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Jesus was not alone
On a hill outside Jerusalem known as Golgotha, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. He wasn't the only troublemaker in Jerusalem that spring day. Paul expresses a deep connection with this event. He declares that he was crucified with Christ (Galatians 2,19) and emphasizes that this does not only apply to him. To the Colossians he said: "You died with Christ, and he delivered you from the hands of the powers of this world" (Colossians 2,20 Hope for all). Paul goes on to say that we were buried and raised with Jesus: “You were buried with him (Jesus) in baptism; You also have been raised with him through faith by the power of God, who raised him from the dead" (Colossians 2,12).
What is Paul referring to? All Christians are connected, consciously or unconsciously, to the cross of Christ. Were you there when Jesus was crucified? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Savior, the answer is: Yes, you did by faith. Although we were not alive at the time and could not know it, we were connected to Jesus. This may seem like a contradiction at first. What does it actually mean? We identify with Jesus and recognize him as our representative. His death is the atonement for our sins. The story of Jesus is our story when we identify with, accept and agree with the crucified Lord. Our lives are joined to His life, not only the glory of the resurrection, but also the pain and suffering of His crucifixion. Can we accept this and be with Jesus in his death? Paul writes that if we affirm this, then we have been raised to a new life with Jesus: “Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6,3-4).
New life
Why have we been raised to a new life with Jesus? “If you have been raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3,1).
Jesus lived a life of righteousness and we also share in this life. We are not perfect, of course - not even gradually perfect - but we are called to share in the new, abundant life of Christ: "But I have come to give them life, life more abundantly" (John 10,10).
When we identify with Jesus Christ, our life belongs to him: «For the love of Christ compels us, knowing that one died for all, and so all have died. And he therefore died for all, so that those who live may henceforth not live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2. Corinthians 5,14-15).
Just as Jesus is not alone, we are not alone either. Through faith we identify with Jesus Christ, are buried with him and participate in his resurrection. His life is our life, we live in him and he in us. Paul explained this process with these words: “I am crucified with Christ. I live, but now not I, but Christ lives in me. For what I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2,19-20).
He is with us in our trials and in our successes because our lives belong to him. He shoulders the burden, he gets the recognition and we experience the joy of sharing our lives with him. Take up the cross, Jesus asked his disciples, and follow me. Identify yourself with Jesus. Allow the old life to die and the new life of Jesus to reign in your body. Let it happen through Jesus. Let Jesus live in you, he will give you eternal life!
by Joseph Tkack
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