The Crush
“In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Tribulation – If we learned anything about the weight of glory, it’s this: followers of Jesus know about the crush. Thlipsis, to crush, squeeze, press, to break. The ones who travel with the Master know what it’s like to feel the crush. Older versions of the Bible translated this word as “trouble”, but that pushes us in the direction of anything that harms us. Now we know that thlipsis is really “tribulation” of a special kind; the kind that comes from taking a stand for Jesus.
There are a lot of bad things in the world. Jesus didn’t have these in mind when he spoke this word to his disciples. He isn’t telling us to watch out for sickness, poverty or natural disasters. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t care about those things. He does. Jesus promised never to leave us in any storm of life, whether it’s weather or not. But in this verse, he has something else in mind. Something inevitable.
Life’s misfortunes are not inevitable. Some people just seem to escape all the misery. We call them lucky. That’s rather odd since luck has nothing to do with life, but most of us are really practicing logical schizophrenics most of the time. All of life’s circumstances fall under the sovereignty of God, not the roll of the dice. Nevertheless, some of us just seem to maneuver around all those calamities. You might wonder if God is protecting them from terrible weakness of soul because they couldn’t stand the pain.
Then there are the ones who sign up for the cause of Jesus. They register for two inevitability clauses. They have read the terms and conditions and pressed the little “I agree” button. The first inevitability clause is this one: if you follow me, you will experience thlipsis. You will be squeezed, crushed and hammered for my sake. The world does not love Jesus volunteers. Don’t expect it to. If your religion is pushing you in the direction of comfort, security and peace with this world, you might want to do a quick review of your motives. Thlipsis is not optional for a true follower.
Because thlipsis is not optional, Jesus adds a second inevitability clause. “I have overcome the world.” Overcome. It’s all about shoes. Tune in tomorrow.
