Good Morning,
Our devotional on this Tuesday of Holy Week is written by Austin Craft, a junior Psychology and Religion double major from Midlothian, TX. Austin encompasses what it means to be a student leader on our campus. He is Lead Resident Assistant (LRA) in Milton-Daniel residence hall, a Board Director for the Exodus Retreat Student Ministry, and is a member and the former Chaplain of Brothers Under Christ (BYX) fraternity. Austin also serves as a member on the Laborers Team at Doxology Church, which is a discipleship group aimed at sharing the message of Christ across TCU’s campus. In his free time, Austin loves to play or watch basketball, and he is always looking forward to his next family ski trip each winter. May his reflection today guide us through this holiest of weeks, reminding us of God’s upside-down ways in the world, and may we be imitations of Christ’s humility, obedience, and love.–Rev. Lea McCracken, Associate Chaplain
Scripture: Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Reflection
When Jesus of Nazareth arrives on the scene in each of the four recorded Gospel accounts, he does so in a manner quite unlike what we might anticipate from undoubtedly the most influential figure to have ever stepped foot on the earth. Reared in the insignificant region of the Galilee by a teenage mother and carpenter father whom society may have deemed the epitome of ordinary, Jesus appears at the Jordan to be baptized by a zealous wild man adorned in a “camel-hair garment” consuming a strict diet of “locusts and wild honey” – not exactly the image we might hold in mind when envisioning the Messianic redeemer of the world (Matthew 3:4 HCSB).
But perhaps we should not be so surprised that the God of Israel elects to bring about the redemption and reconciliation of the world to Himself through the most unlikely of means. Time and again, the biblical narrative details chronicles wherein God elects to utilize the unknown, undervalued, and unwanted as conduits for His grander plan of restoring an Eden-esque state of wholeness, or shalom, to His good creation. Figures such as Abraham, Moses and David – whom both the Jewish and Christian faiths hold in the highest regard as integral instruments in God’s Heavenly orchestra – were themselves unqualified, unskilled, and unfit according to the world’s standard of sufficiency.
This Easter season, as we anticipate the celebration that accompanies the resurrection of Christ to be enthroned as King of the world, let us not forget that his reception of the crown came by way of the cross. When the God of the Universe elected to envelop Himself in human flesh, He did so not in the form of an imperial prince, but rather of an infant in Pampers. Might it be the case that Jesus is seeking to bring about the fullness of his renewed Creation not through the avenue of traditional power structures, but rather through the humble obedience of his followers who have adopted the upside-down nature of the Kingdom ethic? May we be a people who learn to reflect the Image of God by imitating the One who became our Savior in his suffering.
Prayer
Father,
We thank You that You are actively working to bring Heaven to earth through the self-sacrificial love of Your disciples whom the world has overlooked and ignored. What a privilege to serve a God who Himself created a model for salvation built on the suffering of His beloved Son. We empty ourselves before you as vessels through which You might radiate Your resurrection power across this world – and invite your upside-down authority to rule every area of our hearts and minds both today and forevermore. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.