Lifted Up
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." - John 12:32
We are surrounded by death. Every day the figures are reported—new cases, transmission sources, trauma unit patient loads, ventilator capacity use, death rates. Death and disease is the air we breath, the currency of our conversation. The Twitter controversies of a month ago now occupy some dusty wardrobe in a room no one visits, instead, we trade images and anecdotes of how we survive isolation. The only posturing left belongs to the self-proclaimed pundits of public health who argue inactivity vs over-reaction, or the economic benefits of letting a certain demographic die. We are surrounded by death.
That death could become a means to life is almost preposterous. Death is something we hide from, shield others from, legislate against, or accept with tearful resignation. But the idea that death could become the well-spring of life? Well, that’s almost laughable.
When COVID-19 first hit our feeds, I, along with countless others, sent and received humorous memes to chuckle at and send on; a practice that seems so crass now. The death of thousands is no laughing matter, no tragedy to celebrate with humour. Yet, before we were confined to our lounge rooms, the death of the One lifted up in our place, was a moment in history we celebrated every week.
Jesus, the Lamb of God who came to carry the sins of the world, lifted up like the Bronze Serpent on Moses’ staff, draws the eyes of the world to find healing and forgiveness. We thought him lifted up in death, but truly he is lifted up in glory. From death comes life.
