As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples
aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, 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, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged
and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.” Matthew
20:17–19
What a conversation that must have been! As Jesus was traveling to
Jerusalem with the Twelve just prior to the first Holy Week, Jesus
spoke openly and clearly about what would be waiting for Him in
Jerusalem. Imagine what the disciples would have thought. In many
ways, it would have been too much for them to comprehend at the
time. In many ways, the disciples probably preferred not to hear
what Jesus had to say. But Jesus knew they needed to hear this
difficult truth, especially as the moment of the Crucifixion drew
near.
Oftentimes, the full message of the Gospel is difficult for us to
accept. This is because the full message of the Gospel will always
centrally point us to the sacrifice of the Cross. Sacrificial love
and the full embrace of the Cross needs to be seen, understood,
loved, fully embraced and confidently proclaimed. But how is this
done? Let’s start with our Lord Himself.
Jesus was not afraid of the truth. He knew that His suffering and
death was imminent, and He was ready and willing to accept this
truth without hesitation. He didn’t see His Cross in a negative
light. He did not look at it as a tragedy to be avoided. He didn’t
allow fear to deter Him. Instead, Jesus looked at His imminent
sufferings in the light of truth. He saw His suffering and death as
a glorious act of love that He was soon to offer, and, therefore,
He was not afraid to not only embrace these sufferings but also to
speak of them with confidence and courage.
In our own lives, we are given the invitation to imitate Jesus’
courage and love every time we must face something difficult in
life. When this happens, some of the most common temptations are to
be angry about the difficulty, or to look for ways to avoid it, or
to blame others, or to give into despair and the like. There are
numerous coping mechanisms that kick in by which we tend to try and
avoid the crosses that await us.
But what if we followed the example of our Lord instead? What if we
faced any and every pending cross with love, courage and a willing
embrace? What if instead of looking for a way out, we looked for a
way in, so to speak? That is, we looked for a way to embrace our
suffering in a sacrificial way, without hesitancy, in imitation of
Jesus’ embrace of His cross. Every cross in life has the potential
of becoming an instrument of much grace in our own lives and in the
lives of others. Therefore, from the perspective of grace and
eternity, crosses must be embraced, not avoided or cursed.
Reflect, today, upon any difficulty you are facing. Do you see it
in the same way that Jesus sees it? Can you see every cross you are
given as an opportunity for sacrificial love? Are you able to
embrace it with hope and confidence, knowing that God can bring
good out of it? Seek to imitate our Lord by joyfully embracing the
difficulties you face and those crosses will ultimately share in
the Resurrection with our Lord.
My suffering Lord, You freely embraced the injustice of the
Cross with love and courage. You saw beyond the apparent scandal
and suffering and transformed the evil done to You into the
greatest act of love ever known. Give me the grace to imitate Your
perfect love and to do so with the strength and confidence that You
had. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: Jesus Discourses with His Disciples By
James Tissot, via Wikimedia Commons
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