Devotional 3-11-11

Journey to Jerusalem
Matthew 4:1-11

The temptations of Jesus are always the beginning scripture lessons for the Lenten Season. These scriptures introduce what could have been a challenging journey for Jesus, following a forty-day fast in a wilderness place.

Satan, the tempter, provides several carefully contrived challenges in the form of suggestions, geared to what he perceives to be probable weaknesses in anyone who has undergone forty wilderness days, even this man called Jesus.

Jesus is armed with the words “It is written” and does not cave to temptation but proceeds on his journey to a higher place, Jerusalem . The way to Jerusalem is always up. (Even today, one must fly into the Tel Aviv Airport , for there is no airport in Jerusalem .)

During this Lenten Season, from March 9 through April 24, we are called to accept the challenge to journey upward, to Jerusalem , in our minds, bodies, and souls. We, too, may be tempted--in completely different ways--but our responses can be just as steadfast, if we remember, “It is written.”

On this journey to Jerusalem , let us stop by Tiberius to see the Church of St. Peter ; let us visit the Baptismal site at the Jordan River and remember our baptism. (I had the privilege in 1992 of being a part of a devotional led by Bishop William B. Grove on the Sea of Galilee, the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes, and to partake of food on the Mount of the Beatitudes.)

Let us stop by Cana to see the setting of the first miracle that Jesus performed and the church that stands as a memorial before moving on to Jericho , the city of Palms . Here we see the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus before visiting the Spring of Elisha and browsing through the wonderful glass factory for souvenirs--reminders of this special time and place.

We travel on to Bethlehem to see the Shepherd’s Field, the Basilica of Nativity, and the Star of Bethlehem.

But when we reach Jerusalem, we know we have come to a higher place--the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden Tomb, the Western Wall, and the Stations of the Cross. Jesus knew when he reached Jerusalem, the journey prepared him to better understand that if there was no cross, there would be no crown.

May our Lenten Season be filled with intermittent times of reflection, growth, and good works as we pray to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who came that we might know the Way, even the way of the cross. Amen.

Rev. Jeremiah Jasper