The Spotlight on My Savior

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Titus 3:4-5)

I was in trouble. Big trouble. Worse than that, I had no idea just how jacked up and desperate I was. I didn’t have a clue. Despite all of that, God still came to my rescue at just the right moment. My Rescuer stepped just in the nick of time. He did it because He drips with the ultimate goodness. He did it because no one loves people like He does. Jesus took center stage in the title role of Savior. That’s the point that Paul is getting across in his instructions to Titus. When it comes to following Jesus, always shine the spotlight on our Savior.

The apostle has given the Big T quite a to-do list. He’s left Titus behind on Crete with a lot to get done. The message of Jesus has hit the Mediterranean island like a Cat 5 hurricane. There are baby Christians all over the joint. Something needs to be done and done fast. That’s where Titus comes in. First of all, he’s to find spiritual leaders called elders for all of the local churches (Titus 1:5). Second, he’s to stuff a sock in the team of false teachers that’s stirring up trouble among these new believers (Titus 1:10-11). Third, the apostle’s man is to establish a self-sustaining system of teaching Cretan Christians what it means to follow Jesus (Titus 2:1-10). In the face of this massive assignment, Paul reminds Titus to never, ever forget that Jesus is the One who made it all possible. He’s the One who deserves the applause. Shine the spotlight on our Savior. 

Let’s set the stage of our situation before our Hero made His spectacular entrance. In other words, before I can ever wrap my head around the goodness of the Good News, I have to understand how bad the bad news is. The previous verse reminds me who I was BC (Titus 3:2). Before Christ. Fool. Rebel. Dupe. Slave. Bully. Hater. I had done absolutely nothing to deserve being saved. I bring nothing to the table. I have nothing to offer. As William Temple said, “The only thing of our very own which we contribute to our salvation is the sin which makes it necessary.” To make the situation even more dire, I’m absolutely incapable of getting myself out of this mess. I have as much chance of saving myself as a Slinky does of going UP the stairs. That’s the scene before Jesus takes the stage.

Against this pitch black backdrop of my own stinking pile of sin, “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” (v4) sparkles. Just how good is His “goodness?” Paul uses the Greek word chrestotes, which means benevolence, graciousness, kindness, and mercy. It’s doing what is right in the face of all that is wrong. As Paul tells his buddies over in Rome, God’s very goodness that draws like a tractor beam. “God’s kindness (Gr. chrestotes) is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom 2:4). He doesn’t beat us into submission. He loves us into obedience. Jesus does this despite the fact that “no one does good (Gr. chrestotes), not even one” (Rom 3:12). He’s totally good when we’re totally not. And get this, God’s not doing being good to us. “In the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness (Gr. chrestotes) toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). His goodness isn’t just a one-and-done deal. Here’s the part that blows me away. Our good God is doing something good in you and me. As followers of Jesus we’re to dress ourselves in “compassionate hearts, kindness (Gr. chrestotes), humility, meekness, and patience” (Col 3:12). We’re only able to do that because of the incredible change His Spirit is doing in us. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness (Gr. chrestotes), goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). The Good News just keeps getting better! When the spotlight hits our Savior, His goodness dazzles like a disco ball.

Paul also points out our Savior’s “loving kindness” (v4). This is the word philanthropia. Look familiar? Well, it should. It’s where we get philanthropy. It describes friendliness, kindness, hospitality, benevolence, and a friendly disposition toward people. This is a compound word that literally means “love (phil-) of humanity (-anthropia).” The only other place we see this word in the Bible is in Dr. Luke’s sequel we call Acts. The people living on the island of Malta went out of their way to show tremendous hospitality to Paul and the other survivors of the shipwreck through their “unusual kindness (Gr. chrestotes)” (Acts 28:2). Here in Titus, the apostle wants us to know that God has a special place in His heart for the ones He made in His image (Gen 1:26-27). His creation was perfect but God was so stoked after handcrafting Adam and Eve, He things were now “very good” (Gen 1:31). God is a people Person. And that becomes unmistakable when He steps front and center. 

Let’s take a closer look at the Star of the show: “God our Savior” (v4). This idea of Jesus as our Savior (Gr. soter) may have gotten so familiar to us that it’s lost its oomph. The Lord is our Rescuer. He’s the One who saves our bacon. He’s our Champion. He’s our Hero. Forget the brother from Krypton with the “S” on his chest. The dude we call the the Dark Knight ain’t got nothing the Light of the World. The Avengers look like Cub Scouts up against the resurrected Rabbi from Nazareth. Jesus executed the greatest rescue mission the universe has ever seen. He left heaven’s palace to go dumpster diving on our behalf. God and God alone is our Savior. Paul hammers this nail hard six times in this little letter (Titus 1:3, 4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6). We couldn’t save ourselves. We desperately need a Hero. We urgently need a Rescuer. When Jesus takes the stage, the crowd goes wild!

We’re overwhelmed by God’s amazing goodness and grace the moment the spotlight hits Him. The apostle describes the moment when Jesus first took the stage during His incarnation as when He “appeared” (v4). He drops the Greek verb epithaino, which means to show oneself, become known, or make visible. It literally means “to shine the light upon” someone or something. It wasn’t until Jesus was in the limelight of His earthly ministry that we began to have any idea about just how awesome and gracious He is. Look back up the page and you’ll see that Paul uses this very same word and this very same idea. “For the grace of God has appeared (Gr. epithaino), bringing salvation for all people” (Titus 2:11). When the spotlight hit Christ in Palestine, He lived the perfect life that I failed to live. He died the brutal death in my place that I should have died. He rose to glorious new life that I don’t deserve. 

My Savior is the star of the show. He’s the only One who deserves the applause. He’s the only One who worthy of the ovation. Jesus Christ Superstar? Please. That doesn’t even come close to describing His jaw-dropping glory. He’s not some celebrity on the Walk of Fame. He is THE Hero of THE Story. For everything that He is and all that He’s done for me, it’s my absolute honor to shine the spotlight on my Savior!