September 15

When to Advance

Let me tell you what’s going on here: No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him. For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. ––Matthew 11:11-13, MSG

We aren’t always called to retreat. We are also called to kick some proverbial butt. To advance. When Jesus was nearing the end of His time before the crucifixion, His tone with the disciples changed. Previously, He had sent them out two-by-two and gave them instructions:

Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. ––Mark 6:8-11

But then, later on, when Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, there was a shift:

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered. He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.” ––Luke 22:35-37

What changed? Was Jesus calling His followers to a violent holy war? No. Here’s a big clue: He tells them that He has been “numbered with the transgressors,” which is a quote from Isaiah 53, the 700-year-old prophecy predicting the coming of the Messiah. Jesus places Himself in our position—He takes on our sins and sacrifices Himself on our behalf. He also knows that things are about to get very real for His followers—there will be persecution and spiritual warfare. All the disciples but John will die as martyrs.

In Luke 22, Jesus is saying that it’s no longer business as usual. He is telling His disciples to prepare themselves because they will be ridiculed and persecuted for Him, just as He is about to be persecuted for them and all of humanity.

For God’s man, we advance against the enemy each day and take the kingdom by force through sacrifice, clean living, keeping short accounts when we are offended or abused, and loving others into the kingdom. Does it mean we are soft? No way! We use the sword of the spirit against the REAL enemy—the kingdom of darkness. (Hint: fallen man is not the enemy; he’s the mission.)

Father, help me to use all the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6 to advance—shoulder to shoulder with my brothers—against the enemy of this world.