“a
prisoner of Jesus Christ” - desmios Xristou Iesou
Sometimes
Paul refers to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ, stressing his calling and
mission from God. Often Paul refers to
himself as a slave of Jesus Christ, a menial servant who does whatever his
master demands. But in this personal
letter, Paul uses a different noun to describe himself: “prisoner”.
We
can learn much from this description.
First, we may take the declaration naturally. Paul is truly a prisoner at this moment. He is under arrest in Rome Middle East , Paul exercised his right
as a Roman citizen and appealed his case to Caesar. Now, for almost two years, Paul has been waiting
in Rome for an audience with Nero. As he
pens this letter to a friend, he notes his physical position. He is indeed a prisoner. However, he does not
consider himself a prisoner of Rome or of Nero.
No,
the description Paul primarily had on his mind when he penned the word
“prisoner” was not about his physical imprisonment. Paul views himself as a spiritual
prisoner. He is “chained” to Jesus every
hour of every day. He goes where Jesus
goes. He does what Jesus does. He says what Jesus says. And his “imprisonment” is something he gladly
accepts!
The
phrase “a prisoner of Jesus Christ” may be interpreted in more than one way even
when describing his “spiritual bondage”.
He is a prisoner “belonging to” Christ.
He is Jesus’ “peculiar possession”.
He is also a prisoner “for” Christ.
His devotion is not to himself, his family, his friends, or even his
emperor. No, Christ has made him His
prisoner and all that entails (travels, words, actions) is in service to and for
Jesus.
This
one who, like each of us, was in bondage to sin has been set free from that
sin. He is now happily in bondage to
Christ, gladly doing his bidding, whatever it may be.
May
you and I view ourselves as prisoners of Christ. May we see ourselves chained to our Lord, saying
and doing (and thinking) only what our dear Savior says and does (and thinks!).
No comments:
Post a Comment