Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. John 7:1
Have you ever known you had to do something, but it wasn’t going to be easy, so you put it off? Or at least you wanted to push it down the road a bit longer. We have probably all been there. It’s only human to want to escape suffering or the hard thing. No one wants the pain of the struggle or the rejection, the worry about what others will say or do.
Jesus was fully God and also fully human. Sometimes we focus so much on His divinity that we forget that He might have been facing the fears and worries about His upcoming passion. The gut reflex to shy away from traveling into the heart of the tension in Judea was very possibly why He wanted to stay in Galilee a bit longer. I don’t know about you, but I appreciate thinking about the humanity of Jesus because it helps us realize that He truly does understand and can sympathize with our own failings and fears.
But at the same time, we also see Him facing those fears and doing His Father’s will even when it is hard. He knew what would happen if He stepped into the lion’s den, but He also knew that there was a greater plan, and His cooperation was needed for it to be fulfilled.
When we consider those changes, that God has been drawing us to this Lent and how He’s been working to overcome any fears we may have, we can take courage in the fact that Jesus, in His humanity, faced these same challenges and trusted that His Father knew best. Everything we are afraid of or are experiencing, He has walked through before us. He stepped into His call from the Lord, and we have all been saved. What does God want to do for our world with our offering of our lives? Why don’t we take a chance and see?
Reflection Questions: What are you facing that makes you want to shy away? Where has God been working on your heart? When you consider moving forward into that change, how does it make you feel? What do you think will happen if you take that step?
Prayer: Sweet Jesus, help me remember that you have faced the same challenges that I face each day. Help me to learn from You and walk bravely into my Father’s will for my life. Amen.