The Way of the
Cross. It is the Holy Week
journey. As contemporary
Christians our worship life this week invites us to experience it with
Jesus. To accompany him through
the events of this week as he journeys towards the cross. Holy Week is not about theology, about the
meaning of what happened. It’s
about what happened. We find our
own meaning in experiencing it with Jesus.
It really kicks
in tomorrow when we remember the last supper in our Maundy Thursday worship and
enact Jesus’ washing the feet of his disciples. Then Friday we literally stand at the foot of the cross.
As you know, I’ve
been using the liturgical devotion The Way of the Cross as a starting point for
my homilies this week. More widely
known as the Stations of the Cross, in our tradition it is called the Way of
the Cross. Monday and Tuesday, we’ve
looked at the Stations that do not have a source in Scripture.
Tonight, we’ll
review those stations that are described in the Gospel accounts of Jesus
journey to the cross:
Jesus is
condemned to death
Jesus takes up
his cross
The cross is
laid on Simon of Cyrene
Jesus meets the
women of Jerusalem
Jesus is
stripped of his garments
Jesus is nailed
to the cross
Jesus dies on
the cross
Jesus is laid in
the tomb
It’s like
watching a train wreck. You see
disaster coming, but you can’t stop it.
Or like watching
a movie or TV show when you know a character is walking into mortal danger, but
you can’t warn them.
There is an
inexorable momentum towards the cross.
Towards Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. We know that death on the cross lies ahead, but we can’t
stop. Jesus probably knew then
what lay ahead, but didn’t stop.
The people who accompanied him then couldn’t have known.
And this
devotion, which is the way of the cross, leaves him dead in the tomb. That’s the end. Jesus, dead, is laid in the tomb.
Why would we get
on this train that is heading for a train wreck? Why would we join ourselves to this story that ends with
death on a cross and a dark tomb?
I can only think
of one reason. Because we trust
Jesus. Trust. Because we trust that accompanying
Jesus is always the right thing to do.
Now, of course,
we know that the story didn’t end at the tomb. But this devotion, The Way of the Cross, ends with death on
the cross. And maybe part of what
it teaches us is to trust Jesus. Participating
in this devotion, walking with Jesus to the cross, teaches us to trust
Jesus. It trains us to trust that
accompanying Jesus is always the right thing to do. Against all the odds, against everything that our senses may
be telling us, to trust that Jesus is leading us in the Way that we should go.
