Seven
Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
JOHN 1:16-17
In the 1980s a certain song soared to the number-two spot of popular songs in Great Britain. In America, the same song made it to the top forties and was recorded at least three times by three different artists. It’s been heard on 11 different television shows, used in six different movies, and is the background music for two video games. The song? “Holding Out for a Hero.”
Jim Steinem and Dean Pritchard wrote the song. Although they’re men, it’s about a woman’s dream or request for the companionship of someone who’s beyond anyone she’s seen, met, or knows. Captured in the lyrics of this song is the deep desire of every woman for a champion.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit we’ve all longed for a hero. We want someone who’s wonderful. He must be divine and not afflicted with the failures of men. We want him to be faithful, loving, heroic, kind, and gentle, and yet courageous and strong!
In our heart of hearts, however, we believe we’re not worthy of such a hero. A hero deserves perfection—and we’re far from perfect.
Yet there’s hope. We have such a hero in Jesus Christ! Isaiah 9:6 describes our hero as “Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Here is the hero we need! Here is the hero we long for! Here is the hero we have!
He is wonderful. He is divine. He takes our breath away. Nothing is like the quality of wonderful. It’s beyond good, it’s beyond what we hoped for, and so our Jesus is wonderful!
He is a counselor. He listens! Who hasn’t longed for a man who will listen? There’s something captivating about someone who will listen to you, who will listen to the same story over and over and never say “You already told me—a billion times!”
He is Mighty God. He has absolute strength and power. He is divine. He is absolutely good!
He is the Everlasting Father. He is eternal. He is constant. There is never a time when He isn’t present and available. He’s always there for us. He has all the attributes of a good father. He is faithful. He provides. He is kind. He is gentle. He is generous. He is giving.
He is the Prince of Peace. He is royalty. He is noble. He brings calm to every situation. He drives away fear and leaves serenity in its wake.
This is the hero we need. This is the hero we have in Jesus. He is our champion!
The Greek word for champion is archegos. It was used in Greek mythology to speak of the flawed hero, Hercules. The same word is used in the New Testament four times in reference to Jesus (Acts 3:15; 5:31; Hebrews 2:10; 12:2), and is translated “prince,” “captain,” and “author.”
Though Jesus was God’s Son and absolutely qualified to lead the battle of grace, He went through the training of grace. Jesus was made “perfect” or complete through suffering. He didn’t receive His rank simply because He was God’s Son. There was no nepotism here. Jesus is the champion because of all He endured. He lived an absolute obedient and righteous life. Through His righteous life of truth, He manifested the grace of God toward us.
In Philippians 2 Paul states that, though Jesus was in the “form of God,” He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men… He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (verses 6-8). It was this act of absolute obedience that qualified Jesus to receive the order of Champion. Paul added, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (verses 9-11). Jesus is both our Champion and Lord!
In this chapter we’ll be looking at Jesus’s school of grace. Through His ministry on earth, He continually exercised grace so that He would fully qualify as the Champion of our salvation. As we peruse Jesus’s different interactions, we’ll observe the constancy of His grace.
Jesus and His Disciples
One of the most notable aspects of Jesus’s grace is seen in whom He chose as the Twelve, His closest disciples. In His grace, He didn’t choose perfect men—far from it. He chose from the ordinary class of men. Mark writes that Jesus chose these men so He could be with them, send them out as His representatives, and empower them to heal and cast out demons (Mark 3:13-15).
Consider these three crucial factors in the choosing of these men:
1. Jesus was going to spend time with them. Now, think of the people you would choose to accompany you every day for three years. I bet that narrows the spectrum quite a bit for you! Three years is a long time to be with the same group of people day after day after day. No doubt you would choose people who would bring the greatest benefit to you.
2. Jesus wanted to send these men out to represent Him. So wouldn’t you think He’d choose men with dynamic personalities, good looks, and nobility?
3. These were the men in whom Jesus would invest His power and authority. They should be men who could handle power, right?
A closer examination of Jesus’s choices reveals these 12 were not the type of men most people would choose to spend time with, have represent them, and invest their power and authority in.
Peter was a working-class fisherman. He had a salty mouth (Matthew 26:74). He rebuked Jesus (Matthew 16:22). He spoke out of turn (John 13:8). He was disrespectful at times (Mark 8:32). He was insensitive at spiritual moments (Luke 9:33). He competed with the other disciples (Matthew 26:33). He even denied that he ever knew Jesus (Matthew 26:69-74).
Andrew was Peter’s brother, coming from the same working class Peter did. Not much is written about him in the Gospels, except that he took Peter, the lad with the two fish and five loaves, and the Greeks to Jesus (John 1:41; 6:8-9; 12:21-22).
