The Suffering ServantSample

Becoming a parent is like undergoing the most glorious death. The moment those first cries ring out, whoever you were a moment before no longer exists. Mothers recognize this change long before that moment, feeling that life develop within them throughout the process. It is the most natural of all things to have children, and yet it is, perhaps, the miracle of miracles. But when that new life arrives, every parent sees a call to come and die within that child’s gaze. From now on, through sleepless nights, laughter, and whatever else might come—it is your life for the sake of theirs.

Despite the popularity of the Dan Brown novels (they are, admittedly, quite fun to read), it is tabloid nonsense to say that Jesus married Mary Magdalene or had children. But Jesus does have a bride—the Church—and the prophet Isaiah said he would have many children. For, although Jesus would be “cut off from the land of the living … when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isa. 53:8, 10).

Jesus’ final prayers display the kind of fervent passion of a father for his children. In the first section he labors over the apostles, pleading with his Father for their care: “While I was with them, I kept them in your name [and] have guarded them… [K]eep them from the evil one”(John 17:12, 15).

We’re so used to the story, yet so unfamiliar with the culture, that we often miss the danger Jesus’ disciples were in. Those debates Jesus had with the Pharisees weren’t just fun little arguments between intellectual sparring partners—if Jesus lost those debates, his disciples could have been arrested or even executed (Ex. 35:2, Luke 2:23-28). While he was with them, he could deal with the Pharisees and the particularly difficult exorcisms. But soon, they would face the demons and be brought before the same sham courts without him. But Jesus did not doubt them, despite all they would face, because his victory would supply their every need: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth” (John 17:18-19).

As you’re reading this today, you should recognize that you are the fruit of the apostles’ mission. Just as Jesus was sent from the Father, so too were they sent. We are the greatest great-grandchildren in a long line of spiritual descendants, and Jesus prayed for us too: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).

Before you were even born, the thought of you drove Jesus to these prayers, and to the Cross, so that you could become part of the Father’s family. But it isn’t just that you’ve been adopted; Jesus prays that you would experience the same, perfect union with the Father that Jesus experiences himself. This was the reason Jesus was willing to be the suffering servant, even enter the grave—it was his life for the sake of yours.

And you were worth that cost.