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If I Be Lifted Up
Exodus 17:11-12 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.
When our beloved pastor said, “I feel lifted up,” last week, Bo had no idea what this week's sermon topic was to be. Of course, he was referring to the support he gets from our congregation. We have every reason to appreciate him. He is wonderfully serving in his pastoral role. Despite having to take the reigns at a time of great loss for this church, and having faced some large difficulties along the way, Bo has done an excellent job of threading the needle and keeping this small body on track. We have every reason to appreciate our pastor.
My intention is to speak on the passage in John 12 where Jesus says ‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”. However, in reading Brian & Candice Simmons' Throne Room Prayer I ran across the passage from Exodus where Moses as the anointed leader of Israel lifts his hands to heaven causing the Israelites to prevail in battle against the Amalekites. It seemed to fit so perfectly with Bo's comments that I had to pursue the rabbit trail for a short distance. The passage finishes with this:
Exodus 17:15-16 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The LORD is my Banner,” for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the LORD — that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
The hand lifted was a prayer to God for help against the assault by Amelek. Moses, now an elderly man, was not able to sustain his hands on high before the Lord without help. Aaron and Hur stand with Moses to support him.
The battle was both physical and spiritual. Joshua had to fight the physical battle with his troops in tactical deployment while Moses had to fight the spiritual battle. Moses prayed strategic prayers as he watched from the high place. The rod of God was the assurance to the troops fighting below that God's purpose would stand. God was watching over his armies through Moses, Aaron, and Hur. Everyone's role in this battle was significant and crucial for ultimate victory.
Today we must cover our spiritual leaders with strategic prayers it's dangerous in this day to be a leader without a team of faithful armor bearers intercessors surrounding them. Intersection protects them and keeps their sword sharpened (Brian & Candice Simmons, Throne Room Prayer. 134).
As we can see here, lifting is not about keeping the ego warm and cozy, it is about bringing strength to the front line warriors in God's army. Bo represents New Wine in so many ways, but he only does this well when his church is keeping him lifted in prayer. The NET Bible contains a footnote that emphasizes this point:
The message of this short narrative, then, concerns the power of God to protect his people. The account includes the difficulty, the victory, and the commemoration. The victory must be retained in memory by the commemoration. So the expositional idea could focus on that: The people of God must recognize (both for engaging in warfare and for praise afterward) that victory comes only with the power of God. In the NT the issue is even more urgent, because the warfare is spiritual—believers do not wrestle against flesh and blood. So only God’s power will bring victory (NET Bible. Footnote to Exodus 17:16).
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12). But we do wrestle. It is the notion of personal sacrifice that I want to look at today. The statement of Jesus, ‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”, has been stuck in my mind for several weeks. The emphasis for this statement often falls on the second part of the statement, “[I] will draw all men to Myself.” But I want to focus on the first part of this statement, ‘if I am lifted up.” This could be interpreted in several ways. Certainly, the notion of intercession for the body of Christ fits this statement beautifully.
We could also see this as a statement of praise. If Jesus is lifted in praise, that is. if Jesus is glorified he will draw us to himself. As we will see, God has just audibly spoken of glorification. Additionally, as in the case of Bo, when the work of body is supported well and is given its due respect, Christ is lifted up. But the bulk of the proceeding discussion in this passage from John chapter twelve has been talk of Christ's impending crucifixion. So the point of Jesus' comment here more directly points to His own self-sacrifice for humanity. This, Jesus tells us, will draw all men to Himself.
Let's look at the full passage starting in verse twenty-three, which begins right after Andrew has informed Jesus that a group of foreigners wish to speak to him. Jesus doesn't acknowledge the request, but instead:
John 12:23-32 Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
27Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.
28Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
29So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”
30Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
31Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
32And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
Jesus begins with the statement, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified;”. The hour he is speaking of is his coming arrest and execution by crucifixion, not anyone's ordinary idea of a time of glorification. Jesus follows with the allegory of a seed falling to earth and dying so that it would become more fruitful in its bursting forth as a new plant. To make the allusion clear, he follows with, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me…” His glorification, he ties directly to his impending death by crucifixion. More than that, he immediately follows with ‘if you want to follow me, you have to be willing to do the same…’ Let that sink in. He does not say that following him will bring health and wealth and earthly blessings because of his sacrifice. This may or may not be your Christian life. He says that the first mark of a disciple is a willingness to follow in his bloody footprints, even to the cross. Your glorification is in your following in the bloody footprints, “if anyone serves Me… the Father will honor him.”
