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December1 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:12:20-36 IF I BE LIFTED UP - There at least three objectives I see stated; that the Son of Man be lifted up, that the prince of this world be cast out, that men while they have light be drawn to follow Christ. Think of man's state as being compressed and flatted as if by a mechanical press where everything is at the same level. Look around and it all seems about the same including the person and works of Jesus. Slight variations, He (maybe another) might have been a better man, may have done some miracles and such, but near to our human level. Now think of Him as being lifted up off our compressed level by His resurrection and witnessed ascension. Our understanding is no longer as flat and perceptually relative, there is space between us and Him and we are drawn towards Him from out of our tight quarters. With that space we look back on His miracles, His healings, His parables, His teachings, confirming voices and testaments and we now see that God the Father was trying to show us something much bigger at the time than we could comprehend. There becomes an expanded middle ground so to say so that even the prince of this world cannot perceptually hide in the previous flatness. Satan is exposed and forced out into the open having not the same death hold on us as before; he then, when purpose unfolds, can be extracted. It all comes as a result of one man's death and resurrection; His uncommon lifting up. There have been those like Lazarus that have slept and been raise from sleep back into this earthly dimension. There is no one other than Jesus that has raised fully into His previous glorious state having conquered both sin and death, shown Himself tangibly to us glorified and ascended up through a parting of heaven and earth to the right hand throne of God His Father. Okay, so see how different that is, see how uncommon and not flattened that is, allow for what is expansive and drawing about that. "If any man serve me, let Him follow me" He says "where I am, there also my servant will be". Is Jesus in our flattened/compressed sphere or is He lifted far above it? There may be additional significance that there are Greeks in this audience with the Jews as well as they would more closely resemble us Gentiles today. For the moment they see the signs and hear the voices, but they as of yet do not know who the Son of Man is or what it means for the Son to be "lifted". The "Light" is amongst them also for this short preliminary time. Take notice of this time He tells them, remember what is said and done while I am here, it will help you to see how dark things are at my passion and death, how glorious and expansive things have become once I have raised and lifted up. The faith of our Lord is in the way things actually are that we cannot yet see and in the way they better need to be if we can just be made to see it. The first spiritual sight from our blindness we will ever see is Jesus Christ the Son of the Living Father God high and lifted up. These men are yet to see that, but then the act has not yet been physically performed. Today the act has been performed, are we willing now to see that? Are we willing to follow in the sense that He means for it?