Hindsight is 20/20. I look back over my life and can now seeclearly where I may have gone terribly wrong if I had done what Ihad wanted to instead of following that still small voice inside myheart.

Don’t you think Jesus might have felt the same way when he was ableto look back over his earthly life and finally realize exactly whyGod had him travel on to Jerusalem toward the cross that particularday instead of staying safely in Galilee?

Do you think he really knew that, before the week was out, he wouldbe crucified on a cross between two thieves? Did he know?

My opinion of Jesus is that he was as human as I am. He lived lifetrying to do the best job he could of it and sometimes he mighthave questioned whether he was going in the right direction ornot.

I think Jesus could have stayed safely in Galilee ignoring thatpull he felt pointing him toward Jerusalem. He could have been arespected rabbi. He could have left a great legacy of teaching andpreaching like no other human ever had.

He went anyway. He made plans to celebrate the Passover with 12 ofhis closest friends. These guys had been together for almost threeyears. They were as close as brothers and as different as nightfrom day.

I think some of the disciples were more political in nature thanothers. They knew Jesus was a powerful leader. He was a healer anda charismatic speaker. Power literally radiated from his body allof the time. I think some of them may have thought Jesus wastraveling to Jerusalem to physically overthrow the currentgovernment and proclaim himself king!

One disciple believed this so strongly that he felt led to forceJesus’ hand when it came to taking over the government andproclaiming himself King of the Jews. He wanted an earthlyking.

Imagine the disciple’s surprise and horror when Jesus proved himwrong. Jesus meekly submitted to the shackles and beatings. Henever said a word as the illegal trial took place in the dead ofnight and then, as the day was breaking he allowed himself to benailed to a cross like a common criminal.

Do you think Jesus understood even then why all this was happeningto him? Whether he did or not, I think he knew he was doing exactlywhat he had to do in order to obey his Father and his God.

Imagine yourself a disciple on the third day after Jesus’ death.You are hiding in a locked room scared that any minute you mightmeet the same fate as Jesus.

The knock on the door comes! You literally have to hold on tosomething to keep yourself from fainting in fear. The knock comesagain. You know you have to open the door.

As the door opens you see, not a legion of soldiers come to takeyou to jail, but a weeping woman hysterically screaming, “He’salive. John, Peter, he’s alive. I talked to him in the garden. He’salive. He said you were to go to Galilee and you’ll see himthere!”

You rush to the tomb and sure enough there is no one in the grave.Where you saw Jesus’ body just hours before there is only a stripof linen folded neatly where his head had lain.

Hindsight is 20/20. I think (and this is simply my opinion) thatJesus fully understood the reason for going into Jerusalem onlyafter his resurrection. Just like the 11 disciples finallyunderstood that Jesus did not come to earth to physically conquerit and rule over it but to show us a better way only after hisappearances to them post resurrection. That way was to love theLord your God with all your heart and soul and your neighbor asyourself.

Hindsight is 20/20. What do you see when you look back over yourlife? When I look back over mine I can see a common thread. I nowunderstand that it was and is that spark in my heart of God leadingme to the point where I am standing now.

The spark within the heart of Jesus as he traveled toward Jerusalemthat day lives in you and in me today. What I do about that spark,how I fan it and feed it, or douse it with water is totally up tome.

What will you do about it?

Alleluia. Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed.Alleluia.

Have a wonderful week!

Write to Sue Minter at P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS 39602, or sende-mail to minterjj@bellsouth.net.