Walk As He Walked

Walk as He Walked

Daily Lenten Readings in the Footsteps of Jesus

© 2014

By Rev. Jim Reapsome, Th.M.

Introduction

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 Jn. 2:6)

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21).

“For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).

Contemporary applications of these biblical texts range from WWJD (What would Jesus do?) bracelets and car sticker bumpers to full-page newspaper ads asking what kind of car would Jesus drive.

Earlier generations took a far more serious tack. Consider for example, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, first translated from French into English in 1503. Others followed, including Imago Christi: the Example of Jesus Christby James Stalker (1889),The Imitation of God in Christ by E.J. Tinsley (1960), andThe Example of Jesus by Michael Griffiths (1985).

Apart from these scholarly works, however, the 1896 novel, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, has been credited with changing more lives than any book other than the Bible. According to Guideposts magazine (1996) it is the tenth most read book in the world. It remains in print.

The story is about an unknown tramp who wandered into a Midwestern church. He stood up and challenged the people to live up to their professions of faith, then he fell over dead. The people were so shook up that they pledged to do what Jesus would do for one year. Other churches followed and the idea spread widely.

Meanwhile, for centuries pilgrims have tried to emulate Jesus during Holy Week in Jerusalem by following his footsteps during his trials. Others have tried asceticism and various kinds of self-denial, including beatings and crucifixions. Wearing a bracelet seems much less painful.

However, all of these efforts fall short of the main principles Jesus taught and lived by. What did he actually do and why? Are there ways we can follow his example and walk in his steps without resorting to bizarre behaviors?

This book is an effort to do just that. We will follow Jesus for forty days. There is nothing magical about the number, even though it frequently appears in both Old and New Testament stories. I chose the number because it fits Lent, but obviously the book can be used at any time of the year. I’ve chosen forty (and there could be more) events and teachings in the life of Jesus that call Christians to serious thought and action.

A word about method. To gain maximum benefit from your journey, start by reading the biblical texts first. My thoughts in many cases are simple summaries of the stories. They are not intended to take the place of Scripture itself.

A brief prayer closes each day’s journey. Open your heart in prayer in thoughts that fit your needs and desires.

Portions of these devotions previously appeared in Jim Reapsome, Knowing Jesus, Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2008. Used by permission.

Before You Start Your Journey

An important word of caution is in order before we start our forty-day journey. It’s very simple: Do not try to copy the example of Jesus in order to claim acceptance by God for forgiveness and eternal life in heaven. No one can ever be as good as Jesus was. No one can fully track his performance. No one gains salvation by trying to be like Jesus.

We are starting this journey because we believe Jesus has forgiven us on the basis of faith alone, not by our efforts to be so good that God will accept us. Our walk will be extremely worthwhile only if we have made a commitment to trust Jesus and receive him into our lives as lord and savior. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Paul, Peter, James and John, who gave wise counsel to the early Christians, always based their ethical standards on the fact that their readers were “in Christ." It is useless and quite disappointing to attempt to follow the teachings of Christ without being certain that we are in union with him by faith.

For example, Paul explained that since we are being conformed to Christ’s image we should put on Christ. We are to have the same attitude that Jesus had. “Christ lives in me,” Paul said. We are his workmanship, so we are to grow up in Christ and live as he did. We are rooted and built up in Christ and enjoy his fullness.

That must be the starting point of our journey. Christ in us is not only our hope of glory; he is also the means of our walking as he walked. Start each day with thankfulness for all you are and have in Jesus. He promises to walk with us because he lives in us.

Day One

Jesus learned the ways of the Lord as a child

Luke 2:41-50

Jesus established strong spiritual roots in his childhood. Although the gospel writers give us just one story about Jesus as a boy, that is enough. His parents, Joseph and Mary, both walked in vital faith in the Lord. They obeyed God implicitly under the most demanding circumstances.

Joseph’s task was supremely painful, because he wanted to rid himself of pregnant Mary. However, when the angel told him not to do this, he listened and obeyed. When Mary could not understand how she could be pregnant while still a single woman, God told her how, not in medical but in spiritual terms. God’s Holy Spirit had impregnated her with his Son. Mary willingly submitted to the Lord.

Given these facts, it is safe to assume that Jesus imbibed strong faith as a child and youth. Luke’s brief conclusion tells us all we need to know: Jesus grew up with such unusual wisdom that he confounded the temple teachers. Beyond that, even at age 12, Jesus was known to walk favorably with God and the people—the neighbors and friends of Joseph and Mary and his brothers and sisters.

