Was Jesus a Failure?
We all want to be successful in life, but what really constitutes success? Is it a career?
Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to have a career….it does tell us to have a mission, and that mission is to spread the Good News of God’s plan of salvation for the lost world.
While surfing the internet I came across this in a sermon by Ray Pritchard and I thought it worth sharing with you:
Was Jesus a Failure?
The life of Jesus is the best answer to that question. Consider the facts of His “career”:
He was born in an obscure village in an out-of-the-way province of the Roman Empire.
He never went to college, nor did he have any professional training.
He never had a bank account.
He owned no property except the clothes on his back.
He never held public office.
He never wrote a book.
He never had a wife or children.
His closest friends were blue-collar workers
He felt at home among the outcasts of society.
His ministry consisted of preaching in the countryside, teaching in the synagogues, answering difficult questions, healing the sick, and casting out demons.
His opponents openly accused him of consorting with the devil.
Along the way, he made many powerful enemies by exposing corruption in high places.
Finally, his adversaries captured him, tried him in a kangaroo court, and put him to death.
Was Jesus a failure?
To be perfectly honest, by most modern standards we would consider him a failure. He never made it to the top. If ever a man seemed to waste his life, it was Jesus.
But consider this. After more than two thousand years . . .
His words are remembered and repeated around the world.
His followers number in the billions and can be found in every country on earth.
His personal integrity stands unsullied amidst the attacks of the cynics and the sneers of the ignorant.
His death, which seemed to be a tragedy, has become the means by which we can be reconciled to God.
His whole mission on earth, which seemed to be a failure, has now become history’s greatest success story.
How can this be? He was humiliated to the point of death and seemed to lose his life for no purpose whatsoever. Yet through his death God exalted him to the very highest position in the universe,
“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
Jesus made clear why he did what he did when he said,
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
Out of one seed comes forth a vast harvest; but that seed must die in order to bring forth fruit. As long as the seed “saves” its life, it remains alone. But when it “loses” its life, it brings forth the harvest.
You can't "save" your own life, but you can "lose" it
It’s simple, really.
If you try to “save” your life, in the end you “lose” it. But if you dare to “lose” it for Jesus’ sake, in the end you “save” it.
Jesus himself is the supreme example of this principle.