As he was in his humiliation, so are we in his kingdom on earth. Here there is lowliness like his before a petty and very temporary governor. Here there is little outward display of his power, little to see of his kingdom’s beauty. What then is there? There is the bearing witness to the truth! That’s what he did. That’s what we are called to do in following after him. That truth is all of his Word. Anything apart from it or contrary to it is a lie, is of the devil, is an attempt to snatch glory that is worldly and perishing. Only the truth of his Word brings us into his kingdom and keeps us there. Only bearing witness to that truth serves him, who bore witness to it for us and for our salvation.

How tragic! This young man was concerned about the law of God and devoted himself to it. Still he was under its curse. How tragic! The disciples loved Jesus and spent years with him. Yet they too were in danger of missing the whole point of his coming. The root of the problem for both was the same: failure to love God alone. We fix our hearts on the temporal and perishing at the expense of complete devotion to God and the eternal. Thus we are all doomed and damned by the law. The young man went away sad. The disciples stayed and cried out to Jesus on their despair. The young man did not hear that God does the impossible, and therefore did not come to trust in God’s divine agent for doing that impossible. May our confession be as desperate as that of the disciples; for our condition is the same. May our trust be in him alone who does the impossible.

Even the one who is God Incarnate expected to suffer. He knew the depths of his coming sorrow. But he embraced it. For by it he would enter into his glory, namely, the glory of his office as our Savior. Any suggestion that he should do otherwise could come only from the devil. He who suffered the cross for us also has assured us that we too will suffer the cross in consequence of following him. It is likewise of the devil to expect that is should be otherwise. For to seek or expect escape from our cross ends in a denial of his cross and its saving benefit. Notice that Jesus promises his cross and the cross for the disciples at exactly that moment when their faith in him was most confident and secure. Moments of peace are moments of preparation for the cross, not ends in themselves.