When I coached basketball, I never once said to my team before a big game, “Listen up, gang! We’re going to play for second place.”
They would have looked at me like I was wearing a pirate costume complete with eye patch while on my shoulder sat a talking parrot wearing a sombrero and munching caramel popcorn. Then, modern technology being what it is, they would have grabbed their cell phones and took selfies with me. Then glorious fame on the internet would follow. Just the world we live in.
But there is logic here. In playing for second, I wouldn’t do any yelling. The players wouldn’t care if they missed a shot or committed a foul. Actually, why even shoot? Everyone on the team would play—and why not? Or not play—and why not? At the buzzer, smiles would abound as we looked at the scoreboard and nodded approvingly, knowing the other team scored more points than we.
Ironically, when Jesus promises an easy yoke and light burdens for His followers, could He be talking about going for second place?
Of course! It’s a different context than a basketball game, but the principle is the same.
Search the Scriptures, and you discover Jesus never went for first place. He didn’t attempt to remove the hated Romans from the country. He didn’t toss Herod from the throne. He never worked towards ascending to the high priest position in the Sanhedrin. Being God, He could have easily done any of those actions with one hand while eating a bagel with the other hand.
He did, however, choose to take second place. Regarding the Father, He said this in John 14:31: “…but so the world may know I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” From John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” Without doubt, He chose to be second to the Father.
He also chose second place in regard to us. When His contemporaries (representing us) humiliated Him, tortured Him, and then crucified Him, He didn’t fight back. If He had chosen to do so, He could have fire-balled them within a few seconds. In a mere moment, He could have everyone kneeling before Him begging for mercy.
Instead, He chose second place and went to the cross. That second place position was a sacrifice. He voluntarily goes to the cross as a sacrifice so His followers could then receive eternal life with God forever. It wasn’t a loser’s position.
Instead, it was a lover’s position: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another.” (John 13:34)
Do we understand what He’s saying? Through His sacrificial love for us, He takes a second position. Then He commands us to be willing to do the same. Through the action of sacrificial love, we also take the second position.
That goes completely against our self-centered will. We desire to always be first. Yet, when we live straining to be first, that’s when we encounter the most disappointment and heartache. To reach first place, we often take on heavy burdens, and the yoke becomes hard to manage.
I once watched a video of a basketball game. It was towards the end. A young man with Down’s Syndrome subbed in. Someone passed him the ball, and he dribbled to the other end and shot. A player on the opposing team rebounded the ball and gave it back to him. He shot again. He missed again. Another player rebounded the ball for him, and he shot again.
Finally, he made the shot. The players from both teams surrounded him, celebrating with him. Ten players on the floor, and nine took a second position. For those nine players, the burden was light and the yoke was easy. Priceless. Powerful.