"The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20: 28).
Today is Wednesday, February 28, Day 15 of 40 in Lent 2018.
Jesus said the above to his disciples in the earshot of the mother of the sons of Zebedee who had just requested the most prestigious positions in Jesus' cabinet for her two boys. “You do not know what you are asking." Jesus told the lady. My Kingdom will be very different from that of Herod, Nebuchadnezzar or Augustus Caesar. There will be a lot of blood, suffering and death in what I am setting up.
You who desire to follow Jesus, do you know what you wish? (Matthew 20: 21). “You do not know what you are asking." (Matthew 20: 22). Do you? Have you counted the cost of discipleship?
The 2016 movie, "Silence" by Martin Scorsese is the story of three young Jesuit missionaries who traveled to Japan from Europe in the 17th century to evangelize the Japanese. They foresaw clearly that they would be martyred. They eventually made many converts to Christianity. What impressed me most in the movie is that they did not hide the cost of discipleship to their young Japanese Christian family. Most of these Christians with the three young missionaries paid the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus. Their persecutors taunted them with the cruel irony that the only answer to expect from their Jesus was SILENCE!
Who will leave a comfortable life to embrace a missionary life in a far flung foreign country and culture? If the Promise of Jesus is not true, there will be no missionaries, no Church.
"The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20: 28).
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