Christianity teaches that Christ being lifted up on the cross is the only way to achieve salvation and eternal life.
In this post, I want to take a good look at the phrase, lifted up, from the perspective of the Hebrew meaning.
The Hebrew word for lifted up is, Nasah. It is used in the Old Testament to illustrate what God does to relieve us from the guilt of sin; he bears it away. God lifts up the burden one feels when they have made a grievous mistake or they have missed the mark.
Another meaning for lifted up in Hebrew is used when showing dedication to something.
Examples are: lifting up the hand to swear the truth, lifting up the head in honor and respect, lifting up the face showing approval or assurance, and lifting up the heart in dedication followed by actions taken.
The term lifted up is used eleven times in the Gospel of John.
According to scholars, the Gospel of John is believed to have been written approximately 80-100 years after the death of Christ, and the author probably named it after the Apostle John, because it may be based upon notes or oral communication that John had left behind.
However, no one really knows.
In the book of John, during one of the passages where the term lifted up is mentioned, the author intrudes on the story to give his interpretation of what Christ meant when he said, lifted up.
In John 12:32, Christ said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
The author immediately follows by saying, “this he said, signifying what death he should die.”
Is this what Christ really meant?
A clearer picture of Christ’s intentions can be gleaned from two other passages in the Book of John when Yeshua mentioned being lifted up.
The first one was when Yeshua was visited by Nicodemus when the Pharisee came over after dark, so his fellow religious leaders would not know that he was associating with Yeshua.
Christ said to Nicodemus, “And, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.”
In order to understand what Christ is saying, we need to visit the story in Numbers, chapter 21, where Moses lifted up the serpentine staff.
It is recorded that as they wandered through the wilderness, the Children of Israel began to murmur against God and Moses, and serpents began to bite and kill some of them.
When they asked Moses for forgiveness for bad-mouthing him and God, Moses sought the Lord.
God instructed Moses to put a serpent on a pole and tell the people who got bit to look at it, and it would prevent death.
Notice how the people had to take action by following instructions to look at the staff in order to be healed, and it was lifted up in a public display.
This passage is loaded because within the Gospels, Christ referred to the religious leaders as serpents.
The religious leaders/serpents bring death.
In contrast, Christ teaches the pathway to life.
Therefore, he is telling Nicodemus that if Christ is lifted up, “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Nicodemus claimed to believe in Yeshua, yet he was sneaking over after dark. Christ was letting him know that it is not enough to say you believe.
It is only by lifting him up publicly, and following the instructions to look to him, thus, his teachings, that one can find eternal life.
The next time the term lifted up is mentioned, is in the 8th chapter of John.
In this passage, Yeshua was attempting to reason with a group of Jewish religious leaders in the temple.
There was a lot of going back and forth verbally as Christ was telling them that he was sent from God and what he was saying, was what God had told him to say, and they were rebutting it.
Then, Yeshua said, “when you have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but what the Father has taught me, I speak these things.”
Yeshua is using the Hebrew interpretation of the term lifted up, as in showing dedication to, lifting up the heart in faithfulness with actions following.
Yeshua is saying to them, when you have dedicated yourself to follow my words that I have received from God, then God will show you that I am him, the one you’ve been waiting for, the Messiah.
So, getting back to Christ saying that if he is lifted up, he will draw all men to him.
Rather than Yeshua on a cross, doesn’t it make more sense that he is talking about his words being lifted up?
Those words are the ones that he received from the Father, and by the act of following his instructions, all humanity would be drawn to him.
His instructions are simple.
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And, love others like you would like to be loved.
Religion teaches that Christ being lifted up on the cross shows the only way the world can find eternal life.
The only thing the cross really shows is how evil religion is to have brutally murdered the chosen one of God who came to teach us the true way. (Isaiah 42 from the Hebrew Bible).