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The Glory of Christ
Mar 1, 10:28 AM
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you do not grow weary or lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2-3
Jesus Christ laid aside the garments of His Glory and became a human being. He was born, not of nobility but ignoble, born in a stable, born among the poor. Being warned in a dream, His father took the family to Egypt to escape the holocaust of Bethlehem; thus Jesus took His place among the world’s refugees. Being found in human form, Jesus humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant. He gave Himself in complete obedience to the will of the Father, doing only what was pleasing to Him.
Jesus’ message was a declaration that the Kingdom of God was invading the world scene; His life was a living embodiment of that Kingdom. Being the prototype of a new species of human being, He brought a new way of life for a new humanity. He proclaimed the pending reign of the Son of God and taught the Kingdom way of life. He healed all who came to Him in order to show that physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual wholeness are integral to the Kingdom’s dominion. His public ministry was marked by confrontation with evil, primarily in the form of an entrenched religious dominion which sought to serve only its own ends. Those who rejected Him were not only blinded to His reality, they were bent on His destruction.
The end of Jesus’ earthly life was marked by a gross perversion of justice which resulted in His being a victim of capital punishment of the worst sort. The physical torture to which He was subject nearly pales in comparison to the contempt of the insults, the humiliation of His being spit upon, and the shame of being hung naked on a public thoroughfare. “Are you able,” said the Master, “to drink the cup I drink or to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
To follow Jesus is to put on the humility of Christ, to identify with the poor and refugees, to become a living embodiment of the Kingdom, to exercise the same power for proclamation and healing, and to enter into fellowship with Christ’s own suffering. The Glory of Christ is not in His fame, following, or fortune. It is not in position, power, or prestige. The Glory of Christ is the offering of His life to the Father and to other human beings. May our glory be the same.