James Tissot (d. 1902)
Click on the image to enlarge it.
I like the language of Luke here: “When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his fact to go to Jerusalem.” Or, as the King James Version has it, “he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
καὶ αὐτὸς τὸ πρόσωπον ἐστήρισεν τοῦ πορεύεσθαι εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ.
We mustn’t assume, simply because he was the divine Son of God, that this was easy for him. He knew, as much as anyone who hadn’t actually experienced it yet could know, what faced him in Jerusalem.
Yet he went.
I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.
I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In