Matthew 27 - I Am Willing to Fight For Someone I Don’t Know

Last night in between people commenting on the new Star Wars trailer, political matters, Dancing with the Stars, and other trends on Twitter, there was one trend that caught my heart. People simply posting, “I Am Willing to Fight for Someone I Don’t Know.” I followed the line of others reposting this and it just kept going and going. I am not sure where it started or how but I have to say that I love the message because it is the way of Jesus. In Matthew 27, we read of the final steps of Jesus toward the cross, figuratively and literally and it ends with his body being placed in a tomb and a guard posted to be sure that his body isn’t stolen. Jesus underwent the thorns, the beatings, the dragging of the cross, the crucifixion...not for himself but for others. He faced the barbs and the pain so that others could reach the beauty and hope on the other side. And we are not only thankful but we are called to be willing to do the same.

Right now, there’s so much that we take in both within and beyond the church that is about me and my, about what is in it for me, about my “personal Lord and Savior” and in such an emphasis it is easy to lose sight that Christians are called to be people for others not for themselves. I was talking with a friend a few days ago about healthcare and he wondered aloud why more people weren’t willing to sacrifice some themselves so that others could receive care. And you can keep extending this question out to so many others and to so many other situations. To be willing to fight for those we don’t know doesn’t mean that we ourselves are unimportant or our needs should be ignored but that our hearts need to be tuned to be focused outwards to a list of people and groups that is long and growing longer it seems. Being willing to fight for someone we don’t know is following the way of Jesus.