There is a great deal we don’t really understand about the ministry of Jesus. Apart from the birth narratives and the moment when Jesus was twelve and spent time in Jerusalem debating with the scholars in the temple, we have little idea about how he lived and exactly where and when he went anywhere. Of course, his childhood and his work as a carpenter are in Nazareth in Galilee. And he seems to have spent thirty years, the first half or so being educated and the second half working gently and quietly at home, in his mother’s and father’s house. All this is preparation for his tumultuous life on the road and his ultimate offering of himself on the cross.

The three synoptic Gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke, tell the story of Jesus’ ministry in quite different ways. St John’s Gospel behaves quite differently from the synoptic Gospels, with just seven miracles, which St John calls signs, and long discourses, starting of course with the wonderful prologue to St John’s Gospel. St John’s Gospel is probably the last to have been written towards the end of the first century AD.

St Mark’s Gospel, written in the mid-60s AD, is much shorter than the other gospels and there seems to be a directness about the Gospel, which is highly attractive. Some think that Mark was heavily advised and directed by St Peter himself. Mark cannot have been part of our Lord’s personal ministry, so he relies heavily on Peter, who of course was there and knew and remembered what had been going on. We can imagine that in Peter’s later life, before his imprisonment and death in Rome, he was able to tell Mark all the stories, in fairly random order, of Jesus’s ministry.

St Matthew’s Gospel comes a little later and includes quite a good chunk of Mark’s Gospel, but with a great deal more, especially the lengthy direct language accounts, as for example, chapters 5, 6 and 7, being one lengthy sermon. There are others later on. But Matthew likes things to be in order, more or less, not necessarily the historic order, but an order that he has chosen for his Gospel account.

Luke’s Gospel works quite differently. Think of today’s Gospel reading from St Luke. We have just heard the last few sentences of chapter 13 of St Luke’s Gospel. The whole chapter is curiously mixed. It starts with a discussion between some Galileans and Jesus. Jesus uses the discussion to tell his hearers that they are to repent. ‘Unless you repent’, Jesus says, ‘you will all perish just as they did.’ There is no compromise here. He is very definite. The chapter has three accounts of parables: the barren fig tree, the mustard seed and the yeast. But, Luke adds a wonderful account of the healing of a crippled woman. He healed the woman, but also had a dispute with the Jewish authorities about healing on the sabbath day.

And, in the end, the whole congregation in the synagogue rejoices at the wonderful healing he has achieved. Then Jesus went through a number of towns and villages. He tells the people that they should strive to enter through the narrow door. The people will have said to Jesus, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But Jesus response is to say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers.’ 

Now, at the end of this remarkable chapter, we hear another quite separate account. Fascinatingly, it is some Pharisees who come to Jesus to warn him that Herod wishes to kill him. Jesus is again very direct, saying, ‘Go and tell that fox for me.’ He then talks about the healing ministry he is undertaking and the good things he is doing. But suddenly, he perhaps recognises the danger he is in. And Jesus recognises that he needs to go to Jerusalem. He must be there. He says, ‘It is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.’ And then he has a moment of reflection on the beauty and greatness of Jerusalem itself, the capital city of Israel and the place where the temple of Jerusalem itself is the most significant building in the city.

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem’, Jesus says, ‘the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.’ Jesus has no doubt that he must travel towards Jerusalem and do as much as he can in teaching and healing on the way. He will eventually arrive there. And in a curious way he longs for the beauty and majesty of Jerusalem, so great a city with its amazing temple. But he recognises that it is also a bitter place, where terrible things happen. And our Lord seems to have a very clear and determined sense that, whatever happens and however it happens, he must in the end arrive there. And he is also clear, although he does not at this stage tell people, that he will die there. This is the conclusion he reached during his forty days in the wilderness. He gives every impression of having worked out what he must do and how he must do it. But the end must be his own tragic death.

The Church of England’s calendar identifies a number of martyrs, some of them better known than others. The first Christian martyr, identified on 26th December, is St Stephen, a deacon. But he is by no means alone. The English prayer book and calendar identifies in this month of March: Perpetua and Felicity and their companions, martyrs at Carthage in the year 203; Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, martyred in the year 1556; and Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, martyred in the year 1980. Last month, we also recognised the martyrdom of Janani Luwum, archbishop of Uganda, martyred in the year 1977. So, we are reminded that martyrdom is not just in the distant past, but in the present. We could add Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest, who was martyred in a German concentration camp in the year 1941. He offered his own life in place of a man with a family. There are many more. One Wikipedia account lists 196 Roman Catholic martyrs from the 20th century alone.

Each of these martyrs suffered dreadful punishments and were finally put to death in often terrible ways. But, each of them speaks to us, if only we could get hold of their accounts, in a powerful way. They finally gave their own lives. Think for a moment of Thomas Cranmer, who was quite old when he was eventually put to death, during the troubled 16th century. He feared his fate. He had been a distinguished archbishop of Canterbury, but now Queen Mary I was determined that he should die. He was burnt at the stake, having first thrust his right hand into the flames. Each one of these martyrs has a story, if only we would know it, that speaks of sacrifice and tragedy. And we trust that each of them has their particular place in heaven.

Lent reminds us of those who have suffered and those who suffer for truth’s sake. They encourage us on our own Christian journey. We do not ourselves expect to suffer martyrdom. But we can link ourselves to those saints and be encouraged to follow in their steps. And we can be inspired by their example, as part of the great company of those who have walked in the way of Jesus Christ our Lord.