Along the Via Delarosa

My friends, Sue and Roger Grace, are taking a little trip these days to the Holy Land.  As they shared the news of their upcoming trip with me a couple of weeks ago,  I remarked to Sue that this was a wonderful time of year to go to the Holy Land as we Christians approach Good Friday and Easter.  Though it has been almost 25 years now since I went to the Holy Land,  it still remains one of the great spiritual pilgrimages of my life.    One day while we were visiting the city of Jerusalem, we walked what is called the “Via Delorosa” or the “way of the cross”.   This is the way that Jesus is believed to have travelled as he  was escorted by soldiers to the place where he was crucified.    Along the way through the streets of Old Jerusalem, there is marked what is called the “stations of the cross” or various scenes in the journey of Jesus to his crucifixion.   As I thought about the trip of my friends Sue and Roger  to the Holy Land, I thought about one place where we stopped along the “Via Delarosa”.    It is that “station of the cross” where the scriptures say that Jesus became unable to carry his cross any further and a Passover pilgrim, Simon of Cyrene, was commanded by soldiers  to carry the cross.    I still remember being at that place along the “Via Delorosa” where Simon of Cyrene is remembered for taking up the cross of Jesus and asking  myself  a question that day in Jerusalem long ago:    “Am I taking up the cross of  Jesus and following him?”       

Though that trip to the Holy Land was years ago,  I still find myself asking that question again and again but particularly in this season of Lent.   It is a question I need to ask myself not just one time but all the time.    Tradition has it that later Simon of Cyrene took up the cross not just literally but spiritually as it is said that he became a follower of Jesus.     I hope that it can be said this day that I am a follower of Jesus not because I am a preacher or was a pilgrim to the Holy Land, but because the love of Christ Jesus that died on a cross is known through me.   How about you?    Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God, all praise and thanks be to you for the gift of Christ on the cross.   This day and every day,  help me to take up the cross and follow Him;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.