seeking and saving


A Pilgrimage to the Cross

Walking through Lent with Jesus

Friday 1st April


Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
   The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

                                             Luke 18:31-34

The closer that Jesus comes to Jerusalem, the more he speaks about what awaits him there. He tells his disciples that it will be the fulfillment of all the prophets wrote- but still they did not understand what he was talking about. How could God’s purposes possibly be achieved by mocking insults? What part did spitting and flogging have to play in God’s plan of salvation? And worst of all, why is Jesus talking about being killed?

The disciples are still confused about Jesus. Maybe they are expecting a triumphant Messiah who will sweep into Jerusalem with an army of angels? Maybe they are hoping that Jesus will authorize them to round up armed followers, and mount an attack on the occupying Roman forces? Maybe they think that when they arrive in Jerusalem, Jesus will be welcomed by the chief priest and invited to give a series of sermons in the temple?

Jesus challenges their ideas by a simple illustration- he calls Zaccheus the tax collector down from a tree, and invites himself to Zaccheus’ house. He is not interested in changing the world through might and power- he is interested in changing hearts.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

                                             Luke 19:10

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