Theological
Education- Equipping the People of God
Rev. Manoj Idiculla
Vicar
Carmel MTC, Boston
“Anyone
who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.” Vs.25
This passage is
a turning point in the John’s gospel. Jesus performed all sorts of miraculous
signs, which led the people flocking to see him. He fed the five thousand, gave
sight to a man born blind, raised Lazarus from the dead and later He was
anointed by Mary and given a king’s welcome as He rode into Jerusalem.
Jesus is predicting His death and giving this advice to His followers and
hearers.
There are three
words used for life in Greek - Psuche, bios and
zoe. By our natural
birth, we human beings possess the soulish (psuche) life and the physical (bios)
life. But when we believe in Jesus Christ, we experience the divine life (zoe). This
brings us back to God’s original intention for us, which is that we would have
His life. God wants us to increase the divine life in us which should be
manifested to the people around us.
Two types of
life are emphasized in verse 25. One is psuche - the worldly life and the other is zoe -
Eternal life.
God
wants us to find the higher kind of life, the GOD-kind of life - Zoe life. GOD
does not want us to settle for worldly life. Jesus further states the paradox
like this: if you hate your life, you will preserve it. The hate language in
the Jewish mind was more closely related to comparison and priority than what
we think of as hatred. Jesus is saying that if you prioritize things of the
kingdom, you will guard your life, preserve it, or gain it.
If one seeks
Christ, and spends his days laying down his life for others, he will experience
the fullness of life, as he focuses on the greatest treasure - Christ! Here the
loss of life is the emergence of new life. When we foster and embrace the
things in the world, our tendency to embrace the eternal and to do the good
decreases. It makes us find our joy in the things that will not last,
which eventually will disappoint us.
On
the whole, this passage clearly tells us that serving and following the Lord
will keep our life here on earth and eternity.
PRAYER
Almighty Lord, teach and empower us to
prioritize Christ and His kingdom in our life. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“Jesus does not
identify true saving faith by its perfection, but by its affection. Those who
truly come to Christ love Him above all things—all sin, all self-righteousness,
all relationships, all self-will.”–MacArthur.