Good Friday

Every year Good Friday in the Philippines is marked by people recreating the crucifixion of Christ, literally. This ritual is one that I heard about in high school. People walk through the streets and beat themselves with bamboo, before being nailed to a cross. They put themselves through what Jesus went through.

"Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life, or give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles." (http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-good-friday-devotees-nailed-crosses-094124305.html)

I've read somewhere that people do it out of appreciation. And that it isn't a onetime thing for the participants. If you survive it's expected of you to do it every year. The article link I've given above talks about a 51 year old man who has done it twenty-six times.

This is one of those things I wonder how it got started. Who thought that it was necessary to go through what Jesus went through by voluntarily being nailed to a cross? Who thought that this would make atonement for their sins? How do Christians feel the need to go through this?

I've been to Jerusalem; I've touched the floor where Jesus' blood fell as He was beaten. I've walked the streets of the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and knelt under the altar where they say Christ was crucified. I was overwhelmed by appreciation, and humbled with gratitude. All I could say as I knelt was "Thank you."

1 Peter 2.24 says, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Jesus went to the cross; Jesus was crucified, so that I wouldn't have to be.

Romans 3.23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Romans 6.23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 3.16-17 states, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." Romans 5.8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

We are all sinners, and the penalty for that sin is death. But God offers us life freely through Christ. There is no need for us to do anything to atone for our sins, because God out of His great love sent Jesus to die in our place. I don't need to beat myself and be nailed to a cross to receive salvation, all I have to do according to Romans 10 is "for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED'" (verse 13), and "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (verses 9-10).

God does not demand that I go through the pain and agony that Christ did on the first Good Friday. Jesus did that so I wouldn't have to. God's desire is for all of us to be saved from sin through the blood Jesus shed on the cross. His desire is for us to become like Christ, and live as Christ lived. Philippians 1 tells us that we will suffer for Christ sake. Jesus said in the Gospel of John that we would have trouble in this world because of Him. Hardship will come from the world because we have been forgiven by Christ, not for us to gain forgiveness from God.

As I've written the last few sentences, Micah 6.6-8 has been on my mind. "With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

God does not demand physical punishment of us. Because of Jesus He no longer requires animal sacrifices. As Psalm 51.16-17 says, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." God wants us simply to come to Him, and ask for forgiveness. God doesn’t ask for, or even want, the ritual of self-inflicted pain or animal sacrifice. God simply wants us to come to Him in our brokenness and allow Him to heal us.

God Himself paid the price for sin so that we wouldn't have to. God Himself endured the pain and death of sin so that we wouldn't have to. That is Good Friday.

To God alone be the glory!

Peace be with you

366 days to go

2012 is a leap year, so February has an extra day making the total number of days for this year 366. Today, January 10, 2012, marks the beginning of the one year count down until I get to go back to Israel. It's been three years since I was there, and I've wanted to go back since the moment I got home.

It's been a busy three years. I graduated from college,moved to Michigan and back to Ohio; I traveled to Turkey and Greece, I took my first church as a senior pastor, and I got married. It's gone by fast, but I've been waiting for next January for three years.

This time my wife will be going with me, it'll be her first trip out of the country. I'm excited to share this time with her. In the next year we're hoping to learn Hebrew through Rosetta Stone, to be able to enhance the experience by being able to communicate with people in their own language.

I'm so pumped to be going back, even as I talk about it now the excitement is building in me. To be where Jesus was again. To watch the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee, to stand in the Garden of Gethsemane, to walk the Via Dolorosa, to knee at Calvary and praise Him at the empty tomb. I can't wait to smell the scents of Jerusalem again. The memories I have from the last trip are still so fresh in my mind, but in spite of that, I find myself being incredibly open minded.

With the trip to Turkey and Greece I found myself very disappointed. I was expecting it to be like Israel. To have the same feel that the country has, to experience the same revelations as I did. But Turkey and Greece are completely different places. Jesus never walked there, and the feel of the land is different. The mistake I made with that trip was expecting it to be the same as my time in The Holy Land, it wasn't.

But this time, with this trip back, I have once again the simple expectation that I had with the first trip, I'm going to walk where Jesus walked. Honestly, I think that's the point of the trip. Whenever I talk to people about Israel I always tell them if you have the chance to go, go. It will change you, and you will not be the same.

