As Christians, we all know the story or at least we should know the story of betrayal, suffering, sacrifice, death, and on the third day, he was risen from the dead. But the story does not start in Matthew 26 or anywhere else in the New Testament. The story starts all the way back in genesis. We have the creation of everything and then we have first sin of that creation. God should have left us to squalor in our sin but he didn't. He had a plan. In Genesis 3:15, we have the first sign of the coming of Christ, "...he will crush your head and you will strike his heel". God had the cross in mind long before it ever existed. This betrayal of man occurred in a garden and yet in another garden, we find the betrayal of Judas. But rather than this betrayal leading to death, it led to life.
When I was in Israel at the beginning of the year, I got to follow the path of Christ. I got to follow "The Way of the Cross". This is the path Jesus took from the Antonio fortress by the temple mount all the way to where he was crucified and then where he was buried. You can see the sites listed in the picture above.
Above is a massive rock which is believed to be from the time of the crucifixion, meaning this is the bedrock in which the crosses would be fixed. I was surprised at how many people passed by this without so much as a glance. For me it was not the empty tomb at the end which drew my attention, it was this stone. Don't worry, I'll get back to this.
There used to be some debate over the fact that John tells us in John 19:36 that Jesus's death fulfills scripture and that not a single bone was broken. People argued that this is not possible because the heel bone would have broken from having the nails driven into them but we see in the picture above that this person's heel bone was not broken. Conflict resolved. But may I note here that back in Genesis, it says that the serpent will strike Jesus's heel. How appropriate that the heel of christ was pierced by a Roman nail.
Above are pictures from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which is a massive building with many different sections. It is owned by multiple denominations. While it is filled with tourists, priests swinging incense into the air, and plenty of incense already in the air, a smell I'll never forget, this massive complex is the end of "The Way of the Cross". It houses that I mentioned earlier and the tombs depicted in the gallery above this paragraph. Can you tell which one is believed to be the tomb of Jesus? If you guessed the one which was all fancifully decorated, you guessed right. This is the complete opposite as with Indiana Jones. I'm not saying that it was wrong to decorate it this way. Meanwhile, the other tomb is from the same time. Both tombs were in a garden cemetery right near calvary. They second tomb gives a good look at how the tomb looked during that time. It seemed like hundreds upon hundreds of people were here, which you can see if you click/tap on each image. Everyone was moving like a river around that building. This was the main focus. But why? If you'll remember I brought this question up earlier.
It has been my experience that we as people tend to want all the good without ever working for it, myself included. Wouldn't it be easier if we could skip the sanctification process and not have to suffer and struggle through it? Then we could be great people and never ever suffer again? As nice as that would be, I know we would not enjoy the rewards of our labor nearly as much as we do if we suffer. Peace is made sweeter by enduring suffering. I don't know about you but the more pain and suffering I endure, the more I appreciate the good and grow in the fruit of the spirit. It's okay to have hope in the future and to look forward to it. But we cannot forget the journey it took to get there. We cannot ignore our suffering and pain. It will make the end that much sweeter. This is the way of our cross. Are you prepared to take this journey? To suffer for what is good? To strive towards the hope we focus on?
This may seem a daunting task, to face and endure the waves of life. But we do not walk alone. As we've seen, Christ has gone before us and He lives in us, going with us always. God does not lead us through storms to laugh at us as we drown. He takes our hand and walks with us and pulls us up when we start to drown. He carries us when we cannot walk. He does it all in love so that we do not stay squalling in our sin but instead can live free with Him. Loving those around Him despite His suffering, this was the way Jesus lived, died, and rise again. Without his pain and suffering, we would still be slaves to sin, but as it is, we are free to choose life or death. We can live but be dead in our sin or we can live so that we reach that hope we focus on so much.
Loving despite our suffering brings us closer to God and shapes us back to who He made us to be. This is the way of our cross.
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