The Call to Follow Him to Jerusalem

The Call to Follow Him to Jerusalem

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.” (Mark 10:33)

We may ask ourselves what it means to follow Christ, to set our faces towards Jerusalem.  Just as our Lord was bound to do the Father’s will by dying on the cross for us, so we have to have that same attitude of heart and mind: we must be just as determined to live for Him.  Things may be disappointing, and experiences may be frustrating, but we are to do all things without grumbling or questioning (Phil.2: 14).  Some things which we are called upon to do may not seem reasonable, but we are called to walk by faith, we are to be shining lights in a dark place.  Our Jerusalem is the place of our testimony, where we live surrendered to the will of God.

But in Jesus’ call there is also a promise: The Lord has one ahead; we need only to walk in His steps.  The disciples were amazed and afraid, but Jesus died, rose again, and kept them true to Himself.  He will do the same for us.  We can confidently say with the Apostle Paul, “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14).

Meditation:  How do I walk in my Jerusalem?

Further Reading: Luke 9:51-62