Jesus nicknamed brothers James and John “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). These young men were known for their bad temperament. At one point they wanted to call down fire from heaven and destroy a Samaritan village (Luke 9:54-55). In my opinion, they certainly didn’t seem like the safest men in which to invest divine power and authority. These brothers were also ambitious. Much to the dismay of the other disciples, they asked Jesus if they could have the prime positions at His right hand when He came into His kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). They went so far as to conspire with their mother, having her intercede with Jesus on their behalf for prized positions (Matthew 20:20-21).
Then there was Philip. After three years with Jesus, he still didn’t understand the relationship of Jesus to the Father. Obviously, he wasn’t listening or watching! Jesus said to him, “ ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father?”’ ” (John 14:8-9). How frustrating to invest so much time, energy, and power into someone who doesn’t know you even after three years!
Bartholomew is believed to be another name for Nathanael. Remember him? When Philip told Nathanael about Jesus, his response was, “ ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ ” (John 1:46). Jesus identified him as a man “ ‘in whom is no deceit’ ” (verse 47). That’s a nice way to say Nathanael was a man who always said what he was thinking.
Matthew (or Levi) was a tax collector (Luke 5:27). No profession was more hated or despised in Israel. The tax collectors were known for their deceit, treachery, and lying. Matthew’s closest friends were other tax collectors and great sinners (Matthew 9:9-10).
The disciple Thomas has been dubbed “Doubting Thomas” by the church for ages. The reason is obvious: Thomas was slow to catch on. When Jesus announced He was going to “wake” Lazarus, meaning He was going to raise him from the dead, Thomas interjected, “ ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well’ ” (John 11:12). When Jesus talked about His departure at the Last Supper, Thomas said to Him, “ ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?’ ” (John 14:5). Thomas also doubted the reality of Jesus’s bodily resurrection. No matter whose report he’d heard, he still declared, “ ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’ ” (John 20:25).
Thaddaeus (also called Judas, but who was not Judas Iscariot) was another choice Jesus made. This is the disciple who at the Last Supper discourse asked, “ ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?’ ” (John 14:22). Here was a disciple who, after observing Jesus, spending time with Jesus, and listening to Jesus, still didn’t understand Jesus’s plan. How frustrating is that? He was like one of those individuals you read instructions to over and over, and then they look up at you and say, “What am I supposed to do, again?” or “I don’t remember you telling me anything about this.”
Another disciple Jesus chose was Simon. He was called the Zealot (Luke 6:15). Zealots in those days were obsessed patriots. They had one cause—to see Israel rid of her oppressors. Zealots believed in using whatever means necessary to achieve their objective, and they were known for their violent nature.
Not much is known about James, the Son of Alphaeus, except that he was one of the disciples and therefore shared in all their experiences and foibles.
Finally, we come to the notorious Judas Iscariot. From the beginning Jesus knew Judas would betray Him (John 13:11), yet He chose him to be one of the Twelve. He invested His word, time, power, and authority into him. Jesus even entrusted Judas with the money box (John 12:6). That’s incredible grace!
All the men Jesus chose were imperfect. They competed with each other about who was the greatest (Mark 9:34); they criticized a woman’s worship of Jesus (Matthew 26:6-9); and even after all the time they spent with Jesus, they lacked the faith to cast out a demon (Mark 9:17-19). They all forsook Jesus at His arrest in Gethsemane (Mark 14:50). Yet Jesus loved His flawed and decidedly human disciples to the uttermost (John 13:1).
Jesus didn’t choose His disciples based on their social status, education, wealth, expertise, bravery, character, or discipline. He chose them simply so He could be with them, use them as His ambassadors, and invest in them. Jesus chose the disciples based on what He could and would do in them, not on who they were or what they had done.
The Champion of our salvation chooses based on His grace. Paul, in speaking of Jesus’s choices, stated this:
You see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Again in 2 Timothy 1:9, Paul writes about the Lord as the One “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Jesus called the disciples for the purpose of what He could do for them rather than what they could do for Him. Jesus even chose Judas and gave him the same insights, opportunities, and love He gave the other disciples.
Today the Champion of our salvation chooses men and women He wants to dwell with. He chooses these individuals to bless them with His likeness and to invest His power and authority in them. That’s grace!
Jesus and Sinners
The grace of the Champion of our salvation can be seen in His gracious attitude toward sinners. Jesus sought out and forgave sinners. After calling Matthew, the tax collector, to be His disciple, Jesus went to his house, sat down, and ate with known tax collectors and sinners. He proclaimed it wasn’t the healthy who needed a physician, but the sick.
