The Wednesday Word ~ 01 November, 2023 A.D.

 Christ Lifted Up! Part 1

 

by D. G. Miles McKee

 

“And I, If I be lifted up from the earth: I will draw all men unto Me.” -John 12:32 [KJV]
 
THREE times in the Gospel of John our Lord refers to His being ‘lifted up.’  On the first occasion, He spoke of it in a private conversation with Nicodemus. This is where the Master said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish; but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Jesus, in that verse, was referring to the absolute necessity of the cursed cross.
 
Again, in a public discourse, in the Temple, Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the son of Man, then shall you know, that I am He” (John 8:28).  In this passage, He was speaking to those who would be guilty of executing Him in the manner reserved only for the lowest of the low…the cross.
 
Lastly, just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said, "And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me" (John 12:32). Lest there be any doubt as to what He meant by being lifted up, verse 33 tells us, “This He said, signifying what death He should die.”

Jesus prophesied not only His death but also its manner.  He foretold that He would be crucified.  That is why He couldn’t be assassinated, murdered or killed in any other manner.  In Luke 4, the enraged crowd planned to throw Him over a cliff.  But they couldn’t because Jesus hadn’t chosen to die that way.   He had declared the cross as the way He would die so He walked through the midst of that enraged, murderous mob (see Luke 4:28-30).
 

But there is much more to learn from these three verses.
 
In the ·first place, we are told that the drawing. of people would be absolutely dependent on His death.   Remember He said, “If I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men ·unto Me." This is radical … think about it.  There could have been no drawing of people to Christ for salvation if He had not died on the cross!  We read in John 6:44, “No man can come to Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.” But what use would there have been in the Father drawing people to Christ if Christ had not died for their sins?
 
If Christ had not died, the Just for the unjust, we could not have been brought to God. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Peter 3:18).

However, there would have been no bringing us to God had Christ not gone to the cross to die.

In John 12:34 the Master taught, “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die it abides alone.”  Jesus was the grain of wheat and unless He had given His life, He would have been alone.  If He had not died on the cross, His work of salvation would not have been accomplished. He could never have declared, “It Is Finished.”
 
Notice how He doesn’t say, “If I go on working miracles, I will draw all men unto me.”  Nor does He say, “If I continue living a holy life, I will draw all men unto me.” NO!  Here’s what He does say, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto Me."
 
Our Saviour fixes our attention on the death of the cross to show us that His death was absolutely necessary in this matter of salvation.
 
Today, it is vitally important that we understand that the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus is the centre of the Gospel. His death as our substitute, His sacrifice of Himself and the pouring out of His blood is the heart of the true Gospel.  There are other precious truths leading up to the cross and there are many precious truths flowing out of the cross but the doctrine that Christ died for the ungodly is the centre.
 
Unfortunately, there are professing Christians who have moved away from the gospel denying the blood atonement and the success of Christ’s finished work.  But more on that next time.
 
And that’s the Gospel Truth!