“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.”

When Our Lord says this, He is not speaking poetically. He is speaking quite literally. From Galilee to Jerusalem one travels south, and instinctively we would think of that journey as going down. Yet Galilee lies in one of the lowest regions on earth—second only to the Dead Sea. Galilee is the lowest inhabited region of all. To go from Capernaum to Jerusalem is to ascend more than three thousand feet. Jesus and the Twelve are truly going up—step by step, on foot, by a difficult and demanding climb.

But this ascent is not only geographical. It is deeply spiritual. As they go up to Jerusalem, they are going toward the Temple, toward sacrifice, toward fulfillment. They are walking toward the destiny of the Son of Man. Our Lord Himself explains the meaning of this journey: “All things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man.” Jerusalem is not simply a city; it is the place where prophecy is fulfilled, where sacrifice reaches its perfection, where salvation will be accomplished through suffering.

This is why the Church places these words before us as we stand on the threshold of Lent. We too are called to go up to Jerusalem—but our ascent is a spiritual one. Everything has already been fulfilled in Christ, yet it must be continually made present and actualized in our lives through the Church’s liturgy. Lent and Holy Week allow us to enter visibly, emotionally, and spiritually into the mystery of our redemption. We walk with Christ. We ascend with Him. We do not merely remember His Passion; we participate in it.

And this ascent has consequences. Going up to Jerusalem changes us. Meditation on the Passion of Christ is the true road to conversion—but only if it passes from the mind into the soul. To contemplate His suffering and death is to allow His sacrifice to shape our lives. We go up to Jerusalem to be crucified with Christ, to help make up in our own flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ—not in their perfection, but in their extension through His Body, the Church. All who are baptized are called to participate in and to collaborate with the Perfect Victim.

This means crucifying our will so that His will may live in us. Crucifying our disordered desires so that His perfect plan may unfold. Crucifying our anger so that we may love as He loves. Crucifying the old self, so that the New Man, Jesus Christ, may live in us.

This is why, every Lent, we go up to Jerusalem: so that we may be united to the Sacrificial Victim, for our salvation and for the salvation of the world.