never fully converted (which, for men, required circumcision).

The temple at Jerusalem was so famous, that on the feast days, not only the people near, but many Gentiles from distant countries came to worship in it; as that eunuch of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in the Acts.  – St. Bede

The text comes immediately after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem to cries of “Hosanna!”.

…came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, …

“Philip” is a Greek name (“lover of horses”), which is quite possibly the reason these “Greeks” come to him.

“Bethsaida” literally means “house of fishing”.

…and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 

Jesus was visited by Gentiles after His birth (Matthew 2:1-1) and now also prior to His passion.

Philip went and told Andrew; 

“Andrew” is also a Greek name (“manly, strong”).

Why is there also a consultation with Andrew? Perhaps it was because it was rare for Gentiles to come to Jesus for teaching?

As being the elder disciple. He had heard our Savior say “Go not into the way of the Gentiles”, and therefore he communicates with his fellow-disciple, and they refer the matter to their Lord – St. John Chrysostom

…then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

We don’t hear anything more about these Greeks. Considering that what follows (“The hour has come…”), it’s likely that John wants to show that Jesus’ mission and His redemptive act on the cross is for all peoples, not just the Jews (“I will draw everyone to myself“):

Did He think Himself glorified, because the Gentiles wished to see? No. But He saw that after His passion and resurrection, the Gentiles in all lands would believe in Him; and took occasion from this request of some Gentiles to see Him, to announce the approaching fullness of the Gentiles, for that the hour of His being glorified was now at hand, and that after He was glorified in the heavens, the Gentiles would believe; according to the passage in the Psalm, “Set up Yourself, O God, above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth” (Ps 56 and 107) – St. Augustine

Jesus answered them, 

Jesus may be speaking to Philip and Andrew here.

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…

Everything has led to this moment. Jesus’ “hour” had been referred to many times during His ministry:

When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” – John 2:3-4

Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do… “ – John 7:6

At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. – John 7:30

But the “hour” has now arried. Jesus will be “glorified” in His death, Resurrection and exaltation in Heaven.

…Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 

Jesus uses an example from nature to demonstrate the logic of the the Passion and Resurrection. A kernel must die and buried in the ground if a plant is to be born. One death can lead to abundant life. Through the death of Christ many will have life:

That corn was He, to be mortified in the unbelief of the Jews, to be multiplied in the faith of the Gentiles – St. Augustine

He Himself, of the seed of the Patriarchs, was sown in the field of this world, that by dying, He might rise again with increase. He died alone; He rose again with many – St. Bede

Jesus’ disciples are called to imitate Him. This dying and rising takes place in a special way at baptism, but must also be continual process:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ” – Matthew 16:24

This means putting to death inside ourselves the things which are not of God and offering our lives in love and worship of Him.

This may be understood in two ways: 1. If you love it, lose it: if you would preserve your life in Christ, fear not death for Christ. 2. Do not love your life here, lest you lose it hereafter. The latter seems to be the more evangelical sense; for it follows, And he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it to life eternal. – St. Augustine

Whoever loves his life loses it, …

Selfishness and self-love prohibit sacrifice. This idea is found often in Jesus’ teaching:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” – Matthew 16:25

To “love” one’s life means to consider simply life in the here-and-now and to focus on only worldly achievements. However, Scripture often emphasizes the transient nature of this life:

What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes – James 4:14

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ – Luke 12:18-20

…and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. 

The language here is harsh, but what it means is that we must love God so much that all our other loves are, by comparison, hate. This is a common Semitic idiom.

All temporal things are vile, in comparison with eternal – St. Augustine

He loves his life in this world, who indulges its inordinate desires; he hates it, who resists them. – St. John Chrysostom

But think not for an instant, that by hating your soul, is meant that you may kill yourself. … But when no other choice is given you; when the persecutor threatens death, and you must either disobey God’s law, or depart out of this life, then hate your life in this world, that you may keep it to life eternal – St. Augustine

This present life is sweet to them who are given up to it. But he who looks heavenwards, and sees what good things are there, soon despises this life. When the better life appears, the worse is despised. This is Christ’s meaning, when He says, If any man serve Me, let him follow Me, i.e. imitate Me, both in My death, and life. For he who serves, should follow him whom he serves – St. John Chrysostom

As mentioned in the notes last week, “eternal life” refers to both the duration and the quality of this divine life. See last weeks notes for more details.

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

If you love Christ you follow Him and server others:

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. – John 13:13-17

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:40

But what is it to serve Christ? The very words explain. They serve Christ who seek not their own things, but the things of Jesus Christ, i.e. who follow Him, walk in His, not their own ways, do all good works for Christ’s sake, not only works of mercy to men’s bodies, but all others, till at length they fulfill that great work of love, and lay down their lives for the brethren. But what fruit, what reward? you ask. The next words tell you: And where I am, there shall also My servant be. Love Him for His own sake, and think it a rich reward for your service, to be with Him – St. Augustine

For what greater honor can an adopted Son receive than to he where the Only Son is? – St. John Chrysostom

“I am troubled now…

Jesus does feel anguish. This is effectively John’s version of the Agony in the Garden.

