At fourteen years of age I began riding
my bike to the other side of the county; a scenic 140 km round trip ride. It was about my third journey on my normal
route to the closest National Park when I experienced bad weather ½ way back
home. The wind shifted to become a very
strong head wind. I did not feel I could
make it home without help so I called my Dad on the closest pay phone and he
said something like, “You got yourself that far and you decided to make the trip, so you’ll just have to get yourself
home.”
Every push of the petal was
difficult. Every meter achieved left my
muscles straining. I didn’t think I
could do it. What I had to focus on was
a spot close in front of me and tell my tired, aching body, ‘Just one more
meter.’ It was slow going and the lactic
acid was rampant in my legs, but there was no way left for me to get home but
to push on. Meters turned to kilometers
which ran through communities and eventually I rode into my own town. Past exhaustion but with the closeness of
home and the chance to stop riding, I focused on the goal. ‘Just a little longer and I can rest for a
while…’
Looking back, it was shear force of will
that got me back home. Every push
forward was tough and though I didn’t want to go through the difficulty and
pain, I knew it had to be done. This was
a small thing. Sometimes I think of
Jesus’ life and wonder how He did it- right from the start of His mortal human
life to the end of it.
I gave my back to
those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my
face from disgrace and spitting. For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall
I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that
I shall not be ashamed. Is. 50:6,7
In ministry Jesus had to endure the
taunts of family and friends who didn’t believe in His calling or who He was, and
the rejection of whole communities. And
it just had to be frustrating working closely with friends that didn’t ‘get it’
or get You either- for three years! All
of this would have taken strong determination- focus on the end goal. Jesus knew the end goal- His death and
resurrection. Did it make it easy for Him to endure those final
days? I say no. It compelled Him forward every step of the
way, but the walk to His death was hard, painful, humiliating, and
torturous.
He probably kept His mind on the goal of
man’s salvation just to get through each step, through each beating, whipping,
each nail... In His last days He
probably reminded Himself frequently, “I’m almost home, and then I can rest for
a while.” God in Heaven to ‘God with us’
human life on earth to God in Heaven once again. That middle section a hard journey for
anyone, let alone the Son of God. But He
set His face like flint and gave us grace to restore us unto our Father.
looking to Jesus
the Author and Finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the
cross,
despising the shame,
and sat down at the right of the throne of God.
Hb.
12:2