‘It was simply Jesus’

See Keen Tan lives in Singapore, a little island-state known for her multi-cultural diversity and good hawker fare. She serves with OM and enjoys writing, teaching and sharing stories of God’s generosity and hope.  

I met Gladys Staines about 20 years after the horrific tragedy.

A former Australian missions worker, Gladys had gotten to know her husband, Graham Staines, in 1981, while working with OM. Together, they dedicated their lives to serving the least of the least reached — a leper community in India.  

Unfortunately, in January 1999, Graham and their two young sons, Philip and Timothy, were attacked by a local group of extreme activists and burnt alive in their vehicle.  

After the sentencing of the killers, Gladys unfathomably issued a public statement saying that she had forgiven the perpetrators and harboured no bitterness towards them. She said in a well-broadcast message: “I wanted people to know that Jesus forgives, that God loves them and He wants them to know Him.” 

Rather than leaving, Gladys resolved to stay in India with her daughter, Esther, to continue the work, transforming the leper house she served at into a full hospital, before returning to Australia in 2004. 

In 2004, Christianity Today described Gladys as "the best-known Christian in India after Mother Teresa." In 2005, she was awarded the Padma Shri, a civilian award from the Government of India in recognition of her humanitarian work.  

In 2015, Gladys was conferred the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice. She shared, "I thank God for His help in enabling me to carry out the work in caring for people with leprosy, even after my husband was killed." 

I remembered the day I met Gladys when she visited Singapore. She was tall, simply dressed, a woman of quiet demeanour. We spoke at length, Gladys still living with that painful memory after all those years. I asked her what had compelled her to act as she did during that fateful time in India.

She said meekly, “It was simply Jesus. Jesus would have done the same.” 

Who is this Jesus who has inspired Gladys to be so fully committed to the people she served? 

 “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:28 (NIV) 

In this verse, we learn about Jesus who lived out an amazing faith contradictory to our instincts or cultural norms. 

Jesus chose servanthood over greatness. Jesus was born in a manger, a place of humble birth. He grew up serving others, placing them above His needs. Jesus sat and ate with sinners who needed hope. He ministered to the lowly and needy. He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet in the posture of a true Servant King. 

Jesus chose submission over control. Jesus was not entitled, never abusing His status or His rights as the Son of God. He simply obeyed His Heavenly Father’s will — to die on the cross for our sins and to be raised to life three days later, so that everyone who believed in Him would receive eternal life. It was not blind doormat submission, but a display of strength in meekness. 

Jesus chose sacrificial love over hate. Jesus loved deeply, even His worst enemies. He was betrayed, He was trialled unfairly, He was mocked and flogged and He was crucified, culminating in an unjust, brutal death. Yet He stayed true to His core, to love others beyond all cost, saying in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (NIV) and in John 15:9: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” ( NIV). 

You and I may face our own versions of vicissitudes in our lives. In our relationships with others, we may encounter injustice, humiliation or unspeakable trials of many kinds. Our first response may be fight, flight or freeze. 

Yet in saying He has come not to be served but to serve, Jesus offers a radical way of life — of servanthood, submission and sacrificial love. It is counter-intuitive but servanthood is the path to ‘greatness’, to a life of freedom and fruitfulness. 

With Jesus’ help, we can seek to serve the last, the least and the lost. 

Just like how Gladys Staines did it: "It was simply Jesus. Jesus would have done the same."

Reflection: read Matthew 20:26-28 again and ask yourself: What does this passage tell me about God? What does this passage tell me about myself? If this is God speaking, what will I do about it?