The Journey

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”  Tao Lzu

When I was growing up in my small town, we did an awful lot of walking. We walked because it was safe, parents liked you to be outside,  it wasn’t very far anywhere, and it was basically a kid’s only way to get where you would like to go. In my mind’s eye, I can still see every road (some of them were dirt), friends and relatives’ houses along the way, churches, and highways. It was a simple life and time, but every day was a journey somewhere.

Jesus also walked everywhere he went.  He walked the road to Jerusalem many times to attend festivals, weddings, and religious ceremonies.  He spent a lot of his ministry healing people there.  He cleansed the temple there, entered the city on the back of a donkey amid cheers on Palm Sunday, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane outside the city, had the Last Supper in the Upper Room, had his trial there, He was crucified on Golgotha, and His ascension was also there. Every day was a journey toward His final destination.

Jesus lived a simple life.  He didn’t have a huge income, a home of His own, or the conveniences, luxuries or comforts of this world.  Rather, He experienced suffering and pain. The scriptures say that despite all this, “He had a great joy”.

His joy came from the deep relationship He had with His heavenly father. He had a dependence on His Father that left him feeling nourished, uplifted and content.  He had no need for the material things.

The lesson of Holy Week to me is that Jesus’ journey is our journey.  He walked every step of the way to the cross knowing every day what lay in store for him.  Sometimes we tend to believe that since Jesus suffered and died for us, we can eliminate all the challenges life brings and go straight to the head of the class.  It just doesn’t work that way.  Jesus laid out the footsteps, now we just need to walk in them.

Tomb, thou shalt not hold him longer;  Death is strong, but life is stronger;  Stronger than the dark, the light;  Stronger than the wrong, the right.               Faith and hope triumphant say, Christ will rise on Easter Day.  Phillips Brooks

These things I have spoken to you that my joy might be your joy, and that your joy might be made full.  John 15:11

Happy Easter!