I guess most of us are tempted to do the same thing in life—who
doesn’t want to walk where the sun is shining and it feels good? I would rather walk toward friends than enemies. I prefer walking toward success and try to
avoid failure. I prefer walking away
from discomfort and pain. I will walk 5
miles to get ice cream, but broccoli does not motivate me to get off the
couch. You see what I am saying…where I
am walking-subzero or sunshine-impacts if I walk.
I think that is what makes Jesus’ choice to walk to
Jerusalem so impressive. All of the
Gospels record Jesus saying, “We’re going up to Jerusalem.” Out of context it does not sound all that
extraordinary. But throw it back into context
and it goes from just another sentence to either amazing or down-right scary. At least that is how those who were following Jesus
to Jerusalem felt. Look at Matthew 10:32-34:
“They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with
Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who
followed were afraid. Again he took the
Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and
the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand
him over to the Gentles, who will mock him and spit upon him, flog him and kill
him. Three days later he will rise.”
The disciples were astonished. Who knows that betrayal, mocking, spitting
and death are waiting for you and walks to it?
I mean it is one thing to risk your life for a person or cause, but
Jesus knew for sure he was not going to avoid death in Jerusalem. The Twelve were astonished by his obedience
and love.
The others who followed Jesus were just afraid. It is scary to walk with someone to their death. Isn’t it our natural instinct to help those
we love stay safe? Wouldn’t everything in
you want to be doing whatever you could to get Jesus to walk to any place but
Jerusalem?
But nothing will distract or dissuade Jesus from his Father’s
purpose. “We are going up to Jerusalem,”
he says. It is not up for discussion. There is not a vote to be held. If you are going to follow Jesus, then you
are going to Jerusalem. And you know
what? They did.
In their astonishment and fear, they followed Jesus all the way to
Jerusalem knowing full well that if what Jesus said was true then they were
putting a target on their backs as well.
Often we give the disciples a hard time for falling asleep while Jesus
was praying and for running when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, but we have to
give credit where credit is due. When
Jesus said I am going to Jerusalem where I will be killed, they followed. They were astonished and they were afraid,
but they followed. They may have ran and
hid later, but they followed him all the way to Jerusalem.
As we go through this season of Lent, our time of simple
fasting provokes a series question that every disciple of Jesus must hear at
some point or another: Will you follow
Jesus to Jerusalem? It feels good to
follow Jesus to Jerusalem for worship, but how about for a cross? I don’t know about you, but that makes me want
to pull the covers over my head and just stay in bed. And yet, Jesus insists that if we are going
to follow him then sometimes it will lead us to walk to places for the sake of
the gospel that we’d prefer not to even crawl toward.
Can we take a moment to consider some of the “Jerusalems”
Jesus might as to walk to for him?
Jesus asks us all to walk to the place called repentance. Repentance--a turning away from self and a
turning toward God—is not just the beginning point of faith, but the ongoing
call of Jesus on his followers’ lives.
John Wesley called it a “Believers repentance” in which we remain so
constantly open to the Father that we are always willing to turn in whatever direction
to which he calls us. The walk to
repentance is no cake walk.
Jesus asks us to walk to the place called authenticity. Jesus is not impressed with the way we try to
impress others with our spiritual maturity.
Jesus said that the Pharisees of his day would stand on street corners
praying out loud about how great they were and how much everyone else needed
God. But Jesus said the prayers that impress
him are the ones that come from the one who openly admit before God and others that
they have nothing to bring to the table in and of themselves confessing their
dependence on God. The walk to authenticity takes a courage that is
frightening.
Jesus asks us to walk to the place of interruption. Jesus said that following him will divide
families, arouse enemies, produce persecution and invite trials. And Jesus said when this happens to us, as it
did him, we are to consider ourselves blessed.
How fun does that walk sound?
Jesus asks us to walk to the place of reconciliation. At first that place sounds inviting. But then you read Matthew 18:15-20 and
realize that the steps Jesus commands us to take to reconciliation with one
another, as brothers and sisters in Christ, is anything but natural or easy.
Jesus says, “We are going up to Jerusalem.” Notice he did not say, “I”, but “we.” To follow Jesus means we go where he goes and
that includes the cross. But do not miss
the last sentence of Matthew 10:34, “Three days later he will rise.” The end of the walk is never the cross! When Jesus asks us to walk someplace where
the sun is not shining and it is as cold as ice, you can be assured of this: Jerusalem’s
cross must give way to its empty tomb!
Who is ready to follow Jesus to Jerusalem? Astonishment and fear are welcome as long as
you lace up your walking shoes.
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