On another occasion Jesus sought out the worst tax collector in Jericho—Zacchaeus. This hated—and short—man wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus despite the crowd around Him, so he climbed up in a sycamore tree. Imagine his surprise when the Messiah walked directly up to the tree he was perched in and called him by name! “ ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house’ ” (Luke 19:5). After spending time in the house of Zacchaeus, Jesus announced, “ ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost’ ” (verses 9-10).
Mary Magdalene, who had once been possessed by seven demons (Luke 8:2), was a close follower of Jesus. She followed Him everywhere He went during His earthly ministry.
Once when Jesus was teaching in the court of the temple, He was interrupted by the Pharisees. They were a group of men who sought to scrupulously keep the law, and they had added commands to the Law of Moses that went beyond the righteousness of the law. They considered themselves superior to other men, and they thought they had merited the good favor of God by their works and self-efforts. They were also quick to condemn others.
On this day, they had in their clutches a woman who’d been caught “in the act of adultery” (John 8:3 NLT). They demanded that Jesus pronounce sentence on her, claiming, “ ‘Now, Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?’ ” (verse 5). Jesus acted as though He didn’t hear these men’s accusations. Silently, He stooped to the ground and began to write in the dirt with His finger. Then He stood up and announced, “ ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ ” Stooping again, He continued to write on the ground. What He wrote isn’t recorded; however, it’s interesting to note that both the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and the words of judgment given to Belshazzar were written with the finger of God (Exodus 31:18; Daniel 5:5). Jesus alone had the right to condemn this woman, yet He chose to forgive her, even convicting and challenging her prosecutors in the process (John 8:1-11).
In the time of Jesus’s ministry, any woman who had a menstrual issue was considered unclean. She wasn’t even allowed to be in public when she was menstruating. Yet a woman who had suffered through 12 years of constant bleeding made her way through a maddening throng of people, reached out her hand, and touched the hem of Jesus’s garment. The moment she made contact she was healed from her malady. Jesus immediately stopped and asked, “ ‘Who touched Me?’ ” (Luke 8:45). The woman knew that, according to the law, she would be condemned for her infraction. Trembling, she fell before Jesus and confessed everything. No doubt she expected a public berating, but that wasn’t what she received. Jesus looked at her and announced, “ ‘Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace’ ” (verse 48).
Look at this display of grace! Jesus doesn’t rebuke this woman. He doesn’t censure her for touching Him in her unclean state. He doesn’t retract her healing. Rather than condemning her, Jesus reestablishes her dignity as a daughter of Abraham, restores her joy, commends her faith, and sends her away in peace.
Throughout the Gospels, the grace of Jesus is on display. The Champion of our salvation forgives the undeserving, heals the helpless, cleanses the unclean, and delivers the captives by His grace. He allows the multitude to press in on Him. He continues to teach, minister, call out to, and provide for those who come with untoward motives and those who come in sincerity. He is gracious to all.
Jesus’s Words of Grace
Oh, what gracious words our Lord spoke. When He went to the synagogue in Nazareth, those in attendance “marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Luke 4:22). In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus read from a portion in Isaiah 61:1-2 commonly identified with the Messiah. He said, “ ‘The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.’ ”
Jesus came with the good news (the gospel). He presented Himself as the One who would enrich the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and bring deliverance to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. He offered His services to the people of Nazareth. Jesus was saying, “I am here, and this is what I will do for you.” It was a gracious offer, and the people marveled; they weren’t used to hearing such a gracious offer. The religious elite in Jerusalem made demands of their time, activity, and money. Rome was constantly oppressing them with new laws and taxes. Jesus wasn’t asking anything of them; rather, He was offering them hope, healing, and health.
Yet though they marveled at His words, they refused to receive Him as their Messiah. They even sought to push Him off the brow of a hill, but Jesus passed through their midst unharmed (Luke 4:16-30).
Jesus offered the multitudes rest and peace: “ ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light’ ” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Jesus offered the people abundant life. “ ‘The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly’ ” (John 10:10).
Though the word of Jesus is powerful enough to calm seas, cast out legions of demons, and harness the powers of creation, He spoke words of grace to men. The Champion of our salvation—as the Son of God, the only truly righteous One—could have demanded allegiance, but instead He gave an invitation of grace.
