The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Takes Up His Cross

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery- Jesus Takes Up His Cross

Jesus told his disciples they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. (MT 16:24, MK 8:34, LK 9:23)

It sounds so sanitary...just pick up the cross and follow.  Even gazing upon the crucifixes in churches, they are ( for the most part) neat, clean... You'll even find parishes that have an atrocity known as the 'risen Christ' crucifix. we're jumping ahead, but Jesus died on the cross, he didn't rise from it.

But I digress.

Contrary to the 'health and wealth' or 'prosperity' gospel preached by some, my Bible reads differently. If we are disciples, we take up the cross, and we walk the path Jesus walked.

If you go to Jerusalem and walk the Via Dolorosa, you will be surprised at how it is marked. Simple Roman-numeral plaques mounted on walls designate each of the traditional Stations of the Cross, until you approach the last few which are all contained in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  Along the way, you are reminded of the insults, taunt and abuse that was all part of the sport of crucifixion. The crowd would join in- it wasn't only the soldiers.

And the condemned had to face it alone, crushed under the weight of the cross- or at least the cross-beam. It was a spectacle. A bloody, violent, humiliating spectacle.

And Jesus? He did it after the horrendous night before: betrayed by his disciple, abandoned by his friends, whipped, beaten, spat upon, crowned with thorns....and now- when it is difficult to imagine him having any strength left...he takes up the heavy wood and bears it alone.

Until Simon of Cyrene is pressed into service. Imagine how embarrassing it was for Simon, but he didn't have a choice.

We all have crosses, the trials and hardships of life. And I know, sometimes I wonder how I will get through them- especially when I feel so terribly alone.

But we are never truly alone. We have a Savior who walked the road before us...and is waiting for us at it's end.