The Disciple Bears What the Master Bore

Our Lord declared, "The disciple is not above his Master" (Matthew 10:24). This principle cuts to the heart of Christian discipleship: we cannot expect exemption from sufferings our Master endured.

Jeremy Taylor, writing in 1660s England to console those persecuted for conscience's sake, reminded his afflicted flock that King Charles the First—their sovereign—had been imprisoned and executed, yet bore his calamities with exemplary fortitude. If earthly kings displayed such patience in torment, how much more should believers draw strength from Christ's example?

Taylor illustrated further with the Aztec emperor Montezuma II, whom Spanish conquistadors tortured to extract hidden treasures. Despite cruel suffering, Montezuma maintained stoic heroism. When one of his own followers, also tortured, began to falter in despair, the chief rebuked him sharply: "And I too—am I enjoying the luxury of the bath?" That is, am I exempt from this agony?

The power of a suffering sovereign's example pierces the heart of his subjects. Yet consider the infinitely greater weight when that sovereign is the King of kings, Yahweh made flesh, who drank the cup of suffering to its dregs. If an earthly monarch's patient endurance can steel the resolve of his followers, how much more shall the steadfast example of Christ's passion embolden every disciple who takes up the cross?