2025 Lent Devotional – Day 5

Lent Devotional: Day 5

Forward in Faith: Jesus’ Unwavering Journey to Jerusalem

Preeti Khristmukti

Matthew 20:17-19

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!”

When a deer sees a tiger, it runs away in the opposite direction to save its life. Any animal will do that when it sees its predator and flee away as fast as it can. Even we humans, if we know there is some danger on the road ahead, we will turn around and go another way.

Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead for Him in Jerusalem – being handed over to enemies, mocking, flogging and even crucifixion! But He did not run away from it. Rather, He went forward to face it! What boldness – to go ahead and face death! How did He have it? In John 10:17, 18 Jesus said, “… I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” For Jesus, the commandment of the Father was His only concern. Nothing else mattered! He was so focused on the Father, His entire being as if just looking at Him in total surrender, so determined to do His will, that everything else became dim in the light of the Father’s smile. The complete foreknowledge of the terrible pain and suffering could not turn His eyes away from obeying the Father’s command!

The chief priests and Jewish leaders had thought they could get Jesus killed and silence Him. But they did not know the plan of God, nor did they recognize His divine authority as the Son of God, and the Messiah.

Jesus had told his disciples also what lay ahead of them in Jerusalem. But they did not understand it then. Only in the garden of Gethsemane, when they saw the crowd coming with swords and clubs, did they begin to think about the danger. “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.” (Matthew 26:56). It was their natural human instinct – to run away from danger, lest they be caught and killed with Jesus! Did they hear him attentively, and understand when He said He would rise again on the third day?

How do we respond when faced with danger, for the name of Jesus Christ? It is far from easy. As sheep in the midst of wolves, dangers are inevitable. But where is our focus – on the dangers, or on the Father? Have we heard Him well, and understood His promises? If we recognize Him as the All-mighty God, and know His plans, by listening keenly to what He says, we will understand what He wants us to do. And when we are sure about His will for our lives, then nothing else will matter, except the Father’s smile.