Jesus and His Enemies
Think about how easily Jesus could have destroyed His enemies—those who hated Him, constantly scrutinized Him, criticized Him, condemned Him, and conspired against Him. Yet Jesus was patient with them. He never hid from them. He never spoke in secret. He reasoned with them and gave them every opportunity to repent. He countered their accusations with truth and wisdom. When they tried to ensnare Him, He challenged them from the Scriptures and warned them against their hardness of heart (Luke 20).
How many champions act as graciously as Jesus did? Those who rejected Jesus hated Him, twisted His words, sought to entrap Him, publicly slandered Him, and viciously attacked Him. Isaiah 26:10 states, “Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness.” It’s one thing to show grace to someone you hope will repent, but it’s nearly impossible to manifest grace to someone who’s hardened against repentance. Yet Jesus showed unwavering grace to even those who would never repent.
Jesus in His Suffering
Jesus’s grace was clearly seen when He refused to unleash His power against His tormentors. John records the power of Jesus’s word in the garden of Gethsemane. When the soldiers and high priests came to arrest Him, He stepped forward and said, “ ‘I am He’ ” (John 18:5). At these words the whole company that came to arrest Him fell to the ground. Jesus waited for these men to regain their footing. He allowed them to bind Him and lead Him to Annas’s house. He endured the false testimony, the false accusations, the spitting, and the blows from their fists. He said nothing until He was adjured by the high priest to speak.
He was led to Pilate, the Roman governor. He remained silent before him while His accusers lied and demanded His crucifixion. Jesus remained calm. He was in absolute control as His opponents foamed at the mouth, screamed, and reviled Him. Pilate was astonished at His serenity. “ ‘Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’ ” he asked (John 19:10). Jesus was unlike any other defendant Pilate had seen. Jesus didn’t argue with His enemies. He didn’t defend Himself. He didn’t beg for His life. He didn’t curse His prosecutors.
Jesus had not lost any of His power or authority. At any point legions of angels would have come to His rescue. The Champion Himself could have called down fire and devoured His enemies. Jesus, simply with His word, could have thrown them to the ground. Yet Jesus restrained His strength.
He allowed Pilate’s soldiers to flog Him. He was silent before Herod. He offered no resistance to the men who arrayed Him in a purple robe and mocked Him. He accepted the heavy wooden cross they laid on His frayed back. He carried it publicly before the masses in Jerusalem.
He was nailed to a cross, and there our Champion fought the foes of grace. Scripture tells us, “He has made [you] alive together with Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:13-15).
The Champion of our salvation bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. The price for our peace was laid upon Him. The Lord laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53). This sacrifice of Jesus made grace available to all men! He died for our sins so we could receive the gift of God’s grace.
In Romans 5 Paul emphasized what Jesus’s suffering accomplished for us:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life… much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9-10,15-17).
The Champion of our salvation was resolute in His suffering. He refused to free Himself so He could bring grace to all those who believe in His name.
Resurrection
Our Champion, having defeated death, returned to His disciples and showed Himself alive by “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3). He met two of them on the road to Emmaus. He walked with them while they were downcast and rehearsing together all the strange events that had transpired in Jerusalem that day. Without identifying Himself, Jesus joined their conversation. Graciously, He took them through the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi and “expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself ” (Luke 24:27). He accompanied them to dinner, and then He vanished from their midst after He took the bread, blessed it, and broke it.
He appeared to His disciples as they gathered in a locked room and discussed the empty tomb. “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, ‘Peace to you.’ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit” (Luke 24:36-37).
You can imagine their consternation. On the one hand they must have been overjoyed by the Lord’s presence. But in the next moment they must have been terrified. Their Champion was greater than they had ever realized. They must have also felt the condemnation of their unbelief, their fear, and their failure.
Look at the grace of Jesus! He has no words of condemnation for His hapless disciples. Rather, He inspires them to faith. He opens their understanding. He blesses them (Luke 24).
He met them again on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, or the Galilee. Peter and the other disciples must have grown restless waiting for Jesus, because Peter announced he was going fishing. The other disciples joined him, but it was another fruitless night on the Galilee. As morning dawned, their nets were empty. From the shadows of the shore a voice called, “ ‘Children, have you any food?’ ” (John 21:5). Their hollow “No” echoed across the rippling waves.
Again, the voice from the shore spoke. “ ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some’ ” (verse 6). The disciples complied in one last attempt to catch breakfast. Suddenly the little boat dangerously listed, and the disciples almost lost their balance. The net was so full of fish that the boat was at a perilous tilt. John looked at Peter and said, “ ‘It is the Lord!’ ” (verse 7). Peter, not one to wait on ceremony, dove into the water and swam to shore.
