Pastor’s Ponderings
March 2025
“On the Road with Jesus”
In Luke 9:51, we read, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (New Revised Standard Version).
Luke 9:51-62 is our Narrative Lectionary text for Ash Wednesday, and with that text we begin our Lenten Journey. This section of the Gospel of Luke depicts a long journey. In Luke 9:51, Jesus and the disciples begin their journey toward Jerusalem, and they keep traveling for nearly ten full chapters until they finally arrive in Jerusalem in Luke 19:45.
This means that some of the most well-known stories about Jesus and stories that Jesus told (parables) all took place on the road. Imagine hearing the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) about a man who gets beaten up by robbers on the road to Jericho while you yourself are on the road. It’s one thing to imagine yourself acting like a Good Samaritan, but it’s another thing entirely to imagine yourself being rescued by a Good Samaritan—i.e., someone you had always regarded as an enemy—when you yourself are a vulnerable traveler.
Imagine hearing the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) while you’re on the road. The Prodigal’s life in the “far country” and his decision to return home take on new significance.
For me, the most poignant thing about any journey is that during the journey itself we have no idea how it’s going to unfold. By faith we can have confidence that Jesus will see us safely home, but we have no idea what will happen in between this present moment in our journey and our journey’s eventual end.
These days I hear many people tell me how anxious they are--about their personal lives, about what’s happening in our country, and about what’s happening in our world. The anxiety is compounded by our not knowing exactly how everything will unfold and how it will impact us and those we love. We worry about the most vulnerable among us. To some extent this is always the case. Yet there are also times when the anxiety and the fear are more palpable than others.
After the events of Palm Sunday, Jesus weeps over the city of Jerusalem, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42).
This year, as we journey with Jesus to the cross and the empty tomb, my prayer is that we will learn to recognize the things that make for peace—in our families, in our communities, in our nation’s politics and civic life, and in our world. We pray for a lasting and just peace in Gaza, between Ukraine and Russia, and in all the war-torn regions of the globe.
And we pray for traveling mercies along the road, knowing that Jesus journeys with us.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Jack
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