7 The Pioneer
7
The Pioneer
Our English word “pioneer” comes from an old French word that means “a foot soldier.” The pioneer was the man who went in advance of the main troops and with his buddies opened the way for them to follow, something like our modern infantry. The American poet Walt Whitman wrote:
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We who live in modern cities are prone to forget that centuries ago people risked their lives to open the way for others to follow. We are latecomers.
The Word of God tells us that Jesus Christ came to be a pioneer. You may say, “I read my Bible carefully, but I’ve never noticed that Jesus is called a pioneer.” In the Authorized Version, the Greek word archegos is twice translated “prince” (Acts 3:15 and 5:31), once translated “captain” (Heb. 2:10), and “author” (Heb. 12:2). But the meaning is the same: one who takes the lead, who goes before so that others may follow.
The word “pioneer” or “prince” is a Greek word made up of two words which mean “to begin” and “to lead.” The word “pioneer” or “prince” really means “someone who starts something, opens the way, and then leads the way so that others might follow.” Many Greek students think that the best translation of archegos is the word “pioneer.”
There is something fascinating about the pioneer days. Many cities have “pioneer days” when they celebrate their founding. We enjoy books and dramas about the pioneer days because there’s something challenging about the pioneers. A man with his family goes off into new territory and he opens the way for others to follow. He’s a trailblazer. “Him [Christ] God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior. . . .” (Acts 5:31). Jesus the Pioneer!
The four references to this title “Pioneer” open up for us several different aspects of our Lord’s ministry. Remember, every name that Jesus wears is a blessing that he shares. Jesus is the Pioneer and he wants to lead us into challenging new frontiers of spiritual blessing. The tragedy is that too many of us as Christians are making very little progress into new territory. You never stand still in the Christian life; you either move forward or go backward. Like the Jews at Kadesh-Barnea, we must enter new territory for Christ and march forward by faith (Num. 13–14).
Sad to say, some of God’s people don’t want to move into new territory. They want to keep walking on the same treadmill, going nowhere, like Israel wandering around in the wilderness for forty years. I’ve heard Christians say, “I enjoy our little church just the way it is. Why do we have to bring in new people?” Why? Because if the church doesn’t grow, it dies! If we don’t conquer new territory, we have no reason for even existing.
If you want to make progress in your Christian life, then learn what it means to have Jesus Christ as your Pioneer. But what kind of a pioneer is he?
He’s the Pioneer of Life
Listen to the apostle Peter as he speaks about the Lord Jesus to the crowd who witnessed the healing of the lame man: “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses” (Acts 3:13–15). Peter boldly named their crime: they killed the Pioneer of life!
Most people are more concerned about making a living than making a life. They know the price of everything but the value of nothing. They’re merely existing, drifting through life with no goals, no spiritual values, no real life. But the Lord Jesus says to the world, “Look, I’m the Pioneer of life! I want you to walk on the road I opened up that leads to life everlasting. I’ve opened a new and a living way, and I want to share it with you.”
This statement is really a paradox, for how could anybody kill “the Prince of life”? If Jesus is “the Prince of life,” then he’s the author of life and cannot die. As God, Jesus is the eternal Son; but as man, he could suffer and die just like any human. Had he not died, there could be no life for lost sinners. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). When you put those three titles together, it says, “I am the true and the living way. I am the way that you can trust. I am the way that gives you life.” He is the Pioneer of life.
I think the word “life” is perhaps the best description of what it means to be a Christian. “He who has the Son has life” (1 John 5:12). When you trust Christ as your Savior, you receive eternal life as a gift from God; you receive abundant life as you follow the Pioneer of life wherever he leads you.
This is illustrated so beautifully in Acts 3. Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray when they saw a man, lame from birth, begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. Friends carried him there each day, and there he would ask for alms from the people going to the temple services. When the lame man saw Peter and John, he expected to get something from them.
