When you lift something up, like a trophy, it’s a victorious gesture.
It means you’ve accomplished something great.
Is that what Nicodemus thought when Jesus said to him, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up? Whoever believes in Him will have eternal life”?
Nicodemus was probably thinking it would be awesome — what great thing is Jesus going to do when He’s lifted up? He had no idea what Jesus meant.
It definitely wouldn’t be like a star quarterback lifted on teammates’ shoulders after an undefeated season.
In John 12, after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said, “My soul is troubled,” because the time for the Son of Man to be glorified was near.
He told the crowds, “Now is the judgment of this world, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” This showed what kind of death He would die.
The death of Christ on the cross is God’s glory on full display.
That doesn’t make sense by worldly standards. Though His soul was troubled, Jesus didn’t pray for the Father to save Him because “it was for this purpose that I have come.”
It was for you and your salvation that Christ went to the cross.
God’s judgment against the sin of all the world fell upon Him when He was lifted up.
Just as Moses lifted the bronze serpent so bitten people would look at it and live, we look to Christ crucified for our salvation.
There will certainly be moments of victory in our lives.
They don’t hand out trophies to just anyone; you have to earn it.
But eternal victory in Christ is for everyone.
As Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
That is God’s promise to you: the victory of Christ through the cross is yours.
Contributor Chad Hoover is the Campus Pastor at Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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