And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise." - Mark 10:32-34
Walking is good for the heart. Why? Because walking is hard on the heart. Walking makes the heart work. What good are hearts unable to function under the demands of the body? Walking is good for the heart because it demands from it. Yet, for Gary Pyle this week, a walking stress test failed. Immediately doctors canceled the walking. To tax a weak heart would be malpractice. Gary is in the hospital. Notwithstanding appearances, Gary couldn't handle it. His blood was thinned, and surgical intervention is now planned for Tuesday Sure, we want Gary up walking again, but right now he can't. You can't make successful demands of a weak heart. Walking with Jesus is hard on the heart. On the road to Jerusalem, on the way toward having his own heart traumatized and broken, Jesus walked ahead of his anxious disciples. Their walking behind Jesus was stressful. It was, quite literally, an uphill climb. But as they walked, a far greater and extraneous stress, beyond the normal demands of the topography, was applied to their hearts. The Son of Man, the Friend they loved, spoke of a fatal attack coming against his own heart. Treachery, condemnation, mockery, brutality, and finally death claimed His heart and would end His life. Jesus didn't shade the awful truth. Each terrible prediction was an ordeal against their hearts. Yet, hearts are made to believe. Healthy hearts are given to faith, and Jesus tests theirs. He walks them. He walks them up to Jerusalem though they do not fully know what great good would come from such a climb. Jesus walks ahead of them. Not to provoke thrombosis; not keen to suffer; but He walks to Jerusalem because His heart is prepared to bear the lethal injury of our sins. Jesus walked into a heart attack even though He was completely and perfectly healthy. His faith was flawless and fit and His love robust. His heart was pure. No obstruction, no resentment, no repression of love whatever. You can make demands of a strong heart. And His was strong. We do not say believing is an easy undertaking. In fact, it is impossible on our own. Walking in Christ's footsteps is difficult, and serious. Our hearts have so often failed to trust Him. Our hearts have not worked as they were designed. Clogged with grievance and failure, we are congestive, unable to meet the simplest demands a heart should handle. Only a strong heart can walk behind Christ. Therefore God told His people (Ezekiel 11:19-20), "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." Christians aren't "fixed." Christians are reborn with a new heart ... Christ's heart. Such a heart can be exercised, taxed, and strained without fear of even a trace of failure. God sets upon us the weighty Word of the cross and we can believe it. He foretells resurrection, and against all opposition and doubt, we know it's true. Jesus said what He would do, and then He did what He said He would. He walked to the cross. He walked with His cross. He walked under the crushing demands of the Law and put His heart and life in the balance. And after three days ... after those three days of which He told his disciples, Jesus walked free of death and tomb and trauma. For us who often regard matters of the heart an inconvenience (and surely heart surgery for Gary next week seems so untimely), yet we have in Christ a Lord who has given us a living heart to trust all He has said and done. Though our hearts be pressured or courage taxed, we are revived by God's Word so formidable, so athletic and durable, that by the strength we have in Christ, we may walk without fear or faltering.
