Week Three

Part 3: The travail…

Read Isaiah 53: 3-12

Isaiah 53: 11 in the King James version of the Bible reads: ”He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” That word ‘travail’, meaning laborious effort, comes from a latin origin referring to a torture implement (three + stakes). ‘Travail’ isn’t commonly used in contemporary English but the word ‘travel’ which we use frequently was originally a Middle English variant of travail and had the same meaning. Imagine if our Sunday newspapers had pull out ‘Travail’ supplements and you could go to a ‘Travail Agents’ to book some painful effort… It’s useful to ponder on the links between travails and travels — in either case we find ourselves ending up somewhere new.

This reading foreshadows the mystery of the incarnation — that Jesus’s soul travelled, it went through the darkness and into the light on our behalf. It wasn’t instantaneous or automatic, it took effort and love and sacrifice. Why did Jesus walk our road and not just ‘helicopter’ over it? Why go to such extraordinary lengths to experience life on a human scale?

Read 2 Corinthians 8: 1-9

As we have learned again during the pandemic: generosity and wealth aren’t linked. Some of the most generous people have been those with the most to lose who have gone over and above to help others. How have you experienced generosity over the past year?

How can we excel in generosity ourselves in the week ahead?

Read Hebrews 9: 11-15

The mind-blowing truth about Jesus is that he travelled our road, he felt our pain, and in so doing brought about our redemption, our joy and our restoration. Jesus cares deeply about us and wants to have a relationship with us.

Imagine going on a walk with Jesus. As a group discuss the different places you would take him. What would you show him along the way?

Then — here’s the twist — you can actually go on this walk with Jesus! He lives! Next time you visit that place go alongside Jesus (if it isn’t practical to get to that place yourself then take Jesus somewhere else and chat about it anyway, he won’t mind) pointing things out as you go.