Following Jesus, the Servant King

Jonathan Lunde, Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2010).

In Following Jesus, the Servant King, Jonathan Lunde references an interesting study by Christian Smith and Melinda Denton, in which they describe the dominant view of Christianity among today’s youth as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (p. 277). Quite the mouthful! Simply put, adherents of this view believe that God exists to serve them, and that he demands very little in return. That is to say, God does not require them to do anything that might compromise what they see as his chief concern—namely, their personal peace, happiness, and well-being.

Unsurprisingly, MTD has resulted in a lukewarm brand of Christianity. According to Smith and Denton, “This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divine, of steadfastly saying one’s prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God’s love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, etc. Rather, what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S. teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace” (p. 283).

It is this narcissistic view of Christianity that leads Lunde to address the age-old question of what it means to follow Jesus. He explains, “As the King, Jesus summons his followers to a life of single-hearted commitment and loyalty to himself. As the Servant, Jesus provides the righteous fulfillment of the law’s demands and its final sacrifice. The demand of the King is therefore juxtaposed with the grace of the Servant. Rightly resolving the tension created by these two roles of Jesus gets at the heart of discipleship—the heart of what it means to follow him” (p. 28).

Lunde proceeds to resolve this “tension” by asking three questions.

First, why should I be concerned to obey all of Jesus’ commands if I have been saved by grace? Lunde answers this question in chapters 2 to 5. From his study of the various covenants in Scripture, he establishes two foundational truths: (1) God always deals with his people on the basis of grace; and (2) God’s righteous demands never diminish in the wake of grace. Lunde summarizes, “What we discover is that grace has always grounded God’s relationship with his people, but that same grace persistently brings the demand of righteousness” (p. 35). The same holds true in the New Covenant. Through faith in Jesus, we receive the righteousness that God demands; however, that grace does not nullify his command to obey.

Second, what is it that Jesus demands of his disciples? Lunde answers this question in chapters 6 to 10. He employs three analogies to describe Jesus’ relationship to the Old Testament law. (1) Jesus functions as a “filter,” fulfilling certain things in the law; e.g., its commands concerning food, sacrifice, and circumcision. (2) Jesus functions as a “lens,” clarifying certain things in the law; e.g., its commands concerning love, truth, and mercy. (3) Jesus functions as a “prism,” elevating certain things in the law; e.g., its commands concerning murder, adultery, and justice. From his analysis, Lunde concludes that Jesus (1) “echoes and strengthens the call to righteousness found in the Law and the Prophets,” and (2) “summons people to follow him as the King whose reign is extending across the earth” (p. 183).

Third, how can the disciple obey Jesus’ high demand, while experiencing his yoke as light and easy? Lunde answers this question in chapters 11 to 17. He makes it clear that the Old Testament prophets had a “two-age” perspective of history: the present age of sin and suffering; and the future age of joy and peace (p. 188). They expected a dramatic shift from the first to the second. They did not anticipate what Lunde describes as the “inaugurated” kingdom—an era in which the two ages overlap. At his coming, Jesus only inaugurated the kingdom. This means that some aspects of the New Covenant are only inaugurated. We are, therefore, “caught in the tension between two salvation-historical realities—between the ongoing frailty characteristic of the old era and the Spirit-enabled, absolute demand of righteousness pertaining to the new era” (p. 193). Because of this “tension,” we must return repeatedly to Jesus for “renewing and transforming” grace (p. 206). When we do, we discover that his yoke is light and easy. Lunde elaborates, “Learning to remember Jesus’ consummate representative work on our behalf and pausing long enough so that the Spirit brings this gracious truth alive in our hearts again will enable us to live in Jesus’ completed righteousness instead of our own frail attempts. This in turn will enliven our own efforts to respond to Jesus’ provision with lives of repentance and righteousness” (p. 273).

Lunde’s central thesis emerges from his answers to the above three questions; namely, we cannot understand what it means to follow Jesus without first understanding what it means to be “in covenant” with God. “Covenantal discipleship,” he declares, “is learning to receive and respond to God’s grace and demand, which are mediated through Jesus, the Servant King, so as to reflect God’s character in relation to him, to others, and to the world…” (p. 276). This paradigm is timely. It speaks to those who need to awaken from a half-hearted discipleship that essentially ignores Jesus’ commands. It also speaks to those who are bound by a deadening legalism in relation to Jesus’ commands. Finally, it speaks to those who are frustrated by their inconsistency in remaining faithful to Jesus’ commands.

In conclusion, I greatly appreciated Following Jesus, the Servant King—a scholarly study of Christian discipleship in the context of biblical theology, an insightful analysis of the relationship between God’s covenantal grace and demand, and a valuable guide for all who desire to follow Jesus.