The long journey - Luke 18:31-34

Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and said, ‘Listen! We are now on our way to Jerusalem. Everything that the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will happen there.’ Luke 18:31(CEV)

Here Jesus announces his death and his resurrection. This was the third time he had spoken of this. It was a turning point in his life. Let us look at what he said and did.

It was abrupt. Behold! Listen! He took them aside and predicted the awful events. Sometimes crisis events happen like that. They are sudden and unpredictable. Sickness, crop failure, a change of situation, death and sorrow — all these can come with terrible speed. We feel quite shaken and bewildered. Like the disciples, we do not understand. We have faith and we know God is alive, but we see only the bad side. In our grief and shock, we feel only depression and disappointment. Pastor and friends try to say encouraging words, but, like the disciples when Jesus spoke to them, we find it hard to listen and we don't know what they are talking about. Religious comfort seems empty and unreal.

Jesus took them aside, as we, too, step aside from the normal routine to experience bad news. But Jesus promised victory. He was on the way up, even as he spoke.  Yes, up to Jerusalem, and up to the court of the Priest, Pilate, and Herod. He was going up — up the Hill of Golgotha, up on the cross; and then, finally and wonderfully, up from the dead. He would be both lifted up and raised up. His journey to Jerusalem would take him through pain, insults, mockery, and spitting. But he was on the way up. When the allies invaded Germany in World War II, Churchill announced: 'We are not at the beginning of the end, we are at the end of the beginning'.

For Jesus, it was the first step to victory. It was a procession of peace, strength, and salvation, in which we are included. We are going up. As Jesus' disciples also started out on the road of suffering, so we also went with Jesus — or at least our sins did. There we shared his death, but we felt no pain. There we shared his resurrection, and we feel the joy and confidence. Whatever we may suffer, his life will get us through.

Lord, thank you for going up for us. Help us, when we go through suffering, to remember your forgiveness, and so find strength to cope, with your help. Amen.

(adapted by Pastor Richard Mau from a devotion by Pastor E. Simpfendorfer)