I’m glad He didn’t save Himself!

Reflecting on Mark 15:21-32

"'He saved others,' they said, 'but he can’t save himself!'" (Mark 15:31)

I believe in Jesus as my Saviour BECAUSE He did not save Himself.
This may seem strange, but this is how I see Jesus as good news.
Jesus does not come wielding a blade, forcing people to kneel or be knifed.
Jesus does not mobilize an army to do His dirty work for Him.
Jesus does not make Himself great, but goes beneath others to lift them up.
If Jesus had followed Satan’s way, He would not have saved others.
Rather He would have joined others in their bondage to cruelty and violence.

In the cross of Jesus, and all His suffering, we see the glory of God.
The shining glory of God that God revealed to Moses.

“Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.'” (Exodus 33:18-19)
“Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.'” (Exodus 34:5-7)

Jesus is the goodness of God, full of surprising mercy and compassion.
Jesus is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Jesus maintains love to thousands, and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin.
In this moment of crucifixion, we see the full extent of God’s glorious love.
In this moment, the fury of evil is unleashed against the glory of love.
For the moment, it seems that evil wins; but in this moment, LOVE WINS!

Jesus saves us by refusing to save Himself.
Jesus serves us by refusing to serve Himself.
This is the cross that is a crown, that reveals God’s glory.
This is the cross that Simon of Cyrene carried for a moment.
And it is the cross that we are called to carry with Jesus.

Evil uses the cross as an instrument of power, cruelty and death.
God uses the cross as an instrument of humility, grace and life.
We do not mock Jesus or God for the cross, we praise them for it!

As Jesus-followers, our mission – should we accept it – is to serve others.
We save others not by judging them, criticizing them, or forcing them to obey.
We save others not by converting them, not by beating them in debates.
We save others by offering ourselves as living sacrifices of love.
If we read Romans 12, we see how living sacrifices serve others like Jesus.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

The first and last verse of Romans 12, and everything in between, are the Jesus Way.

This does not mean that I need to seek out suffering.
Jesus did not seek out the cross; it was forced on Him.
Jesus pursued love, compassion, mercy, and it eventually led to the cross.
We are to seek the same qualities that make God God, that make God good.
We surrender to Jesus as Lord, and allow His Spirit to produce His character in us.
We serve the Muslim and Hindu and Atheist living next door.
We show mercy to the convict, and kindness to the loud-mouthed neighbour.
We befriend those who do not fit with our own racial, sexual or political identity.
We look for ways to help the homeless, and to feed the hungry.
We pray for the Conservative and the Liberal christians we encounter.
We do not repay anyone evil for evil, but seek to live at peace with everyone.
We refuse to curse those who curse, but bless them instead.
This kind of Jesus-like, neighbour serving love will be appreciated by many.
But many others will accuse you of being weak, and may make life harder for you.
And sadly, some of those will belong to your church, or claim to follow Jesus.

I wish I could say that following the Jesus Way would make life easier.
It wasn’t for Jesus, and it likely won’t be for us.
But we are not saved to save ourselves; we are saved to save others.
We are not blessed to bless ourselves; we are blessed to bless others.
We choose the way of love because it is the God Way, the Jesus Way.
We choose the way of love because it is HOW we are saved.
We choose the way of love because it is WHAT we are saved FOR.

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

I believe in Jesus as my Saviour BECAUSE He did not save Himself.
I choose Jesus as my Lord BECAUSE He chose love, despite the cross.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, people may mock and abuse Your Way of love, and carrying this cross of love may make life harder for us. But it is because of Your suffering love that we are saved. Help me Jesus to follow in Your steps in the way of love.