I was reading about Alexander the Great, who was carrying his triumphant military campaign into a certain city. It was a strongly fortified walled city.
Alexander approached the city and demanded to see the king and set out his terms of surrender. The king laughed at him and said, “Why should I surrender to you? You can’t do us any harm! We can endure any siege.”
Alexander said to the king, “I want you to watch this.” Nearby within sight of the city walls was a sheer cliff. He ordered his men to line up in single file and to march towards the cliff.
The city’s citizens watched with horrified fascination as one by one Alexander the Great’s men marched over the edge of that cliff and plunged to their deaths. After several men had obeyed his orders, he commanded them to halt. He then called his troops back to his side and stood silently facing the city.
The effect on the citizens and the king was stunning. From spell bound silence they moved to absolute terror. They realized they had no walls thick enough and no defense strong enough to protect themselves against that kind of commitment and that kind of fanaticism. Spontaneously they rushed through the gates to surrender themselves to Alexander the Great.
It is amazing to see what some people will do after some human leader captures their minds, their emotions and their hearts. We don’t have to look too far today to see how human leaders have such an effect on their followers.
People give up on democracy and surrender their human freedom since democracy and freedom require a lot of debates and many protests. There are many gray areas in a democracy. An autocrat, a dictator or an Alexander the Great comes forth to take away the human dignity that God has given to each and every human person.
Jesus asks us to surrender ourselves to him so that we can be liberated from our sins, our prejudices of others, and fully use all the gifts and the resources the Father in heaven has blessed us with. Too many people still look up to an Alexander the Great today rather than to Jesus Christ.
Why do you think people today will follow an Alexander the Great?
What would it take for these people to follow Jesus Christ instead?
My new book, THE GATHERING, shows Jesus doing this….
