31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
Dear Jesus,
I admire the courage with which You faced the cross. You saw it coming, yet You were unflinching even as it drew nearer. I need that kind of courage.
"By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward" (Hebrews 11:24-26). Moses' courage inspires me.
William Barclay describes two kinds of courage: the spontaneous courage of crisis and the enduring courage to facing looming, insurmountable odds. "There is no question which is the higher courage. Many a man is capable of the heroic action on the spur of the moment; it takes a man of supreme courage to go on to face something which haunts him for days ahead and which, by turning back, he could escape" (In The Gospel of Luke, 1953, p. 240).
I need the courage that sees the apparently insurmountable odds in front of me, even surrounding me, yet confident of Your call to advance, I advance. That same courage was the courage that the early church had. Emboldened by the reality of Your resurrection, they faced unthinkable odds. The Apostles challenged the believers to go forward. Wave after wave of believers fell to the sword, the cross, and the games.
I need the courage that sees the apparently insurmountable odds in front of me, even surrounding me, yet confident of Your call to advance, I advance. That same courage was the courage that the early church had. Emboldened by the reality of Your resurrection, they faced unthinkable odds. The Apostles challenged the believers to go forward. Wave after wave of believers fell to the sword, the cross, and the games.
"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter" (1 Peter 4:14).
As the tide of cultural opinion dramatically shifts against those who name themselves as Your followers, grant me courage to stand for You, not only in the crisis, but also in the face of staggering and multiplying opposition. Help me to stand for You when others default. Grant me Your courage for the cross.
"It was in the certainty of ultimate victory that He faced the apparent defeat of the cross. He knew that without a cross there can never be any crown" (Barclay, p. 241).
Thank You for courageously enduring the cross for me.
In the Name of my risen, triumphant Lord,
Amen.
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