Via Dolorosa

Holy Week begins tomorrow. We'll remember the triumphant entry of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We'll remember the events of the week that led up to Calvary. We'll remember the Last Supper, and the Garden prayers. We'll remember the mock trials, the scourging, the abuse. We'll remember the walk to the cross and the when God turned His back on God. We'll remember the words, "It is finished!" And, we'll remember Joseph of Arimathea. We'll remember stunned soldiers and gleaming angels. And we'll remember why our faith is true. Because, if Jesus Christ is God, and He is, the resurrection is true. And, it's the most significant point in the history of the world.

This week, I preached a sermon at Wooddale's Lenten Lunch service. It's called Via Dolorosa, and I thought I'd post it here:


VIA DOLOROSA

My family and I just returned from a road trip to Colorado. It was wonderful! There is nothing like the crisp mountain air on a spring morning to make you appreciate the creative power of God. I found myself wondering a lot on this trip. I wondered at the vastness of Pike’s Peak. I wondered at the beauty of a herd of antelope on the eastern plains. I wondered at the majestic sunsets over the Rocky Mountain range. I wondered at the God who created all that I saw -- the God whom we celebrate this Lenten season.

As I drove the thousands of miles and stared at the beauty surrounding me I thought about this message. And as I wondered I was reminded of the carol that we sing at Christmas, I Wonder As I Wander. For as I wandered Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa highways I had a lot of time to think, to reflect, and to wonder at just what our God did on that sacred day, 2000 years ago.

It’s what we’ve been doing for these past several weeks of Lent. Chad Erlenborn has taken us on a journey. We’ve experienced the Last Supper, and the Garden prayer, the mock trials, and the Roman scourging. We’ve moved through the evening that changed the course of history forever. And this afternoon, we come to the Via Dolorosa -- the way of suffering that our Savior took from the scene of his trial to a hill called Golgotha.

The Via Dolorosa is a street in the Old City of Jerusalem. Over the years speculation has developed as to just what happened as Jesus moved along the streets of Jerusalem, from his trial to Golgotha. It wasn’t until the 19th century that the current route with the fourteen stations of the cross began to be taught. Most of the Via Dolorosa route is speculation. For instance, we have no evidence from Scripture that Jesus ever fell with the cross. There is no evidence that Jesus stopped to talk with his mother on the route. There is no evidence that a woman named Veronica met Jesus on the route to Calvary. But, Jesus did take a walk with His cross. And it makes me wonder.

I wonder what it was like for Jesus. The day had been unlike any other. For, it was today that the Son of God would usher in a new covenant. Did He have second thoughts? Did He want to tell his disciples more as He dined with them in the upper room? Did He want to pull Judas aside and ask, “Are you sure you want to do this?” Did He hurt when Judas betrayed him? Did He wish that Peter wouldn’t deny Him? Was it his omniscience clashing with his humanity that made him sweat drops of blood in the Garden? Did he have a conversation with the angels that came to minister to Him in the Garden? Did He, in his omniscience think about you and me personally when he prayed in the Garden? Did He have second thoughts about those He chose to be his disciples? How could He have loved Pilate and Herod and the religious leaders, the soldiers, and Judas, and Peter and me? And, that’s just the start!

You see, I became a Christian when I was four years old. It was Easter Sunday. Sitting on my backyard swing set, I wondered. I wondered about the mystery of the resurrection. I wondered about the love that Jesus demonstrated when He died for you and for me. I wondered about forgiveness. And, I believed. But, I haven’t stopped wondering. Isn’t it amazing that even after years of following Christ, and the way that so many of us are familiar with the story, the Passion of Jesus can still make us wonder.

Jesus began down the Via Dolorosa immediately following a mocking from soldiers that was cruel and ugly. Mark 15:16-20 records the event:

“The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.”

Chuck Swindoll writing about this event said, "But the suffering would not end here. Cruel soldiers, who have circled around Christ's bloody body like vultures, move in to pick at the remains. In raucous sport, they place a robe on Jesus. But not a long, flowing robe. The Greek term used is chlamus, a short cloak worn over the shoulders. Standing there, naked from the waist down, Jesus becomes the object of their vulgar remarks. Each tries to top the other's joke. Each takes his turn, spitting on Him. . . cursing His name. . . slapping Him with the reed. . . punching His raw chest with their fists. Him, upon whom God would soon bestow a name that was above every other. Him, at whose name every knee would someday bow, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth. Him, before whom every tongue would someday confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). But for now, humanity offers this king only spit. . . expletives. . . and fists."

This is what we know of Jesus walk. He began by carrying the cross. John, the only disciple to be present at the foot of the cross writes in John 19:17, “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).”

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record that not long after Jesus began walking with his cross He was relieved of that duty. We’ll go back to Mark’s Gospel in chapter 15, verse 21, which says, “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.”

