LIFT UP JESUS

John 3:9-15
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Jesus and Nicodemus

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.


I am guilty. All too often, we spend time lifting up ourselves. I did this or I did that. Or we lift up our ministries. We did these wonderful things … we met these needs.

Who else do we lift up? Our pastors … our churches … our denominations. Don’t get me wrong. Give credit where credit is due. Proper respect for our church leaders and institutions is called for in scripture. My point in all this is too often we take credit when the glory is due the LORD.

“… the Son of Man must be lifted up.” It is a command, not an option.