Welcome to Day 28 of Journey to the Cross, a forty-day devotional leading to Easter. As should be expected, after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, many people believed in Him. Yet some went to the Pharisees and told them about what Jesus had done. We read their response in John 11:47-53.

So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. So from that day on they plotted to kill him.

John 11:47-53

“I’m just along for the ride.” Sometimes someone may not want to drive, but simply be along for the ride and let someone else be in control. Others, like me, generally like to be in control. Simply being along for the ride feels quite unsettling. As a passenger, you have little control. Someone else is deciding for you where you go, what you do, and when your journey will end.

As Jesus’s enemies began plotting Jesus’s death, it seems like they increasingly begin to take control of the events around Jesus’s life. Angry and bloodthirsty, they were determined to confine Jesus to the passenger seat. What they didn’t realize was that the passenger seat in this story is more like the one that I had driver’s education in: the teacher has a steering wheel and a pedals too. He is always in control. Jesus was not just along for the ride. He was in full control and certain to reach the destination to which he had committed. Even Caiaphas’s words in this passage confirm that Jesus would die for the Jews and the scattered children of God. He just didn’t understand what that really meant.

From time to time, suffering and sadness try to drive everyone’s life. You may feel like the events of your life are out of your control. Many times, you are likely correct. But it is never out of God’s control. When you feel like your life is out of control, know that Jesus your Savior is still in the driver’s seat. He will never take you where His grace cannot sustain and bless you.

Barriers and blockades threatened to push Jesus off course as he journeyed to the cross. Yet, He refused to let anything stop him. As you reflect today, think of the barriers threatening to deter you from your journey with Jesus. What temptations encircle you? What fears threaten to paralyze you? What circumstances loom over you?

Today as you pray, thank God that He is always in control. If your circumstances are out of your control, ask God give you assurance that He will direct you in His love. Pray that God would remove any barriers threatening your relationship with Him and that He would give you persistence in the journey.

Thank you for joining me for Day 28. Tomorrow we will begin to look at the purpose of the journey. Come back and check it out!