This has led to speculation over the years that Jesus collapsed under the weight of His cross. That, He, being beaten perhaps more than any man in the history of the world, could not physically carry His cross. You’ll remember that Chad Erlenborn spoke of the scourging that Jesus received. His back had been torn open. Jesus organs would have been exposed. The abuse that the soldiers placed upon Jesus after His execution sentence had been handed down was awful. They put the robe on his bleeding back and then tore it back off. Any of us who have had open wounds can imagine that pain that this must have inflicted. And then, Jesus was forced to carry his cross. History tells us that Roman crucifixions required the prisoner to carry the cross beam. The upright beam was generally kept in the ground where the crucifixion would take place. The crossbeam weighed about 110 pounds. No wonder the soldiers needed to look for someone else to carry Christ’s cross.

And that makes me wonder.

I wonder what it was like for Simon of Cyrene.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all speak of Simon. But, Mark speaks of him with a certain air of familiarity. Mark knew that his readers would recognize Simon. He was after all the father of Alexander and Rufus. Which makes scholars conclude that Alexander and Rufus were leaders in the early church.

Simon was from Cyrene, which is modern day Tripoli, Lebanon, in North Africa. He was in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. It wasn’t very often that a Jew from another region of the world could make the trek to Israel to celebrate Passover in the Holy City. It was expensive and an honor that happened perhaps once in a lifetime. So, this was no doubt a very special trip for Simon and his children.

It’s possible that Simon had heard about Jesus. Word was spreading throughout the ancient near east world of this teacher or prophet or miracle worker. And, if Simon had been anywhere near the vicinity of the Via Dolorosa in the past few hours he may have heard the chants as the crowd shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” The city would have been abuzz at all that was happening.

I wonder if Simon had caught Jesus’ eye as Jesus was walking past him. He certainly caught the eye of a soldier who was looking for someone to carry the cross of Jesus. There is speculation that Simon would have stuck out because of his dark skin. The soldier would have been looking for someone who was not Jewish, because asking a Jewish person to carry the cross of this criminal would have escalated an already tense situation.

Simon, a practicing Jew living in Africa, was an easy target.

I wonder what Simon was thinking. I wonder if his boys were worried. I wonder if Simon and Jesus spoke as Simon carried the cross of Jesus. I wonder.

All who knew Jesus knew of His love for children. I wonder if Jesus shuddered at the thought of children being on that road. I wonder if Jesus spoke to the children as He walked. I wonder if Jesus offered them assurance that everything was going to be alright – that this must happen. Alexander and Rufus were Roman names. Names of great Roman military leaders. Names that carried a lot of expectation. I wonder if Jesus thought about how this day would change Alexander and Rufus forever. If he thought about how these boys would live up to their names in ways that their parents never dreamed of.

This day changed them. It marked their life forever. They would forever be known as the boys of the man who carried the cross of Majesty. Within forty years they were leaders in a movement that has literally transformed the earth. They were leaders in Christ’s church. Scholars believe that Acts 11 and 13 speak of Simon and his leadership in the church at Antioch. In Romans 16:13, the Apostle Paul writes, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.”

I wonder what it was like for the women who were mourning. They are really the only other people mentioned in the four gospels. You’ll read their story in Luke 23:27-31. “A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" 'For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

Perhaps it is because they had never seen a man beaten to the extent that Jesus was. Perhaps it was because they were embarrassed at what their fellow countrymen had done. Perhaps they were true followers of Jesus, and it saddened them to see Jesus in this state. Whatever the reason, Jesus addresses them. And, he puts the entire scenario into perspective. It wasn’t really Jesus who needed pity at all. It was us. Dawson McAlister writes, “He understood that He was facing the cross in love, dignity, and honor, and in just a few short days would rise triumphantly from the dead. The people who really needed pity were those who had rejected Him and were responsible for this cruel event. Jesus predicted the horrible things that would befall the Jews because of their rebellion against God. God’s judgment upon Israel would be so severe that childless women would be glad they were childless because they would have one less sorrow to bear. Jesus pointed out that people would be in such agony that they would cry for the mountains to fall on them.”

Jesus was right. Within a generation Jerusalem was overthrown in one of the worst massacres in history.

The women must have found Jesus’ words strange. Even in the shadow of the cross, Jesus’ heart was all about others.

There’s one more group I wonder about. I wonder about us. I wonder if we’ve caught the significance of the Via Dolorosa. I wonder if in the days following the resurrection, when the disciples pondered all of the events of the past three years, if they remembered the words that Jesus spoke to them at the beginning of their ministry. The interaction is found in Luke 9:23-24. “Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus calls us to do the same thing that He did? You want to follow Christ? Then we are to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him. Those who followed Jesus had hardship. All but one of Jesus disciples was martyred for his faith. The persecution of the early church is well documented. But, all of it was worth it. Why? Because, life with Jesus is far better than life without Him.

Many of us look for the easiest path. We want what’s best for us. Here’s the secret. Your best life is follow Christ, wherever He may lead you. It’s not always the easiest path, but it’s the best.

The Via Dolorosa is called the way of suffering. May we believe that when Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow Him it’s worth it; for there is no one more worthy of our trust!