My daughter was young when we took a family vacation
to Disney World in Orlando Florida.
She also was small, and consequently short.
Whenever there was a massive event, like the electric parade down Main Street, there was
no way she was going to be able to see what was going on. She could hear the music,
sense the excitement but had no clue as to what was actually going on.
It was a sweltering day. If you even tried to think, it was enough exertion to make
you sweat. The humidity was oppressive.
You did not want anything or anybody too close to you.
"Lift me up daddy," my daughter asked. She wanted to see what was going
on. But to lift her up was more exertion, to have her too close would be more heat.
Daddy's are soft-hearted.
I obliged, giving her a perch on my shoulders. Then she was a head taller than those
people in front of her. She could see the parade.
My seeing became less clear, as the streams of sweat began running done my face, with
brief stops in my eyes.
But the important thing was my daughter could see. She could see all that was in
front of her, and at the same time all could see her.
People would come up and say, "Such a well behaved child you have."
Looking at the little girl who was half-buried in my then expansive afro,
quietly watching the parade pass all of us by. She was smiling at all those
who smiled at her.
When she had been standing at my side, buried in the midst of the crowd, few even knew she
was around. But from her penthouse seat on her Daddy's shoulders, she both could see
and be seen.
That day, she learned a lesson about crowds. If you are in the middle of one, you
only see what is closest to you. If you rise above the crowd, find a location that
allows you to look over it, not only will you see all that there is to see, but all too
will see you.
Today's scripture brought that hot day in Orlando back to mind.
It reads thusly:
John 12:20-33
12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the
festival were some
Greeks.
12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in
Galilee, and said to him,
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
12:22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip
went and told
Jesus.
12:23 Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the
Son of Man to be
glorified.
12:24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the earth and dies,
it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit.
12:25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate
their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.
12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am,
there will my
servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
12:27 "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I
say--' Father, save me
from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come
to this hour.
12:28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came
from heaven, "I have
glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
12:29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it
was thunder. Others
said, "An angel has spoken to him."
12:30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your
sake, not for mine.
12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of
this world will be
driven out.
12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people to myself."
12:33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to
die.
On its face, John 12 seems like a pretty straight forward story. An accounting of
one of the last days of Jesus.
But it is a story that rings of change. A story that forecasts the end of
exclusivity and the beginning of inclusiveness.
It is important that at the beginning of the scripture, it is mentioned that Philip, one
of Jesus' disciples was approached by a group of Greeks.
Greeks in the land were not uncommon. That they choose this time to look for Jesus
was.
The people who had gathered in town had come for the purpose of worship. Pass Over
was quickly approaching, people were coming to celebrate it.
The Greeks, not being of the chosen people, would not be allowed in the Temple beyond the
Court of the Gentiles, one of the outermost reaches of the Temple.
They could not worship with the Jews. They were excluded. Not part of the
process. Not included in the plan.
But that was alright, they did not come to see a church. They did not come just to
worship with a group of people. They came to see Jesus.
They first went to Philip. Scholars suggest that is a Greek name so it was a natural
starting point for them. They felt some kinsmanship with him. Then they went
to Andrew, again a name with Greco roots.
When they reached Jesus, He gave them a massive message while seeming really not to
address them at all.
First Jesus starting hinting to his disciples that it almost was time for him to depart
and that God would glorify him through his passing.
He used nature to provide a parable of his impending death. Jesus knew that He
could remain on earth another couple of decades and it would have meant little. He
could have drawn more disciples and perhaps have generated a larger following, but it
would not have accomplished the purpose His father had sent Him to achieve.
He knew that to bear further fruit, He like the wheat seed, would have to die only to rise
up again more fruitful.
Jesus told his disciples that they too would face a similar turning point. If you
loved your life so much in the world, then you would lose your eternal life.
But that if they served Him, then his Father would honor them.
This was a whole lot of meat for Jesus' followers to chew on. The death of their
leader. How they should follow him with no regard to their life on earth.
Jesus rhetorically asked if He should plead with the Father to spare Him from this
fate. But Jesus realized in the same breath His reason for being was this fate.
It was then that a voice came down from heaven, sounding like thunder.
Jesus had asked "Father Glorify your name." The voice from heaven
responded, "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again."
Then came the climatic verse.
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself" Jesus said
Jesus not only told of the nature of his death but also of the nature of his exhaltation.
He knew He had to die so our lives could be redeemed from sin.
But He also knew, that by being raised high upon the cross, He would not just be seen by
His small group of followers, but then He would be on a perch that the whole world could
see. And once the world saw Him for whom He is, that all would come to Him.
Like my daughter on my shoulders, on the cross, everyone could see Jesus. No one had
obstructed vision of the Savior hanging from the rough-hewn beams..
And from His high perch on that cross, Jesus could see all that were around Him. He
made a conscious decision that He was not going to be the savior for just some of the
people, He said "I will draw all people to myself." Not just the Jews but
the Gentiles as well.
The Greeks who had come to see Jesus were representative of the world.
Representative of the Gentiles, represented of you and I.
Jesus was inclusive not exclusionary. He loved all the people of the world equally.
And when He was lifted high on the cross it was so all could see His suffering and
so that He could see all for whom He was suffering.
The cross no longer stands on that desolate hill. Instead if we are Christians, we
are carrying that cross today. Carrying that rugged cross in our hearts, minds
and souls.
We still can make sure that All have a clear view of Jesus. As his followers,
we need to lift Jesus up in word and deed.
We need to lift Him up in the way we live and how we treat over people.
We have to lift Him up for those people we like and those people we do not like.
We have to lift Him up for the homeless and well as the rich and landed.
We have to lift Him up regardless of color or station.
We have to lift Him up in and out of season.
We have to lift Him up for all to see.
From her perch on my shoulders, my daughter was able to look around, and see clearly all
that was around Her.
From his perch on the cross, Jesus was able to see all those people who He would save
through His death and suffering.
Now, seated high, at the right had of the father, He can look down and see the world
as a whole.
We can not let Jesus get lost in the crowd. We can not let people lose sight of Him
who died so that they may be saved.
Today we need to life Him up. Put your savior on a high perch, so that all the world
may see Him who died for them.
Let the savior see and be seen. Lift Him Up.
