A dear friend visited today as I am recuperating from my knee operation. Invariably the conversation touched on suffering and the unseen price that each of us has to pay if we are to make meaningful progress in our Christian journey.
A thought flashed across and while the conversation continued, I was pondering about the Lord Jesus and his tremendous declaration in Matt 28:18 - ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. That is absolute power in absolute terms. And it dawned on me that Jesus is worthy and capable to wield absolute authority because he has suffered more than any man has or will. It was more than just the cross, which in itself is already a cruel and excruciating sentence.
Jesus suffered…
when he came to his own and they receive him not;
when he is the light of the world and people rejected light in favour of darkness;
when he is the truth, the way and the life and few saw the truth, a handful walked the way and none experienced the life;
when he is the blameless lamb of God and was tainted with the sins of the world;
when he is God and yet was separated from the divine community in order to seek and save the lost.
To the measure that Jesus has suffered, to the same measure he has been given authority and that is the life awaiting before us. Authority comes not through much prayer or fasting, as important as these disciplines are. True authority is the fruit of yieldedness, which often is proven through suffering.
This is the paradox of the kingdom – for blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