As He draws near to the Cross, His human nature appears, a nature that did not wish to die, but cleaved to this present life. He shows that He is not quite without human feelings. For the desire of this present life is not necessarily wrong, any more than hunger. Christ had a body free from sin, but not from natural infirmities. But these attach solely to the dispensation of His humanity, not to His divinity. – St. John Chrysostom

“…Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” 

Again, as we read last week someone’s “name” is everything that person is and represents.

Jesus asks a question and immediately answers it. The Son’s will is in perfect conformity with the Father (“Father, glorify your name”).

To our Lord’s exhortation to His disciples to endurance, they might have replied that it was easy for Him, Who was out of the reach of human pain, to talk philosophically about death, and to recommend others to bear what He is in no danger of having to bear Himself. So He lets them see that He is Himself in an agony, but that He does not intend to decline death, merely for the sake of relieving Himself: Now is My soul troubled. – St. John Chrysostom

He teaches you Whom you should call on, whose will prefer to your own. Let Him not seem to fall from His greatness, because He wishes you to rise from your meanness. He took upon Him man’s infirmity, that He might teach the afflicted to say, Not what I will, but what you will – St. Augustine

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” 

The Father gives His reply. This is one of three times a voice from Heaven speaks (the other two being at Jesus’ Baptism and Transfiguration)

“I have glorified it”, i.e. before I made the world; “and will glorify it again”, i.e. when you shall rise from the dead. Or, “I have gloried it”, when you were born of a Virgin, did work miracles, was made manifest by the Holy Ghost descending in the shape of a dove; “and will glorify it again”, when you shall rise from the dead, and, as God, be exalted above the heavens, and your glory above all the earth. – St. Augustine

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 

Those present appear to perceive the event differently, similar to the experience of the people at Sinai:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” – Exodus 20:18-19

When God speaks audibly, as He does here, but no visible appearance is seen, He speaks through the medium of a rational creature: i.e. by the voice of an Angel – St. Gregory

Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours…

The voice wasn’t for Jesus’ benefit, but for those people present.

It did not come to tell Him what He knew already, but them what they ought to know. And as that voice did not come for His sake, but for theirs, so His soul was not troubled for His sake, but for theirs – St. Augustine

Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 

St. Augustine offers us an extensive explanation of this verse:

The judgment at the end of the world will be of eternal rewards and punishments. But there is another judgment, not of condemnation, but of selection, which is the one meant here; the selection of His own redeemed, and their deliverance from the power of the devil…

The devil is not called the prince of this world, in the sense of being Lord over heaven and earth; God forbid. The world here stands for the wicked dispersed over all the world. In this sense the devil is the prince of the world, i.e. of all the wicked men who live in the world. The world also sometimes stands for the good dispersed throughout the world: God, was in Christ reconciling the world, to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). These are they from whose hearts the prince of this world shall be cast out.

Our Lord foresaw that after His passion and glorifying, great nations all over the world would be converted, in whom the devil was then, but from whose hearts, on their truly renouncing him, he would be cast out. But was he not cast out of the hearts of the righteous men of old?

Why is it, Now shall be cast out? Because that which once took place in a very few persons, was now to take place in whole nations. What then, does the devil not tempt at all the minds of believers? Yea, he never ceases to tempt them. But it is one thing to reign within, another to lay siege from without. – St. Augustine

Satan had dominion over the world ever since Adam’s Fall (although God is still ultimately in charge). However, at the crucifixion Satan will suffer a major defeat. This is the paradox of the crucifixion, its “foolishness” that we heard about two weeks ago.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. – Hebrews 2:14-15

What kind of judgment it is by which the devil is cast out, I will explain by an example. A man demands payment from his debtors, beats them, and sends them to prison. He treats with the same insolence one who owes him nothing. The latter will take vengeance both for himself and the others too. This Christ does. He revenges what He has suffered at the devil’s hands, and with Himself He revenges us too. – St. John Chrysostom

The final defeat will take place when Christ comes again:

And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. – Revelation 20:10

And when I am lifted up from the earth….” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

This is much like Jesus’ earlier discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:14-15) where He compares Himself to the bronze snake being lifted high on the pole:

By His being lifted up, He means His passion on the cross – St. Augustine

However, it is not only about being lifted high on the cross. When Isaiah prophesied about the Suffering Servant, he said that after the Messiah suffered for Israel’s sins he would be “lifted up”:

See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. – Isaiah 52:13

Therefore, the “lift[ing] up” spoken of by Jesus also refers to His Resurrection and Ascension.

“… I will draw everyone to myself”

The emphasis here is that the blessings of Jesus’ Passion is for all mankind:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29

They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” – John 4:42

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world – 1 John 2:2

Isaiah also spoke about the Messiah raising a banner:

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him – Isaiah 11:10

The world has gathered around the sign of the cross:

[He was] nailed to the cross for us in His flesh. We are the fruit of His most blessed passion. And thus, through His resurrection, He raised a banner for all time for His saints and faithful followers, whether among Jews or Gentiles, that they might be united in a single body, that is, His Church. – Epistle of Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans , Chapter 1