“Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” – Matthew 20:18-19
The very beginning of a life-changing journey, a difficult journey, one that was no surprise to Jesus or even His disciples. The 14-mile journey from Jericho to Jerusalem was not long but it was the beginning of a walk that would change the world. As they hiked south to Jerusalem I would imagine that Passover was on the minds of the disciples, feasts, and visits with old friends. I wonder what was on Jesus’ mind? Was it the betrayal of a friend, the savage beating of a whip laced with iron, or the cruellest death upon that cross?
Sometimes staring at a future painful event for too long can be more distressing than the event itself. When my little girl, Hannah, told me she wanted to move back to Canada, I was devastated. The time leading up to her leaving caused me huge anxiety. An ocean of tears was cried, this was something I never imagined happening. To live apart from my baby girl was not something I had ever considered. My eyes still well up at the reality today. A trivial example in the light of the journey set before my Saviour.
I am more than sure that this final journey to Jerusalem was at the forefront of our Saviour’s mind, and I’m sure caused him much anguish. He was fully human just as He was fully God.
But look at that last line; “On the third day, He WILL be raised to life” Like the thrust of a spear into the enemy’s heart. Jesus began His journey with God’s promise upon His lips! ‘On the third day, I will be raised to life again! This was not something Jesus had control of, He trusted His Father, He trusted the promise. As Jesus turned to Jerusalem He declared the promise of God over His life!
God’s Word tells us, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33) But take heart, I have overcome the world! We can all agree with ‘in this world, you will have trouble.’ That is a given. But Jesus has overcome the world.
I know that many of you are on a hard journey, your future may seem uncertain, and anxiety over coming events may threaten to overwhelm you. Life’s journeys are uncertain. Jesus knows. He understands. He’s been there. He sees you. Accepts you. Loves you.
When I look backwards at my own tough journeys, how much easier would they have been if I had stepped into them with God’s promises on my lips instead of my own tangled words? If I had drawn the sword of God’s Word and declared His truth, let His peace settle in my heart, would anxiety and anguish be held at bay?
Jesus’ declaration, His trust in His Heavenly Father carried our precious Saviour through His hardest days, to His appointed time and through the other side. God’s Word took Him to that place of rejoicing, of overcoming, to that glorious place where the angels announced, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.” (Matt 28:6) Exactly as Jesus declared, I will rise again. Just as our Father had promised.
Today if this is you. If your road is hard and the journey forbidding, if your future seems uncertain and anxiety overwhelms – what is God saying to you? What are His promises to you? Open up God’s Word, His Holy Bible filled with holy promises and find the ones that you can cling to, the ones that you can take as a sword and thrust into the very heart of the enemy, the ones that you can declare with eyes of faith, God’s promises on your lips.
Claire's Prayer 