This week our focus for something we hope you will add to your Lenten discipline is reconciliation. As Jesus prepares for what will happen when he enters Jerusalem, he reflects on what he hopes for this city on a hill. Luke depicts Jesus as having true motherly characteristics in this passage, revealing how much Jesus desires to care for Jerusalem and how painful it is that it wont happen. But reconciliation does happen via the cross and the tomb.

   The world could use a lot of reconciliation right now. We are so divided, and have such disdain for each other, it seems like reconciliation will never happen. It is very easy to become overwhelmed when we think about overcoming the divide that spreads the globe, so we need to start small and with those who are close to us. Are there people in your everyday life that you have had a falling out with? Are there friends and family members that you have become estranged from? What would it look like if you reached out to them and attempted to clear the air and mend the relationship? What would that look like? How would that feel? Why hasn’t it happened yet? The other side of that coin is when folks reach out to us with the hope of reconciling. Will we be open to their efforts or are the wounds too deep? Will we let go of the past or is it just too tough to let go? Whether it’s global or local, reconciliation is tough and yet it’s’ desperately needed. 

   I love how honest Jesus is in this passage. I read it as if he had such great hopes, but they aren’t going to happen. But Jesus still goes to the city that kills the prophets. He allows himself to be arrested, flogged, and murdered. From the cross he proclaims forgiveness and on Easter morning reconciliation happens, whether they want it or not. God never asks us to sacrifice our lives for the sake of reconciliation, Jesus has already done that, but God does ask us to live out our faith in response to who Jesus is. This can be tough but carrying the wounds and the burdens can be even more painful. When we carry these hurts and wounds, they can become a cancer to our souls and spirits and we can turn bitter and cold. That is why we let the light in so that the darkness no longer reigns. This is tough work, but it God’s work. And when we worry if we can do this difficult work, we are reminded that the Holy Spirit goes with us and gives us the strength to do the things that seem impossible.