The awe of travel is gone, I've lost the need to take a picture of everything I see, and for that I'm really looking forward to going back. This time I'll be able to soak up so much more, I have background knowledge that allows me to focus on new and different things. And in the coming year I get to review and study as much as possible so that when I get there I can focus on the things that I can't read in a book. I can focus on the land itself.

366 days and counting, I can't wait.

Peace be with you

The Walk that Saved the World

In January of 2009 and I had the opportunity to travel to Israel and walk where Jesus walked. The trip was part of a class I took that month. One of the assignments was a living document paper, a paper sharing our experience at one of the locations we visited. This past weekend was Easter, and I was reading the paper I had written after getting back from Israel. As I read I felt that this was was I needed to share this week.

So many of these sites stand out to me. I think of Mt. Carmel, the view from the top, it spans the Jezreel Valley to the Mediterranean Sea. The knowledge of the event that took place there in the ninth century BS, it is mind blowing. I think back to the early mornings by the Sea of Galilee, the hazy sunrises, peace and calm before a busy day. I think back to the Jordan Rive, the calm yet freezing water. My mind wanders back to the Mount of Olives and to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus stood here, he prayed in these places, he taught people there. The Garden tomb the place where sin, death, and hell were conquered, communion there, it was an incredible place. All of these sites, and so many more hold amazing stories, but none of them seem to stand out enough to write this paper on.

So which one to pick? What event stands out the most? Which one was the most incredible? The walk to the cross, Via Dolorosa? Yes, that one. The walk that changed the world, that saved the world. It happened on what is now a series of narrow alley ways, and ends at a church that is falling apart, but that walk saved my soul.

In the Gospel of Luke the account is found in chapter 23.1-49. Jesus is brought before Pilate who then sends him to Herod who then sends him back to Pilate. Pilate brings the priests together and announces that neither he nor Herod finds grounds for the charges that have been brought against Jesus. Jesus is not deserving of death in the eyes of Pilate, so he says that he will punish him and then release him, hoping that the people will be satisfied with that. But the people instead cry out for the criminal Barabbas to be freed. Pilate tries to release Jesus to them, but their attitude does not change, and they cry out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

Again he tries to release Jesus asking, "What crime has he committed?" and again offering to punish Jesus and then let him go. But still the crowd demands the death of Jesus by crucifixion. Pilate, somewhat reluctantly I imagine,, grants their wish. He releases Barabbas and then hands Jesus over to the mob.

Luke does not record the beating that Jesus received, but the Via Dolorosa begins at the Fortress of Antonio, It is here that Jesus is used in "The Game of the King" as the soldiers beat and torture him. It is here on the stone pavement, that Jesus is given the crown of thorns and the cross. Here is where the procession to Golgotha Begins.

Jesus is carrying his own cross; the Greek word is stauros, "an upright pole or stake." Criminals were nailed to them for execution. There were two beams that formed a "T" shape. The word is in the accusative form, which is used as the direct object. The cross is what is being carried, first by Jesus, and the analog the way Simon of Cyrene, is forced to carry the cross for Christ.

The text says that they seized him, they epilabomenoi him. This is a form of the word epilambanomai meaning to lay hold of, to seize. This comes form lambano and is in the aorist case. Simon is taken and is forced to carry the cross for Jesus. He follows Jesus as they march on towards Golgotha.

Following Jesus is a crowd of women, and to them Jesus says, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Luke 23.28-31). Also with him are two other men, two criminals, also going to be crucified.

As I walked through the alleyways along the Via Dolorosa, up hills and through some very narrow parts, it took a while to get to the place where Simon takes the cross from Jesus. I kept thinking about The Passion of the Christ, the beating he took, and then he carried the cross. He was beaten to within an inch of his life, and from research I have done, the cross weighed about three hundred pounds. The road was not the easiest to walk on, and back then it would have been much rougher. Jesus was a total stud. He has been beaten and probably can barely stand, but he still carries a cross weighing probably close to double his weight over rough ground and through crowded allies.

Finally they arrive at Golgotha, the place of the Skull. It could have been a common place of execution as is the case with the location of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or possibly a hill that actually resembles a skull, as is the case with Gordon's Calvary. The location was in a stone quarry along a main high way, and outside of the city walls. Both of these locations match these criteria. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built on the original site thought to be the location of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Once there, Jesus is stripped of his cloths, nailed to the cross, and then hung between the two criminals to die. Soldiers cast lots for his cloths, they mock him, but he prays for their forgiveness, he shows love and mercy even to those who have just mocked, beaten, and killed him. One criminal insults him, while the other seeks mercy and forgiveness. As the day goes on, the sky darkens, and the curtain in the temple tears into two separate pieces. Jesus cries out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands, I commit my Spirit." And with those words Jesus breaths his last and dies.

