Christ’s Formative Process

We continue our study of how the mother of the sons of Zebedee comes to the Lord, asking Him for a place of honor on the left and on the right of the Lord Jesus Christ when He is seated on His Throne, and how the Lord asks her: Well, are you—and your sons—willing to pay the price for that chosen place?

And we recalled that to attain greatness in the Kingdom of God, we must first go through a process of formation, a process of brokenness and humiliation. We recalled what the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. The apostle Paul calls on them and says: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though equal with God, did not regard equality with God as something to cling to, but humbled Himself, took the form of a servant, emptied Himself, and went up onto the cross to a death unworthy of Him, and humbled Himself before the Father.”

He says: “Therefore God gave Him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” In other words, we see here that the Lord Jesus went through a process; to have a Name that is above every name, He first emptied Himself. He gave up His form as God, although He remained God in essence, and took the form of a helpless baby. He was born and lived humbly, in poverty. He endured many hardships, sufferings, and humiliations, and finally the greatest thing He did was that, taking the form of a servant, He died for us—and not just any death, but death on a cross.

That was the process of formation; that was Christ’s baptism. The Lord Jesus Christ asks the mother of the sons of Zebedee and her sons themselves: Can you be baptized with the same baptism with which I am to be baptized?

Notice this: what was that baptism with which the Lord was going to be baptized, and that baptism through which they would have to pass to be worthy of the greatness to which their mother aspired? Well, the baptism was the crucifixion. In other words, it was as if the Lord had been plunged completely, submerged and penetrated throughout His whole Being, by the suffering of the cross. The Lord says to them: Are you willing to go through that process of formation?

It is interesting that what the Bible tells us is this: for us to be worthy of that power which many of us want, we have to go through that process. That is the legitimate way to attain power in the Kingdom of God.

There are many people in the Kingdom of God who want to attain greatness by using illegitimate methods, but ultimately the only method worth pursuing, the only method consistent with the values of the Kingdom of God, is through a process of formation, a process that equips us to be legitimate and authentic wielders of the authority, the power, and the glory of the Kingdom of God.

And we must ask Him every day: Father, deal with me. Father, form me, break me, work in my life in different ways so that my character may become like the character of Christ, so that You may then truly form me and work on me as You wish, and use me as an instrument of Your Grace.

I hope this is very clear to us today: to attain greatness, we must first plead with the Father to take us through a process of formation. God bless you, and until our next meditation.