[ Today's Readings ]
Jesus marches resolutely toward Jerusalem. He is often rejected along the way. From the time in Bethlehem until this Samaritan village he does not receive the welcome he deserves.
When he is not rejected he is often misunderstood. Even his disciples don't really understand what he must do in Jerusalem. It is because they don't understand that they want to call down fire from heaven to consume people who don't welcome Jesus. They don't realize that he has come not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (see Matthew 20:28). They don't realize that he has come not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him (see John 3:17).
The disciples have staked their own pride on the appearance of Jesus before the world. His shame and apparent defeat is too much for most of them to handle. They sink into a despair like that of Job when they witness the passion.
Why did I not perish at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?
Or why was I not buried away like an untimely birth,
like babes that have never seen the light?
Wherefore did the knees receive me?
or why did I suck at the breasts?
But Jesus journeys on. He does not let rejection stop him or slow him down. He has his destination in mind. He knows his purpose. When we journey with him and misunderstand he may rebuke us but he never sends us away. We don't have to fully get it. We just need to stay close to him.
O LORD, my God, by day I cry out;
at night I clamor in your presence.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my call for help.
If we stay near to him, even in the garden of Gethsemane, even at the mount of Calvary, even at the tomb, we witness the dawning of the day of resurrection, when life triumphs, when all sadness is forgotten and the tears are wiped from every eye.
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