When Jesus Gives Up!

"Yet those who wait for the LORD, will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired,They will walk and not become weary." - Isaiah 40:31

Ever feel like that? “Just giving up”?

“Just give up” was the Pharisee’s advice to Jesus. Herod is after you. He has you marked for death. Get out of town quick. Give up your mission here.

When Jesus hears this warning, he surprises those Pharisees by both disregarding and embracing their message. Jesus dismisses the threat of Herod with a flip and a quip. Herod is nothing but a “sly fox,” Jesus quips, forever plotting but powerless against God’s mission in the world. Jesus has his own schedule, his own agenda, his own mission to fulfill, and the time-frame has already been divinely determined.

But Jesus also asserts he WILL give up. He WILL give himself up. He WILL travel to Jerusalem and meet head on the traumatic tradition of that city encapsulated in this phrase — “Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it” (Luke 13:34). Jesus will give up everything, his very life, in order to fulfill his eternal mission of salvation.

Let me put it as clearly as I can: Jesus will “give it up” in order that we might “get it all.” We need to follow that example.

Cherishing it all and loving you! - Don