Twenty-Third Day of Lent
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem
Matthew 16:21
Matthew 16:21
Every time I read this, I hear the pain
in his voice. He knew that he had to go, but the human side of him dreaded the
task. He must have longed for at least one of them to understand. How explicit
did he have to be? Even in the final moments of his earthly life, they argued
among themselves about who would be the most important when he set up his
kingdom. They hadn’t heard a word he said!
But I guess we shouldn’t be too
critical in our evaluation of them. This was before the crucifixion, before
the resurrection. It would have been harder to understand before the fact.
But we know after these amazing
historical facts! We ought to understand in our post-resurrection position. Yet
we, too, either don’t hear him or ignore him. The Scripture is very clear – his
suffering was excruciating, his beating was brutal, he most surely died, no
grave could hold him. Yet we read over those words casually, and go on to plan
how we think that his kingdom and his church should operate, trying to
establish our own position there!
“From that time on,”
the Scripture tells us. I wonder if that doesn’t even include now, if he is
not still trying to get us to understand that in the councils of the ages it
was established that he should come, live, and die for us. He never lost sight
of what he came to do. He wants us to know that. He hasn’t changed.
Prayer:
Father,
we don’t want to be dense, but we are. Give us understanding of the pain Jesus
felt as he approached Jerusalem
And He Set His Face toward Jerusalem
A Lenten
Devotional Guide
prepared forHomosassa United Methodist Church
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
prepared for
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
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