As we continue our Lenten journey, we must recognize the royal sacrifice that Jesus made and how he demonstrates to us how we should live our lives as he lived his.
Jesus demonstrates that his kingdom is a kingdom that lays down royal rights rather than claiming more power and pride. When we live a life of humility, we do so in the footsteps of the creator of the universe.
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is that we find the narrative told from the perspective of the poor, the oppressed, the enslaved, the conquered, the occupied, the defeated in it; this is what makes it prophetic.
We know that the winners typically write history; this is true — except in the case of the Bible, it’s the opposite!
This is the subversive genius of the Hebrew prophets. They wrote from a bottom-up perspective.
Every story is told from the vantage point of the underclass.
But what happens if we lose sight of the prophetically subversive vantage point of the Bible?
What happens if those on top in this world read themselves into the story, not as imperial Kings of Egypt, Babylon, and Rome, but as the Israelites?
That’s when you get the bizarre phenomenon of the elite and entitled reading themselves into the story as the slaves and the hurting, and they end up using the Bible to endorse their dominance as God’s will.
This is Roman Christianity after Constantine. This is Christendom on crusade.
This is making the Bible dance a jig for our own amusement.
As Jesus preached the arrival of the kingdom of God, he would frequently emphasize the revolutionary character of God’s reign by saying things like, “the last will be first and the first last.”
As we hear this wonderful poem about the provocative nature of the kingdom of God, we see Jesus laying down his royal rights and taking on the nature of a servant.
Confirming that the story of the Bible is to be written from the perspective of the unappreciated and unacknowledged.
Imagine this: An influential, charismatic figure arrives on the world scene and amasses a great following by announcing the arrival of a new world arrangement where those at the bottom are to be promoted and those on top are to have their lifestyle “restructured.” How do people receive this?
Now think about Jesus announcing the arrival of God’s kingdom with the proclamation of his counterintuitive Beatitudes. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” how was that received? Well, it depends on who is hearing it. The poor Galilean peasant would hear it as good news (gospel), while the Roman in his villa would hear it with deep suspicion.
As we listen to this again, look at the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us.
How does it change our perspective knowing that Jesus lay down his rightful place in heaven to come and die so that we may take on the image of Christ?
And as we take on the image of Christ, what does that look like for you and me?



Music: Salt of The Sound - Dwell Among Us (Used with Permission) 
Dear Gravity: I Hope This Letter Finds You Well. 

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