Lenten Thoughts (Day 15): So what if we knew the end of the story?

"Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the way he took the Twelve to one side and said to them, 'Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will rise again.'" - Matthew 20:17-19

Jesus predicts His death and resurrection before it happens. Given the behaviour of His enemies, it couldn't be hard to believe that death was not far away from Jesus, but the astonishing thing is how Jesus also predicts His own resurrection; not only that, He even predicts when He would be raised back to life. If everything He ever said created doubts, this biggest of predictions promises surely would put His words beyond any doubt about His claims - His claims that He is God the Son, that He loves us, and that He has prepared a place for us in Heaven, and is ready to welcome us if we follow Him.

The reason we can celebrate Lent is because we know the story ends in glory. All suffering, in fact, can end in glory.

Unlike the disciples who had to listen to all this before Jesus actually rose from the dead (as He predicted promised), we know the story, and we know how the story ends. What then is keeping us from living our lives wholeheartedly for Him?