"There is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends." (John15:13)
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself." (John 12:32)
I wish the Greek had said "give up his life." Then the direction in both quotes would be the same. Nevertheless, John wants us to see that in dying Jesus is returning to his Father and taking all of us with him. It's as if the extravagant love that Jesus shows in accepting his death makes him a magnet attracting every person to himself. I think of how the friends of a kid whose mother is very loving all want to hang around her house.
To use another image Jesus' loving return to his Father on the Cross creates a kind of eternal vortex that sucks in everything in sight. We are drawn neither up nor down but into the Father's heart.
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