Jesus was Lifted Up to Draw People to Himself
Peace Lutheran Church in Marcus, Iowa
March 29, 2026
Text: John 12:12–43
In the name of Jesus, Amen!
As we are traveling from place to place in the United States to visit congregations, I have been preaching in a series of sermons about the Mission of God, because Christian Mission is God’s Mission to save sinners. The Mission of God comes from the loving heart of God, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. We talked about God’s salvation history and the overall picture of how God carries out His mission by His Son and through His people. We talked about why Jesus’ overcoming the temptations is an important part of mission of God. We talked about declaring sinners righteous and granting us a new life that shall never die are the work of God, not work of man, nor work of the Law, and are the core of His mission to save sinners through Jesus Christ. Today, we’ll talk about why the essential work of Mission of God to save sinners is for Jesus to be lifted up to draw people to Himself, as Jesus says in verse 32 of today’s Gospel reading, “And I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
First of all, let’s answer a Lutheran question: What does it mean to be lifted up from the earth? Jesus said these words after He entered Jerusalem on the Palm Sunday and before He was crucified on the cross. The crowd seemed confused. They understood that Jesus was telling them by what kind of death He was going to die. He would be nailed on a cross on the ground and be lifted up together with the cross. That is by crucifixion Jesus was going to die. So, the crowd answered, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?” What they did not understand is that there was seemingly a contradiction between Jesus who claimed to be the Christ but was going to die and the Christ whom they knew from the OT Bible would remain forever. It may seem easier for you to understand as a Christian. But for the crowd at that time and for the people who don’t believe in Jesus and His Gospel, the fact of Jesus to be lifted up on the Cross means shame, pain, defeat, death, and the end of everything. To them, there is no way that the Christ who dies will remain forever. It’s folly. There is a piece of Roman drawing scratched into the plaster of a wall that was dated around year 200 AD. The image depicts a human-like figure nailed to a cross and having the head of a donkey. The inscription says, “Alex worships his God.” It reflects a prevalent mockery of Christianity during that time. Unfortunately, even nowadays there are pastors and churches who try to shun away the message of the Cross. They preach social gospels or prosperity gospels. This kind of message sells. Even faithful pastors can feel the pressure to move away from the message of the cross. When I was in the mission field, I was pressured to preach more of a to-do list of how to become a “better Christian” instead of Christ-centered message. Yes, we should preach the Law that God requires us to be perfect in our thoughts, words and actions. But the problem is that even you become the best person in the whole world, you are still not as perfect as Jesus. And you are going to die with all your sins and perish eternally.
But thanks be to God! As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The hour when Jesus would be lifted up is the hour of Jesus that the Apostle John has been talking about throughout his Gospel. When some Greeks at the feast came to see Jesus, in verse 23, He declared, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The glorious hour of Jesus is the hour of His cross. Jesus’ death is like a grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies. The old life from Adam together with all the sins that are carried by Jesus has to die because the righteous wrath of God against sin has to be satisfied. At the same time, the love of God declares sinners to be righteous for the sake of Christ who bears much fruit of the life undying by the power of the resurrection. This is the wisdom and the power of God of Christ Jesus and His cross. He turns the shame into glory, pain into joy, defeat into victory, and death into life. And the devil is judged and cast out. This is the magnet whose force draws the people to Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus says, “when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Now, the essential work of Mission of God to save sinners has been accomplished. The scandal of the cross has become a beautiful story of salvation of God, the Good News heralded around the world. As crosses and crucifixes of Jesus can be seen around the world, Jesus is lifted up high as a banner to draw people of every tongue and of every nation to Himself and into His body – the church. As Jesus continues to carry out His mission to save sinners by drawing people to Himself through the message of the cross, His Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies individuals like you and me as well as the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. As forgiven sinners and children of God, we want to be part of God’s mission to draw people by sharing the message of the cross. Though there are people who still walk in the darkness don’t believe in Christ and refuse to be drawn to Jesus, the kingdom of God with cross as its victorious banner keeps advancing. People like the Pharisees in our text have no choice but to say to one another, “Look, the world has gone after him.” This is because Jesus has been lifted up and His cross has the power of a magnet to draw people to Himself.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!
