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Morning Meditation for the Season of Easter
May 26, 2025
Reading: Luke 9:18-27
Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’ They answered, ‘John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Messiah of God.’
He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, ‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’
Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.’
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a day where the public is encouraged to remember those who have lost their lives in war. For many, this day can be filled with sadness or anger about lives cut short or a sense of patriotism and pride that people gave their lives for something. In Luke’s Gospel, we hear the familiar words that “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” Jesus’s words raise many questions for us about what it means to take up our cross and follow him, and calls us to examine how much we are willing to give up in order to lead a Christian life.
I do not think Christ calls us to suffer. I also do not think that Christ calls us to die. I also think it is important to mention that nowhere in the gospels does Jesus tell his followers to kill those who disagree with him. It is interesting, however, how this language lives in us. Jesus also tells us that “where I am going, you cannot come” which seems to be a direct contradiction to “follow me.” I certainly wish that Christ’s death and suffering took away all of the death and suffering from the world, but we all know that suffering and death are all too real, especially in times of war.
I frequently find inspiration in the words of the founder of the Episcopal School of Nashville, Ketch Secor, who wrote a song entitled "Big Time in the Jungle" about the experiences of young people heading off to serve in the Vietnam War. It includes a line I think about often on Memorial Day: “I got nothin' left in the States for me / I wanna see the world you see / I know that Uncle Sam needs me / To fight for an ideal I know nothing about.”
While there are plenty of servicepeople who enter into combat based on their own convictions and desires, there is also the reality of people who end up on the front lines of conflict without realizing what they are fighting for or why they got there. This is not their fault at all but the fault of a system which often fails to recognize the humanity in each person sent into a dangerous situation.
I like to think that Jesus’s command to the disciples is for a different kind of sacrifice. He gives them agency as to the path they will choose, and shows them that they are not called to the same life he is. He is the Messiah, and they are not. Following him does not mean that they must suffer in the same way that he does, but that does not mean that they will not undergo hardships. Crucially, Christ suffers and weeps with the suffering. His torture on the cross means he knows what it is like to be tortured and killed and imprisoned. Jesus suffers not only with those on the front lines of war, but with those suffering everywhere, and with you. So if you want to follow Jesus, be present with suffering and bear witness to joy whenever you can. We certainly need it, and remember that Christ is with you always.
Prayer
Almighty God our heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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