"Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men."
The disciples didn't want to hear about this. Jesus shouldn't have to suffer. They believe he is there to solve their problems. He is the messiah, the anointed one, sent to deliver Israel from bondage. How can this be true if he himself is just another casualty? And who wouldn't prefer to skip past the sadness of Good Friday to the glory of Easter Sunday?
Jesusk after all, is God come to dwell among us.
Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion!
See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people and he will dwell among you.
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.
And yet Jesus not only knows that he will suffer, he seems to be headed straight for it. His eyes are fixed on Jerusalem. The cross is not an accident, but an essential part of God's plan for our redemption. It is the new tree of life for those who wickedly stretch out there hand to a tree in the Garden of Eden. Jesus is the new Adam who obeys God where our first parents fail. In the Garden of Gethsemane he does not run and hide from the Father but rather runs to the Father.
Jesus isn't interested in sweeping the problem of sin and death under the rug or in just looking the other way. He is interested in fixing this problem at its source. He is not afraid because he knows that the cross is not the end. He knows the resurrection will follow. Yet he will not skip the cross. This is the way that the problem of our broken obedience is solved. This is the way our wills can genuinely be united to the will of God as Jesus remolds them by his own perfect obedience. Anything else would not be able to truly transform us from the core of our being.
The glory we see before the cross and resurrection is partial and fragmentary. Jesus is often hidden and concealed from us even as he walks among us. After the resurrection and after Pentecost Jesus not only dwells near us but, because sin is put to death in us, he is able to dwell in our hearts and souls.
Now that Jesus dwells inside of us we are more able to see and rely on him even in an imperfect world. Even though people many in the world are still captives in God our souls are safe. We are free to behold his presence no matter the circumstances.
People will live in Jerusalem as though in open country,
because of the multitude of men and beasts in her midst.
But I will be for her an encircling wall of fire, says the LORD,
and I will be the glory in her midst.
The LORD guards us a a shepherd. Let us hear his voice and run to him. Let us trust him more than our aversion to hardship. Let us come to him even if he seems to be walking on dangerous ground. Only with him do we find safety and peace.
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