Did Jesus Come to Earth to Lose?
Did Jesus come to Earth to lose? Yes, but let me unpack that. When Jesus said he was going to die in Jerusalem, Peter jumped up and said No!. Why did Peter say no? Peter wanted to win. He wanted the other guy to die. Jesus said he was Satan for wanting to win. Jesus was committed to lose to gain the kingdom he wanted. Further, did Jesus die for the Jews? Did he die for the Pharisees? Did he die for the Romans? Or, did he die for the Parthians? Yes.
Jesus came to die and not to win. He died so we could also surrender. He said that we needed to carry our own cross. In a good American movie, the good guy wins. That is not the gospel. Jesus said, Blessed are those who mourn.
Jesus also said He wanted to give us life to the full. He knew we could only do that if we died to our flesh. That thing that never wants to surrender needs to surrender each day.
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Did Jesus Come To Earth to Lose? Yes and No
From the view of the Kingdom of heaven, we were all losing. Jesus came to turn us on our head. In essence, He said we were playing by the wrong rules.
At the Cross, Jesus showed us that we are horrible selfish sinners and deeply loved by the one who made us. We need to accept both. We are often glad to hear that we are deeply loved. When have we rejoiced to know we are hopeless sinners? We want grace but we do not want truth. Jesus gave us both at the Cross.
When Peter told Jesus not to lose by dying, Jesus said, “Get behind me Satan!” Jesus did not come to earth to win in our sense of the word. Mohammed was so into winning that he changed the story and said Jesus did not die! If you want a God, who does not lose, then be Muslim. If you do not want to surrender, and accept Jesus surrender, do not come to Jesus. Recall, he leads the way.
