The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Now my soul is troubled and What shall I say, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name.
John 12:23, 27-28
I’m going to use Jesus as our example for engaging in this process of “denying self, take up your cross and follow me”. Jesus endured His cross because He had a joy set before him. I personally believe His joy was seeing the fruit “much fruit” that would come from the seed of his life sown through death.
‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’ John 12:24.
Jesus went on to say that if we hold a greater love for our life in comparison to the love we hold for him it will actually cause us to lose our life. It is only by keeping our love for him first and foremost that enables us to follow him in service and receive the Fathers honour.
‘If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him.’ John 12: 26
My personal place of stumbling, through these moments of dying to self, are always centred around me paying too much attention to what I perceive as my loss. Yet, I think this is the process. Our souls are troubled. There must be a revealing of what lies in our hearts; the thing(s) we treasure above the following, serving, dying. We examine the fear that would cause us to draw back. We wrestle with spiritual forces that would assault the Fathers will. We enter the press until we stand submitted and joyfully obedient to move forward as we have conformed to His will. We have committed all to the one who judges righteously and trusting Him we rise to glorify His Name.
Many of Jesus ‘followers’ left in mass when the greater commitment to intimacy (eat my flesh, drink my blood) was required.
The rich young ruler stumbled over his great riches and turned away.
Pharisees stumbled over their traditions.
And we won’t know where, or if, we will stumble until we are met with our hour.
What shall we say when it comes; “Father save me from this or help me walk through it?” Our souls will be troubled. Jesus, in an agony, prayed more earnestly as he sweat great drops of blood. Hebrews points out “we have not yet resisted to the shedding of blood.” Jesus’ prayer here from the gospel of Mark highlights his sorrow. Understanding the Father could change everything, yet willing to submit to the Fathers greater purpose, He arose.
The gate is narrow and the path is hard that leads to life.
Like Jesus we must also hold the joy of knowing that much fruit, birthed from our willingness to embrace His grace, enduring and allowing the seeds of our lives to fall into the soil of His purpose and ultimately dying bring forth life unto His great glory.
Jesus sets before every disciple the narrow gate with a ‘hard way’ that leads to life and only a few choose this path.
Helps word Study reveals ‘hard’ as #2346 thlíbō (the root of 2347 /thlípsis, reflecting an original "b"/bēta) – properly, rub together, constrict (compress), i.e. pressed together; (figuratively) oppressively afflict (distress), i.e. like when circumstances "rub us the wrong way" that make us feel confined (hemmed in); restricted to a "narrow" place. See 2347 (thlipsis).
Could Jesus’ statement, ‘many are called but few are chosen’ hinge on our choices?
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him..…… Philippians 2:5-9
Glorified through death.