Focus: Outside The Camp

Text: Heb.13:13

"Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp."

Jesus Christ was crucified outside of the camp, that is, beyond the gate of Jerusalem. That is also the place where the burning of the animals for the sin-offering took place. Outside the camp is, for Jesus Christ, the place of intense agony, total ignominy, public and utter shame and utmost sacrifice. 

Matthew says, "And they that PASSED BY REVILED him, WAGGING their heads…" (Mt.27:39). He was reviled by passers by. Luke declares, "And THE PEOPLE stood BEHOLDING. And THE RULERS also with them DERIDED him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God" (Lk.23:35). 

He became a public spectacle for the people - a movie to watch and a figure to make fun of. The rulers derided Him. Matthew puts it this way, "Likewise also THE CHIEF PRIESTS MOCKING him, with THE SCRIBES and ELDERS…" (Mt.27:41). The rulers included the Chief priests, the scribes and the elders. They mocked Jesus Christ. 

And then we have the participation of the soldiers. Luke says, "And THE SOLDIERS also MOCKED him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar" (Lk.23:36). From Matthew's reporting, the soldiers did not only mock Christ, but they also stripped Him naked, pressed into His head a crown of thorns, spat on Him, smote Him on the head, parted His garments, reviled and watched Him die. 

Then we come to the thieves as reported by Luke: "And one of THE MALEFACTORS which were hanged RAILED on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us" (Lk.23:39). The two thieves railed curses on Him. Finally, Pilate wrote his offense in the three main languages of the ancient world - Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Luke says, "And a superscription also was written over him in letters of GREEK, and LATIN, and HEBREW, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Lk.23:38). His shame, suffering and humiliation was globally witnessed. The news of His shameful death was communicated in all the major languages of the world. He was in the news all over the world. No secrecy regarding the death of Jesus Christ. 

This is what it means to go to Him outside the camp. It involves being identified with Christ in His shame and suffering.

The writer of Hebrews is urging followers of Christ to go forth to Him outside the camp. Faith doesn't function in a vacuum. We must express it in real life situations. We must go public with our faith. The place where we express our faith most is outside the sanctuary. George Macleod wrote, "I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the market place as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on a town garbage heap; at a cross road of politics so cosmopolitan that they had to write His title in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek… And at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died, and that is what He died about. And that is where Christ's men ought to be, and what church people ought to be about." 

That is what I am talking about. Christ is where His cross is, and He waits for us there. It is recorded of Moses, "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward" (Heb.11:26). What about Paul who said, "For I AM NOT ASHAMED of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation..." (Rom.1:16). The cross was a thing of shame, suffering and sacrifice, and Jesus Christ says, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels" (Mk.8:38). 

Bear in mind that with the cross comes the crown. There is no other way.

We read concerning the Tabernacle of Moses, "And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp" (Ex.33:7). And again, we read, "And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount" (Ex.19:17). 

God-seekers cover a great distance in meeting with God. I am talking about the distance between the flesh and the spirit. Our worship is spiritual, not fleshly. We must pay the price of intimacy and affinity. Those looking forward to wearing a crown of glory must first begin by bearing the cross of Christ. Our faith is seeking for expression and demonstration outside the camp - the four walls of the church. Let us go forth; Christ is out there waiting for us.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter