Road to the Cross: Meditations for EasterIhe Atụ

The Road to Jerusalem

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)

Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize you’re about to make a decision that will change the course of your life, and nothing will ever be the same again? Getting married. Having a child. Chucking your career and launching your own business. It’s like you’re standing at a crossroads, and the road you choose will define the rest of your life. Robert Frost described the experience in his poem “The Road Not Taken”: I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.

Jesus came to a crossroads in his ministry. One road led back to Galilee, a place of relative safety and refuge. The other road ran to Jerusalem, where betrayal and death awaited. Jesus set out on the road to Jerusalem, sensing that this was the Father’s will. The Lord’s journey to Jerusalem could have been accomplished in three days, but it took about five months. He stopped at many towns along the way, sat at many dinner tables, told many parables. Beginning today, you and I join him on that road.

Maybe you are standing at a crossroads—Galilee or Jerusalem, safety or sacrifice, the easy choice or the right choice. Take the road to Jerusalem, and know that Christ walks with you. 

Prayer: Lord, increase my faith and guide my decisions.