Forgive me the sinner.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“And they were on the way going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them; and they were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid.”
Our goal today is – Jerusalem, just as it was and always has been for our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, that is, to go up to Jerusalem. Our goal is the Great and Holy Week of Our Lord’s Passion. This is in keeping with some Biblical scholars who see the Gospels as nothing less than extended introductions to the Passion of our Lord, which is to say that, everything that precedes this Great and Holy Week in Jerusalem necessarily leads us there, just it does these early disciples of Jesus, and prepares us all who deem ourselves Christians for the Cross. Jerusalem is no easy place. It is not an oasis or a place of comfort, especially so for the Prophets of God. And, it isn’t easy to go up to Jerusalem, just as the Gospel tells us. Yet, our Lord, confident in the Father’s will, goes before all His followers as One blazing a trail to the Kingdom of God (Hb. 12:2). And yet, as they followed, they were both amazed at Jesus’ resoluteness and “they were afraid.” No doubt this is us as well. We are astounded by our Lord and His teachings, and He – His way – makes us nervous, if not, afraid at times.
And He took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things would happen unto Him, saying, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock Him and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him and shall kill Him. And the third day He shall rise again.’
Beloved, our Lord is never not preparing His followers for what lies ahead, though He doesn’t often lay out all the details. That is why this earthly sojourn and pilgrimage is one of faith, not in ourselves, but in God. Jesus always goes on before us, just as the Good Shepherd leads His Flock, always with His sheep, and not abandoning us for He is not a hireling, but He is at once Lamb and Shepherd, Sacrifice and Priest (Ps. 22 [23]:1-6; Jn. 10:1-18). It is as the Prophet Moses once exhorted all of Israel as they stood on the verge of the Promised Land . . . their Jerusalem, if you will, “’Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid [of the nations]; for the Lord thy God, He it is Who doth go with thee, He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee’” (Dt. 31:6, 7-8; Hb. 13:5).
But, in the bleakness of the Passion there is a ray of hope, a beacon of light, so easily missed by those who go with Jesus up to Jerusalem. Three times now Jesus has foretold to us what awaits Him there in Jerusalem, and three times He has assured His pensive followers that the Crucified One, the Scourged One, the Mocked One, though killed, will nevertheless rise on the third day (Mk. 8:31; 9:31). Death, beloved, will no longer have no dominion over Him (Rm. 6:9).
The Passion, as necessary as it is, is nonetheless marked by victory – by the rising of the Son of God on the third day! “Iesus Christos Nika! Jesus Christ Conqueror! Jesus Christ Victor!” This is what the priest remembers as he places a portion of the slaughtered Lamb into the Chalice of His Blood – the Cup which we all must drink, if we wish to be saved and healed of our passionate desires and ransomed from our sins. For we have shared in our Lord’s Death when we were baptized into Him, just as St. Paul tells us (Rm. 6:1-14). And having been baptized into His Death, what does the Apostle assure us? If we have died with Christ God we will certainly be raised up in Him, so that we “should walk in newness of Life” – the Life of Jesus Christ! “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His Death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His Resurrection, . . . .” This glorious reality of God’s power is somewhat hidden from our sight as we make our way to Jerusalem and to the Passion of our God and there on Mt. Calvary we behold the dark shadow of a Cross flanked by two others. One is for our Lord. The other two are for those who wish to sit, one of His right hand and one on His left hand. It is not yet known who will fill those crosses. But, be assured, if we wish to be with Jesus in His Kingdom, one of them must be for us. For did He not once invite us all: “’Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’” (Mk. 8:34)? There is no other path. There is no other way. There is no other rhythm to the Christian life but death and resurrection, condescension and exaltation. We must ascend the Cross and be with Jesus if we wish to go up to the heavenly New Jerusalem which is our true home (Hb. 12:18-27). And this is a daily dying and rising through repentance and humility and obedience (Lk. 9:23). We count all things as rubbish in the light of Jesus Christ and His Cross if we can but gain Him (Pp. 3:7-11).
Salvation, my beloved, is not a blip on the screen or a point on a timeline. Can you recall the day of your salvation when you decided to follow Jesus? Well and good! But that was then, what is now? Can you point to your day of Baptism when Jesus Christ made you His own? Well and good! But that was then, what is now? At the risk of repeating myself and sounding like a broken record: if our salvation was nothing more than God getting us through the pearly gates, He could’ve accomplished that quite easily without Jerusalem. But, salvation – God’s salvation of us – is something more . . . . . quite more. He chose to reverse the Fall by the condescension of His Son, so that He would be lifted up – along with us in His now assumed flesh – into the Heavens to sit at the right hand of God the Father (Nicene Creed). All of this He has endured. All of this He has accomplished as our Great High Priest and only Sacrifice (Hb. 9:11-14). Salvation from on high – as thorough and as complete as it is – necessitates the very fabric of our being. Why? Because sin and death is very much woven into the very fabric of the existence of all of creation that groans under its power anxiously awaiting the “revealing of the sons of God,” as St. Paul asserts (Rm. 8:18-27). This is why “all of creation rejoices” in the Theotokos who became the gateway of salvation by the birth-giving of the Son of God Who “’came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.’”
Salvation is discipleship – a living out of our relationship with Jesus Christ secured on the Cross and made our own through repentance, humility, and obedience each and every day of this life. Yesterday I was forgiven my sins and God’s mercy embraced me. Today, I must be forgiven of my sins and God’s mercy must again embrace me. Tomorrow will be likewise, and the day after that, and the day after that, until we draw our last breath. It involves being with Jesus, following after Him as together we go up to Jerusalem and His Great and Holy Passion. It is wrestling with my passions that seek to control me. Salvation is heeding the apostolic word we heard just before the season of the Great Fast: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rm. 13:14). If we have died with Jesus Christ in Baptism, then we are dead to sin and must reckon ourselves as so by actively surrendering ourselves to God again and again and again. Salvation – God’s salvation, God’s redemption, God’s healing – must be worked out in us, just as surely as leaven in the batch of dough (Rm. 8:13; Pp. 2:12; Co. 3:5).
The Kingdom of Heaven, which we seek and have been created for, must arise in us from the yeast of the Gospel. And that Gospel – the Gospel of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ – calls us to die with Him and for His sake, to be crucified so that we might be raised to New and Eternal Life by the Holy Spirit.
Repent, beloved, “’the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. . . . and believe the Gospel’” (Mk. 1:15).
Through the prayers of our holy Mother Mary of Egypt, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
PROPERS:
Hb. 9:11-14
Ga. 3:23-29 (St. Mary of Egypt)
Mk. 10:32-45
Lk. 7:36-50 (St. Mary of Egypt)