Jesus Scouted

What Did Jesus Do?

...looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...
Hebrews 12.2


Were it not for pioneers, and especially the pioneering scouts who were the first to go beyond the frontiers of 18th and 19th Century North America, the thirteen original states might still be the only states, and, boy, would they be crowded! Fortunately, brave scouts, filled with the pioneering spirit, forded rivers, scaled mountain ranges, traversed vast plains, until the United States stretched “from sea to shining sea.” It is hard to imagine where most of us might be today if not for those Scouts. For Christians, it is safe to say that there wouldn't be any of us, Christians that is, if not for the pioneer of our faith, Jesus, who was the brave and bold scout who went ahead before us to perfect what is now, as hard as it is to imagine, the incredible gift of our faith. But that is exactly what Jesus did.

You see, Jesus was one of us, the first Christian, if you will. Fully human, Jesus was the first to live the faith. Yes, the Lord was Jewish, but He lived, and practiced, and taught, a faith unlike any the Jews had known throughout all their generations. Jesus, the Son, pioneered a whole new way of knowing, loving, worshiping, and glorifying the Father. And, unlike many scouts who left but the roughest of trails behind them, Jesus perfected the path of faith. Like an intrepid pathfinder, a daring scout, Jesus, to borrow an expression, boldly went where no man had gone before. As far as faith goes, I believe it is safe to say that if not for the Lord's pioneering of the faith some of us would be Jews today, while probably most of us would simply be pagan idol worshipers. But, thanks be to God, Jesus blazed a trail of faith that men, women, and children can follow. After all, like a trustworthy Scout, Jesus simply said, “Follow me,” and then showed us the way, going before us every step.

The Lord's pioneering, His Scouting ahead, took Jesus into harm's way. And, this too was the job of the Scout, the pioneer who stepped across the frontier that separated the safe and secure from the wild and unknown. What Jesus encountered was far more terrifying than any confrontation with wild beast or unknown people, for the Lord traveled into the heart of territory where sin and death waited to fall upon and destroy any and all who traveled there. Again thanks be to God, for Jesus, the most blessed pioneer, the bravest of scouts, battled and bested sin and death, and won a way through, finishing and perfecting the path of faith, beyond even death itself, to glory.

Jesus, who by His pioneering of our faith was our Sanctifer, the One who makes righteous, who perfects us, was so like unto us as to literally be our Brother, even to the point of being unashamed to call us His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2.10-12). Like us in every respect (Hebrews 2.17), but without sin (Hebrews 4.15), Jesus alone could make propitiation, payment, for the sins of the ones He called sister and brother, the children God the Father has given Him (Hebrews 2.13). This propitiation required that the pioneer of our faith, Jesus, willingly offer His life for us. Yet by tasting death would Jesus overcome death. By scouting, if you will, into the darkest part of the valley of the shadow, the Son opened the way for us to follow the path of faith, which He pioneered and perfected, all the way to the light of the very glory of the Father.

When they are confronted by the frightening aspects of a frontier, a scout who knows that way can make all the difference for the fearful and the lost. We, who know and follow the path which Jesus pioneered and perfected, are charged by the Lord to be willing scouts who show others the way of faith. That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4