Sad Story, Happy Ending

"All have deserted me, only Luke is with me"

Sad words from one of the greatest and most influential men who have ever lived. For all of his exploits, theological ranting, masterful arguing, and brilliant scholarship, the apostle Paul comes to the end of his life with one friend at his side. The man who virtually subterfuged the Hebraic and Western Worlds, who still holds dominion over Western thought, died, perhaps like the rest of us, alone. When Jesus told his disciples to take up their cross, deny themselves, and follow him, is this what it looked like for Paul? Paul's personal mission of conformity to the image of Christ was realized here in the analogistic solitude of desertment. His vindication came not from the mouths of either his followers or the rulers who ordered his execution but, but from his resurrected body's ascension into the presence of Christ when he died. He suffered and died just like Christ, and therefore in a very real way knew, and as we speak, knows Christ. Somewhere in each of us we know that God calls us to a similar fate. Somewhere in each of us we know, that this burden is lighter than the burden we now carry, despite what it seems. But why can't we do it? Why can't we make the leap of faith? How does community play a role in encouraging us to take risks, for there is of course, safety in numbers? But Paul, the preacher of reconciliation, not just between God and humanity, but between Jew and Gentile, young and old, rich and poor, man and woman; Paul the herald of unity, the captain of community, ended up alone, deserted. The truth is that not everyone in the community is willing to "resist to the point of shedding blood". Still, we may able to avoid abandonment, if we all our courageous, and exhortative. I believe Paul's fate is not necessarily every true believer's fate. Paul did not try to be a hermit. He tried the opposite. But he tried to be like Christ. He pined to be like Christ, and behold, he was like Christ. There is no way of understanding the joy of this if we are not becoming conformed to the image of Christ, being made conformable to his death, the fellowship of his sufferings, the vindication of his resurrection. To deny everything for the sake of Christ is too risky, potentially stupid, and possibly foolish. In this vein Paul declares; "If there is no resurrection, we are too be pitied above all men" Are we willing to risk the misunderstanding of our fellow man, the desertment by our "friends", the prestige of our positions, the security of our relationships, the comfort of the community if they will not join us for the sake of knowing Christ; really for the sake of the gospel.

"He had no form or majesty
that we should look at him"
"nothing in his appearance
that we should desire him"
"He was despised and rejected by others: a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account"

"He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth"
"By perversion of justice he was taken away
Who could've imagined his future?"
"For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgressions of my people."

"Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors"