Walking with Jesus: Finding courage for the road ahead

Lieutenant Thomas Morgan encourages us to have courage in the face of the unknown.

Imagine you are climbing a tall mountain. The rocky path ahead is veiled in mist. You’ve been climbing for hours, and you know you must be getting close to the summit, but you cannot see where you are going or when you might reach your destination. As you continue to climb, your guide turns around and offers you his hand in support. He reassures you that he alone knows the way, and that you can trust him – it’ll all be worth it in the end, despite the uncertainty of the path ahead.

How would you feel at this point of your journey? Would you, not knowing what lay ahead, want to turn back? Or would you place your trust in your guide and keep climbing?

This Palm Sunday, as Jesus makes his final journey into Jerusalem, we can ask ourselves – how did Jesus, knowing all that was to come, maintain obedience to God the Father? And how can we, not knowing what lies ahead, have courage to follow God’s call on our own lives?

As we reach Palm Sunday, we might compare this point in the Easter story to reaching the foot of our own mountain of faith. We can see some of the path ahead, and maybe the peak of the mountain, but not the path itself.

This is similar to Jesus’ journey to the cross, the tomb and the Resurrection.

Palm Sunday, the first in a series of events in Holy Week, was not a surprise to Jesus. Jesus had repeatedly told his disciples what would happen to fulfil the prophecies found in the Old Testament. Jesus also understood exactly what events such as the Last Supper, the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and the trial in front of Pontius Pilate would mean. Jesus also knew that, without the suffering and death on the cross, there would be no Resurrection.

In Matthew 20:18 and 19, Jesus tells his disciples – not for the first time – what is going to happen to him. There is a focus on the physical pain he will suffer before his death and resurrection. Jesus knows that this is the cost of obeying his heavenly Father, but Jesus is also human, and we can see something of the fear of what he was to physically endure on the cross. Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wrestles with this, crying out: ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will’ (Matthew 26:39).

Despite the cost, perhaps even because of the cost, Jesus chose to be obedient. Yet he did not make such decisions lightly. He made a courageous, active choice to submit to God’s will.

We, on the other hand, rarely have such clear knowledge of what is to come. We often find ourselves on the mountain path, not knowing what is to come or when, even if, we will reach the summit. We are often faced with decisions as individuals, and as communities of faith, that carry significant weight and can impact our relationships and spiritual lives together. We may feel a gentle nudge, a deep conviction or a seemingly illogical prompting that we believe is God’s call.

Even then, the path ahead can seem to disappear into the mist. This uncertainty can breed fear and hesitation. We worry about failure and making the wrong choices. Unlike Jesus, we don’t have a clear map of the route ahead. Because of this, God calls us to trust him and step out in faith.

As we take our first, maybe tentative, steps ahead, we can begin by acknowledging our fear. This is not a sign of weakness, but a recognition of our humanity. Surrendering that fear to God, trusting that he is in control, is the first step towards courage to reach the mountaintop. As we climb ever higher, we do so with Christ as our companion, each step guided by God our Father.

But we do not simply meet God at the top of the mountain. We meet God when we recognise that, in and through Christ, we walk each daily step with him, even when we cannot see the path ahead, let alone the mountain summit. This Holy Week, let us be inspired by the Holy Spirit to place our hand in the hand of our walking companion Christ, who – in and through God our Father – will lead us through the mist to the clear view of the mountain summit.

With Jesus as our guide and companion, we too can find strength to obey God’s call, knowing that – in and through our own doubt and suffering – the ultimate destination is worth the journey.

When we cannot see our way
Let us trust and still obey;
He who bids us forward go
Cannot fail the way to show.
(SASB 689)