Jesus was just a few days away from the day of His death, and He knew it. And, He was focused on that event and what that event meant. He was a dead man walking.

What does a man on the way to his death think about? I suppose the answer varies with each person but for Jesus He was thinking about the will of the Father. He told His disciples “for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27). Then He said to His Father, “Glorify Your name” (John 12:28).

Something cataclysmic was under way. Jesus and “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31) were on a collision course. On Golgotha forces would collide and Jesus would die. In His death, however, the unthinkable, the unimaginable would take place and the ruler of this world would be cast out. Jesus said that in His being lifted up onto a cross and expiring on that cross He would draw all men to Himself (see John 12:32). The possibilities of redemption would be once and for all forever engrained into the very fiber of reality.

To this reality Jesus calls His disciples. He said to them, and through them to us, “If anyone serve Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also” (John 12:26). Jesus did not run away from the approaching collision but right into it; and so must we. Where I am, there My servant will be also.”

The greatest victory in all the world was won in the place of defeat. Just how big a victory it was would be seen on Easter Sunday morning. And, the ripple effect goes on and on and on. Let us be where Jesus is!