God does not always want or need us to be in the heat of the battle. Sometimes He wants us only to BE what we should be at the particular moment: a meek defenseless lamb. Of what use is that lamb on a battlefield? It would soon be a victim of the carnage and gore all around it. And yet – if God has a need for a docile lamb, without weapons and without armor, to insert itself into the battle, so be it. If God, in His inscrutable wisdom, is looking for a lamb to virtually sacrifice itself for the Kingdom of God’s sake, we can only say, Amen.
Notice in the following scriptures how Jesus fulfilled both roles, that of a meek, lowly lamb and that of a mighty warrior prepared for battle. Then, in the next scriptural passage, observe how this mighty warrior became a docile lamb and resolutely went into battle where He was tortured and slain. Why? Because God willed it to be so.
(1) After this Jesus went about in Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
(2) Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
(3) So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples may see the works you are doing.
(4) For no man works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world."
(5) For even his brothers did not believe in him.
(6) Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
(7) The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
(8) Go to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come."
(9) So saying, he remained in Galilee.
(10) But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
(11) The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, "Where is he?"
(12) And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, "He is a good man," others said, "No, he is leading the people astray."
(13) Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
(14) [Now it was time for the warrior to emerge and face His enemies.] About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. [Jesus was facing His adversaries and He knew full well He would soon be tortured and slain for His indomitable courage. Again we ask, Why? Because it was the will of His Father.]
(Joh 7:1-14 RSV)
There was also the most memorable and sacred of times to which we have referred above, when Jesus was both a lamb and, in effect, a mighty warrior. It was during His hour of Passion. It would be impractical, if not impossible, to tell the whole grueling story of pain and terror and submission in this space. You may read the four Gospel accounts in the following scriptures: Mat. 26.30-27.51; Mark 14.32-15.38; Luke 22.41-23.40; John 18.3-19.30.
We should be available to be all things at all times as our Master was. When the Father wanted Jesus to fearlessly proclaim the Father’s word, Jesus did so without hesitation. When the Father wanted a literal lamb of sacrifice, Jesus was that also. As Jesus was ready and willing to DO and BE whatever His Father required of Him, so we have to quickly and humbly do and be whatever it may be that Jesus asks of us. And some of His requests are difficult to comply with.
It is not difficult to love Jesus and serve Him and commune with Him, but we are human and there are things that Christ wants with which it is not easy for our human natures to comply. Christ in His humanity agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane, not to bend His will to that of the Father, but He agonized in the act of bending His will. It tore Him as the sins of an entire race of humanity were even then in the process of being loaded on His oh-so-mortal back. We claim we are walking in the steps of the Master, therefore if the human Jesus could suffer in doing the Father’s will, it is only proper that we all should partake in some small measure of that suffering.
For a related post (January 2009) click here: http://bit.ly/9Ktaag
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