Because his parents were devout Jews who scrupulously kept the laws of Moses, Jesus learned the basic truths and duties of a God-fearing family. This included not only the regular religious observances, but also the practices of prayer, giving to the poor, and serious study of the holy Scriptures. Later on, his knowledge of the law stumped his critics.

Learning to walk in godly ways from earliest childhood brings untold blessings throughout our lives. Parents are responsible to teach their children the gospel and biblical values and habits. Our opportunities and advantages for building strong faith in childhood far surpass those that Jesus had. He was limited to synagogue school and services. Today through our childhood and youth we have not only church and Christian education programs, but also a host of specialized activities led by people with advanced professional training. Camps and retreats help us to learn how to live the Jesus way.

However, our children face many more distractions than Jesus did as a boy. No one led him into a regimented sports program, for example. Television was not a staple of his diet, nor were pop music, computers, the Internet and entertainment fads of all kinds.

Our children need the same wholesome upbringing as Jesus had. Our children’s spiritual growth and development must rank ahead of other things. Academic excellence is a worthy goal, but attaining God’s wisdom as a child is much more valuable and important. Joseph and Mary taught the child Jesus not just the laws of Moses, but also the intensely practical wisdom of the Proverbs. Living the Jesus way as a child includes both welcoming him as savior and learning the godly lifestyle of Proverbs.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to exemplify the best spiritual values for children. May I be a beacon of truth and righteousness for all children in my spheres of influence.

Day Two

Jesus did manual labor as a youth and young man

Mark 6:1-6

Vocational opportunities were scarce for Jesus. He had no guidance counselors in the synagogue to suggest possible career paths. It was assumed that the eldest son would learn his father’s business, or trade, and that ended the discussion. So, Jesus did what was expected of him and became a carpenter.

Walking the Jesus way as a youth meant obedience, not resistance. It meant following the natural contours of family, culture, and religion. For Jesus, this was a carefully circumscribed route, and yet it was entirely wholesome and pleasing to God.

Historians suggest that because the city of Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, had been destroyed by the Romans and was being rebuilt, that carpenters would have been in great demand, including those living in Nazareth, four miles away. We can well imagine Joseph and Jesus making the daily trudge to work at the site.

Of course, when that project had been completed, father and son would have returned to their regular tasks of operating a home carpentry shop, crafting mostly chairs and tables. We must keep in mind that Jesus continued this practice until he was 30 years old, most of those years by himself because the absence of his name in the stories after Jesus had grown up suggests that Joseph did not live to a ripe old age.

Was it drudgery for Jesus to work like this? I doubt it. He learned contentment in a somewhat menial task. Walking the Jesus way in our formative years means that we learn to accept the role God gives us, working cheerfully and expertly because this is what pleases him.

How often in church history we see this pattern. God sent early Moravian missionaries—carpenters and others—to plant the gospel. He does the same today, using what we learned as youths to open doors for ministry. God took one of the world’s greatest evangelists, D.L. Moody, from a shoe store to pulpits and evangelistic campaign tents around the world.

Visiting a university campus one day to help establish a student witness there, I met one of the resident dorm leaders who asked me about the students I was meeting. When I mentioned the leader’s name, she was shocked. “How could he lead your group?” she demanded. “He does not do his cleaning job here in the dorm very well.”

Walking the Jesus way means doing our best every day, no matter how unexciting the task may be, because that is what he did for many, many years in a tiny Galilean town, far from the world’s limelight. He did not achieve fame or wealth. No structures were named after him. But Jesus pleased God, his family and his community. That’s what counts.

Prayer: O God, forgive me for thinking my vocation is useless in your kingdom. Give me a positive perspective that will help others to see that I serve you in my work.

Day Three

Jesus worshipped faithfully

Luke 2:41-42; 4:15-16, 44; Mark 1:21

Worship was an integral part of Jewish family life in the days of Jesus. It was not optional, “I’ll go to temple if I feel like it.” Every Jew was obligated to observe the Sabbath for the reading of the scrolls. Special feast days called for appropriate ceremonies and sacrifices. All of life centered on the Jewish religious calendar, first given by Moses and then affirmed by the prophets and teachers. Many religious duties had been added over the centuries, so that Jesus found certain laws and traditions bound the people and led to self-righteous pride.

In this context we find Jesus going to the temple as a boy of twelve with his parents, Joseph and Mary. The occasion was the highlight of the Jewish religious calendar, the Feast of Passover, which commemorated God’s deliverance of the Jews from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. Luke emphasizes that the family did this every year.

