The Ministry of Jesus and Chaplaincy: A Comparative Analysis from the Gospel of Matthew

The analysis parallels Jesus’ incarnation, His life, and chaplaincy’s ministry. It draws these parallels from the Gospel according to Matthew, looking into the life of Jesus Christ and drawing similarities between what the bible talks about and how chaplains can emulate. Through the life of Jesus, the discussion draws on the values, conduct, teachings, promises, warnings, and how well he lived about what is expected of chaplains.

The work of incarnation implies that God became man through Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. He came to the world to live a perfect life that Christians could not live and died for the sins of the lost. This calls for Christians to embody a life of both word and deed, just as Jesus did. Although chaplains cannot become perfect as God is, they are called to emulate Christ through everything they do and every mission they serve. Since God wanted to reunite the lost people with Himself, he came to the world through Jesus’ vessel.[1] In the same way, chaplains have a mission to serve and help create a relationship between God and humanity. This is challenging since most missions are in places where the Good News is misunderstood or hated.

When looking at the virgin birth of Jesus, Christians see the angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph in a dream and saying, “Do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived.” (Matthew 1: 20). This implies that before God could start His ministry to the world, the Holy Spirit needed to help Mary conceive Jesus Christ. In the same way, before a chaplain can create his/her ministry globally, they need first to encounter the Holy Spirit and become transformed for them to be ready. The second instance is in Matthew 3: 16, during the baptism of Jesus, when the Spirit of the Lord came down in the form of a dove, and the voice of God was heard saying that Jesus was His son with whom He is pleased. The baptism symbolized the start of Jesus’ ministry in the world. In the same way, chaplains receive the Holy Spirit through baptism, which prepares them for their missions.

Jesus being perfect and blameless does not negate the fact that he was tempted. Jesus secluded himself to pray.[2] After spending forty days and nights in the desert without food, Jesus was hungry, and the devil saw an opportunity to tempt him and make him sin. But Jesus, knowing the devil’s intentions, fought back using the word of God, causing the devil to flee from him. This is the same thing that happens to every believer, including chaplains. The Bible says that Christians are of the carnal mind, and this mind is rebellious; just like Jesus, Christians are tempted in every area of their lives. For the chaplain to successfully resist temptations to sin, they need to understand who God is and his promises for His people. The current world is ruled by power and money, and most people fall into the trap of wanting more money. In Matthew 4 9, he is tested to value riches over serving God. In response, Jesus says, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, `Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!”’ This is the same statement that chaplains and believers need to live by to serve God through their work successfully.

When Jesus began his ministry, he left his city to the town of Capernaum in Galilee. His initial message urged people to depart from their iniquity since the Kingdom of Heaven is near. He went on to call four fishers, promising to teach them how to catch people. This relates to the primary purpose of chaplaincy. It involves first hearing the word of hope, Jesus, and then joining in to help bring more people into fellowship with Christ. The same way the four fishermen left their nets and boats is the same with chaplains. They leave behind their lives, families, friends, and careers and choose to follow Christ to help bring the Kingdom to more people. They are uncertain what will happen or how their lives will turn out, but they believe in the one who calls them Jesus.

During Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew, one story sticks out to me and many Christians. This is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. I want to focus on verse 13 immediately after the beatitudes. Jesus talks about believers being the salt of the earth, saying, “You are the salt of the whole human race. But if the salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again.” Jesus implies that believers are given a contagious gift and that when they lose this gift or do not put it to work, they may fail to fulfill their value. Verses 14 and 15 continue, “You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead, it is put on a lampstand, giving light to everyone in the house.” This is the birthplace of chaplaincy. With these insights, Christians are believers who should take the mantle of God-given gift in Christ Jesus and live it in the world, impacting lives around them.[3] When looking closely at this, someone can see that Christians are not told to preach the word but to live it out. Just as the lamp is placed on a lampstand to shine on everyone in the house, chaplains are placed into different situations to shine Jesus Christ to those around them.

Through the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, Christians see him talk a lot about taking care of inside purity rather than the outside. This teaching is clear as Jesus claimed he came to make the law of Moses come true. He gave examples of the Pharisees who wanted to appear holy in front of other people by following the Law of Moses but remained empty on the inside.[4] He brings up the concept of thoughts towards other people is what makes Christians pure or sinners. Christians do not have to do something to be seen as sin physically, but even having the thoughts would constitute sinning.

Chaplains must take care of their inward purity rather than their outward show. They must be of good intentions, not be quick to anger, not to lust, not to swear when making promises, not to pay evil with evil, and to give love to everyone, even those who oppose.[5] These teachings are mandatory to any chaplain as most encounter people who know little about Jesus. Having these tips internalized, they can maneuver these situations without making a fool out of themselves or the Good News, and this, in turn, makes them brightly shine the light given to them.

In summary, the similarities between the ministry of Jesus and chaplains are spread out in how the two contexts carry out their missions, taking God’s word to places that have not yet received it. Chaplains are to go beyond cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles while living the same way Jesus did, serving not for their glory but for that of God, who placed the work in their care. They have to genuinely care for the people they engage within the states they are in, either loneliness, a sense of alienation, or pain. Through lovingly showing interest in people around them and listening to them without judgment, chaplains hope to be permitted to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Because they do what pleases God, just as Jesus mentioned in the beatitudes, “Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires” (Matthew 5:6), they will be fully satisfied by God.

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Bibliography

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Bohlman, Brian Laurence. "For God and country: Considering the call to military chaplaincy."

(2008).

Mathis, David.?Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines. Crossway,

2016.

King James Version.?Holy Bible. 1991.

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