Day 24: On the Road to Jerusalem
“They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him: ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’
~Mark 10:32-34
“Before and After” by Bobbi Deriso
There’s something about anticipation.
The feeling that something is coming (could be great, or not so much)….
The feeling of knowing that there are events on the horizon that we have always hoped for or always dreaded—events that we won’t know the impact of—with repercussions so grand that we cannot fathom how our lives will be defined until after that moment occurs.
The feeling of knowing that there are events on the horizon that we have always hoped for or always dreaded—events that we won’t know the impact of—with repercussions so grand that we cannot fathom how our lives will be defined until after that moment occurs.
Sometimes that event becomes a defining point –and we begin to reflect on our lives as “moments before” and “moments after” that event…
As I think about this season of Lent, I am caught by this tension between “before” and “after” the cross.
We definitely think about the effect Jesus’ ministry had before the cross and after the cross..
We think about the lives of the disciples before the cross and after the cross.
We definitely think about the effect Jesus’ ministry had before the cross and after the cross..
We think about the lives of the disciples before the cross and after the cross.
…but I also think often of a mother’s life before the cross and after the cross. Maybe my reflection is so close to home because I’m a mother myself; a mother of three of my very own babies who grew in life so (literally) close to the beating of my heart and then two babies who I was fortunate enough to gain in a marriage.
So I think of Mary. …sweet, young Mary chosen by God to carry the King of Kings so close to the beating of her heart; Mary who (more than likely) kissed away the pain of the first wound that Jesus ever received; Mary who stored all these things in her heart – storing them away for the day that her Son would so sacrificially climb on to a cross to save His momma; Mary who was chosen because God knew that she would raise His Son in a way that would be glorifying to Him….
My walk as a disciple of Christ (as a mother) has been very much focused on how my children will be impacted by the events of my life and my reaction to them. How can I show them that the way to God is only through His Son? If I can effectively do this and raise my children to be disciples who will then in turn disciple to the world around them, I have been a mother who lived with purpose.
Am I more than a mother? Sure.
Do I have a bigger purpose in life than to share the plan of salvation with everyone I come in to contact with? Nope.
Do I have a bigger purpose in life than to share the plan of salvation with everyone I come in to contact with? Nope.
One event defined my “before and after” and that was becoming a mother; becoming a person who God gifted with young, moldable lives hoping that I would raise them in a way that was glorifying to Him. If He could give me the gift of His Son’s life, then I can be a disciple to my own children daily.
If the cross and resurrection define the “before” and “after” of Jesus’ life, shouldn’t it define ours as well?
Prayer:
Jesus, would I have kept walking? —knowing, like you did, what was ahead of me?
Would I have had your courage and faithfulness?
…I’m grateful that you did. Thank you for walking for (and with) me.
Jesus, would I have kept walking? —knowing, like you did, what was ahead of me?
Would I have had your courage and faithfulness?
…I’m grateful that you did. Thank you for walking for (and with) me.
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