The Journey to Easter
Gene Allen Groner
Author of over 50 books and biographies. Writer of memoirs and articles for Daily Bread, Herald, and Veterans' Voices magazine
The following testimony comes from Scott Murphy and is included in my new book of present-day stories titled, Testify, now available at www.amazon.com
The Journey to Easter
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.” Matthew 4:1-2 NRSV
If you are like me, there are times in the busyness of life when I would like to skip over the season of Lent and get right to the joyful celebration of Easter. The journey between Lent and Easter requires something of us that is not always easy or comfortable.
Our theme this first Sunday in Lent highlights what I’m suggesting—strength and vulnerability.
Being vulnerable is not an attribute most people strive to achieve. Vulnerability requires a willingness to let down our guard and to be open to see life—our life—in different ways. Yet, being vulnerable, as uncomfortable as it may be, is precisely what we need to explore the kind of new life God is inviting us to experience. This is what we encounter in the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness.
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At the heart of this story, the Gospel writer encourages us to see the human side of Jesus and his willingness to be vulnerable. Jesus does not achieve this by seizing power for himself, by testing or negotiating with God, or by finding an easier way to skip the cross and jump right to Easter morning. This story is about what Jesus discovered when he was willing to be vulnerable to the divine love that journeyed with him.
This is why we need this time of Lent. There is no skipping the journey to jump immediately to Easter. The new life that awaits us takes on deeper meaning when we are willing to be vulnerable in our own “wilderness-time” of self-examination and reflection.
May your Lenten journey be filled with new discoveries of life as you choose to be vulnerable in your own wilderness. There you will discover the person God is calling you to be and find the strength to live out that calling.
Gene Groner, author and storyteller