Lift Him Up

I love this time of year. Easter is by far my favorite holiday, maybe it is because of the sunrise service and breakfast that we used to do when we started the church. In the early days we would do a service at like 7am, have breakfast and then have a service after. We were so sluggish in the second service because of the pancakes we had to quit the Sunrise service. The real reason I enjoy Easter so much is that I love celebrating all the themes that express what Jesus did to bring us back into the family of God. His suffering, the cross, his death, the words that he spoke while on the cross, his resurrection, how he revealed himself to his disciples after he rose; all these things speak to me about all that he has given us through his death and resurrection. This is not just a tradition for me, his life lives in inside of me and I am so grateful that he conquered death so that I could forever be with him.

We are celebrating the final week that Jesus had on the earth that began with his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. As I was reflecting on this story a verse stood out to me.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. John 12:32-33

Jesus was just coming off of this parade and celebration of him riding into the King's Gate (East Gate) of the temple complex. This is the gate that Zechariah had talked about describing Israel's king coming into it riding on a donkey. This action that occurred had very significant messianic ramifications. The people were making such a great celebration that the religious leaders in the temple were getting very worried. Jesus was extremely popular, and they wanted to make him the new king of the Jewish people. They were going to be free from the oppression of the Romans, and the disciples were going to be the rulers in a new kingdom to restore the glory of Israel.

In the midst of all this Jesus began to talk about dying, he began to describe what kind of death he would have. Here is the thing about Jesus even though the crowd was infatuated with him, he was never swayed by popular opinion, or the desires of man. He knew his purpose and why he was in Jerusalem that is why he spoke about being lifted up on a cross to die, and I wonder what the disciples thought about this as he kept talking about his death? Peter was already rebuked for his first response saying that it would never happen. Maybe they thought he would be crucified and then in a great show of power he would come off of the cross and defeat the Romans. Either way, we see that their perspective about what was going to happen did not align with his, as evidenced by their response in the garden of Gethsemane and on to his resurrection.

I see two things out of this scripture that we need to hold onto and reflect on as we go into this week of Easter.

1. Our box is not big enough for Jesus - When we see the response of the people toward Jesus in this moment, when we look at the disciples and how they handled this last week we see that they had a limited view of what Jesus was really doing. I think about how it is so easy for us to expect God to work in the way we want him to. I have so many times placed God in a box and expected him to do things like I had planned. We thought we were going to have kids at a certain time in our lives and that they would be about 2 years apart, and God has completely blown our box apart with leading us to adopt our two boys. We would not change anything about what he has done because his plan was far greater than ours.

Think about the ramifications of the people and the disciples getting what they expected. They would have gotten a political king, their nation would have been established, however their perspective was short sighted. The Lord was really working the way of salvation for all peoples. If their plan would have been executed there would be no hope for you or I as gentiles. Jesus was focused only on the will of God which was bigger than just the political freedom of national Israel. God was working out the freedom from sin for all of His creation. He was reconciling the world back to him in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. When Jesus breaks out of the box we put him in it is better than we ever imagined!

2. Look To Jesus - I think the key to this verse is the fact that he was lifted up. Why was he lifted up? One of the reasons was to make them a spectacle. They wanted people to see what the consequences were for rebellion and stepping out of line. Jesus was lifted up to display at that moment all the suffering that he had gone through, the beating the flesh being torn from his back, the crown of thorns on his head. When Jesus was lifted up in that moment he was crucified he began drawing all men to him. Not just the thief on the cross beside him, but even one of the men who was killing him declared him as the Son of God. I believe that when Jesus spoke of being lifted up he was not only speaking about his death but also his resurrection. As he was lifted up in resurrection he opened the door into eternal life.

When I meditate on all that Jesus has done I am taken back to Isaiah 53 where it talks about how as he was on the cross he bore our grief and our sorrows. How he was pierced for the sins that we commit outwardly and how he was bruised for the inward sins that we commit in our hearts. How the work that he did at the cross was a work that was perfectly perfect and completely complete. How his blood broke the claim of death on us like the Passover lamb, how it cleansed us from sin to the depths of our being. How he bore our sin on the cross like the scapegoat on the day of Atonement. How he sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat of heaven to make a way for us to boldly approach the throne of grace. How His resurrection life now resides in us by the same Spirit that raised him from the dead. When I look to him, He reveals himself to me in ways that go beyond my comprehension.

Let's look to him this week and allow him to reveal himself in new ways!