Jesus was waiting on the beach. He had a fire going and breakfast waiting. The other disciples steered the boat to shore and hauled the nets onto land. Then they came to warm themselves at the fire.
Again, there is no word of condemnation, but only the reinstatement to ministry. Jesus asked Peter three times, “ ‘Do you love Me?’ ” Each time Jesus asked Peter to demonstrate that love by feeding and nurturing His sheep (John 21:15-17).
This is the grace our Champion lived out! Paul writes, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Beware WWJD
If we make Jesus simply our example, we’ve done a disservice to grace. To try to follow the example of Jesus will leave us crushed. He alone is the Champion. We don’t study Jesus as a champion to emulate. No way! He is the Champion to receive into our hearts. His grace must be our power supply.
Years ago my son, who was five, was given one of those WWJD bracelets. You know, the rubber bracelets with the initials that stood for What Would Jesus Do? The bracelet was to remind the person wearing it to weigh every action and reaction against the life and words of Jesus. My son took on an attitude of superiority when he donned that rubber bangle. Soon he was sitting in judgment of his sisters, his brother, his friends, his father, and yes, his mother too! It was not unusual to see him slowly shaking his head at one of us and holding up his arm to reveal the WWJD band. We felt the condemnation for our failure. For a full week we all tried to live outwardly like Jesus. We suppressed our true emotions. We kept our voices lowered when addressing one another. We smiled when we were displeased. We tried to ignore the mounting tension. All the while my little son acted superior to us all.
Mounting frustration finally broke at dinner when my oldest son couldn’t hold it in any longer. He had tried to be perfect and failed miserably. Now he let his emotions go and freely expressed his pent-up anger. That was all it took to set the girls free too. They joined in against the little guy with the bracelet. I had no idea how much everyone had been suppressing.
My youngest son looked appalled at all of us. Before he could raise his arm in the air, though, his siblings began to list all his infractions that week. Now, he thought, the whole family was condemned. He tried to fight back as best a five-year-old could. He wasn’t going down with them. He had the magic bracelet, and they didn’t. But the bracelet wasn’t making him righteous. It had created a hypocritical spirit in my boy. He was quick to see the faults in everyone else, but blind to any of his own.
Finally, his father looked at him and said, “Son, give me the bracelet. It’s not making you like Jesus! Jesus said He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save the world.” Brian went on to explain that trying to follow Jesus’s example was too much for any five-year-old or his family to handle. WWJD was a harder law than even the Ten Commandments, and men couldn’t live up to those commandments of God, so Jesus came and lived them for us. Then He died in our place so all His righteousness could live in us. Jesus lives in us and works through us to become like Him. This is grace working from the inside out, not the law trying to work itself into our hearts.
Perhaps you’ve had one of those bracelets resting invisibly around your wrist. Have you been trying to be like Jesus, rather than to simply let His grace live in you? If so, you’re either under much condemnation or in a state of blind conceit. Either way, there is only one—and will forever only be one—Champion. Jesus is the great Champion. Only as we let the life of Jesus work in us will His grace be released to make us more like Him. Becoming like Jesus doesn’t happen by conscious effort, but rather by constant consideration of the grace of our Champion, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Champion of Grace we desire. He is the Champion of Grace we desperately need. He is the Champion we don’t deserve. He is the Champion of Grace who willingly avails Himself to us, if we will only enlist in His battle for grace!
Are you ready to enlist? Are you ready to make Jesus your Champion? Are you willing to be His disciple? Are you ready to marvel at His gracious words? Are you ready to receive the abundance of grace He’s won for you?
Lord, You are the ultimate champion. You are the One our hearts desperately long for. You are everything we need. You are good. You are kind. You are faithful. You are strong. You are wise. You are invincible. You are gracious. Work in my heart to accept Your grace in choosing me. Open my ears to hear Your gracious words. Open my eyes to behold the grace You exemplified in Your interactions with men, women, multitudes, and even Your enemies. Let the power of Your grace in Your suffering, Your crucifixion, and Your resurrection minister to my heart. Be my Champion forever and ever! In the name of the great Champion of Grace, Jesus, I ask these things. Amen!
For consideration:
1. What do you long for in a hero? How does Jesus embody those deepest desires?
2. What aspect of Jesus’s grace ministers to you from
• the disciples?
* Which disciple do you think you’re the most like?
* How does Jesus’s choosing of that disciple enrich your appreciation of grace?
• sinners?
• His enemies?
•His suffering?
• His resurrection?
3. List any misconceptions you’ve held about Jesus’s grace.
4. What does the word champion convey to you about Jesus?
5. Why is trying to simply live like Jesus dangerous?