The gospel writers skip the next 18 years of Jesus’ life, to focus on his final three years of ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection. However, they emphasize the Jesus way of worship by repeatedly telling stories about his synagogue experiences. What is most striking is that Jesus was invited to teach, according to local custom.

Synagogues primarily were community places of worship, prayer, and study. Services were led either by priests or local teachers. Traditionally, they taught the children and often expounded the Old Testament.

Although Jesus saw through contemporary hypocrisy, he never turned his back on worship. He did not leave because some worshipers and their leaders lacked sincerity, or because they failed to grasp the full meaning of the Old Testament prophecies. Instead, he himself worshiped and sought to teach a higher level of morality and the necessity of repentance and faith, because God’s new kingdom was at hand.

Walking the Jesus way calls us to faithful worship and careful observance of our churches’ liturgical year. His house was a house of prayer. He met God there. So must we, week in and week out throughout the year. At worship we understand more fully what it means to follow Jesus. Without faithful worship, our profession of faith is hollow mockery.

Prayer: Thank you, heavenly Father, for the priceless privilege of worship. May my heart be true to you always and free of idols.

Day Four

Jesus studied the Scriptures earnestly

Luke 2:40-52; 4:1-13; 24:13-27

One of our paintings of President Abraham Lincoln shows him perched on a stool in a darkened cabin, reading by the fireplace by candlelight. It’s intended to teach the importance and value of earnest study, regardless of the circumstances. No such picture of Jesus exists, but it’s not hard to imagine him doing the same throughout his childhood and youth and into his early adult years.

Too often we mistakenly assume that all his Bible knowledge was implanted by the Holy Spirit at his birth. After all, Jesus was the Son of God, so he knew everything and therefore he did not have to study the Scriptures. I believe such an assumption is false, because the Bible also tells us that Jesus took on our flesh and blood, experienced everything we do, and deigned to call us his brothers.

I’m much happier with a Jesus who studied than with one who did not have to. He did not march around the house, flaunting his superior knowledge among his sisters and brothers. He sat with them day by day, patiently learning the Old Testament’s teachings and prophecies.

He studied earnestly so that by age 12 he confounded his superiors. His knowledge of the Scripture was so thorough that he was called at various times teacher, rabbi, and master. Perhaps his most dramatic display of scriptural knowledge came when he repulsed the temptations of the devil by quoting Bible verses.

However, on other occasions he replied to questions and criticisms alike with appropriate Scriptures. He challenged and rebuked the Sadducees for their lack of scriptural knowledge and understanding. After his resurrection, he chided the walkers on the Emmaus road for not knowing the prophets.

Jesus packed his teaching with the Old Testament, surely the fruit of years of study. When Luke noted that Jesus grew in wisdom we can be sure that had foremost in mind the wisdom that comes from diligent study.

Walking the Jesus way will be filled with profitable, soul-satisfying adventures when we soak our minds, hearts, and wills with Scripture. There are no shortcuts here. We have to go deeper than, for example, lifting a quick fix off the Internet. The daily discipline of Bible reading, study, and meditation is the only way to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Since he needed to do that, we certainly need it much more.

Prayer: God, you know I need discipline to study your word. I confess giving other things priority. Give me strong desires to meet you every day.

Day Five

Jesus prayed regularly

Matthew 6:5-9; 14:23; 26:36-44

Anticipating an earthly kingdom, the disciples of Jesus wanted action. Knowing that his kingdom was not of this world, Jesus resorted to prayer. Finally, one day they asked him to teach them to pray.

Of course, Jesus grew up in a religious culture of prayer. Some of it was hypocritical, but a godly remnant of Jews prayed with faith in their hearts. They pleaded with God for Messiah to come. Jesus knew the heart’s cry of these people.

The entire Jewish tradition of prayer covered every detail of life. The Old Testament stories frequently converge on prayers in a multitude of circumstances. Many of the Psalms are prayers, reflecting a deep piety among the Jews. Prayers were said not just on feast days as prescribed by Moses for the sacrifices. By the time of Jesus, however, prayer seems to have become part of the legalistic framework by which one sought to earn God’s favor and blessing.

Jesus radically transformed both the spirit and content of prayer. Most dramatically, he addressed God as Father. “Our father in heaven” burst open the doors of obligatory, rote prayers. Prayer became the heart of a personal relationship with God, whose name the Jews would not say.