For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:26)
Jesus gave a radical call to anyone who wanted to follow Him, to be His disciple. Jesus called people to find life in Him by losing it (Luke 9:24). He warned of the foolishness of gaining the whole world but losing one’s own soul (Luke 9:25). This willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of Jesus is the path to fruitful, abundant life in Him.
Then, Jesus said something remarkable: whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory. It isn’t easy to surrender everything and follow Jesus. It means that we must associate with someone who was despised and executed on a cruel cross – but if we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us.
A piece of graffiti scratched on a wall in ancient Rome (perhaps about AD 200) pictures a man worshipping a crucified man, and the man on the cross has the head of a donkey. The inscription next to the picture reads, “Alexamenos worships his god,” intending to mock a Christian.
The ancient Christian Alexamenos was mocked, and had to decide: will I be ashamed of Jesus, or not? In our own ways, we face the same decision.
It’s no wonder that some were ashamed of Jesus during the days of His earthly ministry; but it is astounding that any would be ashamed of Him today. Today, we see Jesus revealed in the full glory of His sacrificial love. We see Jesus, revealed in the full power of His resurrected glory. We see Jesus, ascended to heaven and honored. We see Jesus, loving and praying for His people from heaven.
Who could be ashamed of that?
Yet, some are ashamed. The ashamed man believes; you can’t be ashamed of something you don’t believe in. He believes but doesn’t take satisfaction and confidence in his belief. Ashamed means that you don’t want to be seen together in public, and some are afraid to publicly identify with Jesus. Ashamed means you don’t want to talk about Jesus. Ashamedmeans that you avoid association with Jesus when possible.
Some are ashamed out of fear, some out of social pressure, some out of intellectual or cultural pride. Objectively considered, such shame is a strange phenomenon.
This is a radical call to personal allegiance to Jesus. Christ wanted to know if we would be ashamed of Him or of Hiswords. If Jesus were not God, this was an invitation to idolatry, but because He is God, this is a call to worship.
Dear friend, are you an ashamed follower of Jesus Christ? If so, then humbly repent of this unjustified shame of your wonderful Savior. With His help, by His power, live boldly for Jesus Christ.
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