Three Radical Demands (2)

 

 

“The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58).

 

Those in Christ are the Body of Christ; this is not a metaphor; this is a reality. In the eternal counsels of God, the Father is to have a Family, the Son a Body and a Bride, and the Spirit a Temple. As Augustine writes, “As is the Head, so is the Body.” Jesus Christ is the Vine, we are the branches – we can do nothing in and of ourselves (John 15:1 – 5).

 

Jesus testifies that His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36); if His Kingdom is not of this world, then, since we are in Him and are of Him and are His Body, our Kingdom is not of this world. As Paul writes, we are citizens of Heaven (Phil. 3:20).

 

This has been the testimony of His Body throughout the ages, and this includes those who were promised the land of Canaan, that is, the Patriarchs understood that Canaan was a shadow and a type, and therefore their vision went far beyond dirt and sand and mountain and river – they lived as strangers and pilgrims, not as settlers – nor should we (Hebrews 11:8 – 16). The Patriarchs “desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16), they were seeking that City “which God has prepared for them” (Heb. 11:16).

 

The promise to Abraham and his seed is that we shall be “heir of the world” (Rom. 4:13; Matt. 5:5; Rev. 21:1 – 7). How tragic when we mistake the type and shadow for the reality, when we confuse the lower image for the higher substance, when we are distracted from the eternal by things which are passing away. When we propagate such thinking we can become participants and enablers of death and destruction and sorrow and pain – poisoning our own souls and the souls of others.

 

Since the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His Head, He has nowhere to lay His Body. Why, O why, do we attempt to lay the Body of Christ in holes and in nests where the Head is not to be found? Is this not grotesque? Why, O why, do we seek to separate the Head from the Body? Does this not result in death?

 

Are we not playing the part of Herod in beheading Someone greater than John the Baptist?

 

The economic systems dance for us, the political systems dance for us, the sports and entertainment systems dance for us, the worlds of education and science dance for us…and we are so engrossed in them, so impressed by them…so seduced by them…and yes…by our religions systems…that we cry, “We’ll give you whatever you want! We’ll do even better than Herod, while he would only give Herodias half of his kingdom, we’ll give you our own souls!”

 

And the guillotine drops and the Head is served from the Body…and we think nothing of it.

 

Can we see the dead bodies around us? Can we see the congregations, those local bodies, which have been severed from the Head, from Christ? This body lies in the crypt of politics and nationalism, that body in the mausoleum of economics and the pursuit of money, that body over there in religious tradition that makes the Word of God of no effect, that body yonder lies dead in the seduction of entertainment, sports, the arts.

 

Is the Head of the Body not enough for us, His Body?

 

O dear friends, Jesus plus anything is not the Gospel, it is not the Cross, it is not the narrow way and gate – any identity other than the identity of Jesus Christ and Him alone is a false identity, a seductive identity with false promises – it is the lap of Deliah in which our glory is shorn from us.

 

Jesus is clear that even as He is not of the world and its systems, so are we not of the world and its systems – for as is the Head, so is the Body (John 15:18 – 16:4; 17:13 – 19).

 

As John writes, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For ALL that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is NOT from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15 – 17).

 

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

 

The radical call of Jesus Christ is the call to follow the One who has nowhere to lay His Head in this world; just as there is no place for Him to rest in this world, for Him to find peace, for Him to trust – so there is no place in this world for us…our only place of rest and trust and peace is in Jesus Christ…not in a ballot box, not in a bank or investment account, not in possessions and pleasures, not in nationalism, not in military might…only in Jesus are we to live, only in Jesus are we to breathe, only in Jesus are we to hope, and only to Jesus are we to draw others.

 

Are we hearing the Father say, “This is My Beloved Son, hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5)?