Cross Perspectives: Luke 23:26-49 - Passion Sunday

  ²⁶As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. ²⁸But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
  ³²Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴⟦Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”⟧ And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” ³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
  ³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
  ⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent.” ⁴⁸And when all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. (NRSV)

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Serene Jones, in her book Trauma and Grace, tells a story of two women she befriended in a self-defense class held in her church basement.

Both women were survivors of horrific domestic violence, and they were referred to the class as a way of helping themselves regain a sense of power over their lives.

Serene eventually invited them to come to church. To her surprise, the first service they attended was on Maundy Thursday.

Immediately, she began to worry—because on Maundy Thursday, her church reads the entire passion story. She feared that the gruesome images of Jesus’s passion and death would be so painful for them that it would drive them further away from the church and from God. Her worst fears appeared to be confirmed when the women began to weep as the story was read. But after the service, one of them said, “This cross story...it’s the only part of this Christian thing I like. I get it. And, it’s like he gets me. He knows.”

I must admit, I was just as surprised by their reaction as the author was. You wouldn’t expect something to be drawn to Jesus’s crucifixion. Let’s be honest—if you were going to invite someone to church, you would tell that person about the people or the programs or the beauty of the worship service. Certainly not the horrors of the crucifixion.

You wouldn’t be human if the passion story did not make you feel pain. And it is our natural human instinct to avoid pain, however it may come.

Anymore, I find it very stressful to watch the news, and witness the horrors of mass shootings and the War in Ukraine. I firmly believe that it is better for your mental and spiritual health to consume as little news media as possible.

By that same token, one might wonder why we subject ourselves to the passion story, and the solemn liturgies of Holy Week…

But this is why we do it. This is why we make the 40-day journey with Jesus to the cross: because it is the story of God in Jesus Christ taking upon himself the fullness of human suffering. This is where God’s reality and our reality meet. This is where God’s salvation begins.

I can think of no greater evil that human beings can inflict upon others than what we sinners did to Jesus.

I can think of no greater helplessness than having your hands and feet nailed to a cross.

I can think of no greater emotional pain than being betrayed and abandoned by your closest followers.

I can think of no greater spiritual pain than to be cut off from God, as he was.

This is why we confess in our creed that Jesus “descended into hell.” There’s no point in sugarcoating what Jesus went through. His love for you goes the full distance between heaven and hell.

In all the pain and confusion of life, the cross gives us a great sense of clarity. When people ask, “how can Jesus be real with all the pain and suffering in the world?” we know exactly where Jesus is. 

Jesus was beaten and abused with Serene’s two friends.

He’s the baby cradled in his mother’s arms as seeking refuge in a foreign land from violence and war at home.

Amid the appalling conditions of homeless encampments, we remember that “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58)

As Jesus is bound with chains and led away, he binds himself to those held captive by addiction, gang violence, slavery, poverty wages, even incarceration. 

He’s taking cover in the subway tunnels of Kiev; he’s mourning with the widows and the orphans; he’s buried in the mass graves outside of Bucha.

In your greatest pain and your deepest shame, the crucified Jesus shows up, and you are transformed every bit as much as the people we encounter in Luke’s passion story. 

With Simon of Cyrene, we learn what it means to take up a cross and follow Jesus. With the women of Jerusalem, we witness Christ’s compassion for those who suffer the evils of man. In our rebellion against God and rejection of Jesus, we hear him speak the words, “Father, forgive them.” With the criminal on the cross, we embrace the promise that there is life after death; with the centurion we behold the righteousness of God in the crucified Christ. 

And with the women who go to the tomb on the third day, we hear the good news that Christ has triumphed over death and hell. 

Christ is crucified with your pain and shame; in poverty, war, and violence. Yet this is where resurrection begins—and this is where we as the Body of Christ must be if we and the world are to know the whole story of Jesus. 

For as much time as you spend consuming news media or social media, I dare you to spend more time praying. In prayer and in worship, Jesus equips you as the Body of Christ to proclaim resurrection through generous giving, compassionate service, and bearing witness before others how the crucified Jesus has healed your wounds. Love conquers evil. Life conquers death. How? Because Christ took it all upon himself. This is where God’s reality and our reality meet. This is where God’s salvation begins.