Footnote on the Strategy of Dying

Not only is it counter-intuitive, its result is beyond comprehension

Not long ago we looked at Jesus' strategy as including the surprising step of death. The result was surprising, too.

His followers were on an ethnocentric group (witness the outrage in Luke 4 when Jesus mentioned God's blessings for other nations). Let's not let that be any special condemnation of the Jews. They had a long and rich history, they were living under an oppressive rule, and in those circumstances any national group would look out for itself. And in fact, we all do anyway, to one extent or another.

There were some theological blind spots that contributed to their self-view, of course. They knew they were God's chosen people. Somehow it was apparently less clear to them that right from the beginning, when God called their patriarch Abraham to found the nation, he said "In you all the nations of the world will be blessed."

Our recent looks at this topic came from John 12. In verse 32 of that chapter, Jesus recalls the scope of Abraham's purpose:

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself."

"Lifted up" does not mean "exalted in attention" here; it's a very literal picture of being crucified, as John goes on to confirm in the next verse. The result? He would draw all peoples (all tribes, tongues, races, nations) to himself.

The wave of glory on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day was magnificent and powerful, but it was confined to one nation. He could have claimed kingship on earth over Israel without submitting to death. What a small triumph that would have been, though, compared to what came of his humbling himself: the entire world is now his to rule.

I hasten to add that his kingship of the whole earth remains to be fully realized. About 1.8 billion people have never heard the gospel story still, and many who have refuse to follow him. Those of us who know him must take it as our burden to follow Christ humbly--even into death, whether literal or metaphorical--in working to let the rest of the world know who he truly is.

Posted: Fri - June 3, 2005 at 01:25 PM |

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Footnote on the Strategy of Dying

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson