The Via Delarosa – READ THE PASSAGE [v.26-38]
Since His arrest in the garden Jesus had not slept, and had been questioned on 4 separate occasions, none of which revealed any wrongdoing. Jesus had be treated roughly and beaten severely by the Temple guard and we know from Mark’s Gospel account [Mark 15:16-20] that Jesus was also beaten severely, mocked and mistreated by the Roman guard as well as being flogged by the cat of 9-tails, a whip made up of 9 strands with pieces of bone and metal at the end of each strand…
At the point Jesus is being led away, he had been subjected to at least 12 hours of this torture and ridicule, possibly more. He was physically exhausted and had reached his physical breaking point… he could go NO further. John’s Gospel details that Jesus went out bearing His own cross, but the other 3 Gospels detail a story about a man named Simon who is forced into service… he is forced to carry the cross for Jesus. We read in v.26…
26And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
The implied situation is that Jesus was too weak from the beatings and from loss of blood to carry His cross. So they recruited a man from the crowd to get the cross to the top of the hill for Him… Simon the Cyrene
Simon was from Cyrene… it was a city in North Africa that is close to what we know now as Tripoli, in modern day Lybia. Simon was there more than likely as a worshiper for the Passover celebration… or he could have been a traveling merchant… either way, he was in Jerusalem. He was there minding his own business when the Roman soldiers ‘drafted’ him for this duty. He was drafted because the Romans refused to carry the cross… it was beneath them… it was shameful… they would not do it!
27And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him.
Here we also find a throng of mourners is pointed out by Luke. What is NOT clear here is if these were the standard mourners that would come to any and all funerals… OR if it was actual mourners who were there because they were mourning Jesus Himself.
Although the text does not specify… the context seems to treat them as genuinely mournful about what was happening. SO much so that Jesus turns and speaks to them.
28But turning to them Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For 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!’ 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ’Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ’Cover us.’ 31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
Jesus shares with them that they are weeping for the wrong thing, don’t weep for ME is what He gets across, but weep for the nation, weep for yourselves and your children, because there is coming a day of bitter judgment… and when that day comes you will not want to be here…
In v.31 we find Jesus stating something that seems cryptic, but I believe it is easily understood as we place it in sync with who Jesus is. Who is ‘they’… that has LONG been debated. Was it pointed at Rome? The Jews? Humanity in general? Or God Himself?
There are really 2 options that fit this context the best…
1… “hey if the Romans will allow this to happen to an innocent man, what do you think they are going to do to a rebellious nation… another inference toward the 70AD fall of Jerusalem. Jesus tells these women… so don’t weep for Me… weep for yourself and your people who will soon be suffering greatly.
2- [most likely meaning] If God did not spare His own innocent Son from persecution [by permitting the crucifixion] how much worse will it be for a sinful nation when God unleashes His wrath [an allusion to the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD]
We know that a mere 30+ yrs after the Cross event that Jerusalem was ransacked and leveled by the forces of the Roman Empire. There was great suffering attached to that invasion and from which the nation never did fully recover…
Jesus was not alone on that journey to Calvary… he was joined by 2 criminals who had been given the same sentence of death. Scripture details them briefly and Luke does not go into much detail about them…
32Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Him. 33And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left.
Jesus is led to the place of His crucifixion and put on the cross between two common criminals. After being nailed to the cross and put on public display… Jesus prays…
34And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."And they cast lots to divide His garments.
But we find that as badly as Jesus had been ridiculed, mocked and beaten, His compassion for humanity never wavered. Regardless of how others may have felt [such as His disciples who had to watch this horrible scene… such as His mother who was OBVIOUSLY in pain…] Jesus wanted them to be forgiven…
The phrase here “... for they know NOT what they do…” Darrell Bock says in his commentary on Luke, “Jesus’ intercession lays out the basis of God’s offer of forgiveness. National consequences will follow from the rejection of Jesus, but God’s love expressed here shows that the rejection need not be permanent… for an individual OR for a nation… [However] that rejection did not have to be permanent… neither as a nation NOR as an individual.
Although Jesus pleads their ignorance, such ignorance does NOT remove the responsibility [on their behalf] They have chosen a course that reflects a lack of understanding, but they are still in need of God’s mercy. Jesus’ lack of vindictiveness illustrates the very love He called for from His disciples in John 13:34-35.”
Jesus cries out for mercy on those crucifying Him and as Jesus does this… soldiers are casting lots to see who will get his clothes… His enemies are many at this point, and the Pharisees are gloating and taunting Jesus:
35And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at Him, saying "He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!"
Here the leaders begin to taunt Jesus… now they finally had Him where they had wanted Him for a long time… Now He was unable shoot them down with His wisdom, so they were ‘firing away’ at Him. Now to see the wonderful picture of the love of Christ, one needs to look no further than this very scene…
You see Jesus had just said, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing…” Jesus was entreating the throne of Grace for those who were sinners… those who were choosing to reject Him. Jesus loved even these men to who had rejected Him and were now mocking and ridiculing Him on the Cross… It was for them and those like them… heavy scoffers and skeptics that Jesus was now on the Cross and willing to die!
But these religious leaders… the constant ‘thorns’ in His side… they were not the only ones who hurled insults at Him on the Cross…
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."
The Roman soldiers joined in the mockery… but this was not new for them. The Romans long thought of themselves as superior and looked down on any Hebrew or anyone who was NOT a Roman… so this was 2nd nature to them! However, we see them taking things to an entirely new level of mockery and torture.
In a very ironic act… the Roman soldiers, whose intent was sarcasm and ridicule… post the TRUTH of who Jesus really is… Even through their sarcastic and evil intention God’s truth shines forth…
In this section of Luke’s story, we find the term or phrase ‘the people’ being used to express sympathy toward Jesus (v.27), a much different expression than that of the attitude of ‘the people’ in v.4-26…
Luke also separates the people and the leaders later in v.35 and we even see ‘the people’ expressing sorrow and grief over what they have done in v.48.
Another aspect of this story is that Luke gives us a brief picture of what it means to truly be a follower of Christ in v. 26 where Simon is tasked to carry the cross of Jesus. Although there is NO indication that Simon was a follower of Jesus, this is a picture of what true service to Christ is… it is taking up that which we do not want or desire… being willing to submit in obedience FOR our Lord.
The sense one gets when reading Luke’s account of this event is that Jesus KNEW what was coming, all was going according to plan and Luke wanted Theopholis and his readers to know that the death of Jesus was NOT a tragic mistake or travesty [even though in human eyes it stands out as that…] but that God had planned this from the beginning and that this is how it MUST be…
There is also a very strong indirect message here about the coming judgment on Jerusalem and her leaders. Jesus laments for the women who are mourning for Him, telling them to cry for themselves because it is going to be very difficult… very soon.
The road to the Cross is filled with great theological insight and God’s instruction to us. We must know that Jesus understood and accepted His role in God’s plan and that as horrific as this was, Jesus was willing and it was necessary.
Pray!
