This weekend in our region the Ironman triathlon competition is pulling in the crowds along the highways and byways of our city. The race is on to discover who can claim to be the number one Iron man in this nation. We will clap them and cheer them on their way, as they exert every effort in a gruelling physical feat.
It is hard not to draw the parallels with Palm Sunday. Here we have the crowds on the highways and byways leading into Jerusalem, clapping and cheering on this Man of Iron will, who exerts every effort in a gruelling emotional and spiritual feat (and physical as well), of offering Himself to the torturers and executioners of His day.
Two different crowds, two different journeys, two different outcomes. I have admiration for those who push the limits of physical endurance, who test and push themselves towards the finishing line, earning the self-satisfaction of knowing they can do it – or still do it!
Yet the journey which Jesus makes touches my soul. Here is one who goes to the uttermost extremes on my account. As Isaiah puts it, “surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering…the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isa 53).
The crowds on Palm Sunday proved to be fickle, for in a few days the crowds (whether the same or another I do not know) were calling for His blood. It may be Palm Sunday, but Friday’s coming! There is a deliberate turning to the cross on Jesus’ part. He knows what is coming and with iron resolve he heads into it.
To be a follower of Christ today takes iron will also. It is easy to get distracted, diverted or divested of our intent and motivation. The attractions of the world loom large and beckon us persistently. There is a resolve needed on our part to stay the distance.
Near the end of his earthly time, the apostle Paul can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Those are words built into the baptism service as well, as they indicate we have a race to run, a calling to exercise, a destiny to fulfil, and it is a race not run in a day but in a lifetime.
Paul continues by saying, “now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:9).
Whether or not you are into Ironman races, the race that really counts is the one whereby we resolve to follow the Man of Iron who forged a new destiny for us through His death and resurrection. As we come to this week, to the Easter season, may we establish or renew such resolve and enter into the lasting power of these events.