The Final Journey

All the Gospel writers agree, a day came when Jesus would make his final journey to Jerusalem. For Matthew it's the first and last time we will see Jesus in the capital city. For John it's the last of his regular, faithful journeys to fulfil his duties as a Jew. Whichever gospel you read, one thing is clear Jesus knew what to expect and he knew how things were going to turn out. Several times he warned those closest to him that he would be betrayed into the hands of the religious leaders. Leaders who ought to have recognised him as Messiah, but who preferred to call him a charlatan, a trickster, not the real thing.

Strange really, when you consider what he'd been doing for the last three years. Healing the sick, setting free those who had become oppressed and possessed by evil spirits. He'd even fulfilled their signs of the Messiah—raising a dead man, healing a man born blind and curing the leper. But still they couldn't accept him. How true John's words: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him.

But still they, like many since, missed the signs. They asked, sometimes they even demanded that he show them a sign to prove his credentials. But the truth was they didn't want to believe. A country preacher from Galilee wasn't going to upset the apple cart of the well trained theologians of the capital city. They knew what Messiah would do, and Jesus wasn't doing it, at least he wasn't doing it their way.

And so he had to go. They'd been plotting for a long time, almost since the beginning when he first broke their rules and performed a miracle on the Sabbath. But the truth was that no matter how much they plotted and schemed. No matter how much they bribed witnesses, or even paid off a traitor, Jesus was always destined to make his final journey to the cross.
Many men and women may be born for greatness, destined to lead countries or make great discovers or journey on great adventures. The destiny of Jesus was none of these. He never rose to high political office, although Isaiah said the government will be upon his shoulders. He never made a scientific breakthrough, although he was involved in the work of creation. And he never made a incredible journey, although he came down from heaven to the earth.

Jesus was born to die.

As we wait in the shadow of the cross, there is little to break the growing darkness except the sound of people. We can hear the soldiers as the mock and curse. We can hear those passing by asking questions, wondering and debating. We can hear the sound of women weeping. Above all this, we can hear the sound of the men who are dying. It’s not a pleasant thought, to consider the crucifixion, but ti is the reality of what was happening. Three men, cruelly exposed, judged and executed. As the hours pass the groans diminish until, with one final thrust of strength fighting against the pain, Jesus cries out, “It is finished.” “What is finished?” we cry in return, but Jesus does not answer. He draws his final breath.

The religious leaders thought they had finally rid themselves of this troublesome preacher and his message of forgiveness and reconciliation. Little did they know that the cross was the completion of God’s great plan not the end of some great dream. Two days later, on the third day, Jesus would rise from the dead. Suddenly it was far from over. Death couldn’t hold the Son of God, it still can’t.