It seems that people are drawn to winners and not losers. As an Oregon Duck fan I can testify to that. After we moved to Eugene in 1978 I began attending the Oregon football games with my brother, Gilbert. In those days we could park on the street, walk a few blocks, buy our general admission tickets a few minutes before game time and easily find seats in the appropriate area. Since Autzen Stadium was only about half full we could move at half time to better seats in a reserved section. Then the Oregon team did something that changed all of that. It started winning and even went to the Rose Bowl. The more it won the harder it was to get good seats. People are drawn to winners, not losers.
When Jesus hung on the cross he sure looked like a loser. His disciples, at least the men, all fled and one even denied knowing him. Matthew, Mark and Luke say that a few women watched from a distance. John speaks only of Mary, a few women, and the beloved disciple being nearby. It looks very much like Jesus was a loser, and losers are not attractive.
Was Jesus wrong then in what he says in John's Gospel about his death? Three times he spoke of being "lifted up" and the last time actually said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself" (Jn 12:32-33). He said this to indicate the manner of his death. Why does he use this language of being "lifted up"? What does it mean? In John's Gospel Jesus often uses words with double meaning, as when he talked to the woman at the well about water. She thought he meant regular water but he spoke of a water that quenches thirst forever. In this case, Jesus knew that the word "lifted up" could also mean exalted.
Jesus knew this, in part, because he also knew Isaiah's prophecies so well. When he began his ministry in the synagogue of Nazareth He used the words of Isaiah 61 to define it (Luke 4). And here he uses Isaiah 52:13 to reveal what the cross meant to him. I think he chose his terminology deliberately in order to echo Isaiah's words as he begins this beautiful servant psalm: "Behold, my servant ... shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted." The psalm goes on to picture the exalted servant but not in terms of worldly exaltation. Instead, he describes the suffering servant of God in words that have become very familiar to Christians everywhere: "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ... he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."
For me, Paul summarizes it best in Philippians 2 where he describes how this apparent loser was transformed into magnetic majesty: And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We come to the table, therefore, on this resurrection Sunday to draw to the uplifted Christ, to see him lifted up on a cross, but also to see him lifted up as our exalted Lord and Savior.
