Something really interesting about discipleship from its inception. Jesus doesn’t allow his followers to think of themselves as revolutionaries. Practically speaking, they are stuck with the consequences of Israel’s failures. This is the context of their life and ministry. They can’t wriggle free. Hence: “Take up your cross and follow me.” The disciples are saddled with Israel's legacy and fall under judgment.

The good news is that they fall under it with Jesus… And this means that judgment isn't the end of the story. Even as Jesus' followers join him in his death, they rise with him to new life. Still, the new life they experience, given from above (as John puts it), takes place within the space of the old rather than on an empty site (cf. Descartes).

This is true for disciples of every age. Those who would follow Jesus are granted new life but within the space of the old that suffers and dies under judgment. And this is an ongoing pattern rather than one-time event. As Paul puts it in one of his letters, "I die daily …"

I'm speaking to my own tribe now: Friends, let's be careful that we don't get caught dreaming of lost power and privilege. Not only are we stuck with the consequences of Israel's failures, grafted in as we are, we are stuck with the failures of the church down through the centuries as well.   

There is no escape plan, no empty site on which to build, no means of transcendence. This can be hard to accept… Many of us long for a clean break—to get it right for once. But we are people under judgment with Jesus. This is who we are. This is the ground we stand on. And it's from here that we share in his mission—humbly, generously, serving in love among friends, strangers, and enemies alike.

We too will have scars to show in the resurrection…