Surrendering into Victory

Often when we think of surrender – outside of church language, aka Christianese – we might think of a battle scene, right?

SURRENDERRRR or ELSE!!!!

We might envision someone holding up a white flag to signal the end of a devastating struggle.

The definition of surrender, according to Google, is really not that positive either:

• to cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority
• to give up or hand over (a person, right, or possession), typically on compulsion or demand
• (in a sports contest) lose (a point, game, or advantage)
• abandon oneself entirely to (a powerful emotion or influence); to give in to
• (of an insured person) cancel (a life insurance policy) and receive back a proportion of the premiums paid

So… to summarize… whether we’re speaking in Sports language, Legal-ese, or Insurance-ish the translation of surrendering seems to be that you lose. You lose the battle, you have to give over that thing you have, you’ve lost in sports, you’ve given in to something or someone.

You surrender, and they win.

Even after a quick search for the word surrender using the STEP Bible app… I found sixteen uses of the word (in both ESV and NIV) fifteen of which were from the Old Testament. Ranging from Joshua, a bunch from 1 Samuel, 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel and even to one from Isaiah, all of them were centred around this battle-like type of surrender situation.

The only New Testament verse that showed up with the word surrender was from Luke.

“He [Pilate] released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.” (Luke 23:25)

Doesn’t that seem so backwards?! How is the *one* New Testament verse that uses the word surrender, about JESUS being surrendered to the WILL of the people who would later kill him?!

And yet… at the same time, doesn’t it also seem like such a Jesus-y thing to do??

As we switch back to using our Church Language and consider what it means for us to surrender, we cannot do so without reminding ourselves of how backwards and upside-down the Kingdom of God truly is.

It’s one thing to talk about the backwards-ness and upside-down-ness of the Kingdom of God… but when we remind ourselves that this is actually a way of life that is expected of us, it begins to take on a very different weightiness.

There are so many examples in Scripture of Jesus surrendering to his Father… or, perhaps, submitting/obeying would be better ways to describe what was taking place. Rather than God COMMANDING Jesus to do certain things, we observe in their relationship a softness and gentleness. God would direct Jesus to do (or not to do) certain things and Jesus, out of love and obedience, would submit to the plans God had for Him.

In the Garden of Gethsemane (found in Matthew 26:36-46) Jesus cried out to God for another way, for a different set of steps to be given for him to walk. Jesus knew, with clarity, what the Father was instructing him to do and although in the end he chose to submit to the painful way of the cross, Jesus also pleaded with God for something different.

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.
Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (verse 39)

“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” (verse 42)

Before Jesus was standing out in front of Pilate and the crowds of people who cried out for his death, he was kneeling before his Father in prayer.

I would even argue that without that time of prayer and seeking God out, perhaps Jesus’ trial and journey to the cross would’ve looked different. But instead of fighting and resisting, Jesus chose to surrender – to the will of God first and foremost, and then also to those seeking his arrest.

The surrender of Jesus to death was actually the turning point for all of history and that final turn of the Kingdom being flipped clicked into place. Triggering an entirely different reality for each and every one of us.

So as we approach surrender and submission in our own lives, what if we purposefully remembered to offer sacrifices of praise along the way? What if we considered surrender as being a moment of victory, rather than of loss? What if we actually began to believe that this very backwards and upside down Kingdom Life we have been called to live, is good and life-giving, even when it feels so painful?

Lord Jesus,