Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

---

Read

Luke 18:31-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

---

Reflect

With mere human words, Jesus could not help the disciples understand. Nevertheless, his words gave them something to remember and to put into perspective at a later time — a time after he had been crucified and been raised from the dead. Jesus’ destiny in Jerusalem was simply incomprehensible to the disciples when Jesus told them what would happen. They had seen the good he had done. They had experienced his life-changing presence first hand. They believed him to be the Messiah. How could God’s Messiah be crucified? How could he be executed for the deeds of kindness he had performed and the words of truth he had spoken? We, on the other hand, must grasp this truth: Jesus was going to Jerusalem knowing full well that he would be persecuted, rejected, tortured, and killed. Yet he went anyway, to honor God and to pay the price for our sin. We must not let this loving sacrifice be hidden from our hearts!

---

Pray

Lord Jesus, I thank you for going to Jerusalem while knowing that the cross was coming and yet enduring it for the sake of my salvation. Christ, You alone deserve all the glory, honor, blessing, and praise. Amen.

Go with God!