Lifted Up

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EOPLE ARE MORE INTERESTED in our personal testimony than they are in our opinions, our personal convictions, or even our theology. What change has Jesus made in our lives?

“I once was lost, but now I’m found.”

“I was going to hell, but now I’m on my way to heaven.” “I was bound, but now I’m free.”

In Matthew 2, the wise men came to Jerusalem seeking Jesus. In John 12, Greeks came to the apostle Philip and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus” (v. 21). In Luke 19, Zacchaeus climbed a tree because he wanted to see Jesus. The Gospels record how multi- tudes came wanting to see Jesus. And I believe people today are still looking for Jesus. Numbers 21 recounts the story of the Israel- ites, hot and irritable as they crossed the wilder- ness, complaining again about the lack of food and water. They complained again about the manna. So God sent poisonous snakes among them that bit many people and brought death into the camp. Realizing their sin, they begged Moses to intercede. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent, hold it high on a pole, and whoever would look upon that bronze serpent would be healed. It was a miraculous, glorious provision, and it worked. Jesus mentioned it in John 3:14-15 as an example of what He would accomplish when He died on the cross.

Jesus Was Lifted Up on the Cross

There are many great mountaintop experiences recorded in the Word of God:

• On Mount Horeb, God spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

• On Mount Sinai, God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone.

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• On Mount Hor, Aaron transferred his priestly robes to his son Eleazar.

• From Mount Nebo, Moses looked over into the Promised Land.

• On Mount Carmel, Elijah called down fire from heaven. • On Mount Moriah, Solomon built the Temple. • On the Mount of Transfiguration, three disciples saw Jesus in His glory.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

• From the Mount of Olives, Jesus ascended into heaven. Greater than all of these stands Mount Calvary, where Christ died for our sins. On Calvary, He who could have called 10,000 angels chose rather to suffer and die. There God let Christ thirst to quench the spiritual thirst of man. There God, who clothes the lilies of the valley, let His Son hang naked and in shame. Earth has no darker sin, history no blacker page, humanity no fouler spot than the crucifixion of the Son of God on Calvary.

The Cross is the central revelation of Scripture and the central point of history. The heart of Christianity is the Bible, the heart of the Bible is the Cross, and at the heart of the Cross is the heart of God. There we see man at his worst, but God at His best. When Jesus died on Calvary . . .

• The callous Roman soldiers said, “He is dead.” They didn’t care—they had gambled for His clothes while He hung suffering. • The curious crowds, stupidly unconscious of the eternal sig- nificance, said, “He is dead.” They had seen the blood they had wanted to see.

• Pilate got the word, “Jesus is dead.”

• The head-wagging mob said, “He is dead.” They were prob- ably sorry that He couldn’t hear their taunts and jeers anymore. • Mary, feeling the pain like a dagger in her heart, said, “My son is dead.”