To Be Like Christ

“To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world...” (John 18:37)

I imagine that we who believe all have moments where we yearn to be consistently more like Christ in our daily living. This hope is probably strongest when we come out of a particularly rough patch in life or begin a new year. When we find ourselves dealing with this idealistic imagination, we focus on all of Christ’s virtues, like His humility, patience, unfailing love, unsurpassed wisdom, and so much more. But there is another side to Jesus—one that we often fail to see and could not possibly imagine living out

At around age thirty, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth, where He had been brought up. On that Sabbath, He stood up to read from the Scriptures. The book of Isaiah was handed to Him, and He found and read aloud these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Isaiah 61:1–2) After returning the scroll, He sat down and declared to all present, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) In that moment, Jesus’ life was forever changed. He was now voluntarily a "dead man walking." The remainder of His ministry was essentially being carried out from death row.

What we rarely focus on is the driver behind who Jesus was and what He was committed to. But Pontius Pilate, during Jesus’ trial, became very aware of Jesus’ determination and commitment. When the discourse between Jesus and Pilate is knit together from the accounts in the four gospels, Pontius recognized that Jesus was a peculiar and righteous man who had done nothing deserving of death. Few people were more familiar with the agonizing, torturous death that lay ahead for Jesus than Pilate. But as Pontius became frustrated with Jesus’ lack of desire to be delivered from death, Jesus assured Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:11) It seems that Jesus was assuring Pilate that he was powerless to alter the course of events and that he need not feel personally responsible. Jesus further informed Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world...” (John 18:37) Pilate was thereby compelled to publicly declare Jesus a “righteous man” and washed his hands of the outcome.

What Pilate—and even we to this day—have difficulty wrapping our heads and hearts around is not what Jesus did, but why He did it. During the three or more years Jesus taught His disciples and preached the Gospel, He carefully planned out His demise. On one visit to Judea, He exercised caution, explaining to His disciples, “My time is not yet here...” (John 7:6) But later, Jesus finally informed His disciples, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him.” (Luke 18:31–33) Jesus chose the time of His death.

As He headed for Jerusalem, Jesus had on His mind not only every person that had ever sinned but every person that would ever sin—including you and me. He was ready to become the final “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) As Paul so eloquently explained, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6–8) Jesus willingly and lovingly suffered everything predicted in Isaiah 53:7–9.

When we experience those moments where we yearn to be more like Christ, we must dwell on the depth of love and commitment that made Him who He was and know that our best hope is that His love might be seen within us.

Heavenly Father, Grant us the grace to walk as Jesus walked and to love as He loved. Quiet our own desires so that His character may shine through our actions, words, and hearts. Transform us day by day into a clearer reflection of Your Son, that we may be His hands and feet in this world. Amen.

mgb