Lent 2024 | Day 35

March 24th, 2024

By Janet Nygren
Day 35 (Monday, Mar 25)

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to re-center my scattered senses upon the presence of God.¹

Pause and pray.

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” (Matthew 16:21-23)

Think about it.

This week we will think about dying to glory and rising with Jesus. But rather than starting with Palm Sunday, we are stepping back to a scene much earlier, reminding us that Jesus’ journey to the cross was no accident. Jesus had agreed to this plan long ago. As we heard earlier in Philippians 2:8, “Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” As we come to know Jesus better by following in his footsteps, we see that he is willing to die to glory. Peter stands in stark contrast, when he reacts against Jesus’ words. He wants to protect Jesus from such inglorious treatment (and perhaps be on the winning team).

Consider.

At the core of Jesus’ commitment to his journey to the cross is his complete surrender to God’s will, giving up any path to glory he determines for himself. My own pursuit for glory is very different from that. Similar to the longing for a good reputation, my hunger for glory exists in the approval of other people, and experiencing it now. Even if it’s shameful to admit to others, I can get caught up in daydreams of glorious success, where I was the one who made everything fall into place, or had the perfect answer to a question, or landed the last perfect shot that caused my team to win the game. Ah me! Dying to glory gets at the essence of my pride, or insecurity, two sides of the same coin. Is dying to glory a struggle for you?

Pause and pray.

Jesus, help me humble myself and trust in your glory, not my own.

“Oh for the days …the young stepped aside, and the aged rose in respect. The princes stood in silence and put their hands over their mouths. The highest officials of the city stood quietly, holding their tongues in respect. All who heard me praised me. All who saw me spoke well of me. For I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help.” (Job 29:4, 8-12)

Notes