“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And He sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for Him; but the people there did not welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51-62
Jesus is totally devoted to accomplishing his Father’s will and finally, resolutely begins the journey to Jerusalem. The decision is radical and final. The followers who by now have at least some sense of his plan trudge alongside him, fear mixed with obedience. Do they understand the Savior is “living on borrowed time”?
One definition of that English idiom is
“a period of uncertainty during which the inevitable consequences of a current situation are usually postponed or avoided.”
If we look into the future that looms ahead of Jesus, we can see him agonizing with his Father, asking if there could not be some other plan: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me…” Jesus’ acceptance of that plan (“yet not my will, but yours be done”) eliminates any thought of postponing or avoiding the consequences of the situation.
Shortly after Luke describes the resolute path to Jerusalem, he records a conversation Jesus has with his friends in which he talks yet again about the cost of following the Savior. Some who hear the cost will want to return to the assumed safety and security of what they have become accustomed to. Others, like those trudging disciples, will follow the path to Jerusalem, not understanding all the cost, but willing to live—with Jesus—on borrowed time.
Questions: What does it mean to “live on borrowed time”? Do we also live on borrowed time?
By Marilyn Ehle
used by permission
FURTHUR READING
- A Time to Throw Away – by John Grant
- Living One Day at a Time – by Palitha Jayasooriya
- It Is Time – Christian Poem