Of course Jesus wasn’t walking alone to Jerusalem. There was a rag-tag group of disciples. Most adults can walk around 3 miles in an hour, but not many people keep that pace up for a sustained period of time. They stopped at various times, rested, and talked among themselves.
We really have no idea what they talked about. Perhaps they considered the Roman occupation, wondering if they would melt into the crowds assembling for Passover. Possibly they tried to alleviate their fears of what might happen. They probably were afraid that the coming Passover was not going to end well.
Jesus also kept talking about his impending death, and although Thomas the Twin said, “Let us go and die with him,” we get the feeling that the rest of them weren’t too anxious to have that happen. In today’s world, what does it mean to die with Jesus? Perhaps to put our own desires on the back burner and to attend to the world around us. We may not be able to raise the dead but we can help to heal the sick and feed the poor.
Prayer for the Day
All embracing God, who is our model of love,
Bind us together in a community of love;
Teach us, we pray, how to share your love which knows no end
So we are truly live as your examples in this world.
May we learn to love without fear as did the One you sent,
In the name of him who was your gift of love,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We are not meant to die merely in order to be dead. God could not want that for the creatures to whom He has given the breath of life. We die in order to live.
- Elisabeth Elliot, Christian missionary and writer (1926-2015)
You will know as much of God, and only as much of God, as you are willing to put into practice.
- Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire runner, missionary, died in China (1902-1945)
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us;
We wait for the light, and lo! There is darkness, for brightness but we walk in gloom.
We grope like the blind along a wall, groping like those who have no eyes;
We stumble at noon as in the twilight, among the vigorous as if we were dead.
We all growl like bears; like doves we moan mournfully.
We wait for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
Isaiah 59: 10-11