The Desert Has No Detours + Brief Reflection on Crime and Punishment

Day 4: Jesus did not take shortcuts on his journey to Calvary. We should be grateful he didn’t. Otherwise, we could not boast in the cross (Gal. 6:14).

Tolkien once said, “Shortcuts make for long delays.” Shortcuts are usually seen as a way of avoiding areas we don’t wish to encounter. It’s quite true that when we go on a journey, we need to know where we are going. For us, we are 1/10 of the way through our Lenten journey, and our destination is Easter. We can’t take shortcuts on this journey. We are still early, and we must walk through the desert places, step on serpent’s heads, and take naps surrounded by wild animals (Mark 1:13; Gen. 3:15).

Jesus did not take shortcuts on his journey to Calvary. We should be grateful he didn’t. Otherwise, we could not boast in the cross (Gal. 6:14).

But the journey of Lent is a long journey. These next 37 days are important days in our ritual-building paradigm.

The Road Is Traveled With Others