It’s His Nature
What does it mean to be “ashamed” of Jesus? That’s the question that arises from today’s Gospel reading. And why does Jesus speak of the Son of Man? Who is the Son of Man? That was the question people who heard Jesus asked in frustration: “Who is this Son of Man?” (John 12:34) The people had become pawns in the religious war against Jesus. Yes, it was religious war, because it was the religious people who fought against Jesus every step of the way and brought him to be crucified. And it’s always religious people who bring shame to the name of Christ.
To be ashamed of Jesus doesn’t only mean to be ashamed to proclaim your faith in him. It doesn’t stop there. More importantly, it means to be ashamed of his teachings; and to be ashamed of his cross. Jesus warned that there would be many who would call him “Lord” but he would not know them! To be ashamed of Jesus means to be ashamed of what he taught! To be ashamed of the Beatitudes. To be ashamed of Matthew 25.
Don’t we crucify Jesus Christ every day in one way or another? When we do what we do to the least of his brothers and sisters; when we speak against the least of his brothers and sisters; when we think evil against the least of his brothers and sisters – we do it, we speak it, we think it AGAINST HIM!
So Jesus today invites us to pick up our cross and follow him. Pick up the cross that represents the weight of your ungodly thoughts and actions, the weight of my neglect of the least of his brothers and sisters. Pick up your cross – don’t let it weigh you down any longer. Pick it up so you can follow Christ with it. And as you follow Christ, it will become light and lighter to the point where it simply disappears. And you will be clean and pure, worthy of the name Christian. That’s the miracle right there.
There is a beautiful story of an old man who used to meditate every morning under a big tree on the bank of the Ganges River. One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water. As the current brought the scorpion closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched out again to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that the man’s hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.
Just then, a stranger was passing by. He shouted out: “Hey, stupid old man, what’s wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?”
The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger’s eyes, he said calmly, “My friend, just because it is the scorpion’s nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save.” Just because it was the scorpion’s nature to sting did not mean that the man would change his nature to help and to save. Powerful.
Can you hear Jesus in those words; Jesus on the Cross? “Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” We are like the scorpion, we know not what we are doing. But that does not change Jesus. It is his nature to save and to lead us to new life. But we have to leave the scorpion life behind. Or, better yet, pick up the scorpion nature that weighs you down, stretch it out for Christ to take and heal it. That is the meaning of our cross. The scorpion in us fights God and bruises our spirits. Don’t be ashamed of the Son of Man. He became as you and I are, so as to know our struggles and everything that weighs us down. That’s why he is the Son of Man. Only he can take the scorpion from us. He is immune to our stings, because he was stung once and for all in the brutal inhumanity of the Cross. So take up your scorpion, your cross, and follow him, the Son of Man. Feel your cross get lighter and lighter as you follow Jesus. It’s his nature to heal and save.