KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS

The Letter to the Hebrews (Ch.12.2)  urges us Christians,  “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which lay ahead of Him, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame of it, and has taken His seat at the right of God's throne.”

“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.” During this season of Lent, as we have journeyed along the Stations of the Cross, Jesus has led us, we  have followed Jesus, to the summit of  Calvary Hill. In real time, all those years ago, outside Jerusalem,   eyes were fixed on Jesus…nailed to a cross, dying on a cross.

Most of the crowd were looking UP TOWARDS JESUS, hanging above them on the cross –first of all, most of all, Mary, His mother, consoling Him by her loving ‘being there’ with Him, for Him. Mary was accompanied by John, the ‘Beloved Disciple,’ and other loyal disciples.

Others were staring UP at Jesus; people with hatred and cruelty in their eyes;  on their tongues  ugly, jeering insults. They were glad to see Jesus in agony. These  thugs had driven Jesus along the way towards the place where they would nail Him to a cross.

 However, there were two others, and only two, who were looking ACROSS at Jesus – two thieves from their crosses fixing their eyes on Jesus on His cross.

One of them with abusive contempt, challenged Jesus to release Himself and themselves from their crosses, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save   yourself and us as well,’ (Lk. 23.39).    

The other thief  “spoke up and rebuked him. 'Have you no fear of God at all?' he said. 'You got the same sentence as He did, ⁴¹ but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

This thief must have been an amazing person: even in his death agony he could see the justice of his own punishment for what he had done; even in his agony he acknowledged the innocence of Jesus. This perception in the midst of excruciating pain is truly extraordinary. 

Even more extraordinary was his request, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” What madness is this? Anyone, everyone – including the man himself - should have known that the three on Calvary were going nowhere –except to be buried in a hole in the ground under a mound of earth and stones.

Further madness, the very idea of Jesus being crucified as a criminal having a kingdom of His own and then being interested in someone the rest of the world would have considered less than garbage! .….no way to be taken seriously!  And yet the petition, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’ produced a most remarkable response, ‘In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

Paradise, heaven, for Jesus to be with this vagabond, this rogue, this man! Jesus looked forward to that!  What was there about this man that earned such acceptance from Jesus?  With an insight that could only have been gifted by God, this despised man KEPT HIS EYES FIXED ON JESUS.

With all our longings and ambitions, our successes and acquisitions, the spiritual bedrock of our lives must be a delight in Jesus, an attachment to Jesus. None of us should allow this bedrock regard for Jesus to crumble. Throughout our lives our eyes must be so fixed on Jesus that we never cease to long that, ‘Jesus remember us NOW THAT HE HAS COME INTO HIS KINGDOM.’   We should never   allow  anyone, anything to deflect our eyes from Jesus.

Once Lent, Holy Week, and Easter celebrations are over our determination should be

JESUS, MAY I ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU SO THAT  I MAY NEVER LOSE INTEREST IN COMING INTO YOUR KINGDOM.                                           

 At the moment I can do no more than gaze upon my crucifix, identify myself with this wretched, blessed, man and, from the core of my very being, express my longing,

‘JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.’

PETER CLARKE, OP