At the time of the sacrifice, I stood up from where I had sat in mourning with my clothes torn. I fell to my knees and lifted my hands to the Lord my God. I prayed, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today. [Ezra 9.5-7]
We have no indication that Ezra sinned as did the rest of the people, and yet, we have Ezra repenting here before God just as if he did.
There is an amazing spiritual principle on display here. In the same spirit that Ezra humbled himself and repented for the people's sins, Jesus would later submit Himself to death on the Cross for he sins of the world.
If we can see it, resultant to Jesus' intercession for the world, He made Himself vulnerable on the Cross. When we intercede for others, we are, in effect, "taking up our cross..."
It has been recently pointed out in this blog that Jesus displayed the full armor of God on the Cross. This was accomplished in Jesus' complete vulnerability and nakedness on the Cross showing that the armor of God is only effective when we are stripped of any notion of strength or power of our own. There is no more accurate picture depicting the armor of God than Jesus on the Cross.
There is no more accurate picture of he armor of God than when we take up our cross! And, to be certain, we are called to take up our cross...
If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. [Matthew 10:38]
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16:24]
Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Mark 8:34]
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. [Luke 9:23]
Jesus died on the Cross for sins that were not His. Ezra repented of sins that were not his. It is not ironic that along with the very passage defining the armor of God that we find also a very important directive:
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. [Ephesians 6.18]
We are called to intercession. Stay with me because this gets real deep...
Look at something Isaiah said:
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [Isaiah 53.4-5]
As Jesus called us to take up our cross, we should understand that Isaiah 55 has meaning to us as well because...
Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” [John 20.21]
When we, like Jesus, intercede for the world, we put ourselves in a Christ-like position of humility and vulnerability - we put ourselves on our cross: the only place we can truly model the full armor of God. It may look like we are suffering for our own sins, but the true intercessor is suffering for a higher purpose!
The apostle Paul made it perfectly clear:
I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. [Colossians 1.24]
Frankly, this author has preferred to avoid Colossians 1.24, however, as the understanding of intercession and the full armor of God has come into clearer focus, it all makes perfect sense: it all points to the Cross. It also makes perfect sense how Paul could tell us to rejoice in hardships. It makes sense how Ezra (and others) could repent for sins he hadn't committed.
And, if all this isn't convincing enough, Jesus left no room for misunderstanding:
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. [Matthew 10:39]
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [Matthew 16:25-26]
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? [Mark 8:35-36]
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. [Luke 9:24]
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. [Luke 17:33]
He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [John 12:25]
How does this all reconcile? Does it prove the "doctrine of suffering" taught by certain denominations? Likewise, does it disprove the "faith movement" found in other groups? The answer to both questions is "no."
What is said here proves only one thing: that our lives are not our own, but they are to be lived and given in deference to others. This means healing the sick and raising the dead. This means interceding for and even suffering just punishment on behalf of others. It means acting and looking in every way like Jesus Christ Who displayed the most complete show of the armor of God on the Cross. Mmm.
Father, the revelation here today is more than most will ever grasp. Forgive us for our dullness. Forgive us for doing everything we can to save our lives mindlessly embracing every worldly idol of debt, insurance, medicine and technology to do so. Forgive us for not making ourselves completely vulnerable on our cross so that the power of Your forgiveness, redemption and resurrection might be seen in us. Oh God, please forgive us!
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