We live in a self-centered culture, a culture that cries out, ‘Look at me!’ This is what historian and social critic Christopher Lasch explores this in his 1991 book The Culture of Narcissism. Much of Christian culture is steeped in this ‘Daddy loves me’ approach. I don't want to suggest that his is untrue in the least. God's love for us is the essential realization necessary for salvation. God's people must come to the place where we have fully absorbed that understood this. We should no longer need reassurance if we have had a genuine encounter with God's comforting Spirit. Once a Christian is secure in their relationship with God, it is time to walk out salvation. If you want Jesus to stand up when you enter heaven, if you really want Daddy's proud gaze, learn to become a sacrificial person following in Christ's bloody footprints. That is precisely what our Lord is saying here. His hour, completing his earthly humiliation, brings his hour of glorification. It also brings our time to step into the role of suffering servant.
Please don't let me imply that stepping out sacrificially is easy. After telling us that those who follow him will have the Father honor them, Jesus immediately tells us that he is troubled by what he knows lies ahead of him in the days to follow. He then challenges his disciples, ‘Should I run and hide, avoid my fate,’ as Peter, inspired by the adversary, had suggested (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33)? ‘No! This is why God sent me!’ And so he follows with a declaration, which is clearly an acceptance of his fate, “Father, glorify Your name.”
At this moment, the discussion ceases to be a teacher pupil talk. A voice is heard from out of the sky. Some thought it was thunder, others thought for sure an angel had spoken. They heard, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” God will be glorified by the horrific act of crucifying the Lord of glory. Jesus immediately tells everyone present, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.” God is glorified, Jesus is glorified, not by the act defiance and cruelty to come, but by the sacrifice of the Father and of the Son.
Jesus follows with a statement, which I deal with in greater detail in my book A Cult Challenge to the Church (pp. 84-86), “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” I follow Dietrich Bonhoeffer's conclusion that this statement indicates that in rejecting the perfect son of God, the world and its rulers have judged the sinless Christ. This is the greatest of all possible injustices. This leaves the world and its rulers with no way to maintain a claim of goodness before the face of God. Therefore, the world and its rulers have no authority left. All authority will belong to Jesus Christ after he is crucified on Golgotha. Bonhoeffer is very clear about this, Satan has no claim at all to this world. Jesus is the sole ruler. The world just doesn't know it yet.
So we return to Jesus' declaration: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” We can now see that he is saying that if he sacrifices himself into unrighteous hands in unblemished submission, God the Father will glorify him. I do not want to pass over this as if it were something he did easily. Jesus will continue to struggle with what he is being asked to do.
Luke 22:41-44 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “ Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
The Father smashed His Alabaster Jar on a rugged wooden cross (Anne Graham Lotz, My Heart's Cry. 42).
The cross is the most enduring symbol of the Christian faith. The picture above a cross preceded by the Koine Greek word for fish 'ichthus' (Iota-Chi-Theta-Upsilon-Sigma), which is an anagram for Iesous Christos Theou Hyios Soter or Jesus Christ God's Son Savior. The cross next to this anagram is a Greek cross symbol (all sides equal as on the Greek flag), and in this case, it almost looks like a cross with a Chi-Rho symbol imposed. Chi-Rho are the first two letters of Christos, or Christ. Below is a Chi-Rho symbol etched into a brick in the Roman catacombs.
It is also possible that the first image is a Greek cross combining the 'x' shaped cross that the apostle Andrew is said to have been crucified on. Andrew was the patron saint of Scotland when England and Scotland united in the seventeenth century. Therefore the St. Andrew's 'x' shaped cross of the Scottish flag was placed under the cross of St. George creating the Union Jack we know today. But the most significant explanation is that before Constantine made Christianity the state approved religion, Christians had to be careful about openly displaying the cross, a known connection to Christianity. It could bring persecution or even death. So this cross is not an obvious cross. It is a cross nevertheless. We know that this etching was made at a time when there was reason for concern because of the use of the word 'Ichthys' which was meant to disguise the meaning for non-Christians.
The cross has remained the most visible symbol of Christianity throughout our two thousand year history. When the Protestant Reformers withdrew from the Roman Catholic church, they determined to remove Jesus from the cross. They reasoned that he isn't on the cross any more. He has been resurrected and glorified. Still the enduring image of the cross remained atop their churches, not Jesus triumphant. The symbol of a death by torture is still the most important image signifying a Christian. But the cross is more than just a symbol. Below is an image of an epitaph for a Christian unearthed in Mongolia.
Nestorian Christians were forced flee the Roman Empire due to their unorthodox beliefs. They fled to Persia and began to miss ionize from there all the way to Japan. Both Japan and China had significant purges of foreigners and foreign influence. Most of those Christians were forced to convert to local religions or be martyred. The 2016 Scorsese film Silence covers a particularly difficult time for Christians in Japan. This is not a film for the feint hearted. Gravestones and epitaphs of the sort pictured above is all that remains of once thriving Christian communities. But I can't help but think that the sacrifice of those Christian's has left a legacy that is bursting forth centuries later as a great underground revival in China. Like its predecessor, that revival is meeting strong resistance.
