The Scriptural Way of the Cross -- part III

   7. Jesus takes up His cross:    

    Though they threw Him toward it and thrust it upon Him, Jesus embraced the Cross.  It was the way chosen for his demise.  It was the form by which He would make way for new life.  It would be the last element of earthly matter to caress his war-torn body.  And yet, Jesus took up the Cross.

    Jesus embraced the Cross because He knew what awaited Him, and the world, on the other side.  He knew that God’s plan of salvation was bigger than any person could fathom, and He had willingly submitted to be the Way of Salvation.

    The Cross.  It was and is a symbol of execution.  I once heard

someone speak about how ridiculous it is that we walk around with Crosses on our necks.  That it’s the equivalent of carrying around a miniature electric chair or needle on a chain, flaunting death.
    Do we embrace death?  Do we embrace these forms of death?  No, we do not.  But Jesus did.  He did and could, because He knew what was on the other side.

Does a cross hang from your neck?  Is there one in your home or office?  There is certainly one in your church.  Take a moment to reflect upon the true meaning of the Cross, then sit with the fact that Jesus “took up His cross.”  He embraced it for you...and for all.

    8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross:
    One can only imagine the weight of the Cross that Christ carried.  If you’ve ever tried to move a log, you know the massive weight of wood.  To carry such a thing when one is healthy is one thing, but Jesus had been scourged, beaten, mocked, and was bleeding profusely.  It’s amazing He could pick it up at all.  Along the road, however, He could not, and that’s when the soldiers pulled Simon out of the crowd.
    Simon was walking along, minding his own business, maybe even trying to avoid the whole scene, and yet God chose him to be a part of the greatest drama in history.  The soldiers tell him, “You will help Him carry this Cross.”  Despite his resistance, Simon helped Jesus.

    What irony, that one of the ones Jesus came to help and save, was one who would help Jesus along the way.  One whom Jesus came to give strength and aid was one who would relieve some of the exhaustion and come to Jesus’ aid.
    Imagine the emotions that ran through Simon.  When he woke up that day, I’m sure he didn’t imagine he’d be walking arm in arm, holding up the earthly elements of wood and hemp for the One who would conquer earth’s great power – death.  Maybe when he went home that day or in the weeks following, he thought back and realized that this was a gift from God to him.  This gift he gave of helping Christ to His death.

    Has God ever called you into something you didn’t expect to be a part of or even resisted?  How did God transform the unexpected into a blessing?  Remember and give thanks.



   9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem:
    Jesus comes across the women of Jerusalem, and they are mourning and weeping.  Part of it had to have been the simple magnitude of watching another suffer so, but the other part is the Jesus was a Son of Jerusalem.  He was known and loved, and women in particular would have known and believed

His message of peace, hope, and love.  To see Him dying had to be excruciating.
    In one of his last prophetic acts, Jesus turns and addresses them directly.  “Do not weep for me.  Weep for yourselves, for if this can happen when God touches the earth, imagine what can happen when God seems distant.”  Weep for the evil in the world and for those who perpetrate it, for this is not the way it is supposed to be, Jesus is saying.  Weep for humanity, for humanity is lost.
    For what do we weep?  Is it only for those things that hit home and are most personal, or do we allow ourselves to weep for the world and for those we do not know?  When will our weeping change our lives and our living?