Luke 18:32-33
For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:  And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.

It is an amazing truth that Jesus knew ahead of time what would happen when He went to Jerusalem.  The Scriptures had revealed every agonizing detail of what would come to pass.  And Jesus Himself had a deep understanding of all that awaited Him.  He knew He would be betrayed by one so close to Him.  He knew He would be arrested, falsely accused, condemned to die by a Roman ruler.  He knew His brethren would mock Him and spit on Him and deny Him to His face.  And He knew that most painful part of the scourging and the crucifixion that would surely come after all of that.  He knew the humiliation that awaited Him, the physical pain, the wrath of God that would be poured out upon Him.  He knew exactly what would it cost and what it would mean for Him to be our Savior.

But Jesus went, humbly and steadfastly, to Jerusalem.  He didn’t shy away from the pain that He knew was ahead of Him, the agony He would face on that cross.  He didn’t turn aside to some other path, didn’t tarry on the way.  All along, He hadn’t sought a life of comfort and ease for Himself, but one of obedience and service, and He wouldn’t change now, not when He was so close to His expected end.  But knowing that end, as He did, He was determined to see it through.

So let us walk ahead with the same mind-set as our Lord, because He goes with us toward whatever we will face.  Sometimes we just have to be willing to expose ourselves to something that might hurt.  Sometimes we have to keep going anyway, even if something difficult awaits us, even if we’re ridiculed, even if we suffer.  Sometimes we just have to determine ahead of time that we will go no matter what because we are following Jesus and we desire to be obedient to our Father.  Sometimes we just have to set aside our own comfort, our own best interest, maybe even our life, and submit to what God has for us.

Jesus understood more perfectly than anyone what He would experience on the cross.  But He also saw ahead to what came next—the resurrection, the return to life, the return home to His Father in heaven.  And He’s given us a glimpse of what comes next.  Sometimes it’s hard to see past this life so full of trouble and toil.  It’s almost impossible to even imagine at all what it will be like to live with Him in a sinless place as sinless people.  But that is the sure future that awaits us because Jesus was willing to endure the cross for us.  So let us go forward encouraged that Jesus goes with us through every situation, every struggle, every task, and someday He will take us to that special place He has prepared for us.