On a side note, the Mormons top their churches with Gabriel blowing his horn. The Moonies symbol appears to contain a cross in the form of an 'x', but it is intended to represent a “four position foundation”, which is the Moonie version of Taoist ‘give and take’, further represented by two arrows turning towards each other. This is superimposed over radiating lines representing the twelve gates of Jerusalem. In other words, both of these quasi-Christian or post-Christian cults have abandoned the cross of Jesus. They have simply lost the significance of what the cross means in history and in the daily life of a Christian.
In chapter five of the Book of Revelations, John begins to weep because there is no one worthy to open the seven seals of the book before the throne of God. One of the twenty-four elders tells him to stop weeping for the Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome and is worthy to open the book (Revelations 5:5). John looks, but it is not a lion that he sees, nor does he see a man.
Revelations 5:6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
John sees Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. We love to picture Jesus as the roaring lion, or Jesus wielding a flaming sword and riding a huge white stallion. But the one found worthy to open the seven seals is the perfect sacrifice. At the end of days, all those who have rejected Christ will be confronted with Christ, the lamb slain for their sins.
Revelations 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
The symbol of Christianity is not the glorified Christ or the Lion of Judah. It is the cross, the instrument of shameful death, undeserved, but sacrificially accepted for the glory of God. The work of Jesus Christ in the body of Christ, the Church, is carried out in the shadow of the cross: ‘if I am lifted up” Christ declare. Our sacrifices, whether in long hours of prayer, community service, or refusing to deny Christ in the face of a martyr's death are the continuing work of Jesus.
You may be thinking, ‘Yes but parenting is so hard, so expensive, so time consuming, so inconvenient.’ Well of course it is. ‘But,’ you might say, ‘the Bible says that children are a blessing from God. Isn't that a contradiction?’
Not at all. Our confusion is in our misunderstanding of the word blessing. A blessing is not something God gives us to make life easy. When God blesses us, He is catalyzing destiny in our lives. A blessing pulls calling out of us. It shatters our mediocrity and sets our feet upon the path of greatness. Children bless us because, in parenting them, we embrace an essential ingredient to the fulfillment of our own destinies. (Zach Neese, CFN The Voice Magazine: Summer 2013. 28. My emphasis).
Parenting makes such a great allegory for life in Christ. Parenting is difficult, it's messy, and it's hard to get it right. When we mess up as parents, there are no do-overs. There is forgiveness. It is the moments of beauty, those wonderful growing human beings that makes it all worth it. Who ever says it wasn't worth the effort. Jesus came and sacrificed himself, to release the Holy Spirit to move in a deeper more profound way, a way personal to you and me and to every Spirit -filled Christian on this planet, yesterday, today and tomorrow. Would he every say, ‘It wasn't worth it.’
Sometimes, the Catholic refusal to take Jesus off the cross seems to represent a morbid fascination with Christ's agony, missing all the wonder of Christ's great joy. When I was with the Moonies, their christology has Jesus sacrificing himself only to make a second try possible. I would stop into Catholic churches to pray, since they were the most likely to have their doors open at all hours. There was that big crucifix up front. It always hit me deeply, because I didn't know the joy that comes on the other side of the cross.
Catholic writer Matt Nelson writes, “In Defense of the Crucifix” for his Word on Fire Blog:
The Christian crucifix draws the eyes, mind, and heart to the death of Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago. To many an atheist the crucifix is too much – for it is an image of a bloody execution and nothing more. To many a Protestant the crucifix is not enough – for it keeps Christ on the cross proclaiming nothing of the Resurrection.
But at the very summit of the Christian Gospel is the crucified Christ; indeed there is no Gospel without it. Yes, the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is the point of the Gospel and the crux of Christianity. It is both an image of the infinite love of God for us and of the unconditional love required of us by God. (Matt Nelson, In Defense of the Crucifix)
It is foolishness of the first order to forget that the resurrection was arrived at by way of the cross. But to get stuck there at the foot of the cross is worse than foolish. Embracing the cross, is embracing the power to live out of God given destiny empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, Jesus ‘lifted up from the earth.” refers to the crucifixion, but always in light of the coming resurrection. In the crucifixion, sacrifice is emphasized. In the resurrection, God's glorification of Jesus is emphasized, the mighty work of the cross is emphasized. Christianity did not overcome the Roman Empire because everyone looked at the Christians mocked and tortured in the arena and thought, ‘I'd like to be a Christian like that.’ What Romans saw were Christians entering the arena to die a horrible death, and they saw people at peace. It truly was “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). That drove a troubled world wild with desire. As the Roman Empire slowly crumbled, it was the Christians who stood out as untroubled.
Are you untroubled?