Hi all,
Some months ago I wrote a blog here called Chosen. As you can guess, it was inspired by the show The Chosen. I was so very inspired and moved by the compassion and the love of Jesus portrayed in each episode. I had to write it down.
In my recent quiet time, I find myself wishing that I had been around in those times. I wonder if maybe, just maybe, Jesus would have walked by and saw me building a server or configuring a firewall and asked me to follow Him.
Of course, on this side of the cross and resurrection, we are all chosen to follow Him. But I wonder if I would have been a good disciple in His presence. I wonder how many of the pitfalls, moments of unbelief, or lack of understanding I would have been a party to with my fellow disciples.
Sure, it’s all easy to speculate on now. We are on the other side of the story. We know how it unfolded. We have hindsight. That’s something the disciples didn’t have. But, alas, I wrote of that last time. Now I wonder which disciple I would have been most like. Which would I have been friends with? How would my conversations with Jesus gone?
It is not for the fame of the disciples that I wonder about this. It’s for the intimacy with Jesus that they had and that I am jealous of. But a thought struck me this evening…
James and John’s mother asked Jesus if they could sit at his right and left in His kingdom. I am fairly certain that I would never have asked anything like that, by the way. Jesus responds by asking them “are you able to drink of the cup that I am about to drink?”
Bless their sons of thunder, zealous hearts. They said “yes we are”. Jesus clues them in by telling them that they will, indeed, drink from His cup. He also let them know that it is up to the Father who sits there. In fact, it is God the Father who exalted Jesus.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. 9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
Obviously the disciples will eventually get it. And by ‘it’, I mean all of it. And lucky for us they did. But first they will live the life with Jesus and struggle to learn His teachings. They will be witness to His compassion and mercy. They will see betrayal (Judas). They will see their beloved rabbi, Messiah, and FRIEND brutally beaten, mocked and murdered. They would experience unimaginable grief and probably disillusionment for those following three days. Then they would experience a revelation of joy as He is resurrected and they see Him again. And then they would receive the Holy Spirit. They would never be the same.
These disciples will go out into the world and spread the good news of the Kingdom of God. And I think… Would that have been me?
But that thought I mentioned earlier… Am I able to drink the cup that those guys would later drink of? On a good day, when my faith is soaring, I think that I could easily follow Jesus anywhere and anytime. But am I able to drink the cup these disciples did? Following Jesus cost them everything. Truly. Everything.
In doing research for some teaching one day, I started reading Fox’s Book of Martyrs. This book is, obviously, a volume of people martyred for the sake of Jesus. It begins with Stephen and then lists the disciples. Eleven of the 12 disciples were martyred. Did you know that? John was the only one who avoided martyrdom, though he was thrown into boiling oil (which he survived).
Here is the list:
Simon (Peter) – Crucified upside down.
James (the Great or ‘Big James’) – Beheaded
Andrew – Crucified upside down on an X shaped cross
Phillip – Crucified
Bartholomew – Skinned alive and beheaded
Matthew – Slain with a halberd
Thomas – Run through with a spear
James (the Lesser or ‘little James’) – Beaten, stoned and then had his head beaten open with a club
Simon (the Zealot) – Crucified
Thaddeus – Crucified
Matthias – Stoned
Jesus chose each and every one of these men for a purpose. When He knew the time had come for His death, He lifted up an amazing heart felt prayer for these disciples… Jesus knew what they were going to face and that He would not be here to guard and protect them. You can just feel the love He has for them in this prayer. It’s amazing.
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said:
Father,
the hour has come.
Glorify Your Son
so that the Son may glorify You,
2 for You gave Him authority
over all flesh;
so He may give eternal life
to all You have given Him.
3 This is eternal life:
that they may know You, the only true God,
and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.
4 I have glorified You on the earth
by completing the work You gave Me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence
with that glory I had with You
before the world existed.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 I have revealed Your name
to the men You gave Me from the world.
They were Yours, You gave them to Me,
and they have kept Your word.
7 Now they know that all things
You have given to Me are from You,
8 because the words that You gave Me,
I have given them.
They have received them
and have known for certain
that I came from You.
They have believed that You sent Me.
9 I pray for them.
I am not praying for the world
but for those You have given Me,
because they are Yours.
10 Everything I have is Yours,
and everything You have is Mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
11 I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world,
and I am coming to You.
Holy Father,
protect them by Your name
that You have given Me,
so that they may be one as We are one.
12 While I was with them,
I was protecting them by Your name
that You have given Me.
I guarded them and not one of them is lost,
except the son of destruction,
so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.
13 Now I am coming to You,
and I speak these things in the world
so that they may have My joy completed in them.
14 I have given them Your word.
The world hated them
because they are not of the world,
as I am not of the world.
15 I am not praying
that You take them out of the world
but that You protect them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world,
as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them by the truth;
Your word is truth.
18 As You sent Me into the world,
I also have sent them into the world.
19 I sanctify Myself for them,
so they also may be sanctified by the truth.
(John 17:1-19)
I want to believe that I could stand defiantly in the face of torture and death for the name of Jesus. Jesus Himself told us in His sermon on the mount, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
I also want to believe that I would have been a disciple who’s life was so changed by Him, that I could not help but go out into all the world to continue His message of the good news of the Kingdom of God. The obvious response to that is…
Why can’t you be doing that now?
Indeed.
PS – Did you know that after Jesus gave that heartfelt prayer for His disciples, He also gave one for you? Yes… YOU. Poke yourself in the chest and say ME and then read it. Take it to heart. The Lamb of God prayed for you…
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 I pray not only for these,
but also for those who believe in Me
through their message.
21 May they all be one,
as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be one in Us,
so the world may believe You sent Me.
22 I have given them the glory You have given Me.
May they be one as We are one.
23 I am in them and You are in Me.
May they be made completely one,
so the world may know You have sent Me
and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 Father,
I desire those You have given Me
to be with Me where I am.
Then they will see My glory,
which You have given Me
because You loved Me before the world’s foundation.
25 Righteous Father!
The world has not known You.
However, I have known You,
and these have known that You sent Me.
26 I made Your name known to them
and will make it known,
so the love You have loved Me with
may be in them and I may be in them.
(John 17:20-26)
PPS – On a completely different note… The Chosen also inspired me to write and record a song. I love what those Jars of Clay guys did with the music on the show and I felt a little inspiration to make something myself. It should be out soon. It’s a song called “In the Shadow of the Chosen“. So, should you be so inclined, keep your eyes peeled for that. It will end up on all the usual streaming services and I’ll warn you when it is finished.