As Jesus approached his betrayal, torture by beating and the agony of crucifixion, and – as a human being – the possibility that he would fail to endure to the end, perhaps we can catch a glimpse of his mindset from Winston Churchill’s inspiring words as, in 1940, he urged his countrymen to step up to the Battle of Britain.
“Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation…if we fail, then the whole world…will sink into the abyss… Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour.”
What most people don/t know is that Winston Churchill was considered a total failure by the age of 40. But he convinced the British to be glorified through willingness to die, so others could be saved. For eight months the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London and other strategic cities across Britain. in what came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (“lightning war”).Costing the lives of 60,595 British civilians, the Battle of Britain was the turning point in the Second World War.
“The Pharisees [they] therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him...there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came…saying, Sir, we would see Jesus…Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come,
- that the Son of man should be glorified / elevated to highest status.
- Now is the judgment of this world:
- now shall the prince of this world be cast out
- if I be lifted up from the earth…signifying what death he should die…
- I will draw all men unto me.
The people / they, religious Jews answered him…who is this Son of man?” (John 12:23-23)
The answer is “the son / replica of ha-Adam, the first human created in the image and likeness of God, given dominion over the whole earth and all humanity, not just the King of the Jews.
“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (I Corinthians 15:45)
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come;
- glorify / give victory in battle to thy Son
- that thy Son also may glorify / give victory in battle to thee…
- I pray for them…which thou hast given me; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
- that they also may be one in us: that / this is how the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 17)
Christianity has turned this “oneness” into a paganized power to make happen whatever a “true believer” wants to materialize.
Not so! Being “one with Christ” means “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake…And Simon Peter followed Jesus…
- and a damsel came unto [Peter], saying, Thou…wast with Jesus of Galilee.
- But he denied before them all…
- And when he was gone out / retreated into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
- And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
- And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
- Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.
“And immediately the cock crew…And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” (John 13:36-38; 18:15-27, Matthew 26:69-75, Luke 22:61-62)
“after that he was risen from the dead…Jesus saith to Simon Peter…when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me [to crucifixion].
Peter’s form of death was not a punishment. Can we not recognize that the Lord gave Peter a second chance to live up to his boast that he would suffer whatever became his lot in life and death?
When I got truly serious about serving God, I lost my good life on this earth. I was rejected by
- my entire Christian family of origin all of whom were active in Baptist churches but put to shame by my whole-hearted commitment to serving Christ, some of them angry that they lost the wealth and social status I had previously shared with them,
- my teenage children for committing my family to living a humble lifestyle of Christian ministry instead of maintaining the lavish social lifestyle of their peers, with access to my grandchildren withheld
- my Christian 2nd husband for refusing to support his illegal and immoral activities
- the Christian ministry I had devoted 10 years of my life to, forced out by being paid a non-living wage and defamed to save the reputations of those who feared I would reveal they were abusing their positions and financial trust
- church after church for proposing evangelistic activities to replace complacency
- friends for being incompatible with the values
- and terminated from job after job and finally my career because i was committed to doing the right thing instead of conforming to expectations to practice medical care the profitable, albeit harmful way, by prescribing what “patients” needed instead of what “clients” or the managers wanted for personal benefits.
Fortunately, I was retirement age by then and able to provide a home for myself, finding peace in the company of my grateful rescue dogs and cats and immersion in studying God’s word.
“Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame…
- For thy Maker / the Singularity ever-present source of power is thine husband / united with you;
- the LORD of hosts / armies is his name;
- and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Isra-el
- The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” (Isaiah 54:4-6)
The God “of the whole earth” is not an afterthought taken away from Israel and put into place on the Day of Pentecost with Christianity. It defines the Melchizedekian covenant of dominion as the challenge to the Adversary thrown down by Adam, Enoch, Noah and a great cloud of witnesses.
No question that redemption of sinners is delayed by the lack of God’s people’s willingness to trade comfort for suffering in battle against the Adversary.
I have not found it in church.
I’ve heard it on Audible – Skin Game, The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher.
Voices filled my ears. Thousands of whispering voices whispering secret, obscene things, vicious poisonous lies, horrible truths…I felt the pressure of those voices coursing into my head like ice picks…and there was nothing, nothing I could do to stop them. I felt a scream building…
And then a strong hand slammed down on the crown of my head, and a deep voice thundered [“Clean what is unclean!”]
I opened my eyes to find Michael kneeling over me…His eyes were closed and his lips were moving…he murmured, “Lord of hosts, be with this good man and give him the strength to carry on.’
“All of you, hear me,” he said quietly. He stood between them – fallen angels, monsters, and mortal fiends – and me.
“You think your power is what shapes the world you walk in. But that is an illusion. Your choices shape your world.
You think your power will protect you from the consequences of those choices. But you are wrong.
There is a judge. There is justice in this world, and one day you will receive what you have earned. Choose carefully.”
He was in that moment a messenger, and no-one who heard him speak could doubt it.”