The word paratithemai is Greek for "I commit." It means to place by the side or near, to set before. Jesus is entrusting his spirit to God, he is surrendering it to him, placing it in his hands. Jesus has come to do the Father's will, now that it is fully accomplished by him giving his spirit into the hands of the Father.

The day we walked the Via Dolorosa was less busy than the next day. Taht day I remember a few children begging for money, and a few vendors trying to sell their merchandise. But I do not remember many smells. There was the faint hint of the sewer, but other than that, nothing. The next day we had a free day in Jerusalem, and for part of that day we retraced some of our steps. Walking along the same roads as the day before, things were different. They were crowded; there was life there that day. I remember the herbs and the spices, the bread baking, and meat cooking. The strong aromas, the sweet smell of baking bread, the strong fragrances of the herbs and spices sold out in front of the shops. There was the faint odor of the sewer again, but today it was more drowned out. There was smoke in the air. The smells of Jerusalem, undoubtedly some are different, some are new, but many, the herbs, the spices, the bread, those would have been things he would have smelled that day.

The markets were loud and crowded. There were people everywhere. Trying to just walk through the streets and not bump into anyone was a challenge at times. Imagine doing it with a three hundred pound cross while being able to barely stand up. The path would have had to be cleared for him. The other thing, I was just surrounded by people wanting me to buy something from them. he had people who were grabbing at his cloths, spitting at him, maybe throwing things at him. He had people who were mourning him and clinging to him. The walk would not have been easy, not even after Simon took the cross from him.

What did I touch? The road beneath my feet, the stone pavement. Underneath my shoes it was hard and slippery. The hills could be a challenge to climb in worn out shoes with no treads on the bottom of them. Did he have sandal on or was he barefoot? Imagine the stones he must have stepped on, the rocks he must have stumbled over, the hills he must have staggered up.

What did I see? The people, the shops, the items being sold. The carvings, the clothing, the spices, the hand worked objects, people just trying to make a living and survive. He would have passed people just like this, people who could not have cared less about this radical from Nazareth being crucified. All they wanted was to sell the things they had grown, carved, weaved, or cooked. All they wanted was to make a living, to feed their families, to live another day, to be able to come back and do the same thing again tomorrow. How much has changed in two thousand years? How many of these people live the same way? The only reason they care about the death of Jesus in Jerusalem is because it brings countless numbers of tourist each year. They only want to sell what they have and go home.

I think that the Via Dolorosa shows many different portraits of Jesus. Linda McKinnish Bridges discusses many different portraits of Jesus seen in the Gospels. It the Gospel of Mark she talks about Jesus' power and pain. Both of these are clearly seen on the road to the cross. Obviously Jesus sis in pain, he is bleeding from cuts and lacerations from all over his body, he is wearing a crown of thorns while carrying a heavy cross. But in all of this we clearly see his power. Jesus walks to Golgotha, part way carrying the cross, he comforts the women along the way, and even on the cross he offers love and forgiveness.

In Matthew she talks about Jesus as the teacher. Even on the way to the cross he still taught. He showed people what love was, what mercy and grace are. He taught people what taking up the cross for the will of the Father really meant. In Luke she talks about Jesus at the table. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. He offered the covenant of life long friendship to Judas just hours before he was betrayed by him. In John there is the image that Jesus saves. He protects, and that is what we see. In the Garden he protects the disciples form harm. He goes to the cross to save the world, to take our place an pay the price for sin. That is the love of the savior.

The thing that I remember the most about the Via Dolorosa is the beginning and the end. I remember kneeling on the stone pavement where the game of the king was carved. I remember touching the ribbed stones on the floor where he was beaten, the place where he was mocked and then given the crown of thorns to wear and the cross to carry. The stones where cool and smooth, I wonder if he had trouble walking, I wonder how much it hurt his knees when he fell under the weight of the cross.

I remember the end just as vividly, kneeling beneath the altar at the top of Golgotha. I wanted to pray there, I wanted to spend a few minutes there, but we were told to hurry. I think I was there on my knees for less than thirty seconds, and in that time I could say nothing. I had no words. But as I touched the spot where they say the cross stood, I managed to say a simple phrase, "Thank you." That was it, that was all I could say, but honestly, that was enough, what else is there to say?