Peter and John could respond in one of two ways. They couldn’t give him any coins because they had no money (v. 6). They could either ignore him, the way most people do when they see beggars, or help him in the power of the Lord. So Peter said to him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (v. 6). Peter reached out, took him by the right hand, lifted him up, and the man was instantly healed.
Up to that point, this man didn’t have much life. He was born a cripple. Spiritually speaking, you and I were born “cripples” because of the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve. We were born beggars; we brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out of this world. This man was a cripple and could not help himself. This crippled beggar could never blaze any pioneer trails. He depended on his friends to carry him where he needed to go.
Then along came two Christians who introduced him to Jesus, and the Lord Jesus Christ became the Pioneer of life to this man. He stood up! He began to leap and walk! He entered into the temple with the disciples “walking, leaping, and praising God” (v. 8). Because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Pioneer of life, he can give life and hope to all who trust in him.
Has Jesus opened the way of life for you? Have you trusted him as your Savior, and are you following him as your Lord? If you are, then you are moving forward on that road of life that he’s marked out for you. Psalm 16:11 promises, “You will show me the path of life. . . .” The Lord Jesus Christ opened the way of life that you and I might follow. He is the Pioneer of life.
One other fact should be brought out: Since Christ is the Pioneer of life, his people don’t have to worry about death. He went before us into the grave and has conquered death and the fear of death. “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54).
I recall reading about a little boy who was very much afraid of death, as many children are. He was even afraid to go to bed at night, lest he die there. (After all, many people do die in bed.) He was invited by a friend to a children’s Bible club and there he heard the story about Jesus. He trusted the Savior and his fear of death disappeared. Excitedly, he said to his mother when he arrived home, “I’m not afraid of death any more! Jesus went into the grave ahead of us and he left a light behind!” Yes, Jesus Christ has “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).
He’s the Pioneer of Salvation
Hebrews 2:10 is our key verse: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain [Pioneer] of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
The Book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish believers to encourage them to go forward in their Christian life. Because of the sufferings they were experiencing, these believers were tempted to live by sight and not by faith. They knew about the beautiful Jewish temple standing prominently in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1) and the daily sacrifices offered there on the altar. They knew about the priests who carried on the temple services, and they were proud to belong to the nation of Israel.
But now they were believers in Jesus Christ, and this meant living by faith and not by sight. Because of their sufferings, they were tempted to go back to the old life, to the things that they could see and feel. Little did these persecuted saints realize that within a few years Jerusalem and everything in it would be leveled. There would be no more priesthood, sacrifices, or Jewish religious services.
But what difference would that make to them? They had a High Priest in heaven, even though they couldn’t see him (Heb. 4:14–16). They even had a city being prepared for them in heaven (Heb. 11:13–16; 13:14). Why go back to the old sacrifices and the old priesthood on earth when they had the “new and living way” in heaven? (Heb. 10:19–25). These Jewish believers were tempted to go back to the visible and reject the invisible.
According to Hebrews 2:10, Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation, was made “perfect through sufferings.” Because of the things he suffered on earth, Jesus was prepared for his high priestly ministry in heaven. The word translated “captain” is the word “pioneer.” Jesus is the Pioneer of salvation, and he wants us to move ahead and not look back (Luke 9:62) or go back (Heb. 6:1–2). Paul had the same thing in mind when he wrote “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” (Phil. 3:13).
The fact that Jesus Christ is the Pioneer of life is a truth that excites me! Many people think salvation is a static experience. They say, “I’ve trusted Jesus Christ. I’ve been born again, and that’s it!” But salvation involves so much more than just the forgiveness of sins and being born into the family of God! Salvation isn’t a parking lot; it’s a launching pad. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Pioneer of our salvation, which means there’s always something new to learn, experience, and share with others.
The people in Jerusalem who went to the temple and took part in the divine ceremonies were limited in their progress. When they came to the temple, they could go only as far as the altar. They couldn’t go into the Holy Place. The Levites and the priests could go into the Holy Place of the temple, but even they could not go into the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies, and he did that once a year on the Day of Atonement.
