April 2, 2021 - Good Friday
Excerpt from an article entitled Via Dolorosa written by Sarah Winfrey:
A man struggles up a dusty path. He staggers, clearly not strong enough to bear the massive wooden beam that sits across his shoulders. Falling, he catches himself, pauses for a breath or two, and slowly pushes himself upright again. He glances toward his destination, only a few hundred meters from where he is now. It is a desolate place: a rock outcropping looking out over Jerusalem, where another piece of wood already stands. This one is taller, with one end buried in the dirt. He knows that, when he arrives, the soldiers will fix the beam currently across his shoulders high up on that wooden pole. Then they will nail him to it, and then he will die.
He stumble again, and this time he cannot catch himself. He tries to stand but falls back to his knees. The bloody wounds on his back are flowing freely again, and he does not move except to heave a weary breath into his longs. The soldiers grab someone, a simple passerby, and thrust the beam upon him. Then they drag the man to his feet and pull him forward once again. Even without the weight across his shoulders, he struggles to move. They goad and jeer, and eventually he stumbles on.
It is no doubt that Jesus suffered terribly. He was beaten and bloody before this journey down what is known as the Via Delarosa ever began. Walking about a third of a mile, with a cross beam weighing probably close to 100 pounds on his back. He was sweaty and bloody, dirt ground in his wounds from falling; he was already gasping for breath.
If you think of the wounds that Jesus had already endured before carrying his cross, you would probably be amazed that he made it even a single step, yet Jesus made it most of the way there before needing Simon, the innocent Cyrenian to carry his cross for him.
Along with Jesus’ torture and accusations the night before, this one of the most brutal scenes in the Bible. It is easier to look away, to pass directly from his arrest to his joyous resurrection. Or it would be even easier to pass from the pomp and celebration of Palm Sunday’s entrance into Jerusalem to the grander celebration of Easter morning. But we can’t and truly have an appreciation for the faith we have made alive in Christ.
We cannot avoid the pain, nor can we avoid the suffering of our Lord because of what the prophet Isaiah foretold, and the apostle Peter reminded us, that it is only by his wounds are we healed. His wounds. His torture. His death. That is what opened the door to the fullness of life for us.
Jesus embraced his cross and his death on behalf of the sins of the world. That those who would believe in him, would not perish but have everlasting life. It’s a hope that one day we will be united with our Lord in a New Heaven and a New Earth when Re-creation or New creation comes to pass. But there is hope even now, as we can embrace our times of pain and suffering, knowing that Christ has endured, and now abides with us as we abide with him.
Knowing the true love of God as seen in Jesus reminds us that we can’t skip ahead to the celebration without remembering why we are celebrating. We must understand that the love Jesus shows as the last supper, is a love that moves on to become sacrificial, a love that means giving up something even when you don’t want to; that you are submissive to another even when you would rather do something else.
I wonder how many marriages could learn about love from reading and understanding the true love that is in the passion story?
To understand that to really know what love is, we have to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Even when we are exhausted, worn down, bloody but the beatings we have endured. We still take up the cross and go up to hill called Calvary.
Only in Christianity could a symbol such as a cross bear with it a sign of love, hope, and victory.
Grace & Peace,
Sam