“And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!”
Isaiah 53:4b NLT
As Jesus made his way towards Golgotha, the exhaustion and pain following his trial and torture must have brought him to his knees more than once, even with Simon’s assistance.
How quickly the worship of his welcome into Jerusalem morphed into the insults that accompanied his walk of shame.
For many of us, when we are recipients of bread and fish among a crowd of onlookers, or when our loved one is miraculously healed, Jesus is the source of our joy and fervour. However, when tragedy strikes, our health resists every prayer for restoration, our reputation becomes defined by others, our security implodes, we lose sight of Jesus and make our complaint to God.
Here Jesus is powerless, and chooses to remain so. This is not his time to reveal the authority that is his by right. Even his disciples abandon him. Yet, Jesus keeps the prize in view, even though the prize demands his life. When I committed my life to God I did not imagine my life would be marked by sorrow. I expected God to protect me from pain. How little I understood the purpose of my life. God took me at my word, accepted the life I exchanged for his love and forgiveness, and began the task of leading me deeper into his heart. I was now in God’s hands; I had voluntarily surrendered my rights to my life.
Jesus had wrestled with this reality in Gethsemane, yet yielded to God. His life was now being drained as he struggled to carry his cross to his execution. This made no sense to those who wanted and needed a Messiah, but one in their own image. Messiah meant victory, strength, power. Jesus knew that power came from emptying oneself of everything, of becoming the willing servant of all.
Prayer – Ask God to reveal to you the nature of obedience, and search for the grace to say yes to God.