He set his face.

On Sunday, we will celebrate Christ’s resurrection; on Friday, we will remember his death. Until then, I pray that my heart does not forget what happened before.

Luke tells us that “when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”

He set his face. Four words that changed history. For in that moment, once and for all, he chose death. He knew what he was doing and what awaited him. Indeed, he told the twelve: ”see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise” (Luke 18:31-32).

He set his face. To certain death.

The events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion were not a surprise to the Son of God; that Judas would betray him for money, that his own people would forsake him for criminals—it was all known to him. We cannot deceive ourselves into thinking that what took place some 2000 years ago was a matter of mere happen-stance or luck; He knew what was to come—He set his face towards it. He knew that his incarnation had lead to this moment—the moment he would physically show his children the depth of his love. His skin thrashed, his limbs nailed to a cross, the one who knew no sin became sin so that we, me, would know life.

And he chose it. He chose me. He redeemed me—a broken, sinful, twenty-three year old law student who gets overwhelmed by silly things like memos and outlines and case readings. He loves me, us—oh, that I might know this daily. That I might push aside the distractions of life to hear His call to me. Follow me, He whispers. Follow me, and I will show you life everlasting. Lord, let my every breath be hallelujah.

“come and listen,

come to the water’s edge all you, who are thirsty, come.
let me tell you what He has done for me,
He has done for you,
He has done for us.
come and listen,
come and listen to what He has done.”

ignored, but not forgotten.

Until last night, I had not walked on the main campus of UT in probably five months or so. And now, I'm sitting outside the business school, enjoying a beautiful Austin day, and taking in sights that I had seen nearly every day for the last four years--the PCL (though I think I only ventured in there once during my undergraduate career), the creepy statute outside the b-school, the UCC, the West Campus bus, business students in suits...it's strange. The law school is kind of its own monster--self-sufficient and outside the sphere of undergraduate students (except for those few who sneak in to the law library--and don't think we can't tell who you are--graphing calculators are a big tip-off :)). And so while I have been a student at UT for the last six months or so, I haven't taken a step anywhere on the campus except for those few that take me from the parking garage to the law school. Again, I reiterate, it's strange--it's strange to think that those four years passed by so quickly, that those people who were so much a part of this experience for me have left, and that I'm nearly done with my first year of law school. Woah! Time, where have you gone?

In any sense, this blog, like the UT main campus, has been much ignored by me. My apologies to those of you who actually read my ramblings--I will try to do better, but with finals coming up, I might have to defer until this summer...