The Way of the Cross
To follow Jesus wherever he goes necessitates a lifetime of self-denial and sacrificial service for others.
When Jesus dispatched his disciples to announce
the “good news” to the “lost sheep of Israel,” he warned them to
expect to find themselves as “sheep among wolves.” Hostile men would
haul them before “councils and whip them in their synagogues,” and his followers
would be hated “by all men for my sake.”
And that
was the harsh reality discovered by his first disciples, and later, by the
early church. Many of the very men who ought to welcome the Messiah instead
fought what he represented - tooth and nail.
To walk the
same path of suffering and self-sacrifice as the true Messiah of Israel did is
the only way for anyone to become his faithful disciple.
But the student
is “not above his master”! Only by “enduring
to the end” will anyone be saved. If they persecuted their Lord, the
“enemies of the cross of Christ” certainly have no qualms about
mistreating his followers.
EXPECT RESISTANCE
And Jesus
never promised his followers a life of ease and tranquility. They are to expect
suffering and even persecution for his sake:
- “Think not that I came to send peace on the earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be they of his own household.”
Jesus does not wage war against humanity, but conflicts begin whenever
men reject him, his example, and his teachings. And the persecution of his true followers,
those who emulate him, is inevitable. While such warnings strike us as being grim,
he also warns:
- “He who does not take his cross to follow me is not worthy of me. For he that finds his life will lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake will find it.”
The faithful disciple will reap great rewards in the end, but the
narrow road that leads to life is often rough and dangerous. Anyone who desires
to become his disciple must first count the cost. The call to follow the
Crucified One is an all-or-nothing proposition. The half-hearted man will soon
fall by the wayside.
Not all disciples experience persecution, but the potential and often real loss of all things for his sake is the price of following Jesus “wherever he leads.” And the New Testament does not sugarcoat it.
For example, in the book of Revelation,
followers of the slain “Lamb” are found standing majestically on “Mount
Zion” with him. But before reaching that glorious summit, they first must overcome
the “Dragon.” And they do so by the “word and their testimony, and because
they love not their lives even unto
death.”
The implication of the last clause is
martyrdom. In the same manner as did the “faithful witness” – Jesus – disciples
who “overcome” qualify to reign with him on his Father’s throne - by
remaining faithful even when doing so means an unjust death – (Revelation 1:4-6,
3:21, 12:11, 14:1-5).
HIS PATH
On one occasion, Jesus foretold his impending arrest, trial, and
execution to his disciples. But they
either did not hear or were incapable of comprehending his words. In reaction,
they began jockeying for position in the coming messianic kingdom. But he used
the opportunity to teach them just what it means to be the Messiah and his faithful
servant.
In the account, James and John ask to sit
at his right and left when Jesus comes “in his glory,” positions of great
honor and power. But their request only highlights their ignorance. As Christ’s
words and DEEDS demonstrate, his servants serve others, just as he does,
and sacrifice, suffering, and death precede glory.
Jesus challenges James and John. “You do not know
what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” In the Hebrew Bible, the “cup” symbolizes
something allotted by God, and usually in the negative sense of judicial
punishment. So, also, Jesus will drink the “cup” of God’s wrath on
behalf of others in his trial and execution - (Psalm 11:6, 16:5, Isaiah
57:17-22, Jeremiah 25:15-28).
When James and John declare they are well able
to drink this “cup,” his response demonstrates their cluelessness. However,
in the future, they will drink of the same “cup” when they suffer for his
sake.
And this warning is not just for James and John, but also for all disciples of Jesus. Collectively, his followers are destined to endure suffering, deprivation, and persecution for the gospel.
But since these two disciples desire high
positions in his kingdom, Jesus explains exactly what it means to become “great”
in his kingdom:
- “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones tyrannize them. Not so will it be among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you will be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Contrary to the ways of this age, “greatness”
is achieved by self-sacrificial service for others, NOT by achieving power,
rank, and privilege, and certainly not
by exercising power over others.
SERVANT OF ALL
The one who wishes to become “great”
must first become the “servant” of all. This term translates the Greek
noun diakonos used elsewhere in the New Testament as a general term
for “servant.” And in ancient Greek, it refers to the slave who waits on tables. And in
the parallel passage recorded in Luke, Jesus applies it in that very
manner:
- “Let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves” - (Luke 22:26-27).
Jesus is explicit. The disciple who desires
to become “great” must first become the “slave” or doulos
of others, just as the Messiah came “not to be served, but to serve, and to
give his soul as a ransom instead of many.” And here, the Greek verb
rendered “served” is the verbal form of the noun diakonos.
As for Jesus giving his life to “ransom”
others, his words allude to a passage from the ‘Suffering Servant’ song in the book
of Isaiah - [See 'Suffering Servant' on the Crucified Messiah blog]
- “Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great, because he poured out to death his own soul, and with transgressors let himself be numbered, he the sin of Many bare, and for transgressors interposes” - (Isaiah 53:10-12).
And giving his life as a ransom for “many”
does not mean a limited or exclusive company. The term is a verbal link to the
passage in Isaiah where “the many” refers to the “transgressors.”
And the contrast is not between “many” and “all,” but between the
one Christ who gave his life and the many beneficiaries of his sacrificial
act.
And in that society, often ransoms were
paid to purchase the freedom of slaves. His statement is a declaration of his mission
- to give his life to free others from enslavement by sin, death, and Satan.
By responding to the disciples in this way,
Jesus uses his example to demonstrate what it means for anyone to become his disciple.
His call to service is applicable to everyone who wishes to follow him. The
self-seeking man or woman cannot be his disciple.
Thus, to follow the “Lamb wherever he
goes” means walking the same path that Jesus did, and living a cruciform life
of self-sacrificial service for others - to the poor, the weak, the
disadvantaged, the marginalized, and especially to one’s “enemy,” just
as Christ offered his life when we were “yet enemies of God.”
