Uphill Climbs

They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” – Mark 10:42-44

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:32-45

Here, we see Jesus turning His face toward Jerusalem and the pain and death that He faces there. It will be the most difficult struggle of His life, and He will face it virtually alone. Because His closest friends just don’t understand. They have walked with Him for three years but have absolutely no idea who He is. James and John follow Jesus’s description of His impending death with a request for a position of power.

It must have been so disheartening. The uphill journey to the cross loomed with its steep and winding path. With each turn in the trail, He would hope to glimpse the end ahead only to see the forest continuing indefinitely. And all of this would have been made so much more difficult because He carried the added burden of the disciples as He climbed.

But they needed to be carried. And Jesus was willing to do it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we know that You have walked the path ahead of us. There is no difficulty we will encounter and no burden we will carry, that You haven’t already gone before us. Help us to keep our eyes on You during the steepest uphill climbs and trust You to carry us when can can go no further on our own. Amen.