Faith-Walking

On Ash Wednesday, the Church began its ancient journey to the Cross. As we work our way through the next few weeks, we will hear the the familiar stories of Jesus as his ministry gathers a following (and a goodly group of critics). We will get weary of the entire season of Lent about two weeks before it's done. Hymns in a minor key will expedite that weariness, no doubt! Marching to the darkness of Golgotha seems counterintuitive as we watch the days grow longer in the light of Spring.

But our own journey of Lent differs significantly from the final days of Jesus' ministry.
We have heard the story before.
We know how it will end (whether we believe the ending to be historical fact or not).
We can become fairly ho-hum about the entire matter.

We say,
"Yes, yes, I understand...
Jesus teaches,
Runs afoul of the religious and civil authorities;
Winds up executed for his trouble.
Then three days later he rises from the dead.
When do the Cadbury eggs go on sale?"

For us, Easter is a done deal.
We know the rest of the story...
So even at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday,
We're not worried.
We know Easter's coming.

All of which makes me wonder.
What did Jesus know and
When did he know it?
I suspect plenty of people have opinions on this matter.
So do I.

I believe Jesus lived faithfully every moment of every day.
I believe he walked the life of faith he taught.
His life was a sermon as much as his words...
And it all finally made perfect sense to him
When he opened his eyes on Easter!

For me, if Jesus knew
Everything would happen the way it would happen,
And he knew his identity and played along with the circumstances...
Then the example of his life is greatly diminished.
Jesus was a human being,
Who came to know, along the way,
His identity as God's Son.
Rather than God Almighty
Who merely pretended to be human.

The God of all Creation in the person of Jesus
Followed the same path offered to the people of Israel:
Live by the Word of God.
Don't put God to the test.
Worship God alone.

In walking life by faith,
Jesus shows us all a faith worth living.