In this sermon, we looked at how Jesus’ closest followers kept their distance as He went to the cross. As Jesus died on the cross and cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” we see just how much Jesus trusted His Father. In contrast, Luke 24 tells us that all of Jesus’ acquaintances, and the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching while He was interrogated, tortured, and crucified. They wanted to see what was happening to Him without putting themselves in danger. They wanted to be close enough to see if what Jesus had told them was right but not so close that they would be let down, disappointed, or humiliated for believing that He was the Son of God. Unlike Jesus, they didn’t ultimately trust God with their lives. The same can be true for us today. We want to be close enough to see what Jesus is up to without giving Him the space to be up to something in our lives. We want to know enough about Jesus to make us feel safe, without risking anything to follow Him. Therefore, many of us follow Jesus at a distance. The truth of the Gospel is that the safest place we could be is in a trusting relationship with Jesus.
