Day 6 – Issue 21

Be Still Know

Matthew 21:10 NLT

‘The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.’

Over the next five days we will follow Jesus making his way towards the earthly climax of his life and ministry. The Synoptic Gospels reveal this as Jesus’ first return since being left behind as a boy by his parents at Passover. This visit is witness to the end of his life and the start of the life of the Church. How much did he know, or, more realistically, understand of what lay ahead of him? Perhaps the full weight of circumstance only settled upon him as he knelt in Gethsemane.

There are points to which our lives lead us that appear familiar, yet at which we experience a measure of turmoil or disturbance. It is the very core of who we are, connecting and reacting to the realities we face. Inviting Jayne to walk on the South Downs one beautiful spring morning, knowing I was to ask her to marry me, was just such a moment. The walk was familiar to us both, the larks rising and singing, the greeting from passing horse riders to be expected. Yet, I knew that life had the capacity to change radically for each of us on this walk.

So it was as Jayne turned to remark how silent the landscape had fallen, all birdsong quelled, she realised I was not there, and observed me on one knee declaring my love and proposing. We returned from that walk with life irrevocably changed and both in a measure of fresh turmoil as the real consequences began to sink in.

Jesus is known by reputation if not by sight. Yet the question arises as to who he is.

Moving towards Easter we will do well to pause upon its threshold and consider again who it is we are and how we respond to Jesus, man and God, with a redemptive message of salvation and hope for each one of us and the world.

QUESTION: Who does your life say that Jesus is?

PRAYER: Jesus, as I walk with you, put to death the sin in me and fill me with your Spirit.