For those Jewish people, there was always a barrier between themselves and God. For those who are Christians, however, nothing stands in the way except our own unwillingness and unbelief. Hebrews 10:19–20 is an invitation that encourages us to come boldly into the Holy of Holies by the new and living way, which Jesus Christ consecrated for us when he died on the cross.
The question I want to ask is this: Is your salvation experience static and boring, or is it exciting? Are you standing still, going backward, or moving ahead into new territory? Then follow the Pioneer of your salvation! As you follow him, salvation becomes a growing and a glowing experience. As you follow him, he takes you through the veil and into the very Holy of Holies. There you fellowship with the living God!
Follow the Pioneer of your salvation!
He’s the Pioneer of Faith
Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author [Pioneer] and finisher of our faith.” Jesus is not only the Pioneer of life and the Pioneer of salvation, but he is also the Pioneer of faith. This means that our faith must make progress; we can’t stand still. There are degrees of faith: “no faith” (Mark 4:40), “little faith” (Matt. 6:30; 8:26), “great faith” (Matt. 8:10). We need to pray with the apostles, “increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).[1] I wonder what kind of report card I would get if God were to grade me on my faith!
Jesus Christ is the Pioneer of our faith, the “author and finisher of our faith.” As the Pioneer, whatever he starts he finishes. That’s the beautiful thing about following the Lord Jesus. When you trust his Word, you know he will finish what he starts. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).
Many people today are hurting, facing difficult problems, and carrying heavy burdens. They’re wondering why God has permitted certain painful things to happen to them. But here’s the wonderful news: The Pioneer of your faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, wants you to grow and make progress in your Christian life. He wants you to move forward so he can give you new experiences of blessing and enrichment. That’s why he permits trials and suffering. He can use these painful experiences to move us forward in the Christian life.
We need not be afraid of the future because Jesus goes before us. He’s the Pioneer of life and will guide our path. He’s the Pioneer of salvation and gives us new experiences of joy and blessing as we grow. He’s the Pioneer of faith who wants us to grow in our faith, become stronger, and claim new territory in the inheritance he’s assigned to us.
How do we follow the Pioneer of our salvation? Through the Word of God. The Lord has spoken to us through his Word, and it’s important that you and I study the Word, trust the Word, and obey it. Do you read your Bible daily and meditate on what it says? Do you pray daily and claim his promises? Whatever your burden or problem may be, take time to get alone daily with Jesus Christ, the Pioneer of life, the Pioneer of salvation, the Pioneer of faith. If you follow him, you will start to move forward in an exciting new way in your Christian life and testimony.
Peter temporarily slipped back into the old life and denied his Lord three times, but Jesus restored Peter and said to him, “Follow Me” (John 21:19). Peter began to follow the Lord and walked right into the Book of Acts! The Pioneer was guiding him and what a time Peter had as he followed the Lord! Life was exciting and enriching, even if at times it was difficult and painful. There’s always something new when you’re walking with a pioneer, and Jesus helps us to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
It’s very easy for a pioneer to become a settler, but that’s not the way the Lord wants us to live. As our Pioneer goes before us preparing the way, his challenge to us is: “Go on to perfection [maturity]!” (Heb. 6:1). The comfortable Christian very soon becomes a conformable Christian (Ps. 1:1; Rom. 12:2), needing the Lord’s chastening to get moving again.
The night I graduated from seminary, the commencement ceremonies were held in Orchestra Hall in Chicago. The class hymn was “Lead On, O King Eternal.” (I think the school used that hymn for every commencement.) What I didn’t know was that Ernest Warburton Shurtleff wrote those words to be sung at his own graduation from seminary in 1887! As he thought about his years of preparation, Shurtleff realized that it would take more than books and lectures to make him a faithful and victorious Christian soldier. But he knew that the Lord went before him, so he wrote:
Lead on, O King eternal,
We follow not with fears;
For gladness breaks like morning
Where’er your face appears;
Your cross is lifted o’er us,
We journey in its light;
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.
The future is your friend when Jesus is leading you. Follow the Pioneer wherever he goes!