Corp of Discovery

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Hebrews 2:10 (NIV)

A month or so ago I had to make a trip to northwest Iowa for work. I decided to take a little extra time on that gorgeous autumn day to enjoy the road trip. The Missouri River provides Iowa’s western border and along this stretch is a geological formation, Loess Hills, that is only found one other place on Earth, in China. I took my time traveling up the backroads of Loess Hills and along the Missouri River Valley. The featured photo on today’s post is one I took that afternoon.

220 years ago, Lewis & Clark and the Corp of Discovery made their way up the Missouri River along the same stretch. The only member of that legendary crew of pioneers to die on the voyage, Sergeant William Floyd, did so near Sioux City, where my meanderings led that afternoon. The references to Floyd, Lewis, and Clark are everywhere in that part of the state, from highways to backroads to towns, and rivers.

“Pioneer” is layered with meaning for many Americans. My very life here in Iowa is rooted in my pioneer great-grandfather who risked all to leave the Netherlands as a young man and, by himself, create a new life in America. American history itself is steeped in the legendary stories of pioneers like Lewis and Clark who blazed the trail for others.

It was the word “pioneer” that leapt off the page at me in the quiet this morning. It’s not a word that appears anywhere in the Great Story except two uses by the author of Hebrews. The Greek word translated “pioneer” is archēgos which comes from two words, the first meaning “origin” or “first” and the second “to lead.”

Jesus was the first to lead. He was the trailblazer. In yesterday’s chapter, Jesus was described as the celestial Alpha of all creation. In today’s chapter, the author of Hebrews brings the divine trailblazer to the humble dusty human trail of earthly existence. Jesus blazed the “trail of salvation” right here, by being one of us, experiencing this world of woe right along side us, and suffering the same human death that awaits each one of us. The God who spoke galaxies into being also whispers comfort beside our hospital beds and tax forms and broken dreams. He doesn’t rescue from afar; He wades into the flood beside us. He sanctifies our suffering by sharing it.

My meditations this morning led me to dig deeper into the Greek word archēgos because I suspected there was an etymological connection to another English word: archetype. Sure enough, the two words share the same Greek root. The words are related much like the author of Hebrews describes the pioneering Jesus making us all family. The English word archetype is from the Greek archétypon meaning “first form” or “original pattern.” Which makes the author’s choice of archēgos in today’s chapter all the more poetic: Jesus isn’t merely one who leads; He’s the original pattern of all who follow, the archetypal pioneer.

I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to feel small and unseen in the long daily slog of this earthly journey. I’m reminded this morning that I am following in the steps of the original pioneer. The One who “was made a little lower than the angels” has already walked this valley and suffered through it — and in His footprints, glory grows. These footprints will lead me home.