Wrestling With Christ
In the days of the Roman Emperor Nero, there lived and served him a band of soldiers known as the “Emperor’s Wrestlers.” Fine, stalwart men they were, picked from the best and the bravest of the land, recruited from the great athletes of the Roman amphitheater. In the great amphitheater they upheld the arms of the emperor against all challengers. Before each contest they stood before the emperor’s throne. Then through the courts of Rome rang the cry: “We, the wrestlers, wrestling for thee, O Emperor, to win for thee the victory and from thee, the victor’s crown.” When the great Roman army was sent to fight in Gaul, no soldiers were braver or more loyal than this band of wrestlers led by their centurion Vespasian. But news reached Nero that many Roman soldiers had accepted the Christian faith. Therefore, this decree was dispatched to the centurion Vespasian; “If there be any among your soldiers who cling to the faith of the Christian, they must die!” The decree was received in the dead of winter. The soldiers were camped on the shore of a frozen inland lake. It was with sinking heart that Vespasian, the centurion, read the emperor’s message. Vespasian called the soldiers together and asked: “Are there any among you who cling to the faith of the Christian? If so, let him step forward!” Forty wrestlers instantly stepped forward two paces, respectfully saluted, and stood at attention. Vespasian paused. He had not expected so many, nor such select ones. “Until sundown I shall await your answer,” said Vespasian. Sundown came. Again the question was asked. Again the forty wrestlers stepped forward. Vespasian pleaded with them long and earnestly without prevailing upon a single man to deny his Lord. Finally he said, “The decree of the emperor must be obeyed, but I am not willing that your comrades should shed your blood. I order you to march out upon the lake of ice, and I shall leave you there to the mercy of the elements.” The forty wrestlers were stripped and then, falling into columns of four, marched toward the center of the lake of ice. As they marched they broke into the chant of the arena: “Forty wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O Christ, to win for Thee the victory and from Thee, the victor’s crown!” Through the night Vespasian stood by his campfire and watched. As he waited through the long night, there came to him fainter and fainter the wrestlers’ song. As morning drew near one figure, overcome by exposure, crept quietly toward the fire; in the extremity of his suffering he had renounced his Lord. Faintly but clearly from the darkness came the song: “Thirty-nine wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O Christ, to win for Thee the victory and from Thee, the victor’s crown!” Vespasian looked at the figure drawing close to the fire. Perhaps he saw eternal light shining there toward the center of the lake. Who can say? But off came his helmet and clothing, and he sprang upon the ice, crying, “Forty wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O Christ, to win for Thee the victory and from Thee, the victor’s crown!”
As we have been praying, fasting, and seeking to join Jesus outside the camp, we must become aware that to meet Jesus outside the camp will eventually take us to the Garden. Luke 22:44 And being in an agony [of mind], He prayed [all the] more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground. Jesus, the greatest wrestler of all time, led the way for all us to follow Him in wrestling with God in prayer. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. And Hebrews 5:7 states: In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].
As Jesus wrestled in prayer He repeatedly went to check on His Disciples – only to find them asleep. In one of the most convicting Scriptures Jesus says to His Disciples, “…are you asleep? Have you not the strength to keep awake and watch [with Me for] one hour? Keep awake and watch and pray [constantly], that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Mark 14:37-38) For most churches times of prayer are the least attended meeting on the church calendar. Yet, churches, and Christians desiring to be “on fire” for Jesus, will only catch fire, as they draw nearer to the Burning Man – Jesus. Cemeteries are filled with those who find themselves in the icy cold grip of death. A.W. Tozer said: The greatest conformists in the world today are those who sleep out in the community cemetery. They do not bother anyone. They just lie there, and it is perfectly all right for them to do so. You can predict what everyone will do in a cemetery from the deceased right down to the people who attend a funeral there. Nobody expects anything out of those buried in the cemetery. But the church is not a cemetery.
As we seek Jesus outside the camp we must be willing to crawl out on the ice in prayer, and wrestle with Jesus past the dictates, and confines of the cemetery of our culture, and in our churches. You, and I, will only catch fire as we meet Jesus in the Garden, and wrestle towards His Victory. It’s time for us to awaken from our spiritual winter, and catch Fire with Jesus’ Passion. You, and I, have been snowed under, and frozen over long enough. The Life of Jesus calls us to shake off the frost, and ice through fiery, passionate, prayer. We must desire to draw near to the Holy Spirit Flame of the Burning Man – Jesus.
Have you prayed so hard that you have begun to sweat drops of blood? The fiery passion of Jesus calls for us to wrestle past the ice, and into a fiery faith that sweats in prayer, and bleeds less in the heat of the battle.
