Wednesday, April 16, 2003
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003 |
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As a POW, Jesus stayed true to character By JOHN HATCHER Jesus was a Prisoner of War (POW). The saga of a POW intrigues us for two reasons: that which happens to him or her takes place in secret and we want to hear the details of the punishment and heroism. Jesus was a POW of the Roman government. For good reason. From what Jesus was saying, he presented a not-so-small threat to the Roman Caesar who claimed all rights and respects to the title of Lord and yet the Palestinian purveyors of Jesus were calling him Lord. We have an informational/media problem: to whom do we give the title of "Lord?" Again Jesus was a POW of the Jews. They had been fairly successful in hunting down and bringing to Sanhedrin justice all the upstarts who claimed to be the newest and last messiah for the books. For you see, once you have a Messiah, rules and regulations don't carry much value. The Jewish Pharisees and Sadducees were in business making up new rules and having them printed (They must have owned the Jerusalem printing press). Take away the "rules" business, they would be out of business. The Jews demonstrated they preferred a notorious rule-breaker on the streets like Barabbas than a rule-keeper like Jesus. In fact, the Jews, when given the choice by the Roman government to release one POW to observe Passover, guess which one they decided? Right! The rule-breaker for he keeps them in business. Jesus was a POW of all the hate, envy, injustice and every other sort of viciousness found in the human spirit. He was a POW of Cain of first beginnings. He was a POW of every dictator and ruthless leader of every generation. He was a POW of every drug cartel. Yet, as our POWs are released and returned, we hunger for their stories of faithfulness to their flag, Commander-in-Chief, and their country. We would be embarrassed to hear of anything else. Were our POWs to come out and reveal, "We let them know anything they wanted; after all, our necks were on the chopping block," we as Americans would be very disappointed although understanding. I am sure that will not be the case. Our POWs have a long heritage of courage and valor and faithfulness. Now, take a look at POW Jesus. The record now reveals he "opened not his mouth." He kept his mouth shut. He did not betray the wealth and power of heaven to those who wanted it only for selfish purposes. POW Jesus stayed true to his character and to him who sent him on this mission. Although his body could be broken, his spirit refused to be broken or decoded. When they could not get anything more out of him, they strung him up on a cross. Until this time, the cross was a symbol of derision and embarrassment. For a family to tell that a son or daughter had died on the cross would have been to share the ultimate in humiliation. Not this son, however. Because of his story of faithfulness, courage, and sacrifice, this POW Jesus transformed the cross into a new kind of symbol: one of love and hope. For you see, his last words indicated the fulfillment of his mission on earth: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Even today, we do not know what we do. We lie, cheat, and kill. Yet, because of one POW and the way he took his punishment, we are forgiven.
John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive Fayetteville, Georgia 30215 770-719-0303 |
