“With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” – Psalms 108:13 NIV
Tune into almost any TV show or movie these days and you are bound to see someone, or a team of people, winning victories by “trampling” their enemies. With few exceptions, the top grossing movies of all time all involve winning with violence at all costs. Even The Lion King, one of those top grossing movies, includes a scene of one of the most famous trampling’s of all time. Guns, fists, canons, even dragons are used to rain death and destruction down on one’s enemies. If I’m being honest, I enjoy watching it as much as anyone else. I’ve seen every Marvel movie, every Star Wars movie, and every Mission:Impossible. And don’t get me started on my love for The Fast Franchise.
With Jesus, however, the beauty is that he came to live with us in order to show us how we can achieve the victory in a way that is totally contrary to our modern cultural norms. The best news first: we don’t have to win anything ourselves. We don’t have to arm ourselves to the teeth, nor is there a need in our daily lives for any long training montages where we strengthen our muscles and hone our endurance for the coming battle. The fact is, He came and won the victory for us, and He did it without having to trample down anyone. That’s what made him so special, he won the victory with love and compassion and by going against the Law. He won the victory by lifting people up and getting them on their feet, not by laying waste to those who were beneath his own feet. He won the victory in a way that no one else had done in the past: by humbling himself so that we could receive the spoils of that victory.
While I love Ethan Hunt, Dom and the rest of the gang, the great real-life change-makers of our time almost always lead as Jesus did. Unity over division, putting others above themselves, challenging the powers that be with non-violence, love and dignity. It is their example that we should follow.
What Lies Before 