Mission to Seek

 Holy Week : Tuesday

*Mission to Seek*

Matthew 24 - 25

As we journey through Holy Week our Saviour makes the most of these final few days with his disciples and the crowds gathered around them.

He teaches on faith (Matthew 21:21). Pronounces judgment on the religious establishment (Matthew 23:1-7; 24 33). Prophesies about the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1-28). And he speaks in parables, warning of his second coming and the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). It is powerful and personal.

Jesus is on a collision course with the ultimate destiny of his mission to seek and save the lost: the cross and tomb.

It is here, as Jesus moves on from this upper room, that we find ourselves in the Garden of Gethsemane staring at our Saviour as he agonisingly wrestles over the cup with his name on it.

His struggle, as he prays three times for the cup to pass him by, is deeply human. We glimpse Jesus here facing the full range of emotions and experiences we too endure, and admitting to how overwhelming it all is (v.38). How comforting he knows what life can be like, what it is to be human.

Yet, where we might continue to pray until God provides another way, Jesus chooses to surrender (v.39). He trusts the plans of his Father, because he knows that the ultimate joy of the victory he will soon enjoy will be greater than the torment and anguish of the cross he is about to endure (Hebrews 12:2).

And so, strengthened by an angel, he stares the cross in the face; choosing again to set his sights on that hill in Jerusalem. Because he knows that soon, through all he will accomplish on that old rugged cross, he will unashamedly be calling all those who seek him and call upon his name, including us, his brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11).

Rev. D. Godwyn PrasannaKumar

Pastor ALC.