Jesus: Pioneer

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"It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings." (Hebrews 2:10)

What does it mean for Jesus to be the pioneer of our salvation?

We who know American history have a great example of what pioneers are.

The pioneers who went West, or even the Clovis People who were America's first pioneers 13,000 years ago, what did they do?

They, many of of them immigrants, blazed a trail that others soon would follow. They went out ahead of their loved-ones who stayed put or couldn’t go, paving a path for them to later follow and creating a new life for them to later join.

This work of a pioneer was not at all easy. Suffering was often an avoidable reality.

The is what Jesus did as pioneer. Christ descended from heaven, a stranger, a kind of immigrant here. He then traversed a path no one else could. He went ahead of us, paving a path for us, a path we are able to follow. He created a new life for us to be a part of.

And Jesus suffered in the work of pioneering our salvation.

Those American pioneers ended somewhere in the West. For some, their difficult journey ended in the Mississippi Valley where they settled and made a life. For others it was the Great Plains. For the truly adventurous and tough-minded, it was as far west as the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, or Washington.

For Jesus, the pioneer of salvation, how far did he go?

At first, it seemed he went as far as Death’s Valley, and it all ended there. But the pioneer of our salvation didn’t stay there. At Death’s Valley, he first went deeper. He went underground to the underworld, to Hades, to hell itself.

I Peter 3:18-19 -  For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison...

Of course, Jesus didn’t settle in Hades either.

He ascended from Hades, and went beyond Death’s Valley, to New Life. Jesus settled in New Life. He’s preparing a place for each of us there.

While few knew it, New Life was where he was from all along.

Because of Christ’s work, with all the suffering it took, there’s a paved path homebound for us. A path that moves past Death’s Valley and past Hades, into New Life.

It doesn’t stop there, though.

Not only did Jesus pave our path to New Life, he, the good pastor, joins us to walk it!

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He enables me to settle in the green pastures" of New Life. Yes, he’s pioneered my way there. But he also leads me there. He leads me to the still waters there. He restores my soul there. He leads me along the right path there.

He’s pioneered my and your salvation and comes back to get us to escort us to our new home in New Life!

But it gets even better!

He doesn’t’ just escort us home, he is the very path we tread home. Somehow, mysteriously, mystically, Jesus not only leads us along the path, he is the path!

“I am the way, truth and life… I am the path to New Life.”

Who is included in this Jesus-infused journey home to New Life? 

In the end, all will be included. Not just humanity but all of creation will be restored to God. That’s my faith. Not just those quick to wisely follow will be restored. Even, eventually, those who are too slow or too lost to follow at first.

Remember our parable from last week? Christ goes to the lost one caught in the thickets and he carries them home. Christ harrows the gates of Hell, preaches good news to those imprisoned there, opens Hell’s gates, says follow me, carries those who can’t walk, and will bring all home via the path he is.

 

What about us, though? Jesus is the pioneer of our salvation, yes. But what does this mean for me?

Here’s what it can means for us:

When we proclaim in our hearts that Jesus’ pioneering work has indeed prepared us a home, a belonging in our New Life, naturally we’ll follow him home to New Life.

  • When we begin following him home, walking the path that Christ is, we’re already there, knowing belonging and a homeplace in New Life.
  • When on the path of Christ, a path that is also our home, there will still be human struggle and suffering along the way.
  • When there is struggle and suffering along the way, Christ the pastor will remind us he is with us, guiding us when it is hard to just keep on keeping on.
  • When on the path that is our New Life, Jesus the poet will move our hearts and deepen our minds with beauty and wisdom.
  • When on the path that is our New Life, Jesus the prophet will point to God and say, Love him with your whole self, and then point to others, and say, love them the same way, staring with those in need 

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