"Touchdown!"

The NASA team, along with many of us watching the event from home, welcomed all four Artemis II astronauts home this past Friday at 7:07 CST after completing what seemed to us to be a flawless reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. The heat shield of the Orion capsule protected its precious cargo through 5,000 degrees of intensely dangerous heat at speeds of 25,000 miles per hour. Many of us whispered our prayers for the crew’s safety.

Image: petapixel.com

Described frequently as a “dynamic and dangerous mission,” this incredible journey to the moon did not disappoint! I was one among many other space travel enthusiasts who were wowed by the pictures the crew took, and enjoyed their cabin antics over the ten-day mission. This epic and dynamic flight, out and around the moon, required the execution of so many crucial steps and changes. Experts kept reminding us in this historic mission that “a lot of things had to go right” for this to be as successful as it appeared to be.

And who could deny the shear danger of the reentry and those 6 minutes of communication blackout just before touchdown? I was holding my breath when the eleven parachutes were deployed that slowed the spacecraft to 20 mph at splashdown. Our collective concern continued as those Navy divers made their way to the capsule and eventually popped the hatch that would give medical doctors passage to the crew and confirmed they were safe and sound!

“Dynamic and dangerous” could be descriptors for the mission of our Lord and Savior. Easter Sunday and the resurrection was the culmination of three, intense years of ministry leading up to Jesus’ death on the Cross. Yes, in many ways, believers witnessed how many things, which had been predicted by the prophets of old, had to take place for Jesus’ journey from heaven to earth to accomplish our salvation.

Our Sunday small group at church has been taking a deep dive into the gospel of Luke since the beginning of this new year. We have just completed chapter nine that notes how Dr. Luke summarizes facts of Jesus’ ministry in this narrative that have been building to a crescendo in this pivotal verse, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51).

Translators have variously rendered this subtle, but important, Greek idiom, “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” (KJV). Having completed eighteen or more months of Galilean ministry that would be characterized as His most popular years of service, Luke now wants his readers to see a significant shift in geography. Jesus (He Himself, intensely stated), purpose-driven, sets out for Judea. This final journey will be the setting where He will face extreme opposition, hostility, and death at the hands of the Romans and religious leaders.

The Galilean years brought crowds to hear Jesus’ teaching, see His miracles, and express amazement at the authority of His ministry as well as witness the compassion of His deeds. Conversely, the Judean ministry would record numerous instances when hypocritical religious leaders would criticize, find fault, and build intentional traps in their attempts to discredit Jesus. They would reject Him and boldly declare by their actions, “He’s not our kind of Messiah!”

God’s Son would “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” with an ironclad commitment to His mission knowing that He was doing His Father’s will and pleasing the One who often declared, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased!”

Yes, I see the “dynamic amidst the dangerous” in the gospel story. Thank God, Jesus never yielded to the devil’s temptations to embrace the glory and avoid the dangerous. Instead, “Jesus made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of servant… He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:7-8).

We have been saved because Jesus never wavered from His purpose! Let’s praise the Lord!

Related Link: Artemis II

Mike Keppler, retired pastor,
active churchman and
doting grandparent.
Contact: drmjkeppler@gmail.com
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