Huh? – March 24, The Sixth Wednesday of Lent
Luke 18:31-34 NRSV
Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Isaiah 53:5-6 NKJV
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Easter is quickly approaching. Very soon we will be proclaiming “Christ is Risen” to all who will listen and we will be celebrating joyously the work of God. But before we go there we have to go through Holy Week. Not just the joy and “hosannas” of Palm Sunday, but the betrayal, bitterness, and death of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Jesus knew that this was coming. He knew how they treated the prophets and he knew what was ahead of him. He knew the pain and suffering he was about to endure but he still went forward.
In today’s reading Jesus pretty much tells the disciples what is coming. Jesus doesn’t candy-coat his language, he speaks plainly and clearly and yet the disciples “understood nothing.” Sometimes I wonder how the disciples could be so dull. Could they really not understand? But just when I start to think this I wonder to myself “Am I the same way?”
Chances are the disciples didn’t really get what Jesus was saying because they had expectations. They recognized that he was the Messiah but they all had different expectations of what that would bring. Would he come and free Israel from Rome? Would he overthrow the political powers? Would he bring economic stability to the region? Each one of them had an idea of what the Messiah would do and I bet that die on a cross was low on that list. I think this might be the reason why they didn’t get it. This might be the reason that Luke tells us that they “did not grasp” what Jesus was saying.
How many times do we share this same trait with the disciples. How many times do we think God should work in one way or another and when he works in a different way we don’t see it? How many times to I place my expectations on God as if he was here to do some sort of cosmic magic trick for me?
Sure it’s easy to look back after Easter and after Pentecost and say, “Well yeah, of course Jesus was going to do that.” but while we’re here it isn’t so easy. Jesus clearly sees the cross that he will carry. He clearly sees what is going to happen and yet he continues on to Jerusalem.
What about us? Can we even see the cross which we are called to carry? Are we truly able to follow Jesus or are we allowing the cares of this world and the stuff of this life fill us up with certain expectations so that we can’t even grasp what Jesus is saying.
Lent, and especially the upcoming Holy Week teaches us to put aside our wrong expectations. Lent helps to teach us to say “no” to our self-will so that we may truly see and be able to carry the cross of our Lord and Savior.
What are your expectations that keep you from seeing the real mission of Jesus? Are you willing to see the cross and carry it?
Closing Prayer:
We pray to God to know his passion, death, and resurrection – which come from the goodness of God. We pray to God for the strength that comes from his Cross – which also come from the goodness of God. We pray to God…for he is the goodness of everything. Amen.
– St. Julian of Norwich *
St. Luke UMYF Lenten Readings 