In this Gospel lesson, Jesus reminds us, as he had proclaimed many times before to his disciples, "If you really want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me." And if we listen carefully and deeply to the lessons of today for a few moments, I think we will discover in a very deep way what Jesus means by that, and also we will be aware of the challenge it takes truly to follow Jesus. And first of all, I think it's important for us to realize that in what Jesus is to undergo.
You see, we have to understand that the incarnation, Jesus in his humanness, is totally separate from his identity, and so he's one like us. He had to trust in God just as we do, and he found that very difficult, just as we do. If you listen carefully to that passage from the letter to the Hebrews, you find Jesus described in a way that I think is almost shocking: "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him." (Hebrews 5:7-9)
He prayed to God to save him from death. He was afraid; he dreaded what was to happen. And then the author tells us, "And although he was the Son, yet he had to learn through suffering what obedience was." And that seems to me to be kind of a strange thing, that you have to learn through suffering what it means to be obedient. But if we understand what obedience is, it becomes more clear.
Obedience doesn't mean just following a command of somebody else, what we call blind obedience, doing what you're told and so on. The word itself clearly means to listen deeply. To listen deeply, and in the spiritual sense it means listening deeply to God, and that's possible for every one of us as it was for Jesus. In other words, God is going to be living very deeply within us, within our spirits, within our hearts. And if we take the time to go apart, to be quiet, to listen, we will hear God speaking to us, telling us how to fulfill this covenant where God is our God and we are God's people.
And so that's what Jesus is saying to himself: "That's what's going to happen to me. I will die, be buried in the ground, but rise to new life." And yet you can see his humanness, though, when you go on, and just a short moment later, he's saying, "But now my soul is in distress." He's totally upset, afraid, dreading what's going to happen. "And shall I say, 'God, save me from this hour?' " He's tempted to say no, but then, "But no, this is why I have come. God, glorify your name."
Because ultimately, what Jesus is saying is this, "Because I am willing to die, to give my life over into the hands of my enemies and not resist but rather love them, forgive them, pour forth love upon this world, I will draw all people to myself. Love will transform the world. Love will change each one of us. Love can help us to change others. Love will change the whole world." That's the message of Jesus. "If you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me."
It is a powerful teaching here. Jesus is telling us the world is not going to be transformed through power and might, military force, nothing of that kind. The only way that our world will be transformed and changed into the reign of God -- where everyone has a chance for a full human life and where our world is transformed into the fullness of the blessings of heaven -- the only way that's going to happen is when we follow Jesus and never return evil for evil. Always being quick to forgive, loving even our enemies, doing good to those who hurt us.
So our opportunity now is a call to deepen our prayer life, to take more time to look deeply into our hearts, to listen, to obey and listen to God speaking to us, asking us to change. To commit our lives to follow Jesus, and bring His love and His goodness into our world wherever we are.
