"Lifted Up"
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked.
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” -John 3:4, 14-15
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” -John 8:28
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. -John 12:32-33 (all references NIV, italics mine)
Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus uses this verb lifted up (a single word in Greek) to describe His completion of the saving mission given to Him. Especially, it focuses on the cross, resurrection and accession. In John’s Gospel, these 3 are to be seen as one complex action. The cross leads to the resurrection which leads to the accession and together they communicate the rescue offered in Jesus. Without them, one cannot correctly identify the Son of Man or understand His mission. In fact, the last time we see lifted up in the text of John’s Gospel is in the form of a question- John 12:34-36 reads:
The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
And this pulls together all the threads. Do you want to know who Jesus is? You must see Jesus lifted up. That is He must be first understood as the ‘Lamb that was slain.’ But, to see Him this way means you must put aside your categories of Messiah. Messiah will remain forever but, not until after He is lifted up. Tragically, many people will see the cross not as a reason to embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord but as a reason to turn away from Him. The result? They will not walk in the light of the revelation of the Son of Man but have darkness overtake them. Our work in the world is not to make Jesus more attractive to a modern audience. Our mission is to show the world the Son of Man lifted up. As we proclaim Christ crucified, God will draw those who are to become children of light to Himself. In this way, we stand in the tradition of Paul who reminded the Corinthian church of these very realities when he wrote,
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. ”
As we enter the Lenten season and continue our study of John’s Gospel, it is my hope that the clarity with which we see Jesus will sharpen and deepen as we look through the lens of the Son of Man lifted up.
