Flint-Like
Flint-Like
by Stephen Schuette

I’m working at tying some “strands” together. The suffering servant remains focused, is not thrown off by his present predicament. He is centered in trust. The “mind” of Christ, Paul seems to suggest, is not like our mind. Our minds throw us off in countless ways with our thoughts always leading us astray long before we act. But the mind of Christ, as with the servant in Isaiah, is centered on a purpose.

These connect with both the palm or passion narratives. Since the entirety of the Gospel is reflected in each story you can’t help but see that the Jesus in the procession is a figure who is looking well beyond the moment, centered in a calling that is not about his own glorification. The palm procession is a vignette out of a larger story that is moving forward. He is the regal figure who empties himself – the royal with a different mind.

And in the passion verses there are distractions everywhere. Two possible “side-trips” away from the main plot is suggested by a focus on either money (the jar of ointment) or power (the sword in the Garden). No question, they are huge distractions. But Jesus stays centered, focused, flint-like.

To be so centered, to have such a “mind,” to fulfill our calling, isn’t this what it means to follow Jesus?

(from www.goodpreacher.com/blog/)