Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children

 

 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.  And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children.  For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which 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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"

 

- Luke 23:26-31 

 

 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

 

  Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. My study Bible notes that Simon means "obedience."  It says that this faithful man stands for all who desire to follow Christ and carry the cross He places on them (Luke 9:23; 14:27).  

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children."  My study Bible comments that weeping is not appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross.  It is suited rather for one's own sins, and for the sufferings of others.  But Jesus is also referring to events to come in Jerusalem.

"For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' "  The blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  My study Bible cites the words of St. John Chrysostom:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"  Jesus' words here seem to continue in the same vein in which He prophesied the destruction to come in Jerusalem, manifest at the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70.  See see Luke 21:20-24.

 

 "Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'  For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" My study Bible says that the green wood is Christ, full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for the Jews, barren of life and of all righteousness.  It asks, if the Romans eagerly destroy the righteous, what horrifying things await the unrighteous?

One hallmark of an evil time seems to be that life reflects qualities we might experience as "upside down."  This is a time when lies are taken for truth, when manipulation and hearsay become "justice."  It's a time when the religious leaders are unjustly prosecuting the One known as a holy Man, and whom His followers call the Messiah, the Christ.  Jesus Himself calls out the upside-down nature of the time here, when He says to the women who mourn for Him, "For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!"  For this upside-down time is one characterized by Jesus in His prophesy of the destruction to come as "the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled" (Luke 21:22).    Jesus says, "Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'"  St. Cyril of Alexandria explains, "In extreme miseries, those less severe misfortunes become, so to speak, desirable" (Commentary on Luke, Homily 152).   What is considered a blessing becomes a curse -- and what is considered a curse becomes a blessing.   St. Cyril also explains Christ's remarks to the women as befitting a time that is "upside-down," for His death is not to be mourned, but celebrated, as He lives -- and He goes to His Crucifixion in order to destroy death itself.  In an upside-down and evil time, evil seems to have the upper hand by all appearances.  But the truth is that the action of God can use even this great evil to God's purpose -- meeting the upside-down action of evil with God's own logic and the power to defy it.  For the greatest blessings will come out of this greatest of evils.  In this way, some Church Fathers have indicated, evil is blind and stupid.  The trickster the devil is tricked into believing that Christ can be destroyed, and thereby we are all given the Resurrection.  And this is the good news of this upside-down time, for with God all things are possible!  If there is a time in life when one looks around, and sees all kinds of things that seem upside-down, when false is true and true is false, consider this scene and find what faith can do.  Perhaps especially at such a time, we have no idea what God may be doing.  Let us quote St. Paul, who draws upon the prophecy of Isaiah that we might understand:  "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  But as it is written:  'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" (1 Corinthians 2:7-10).  Let us consider the power of faith, as Jesus goes to His death.  With the women who mourn we may want to weep, but with the eyes of the Spirit, we might understand a greater truth that evil can't defy.  It's in Luke's Gospel that Jesus declares, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18).  Let us hold fast to His teaching and vision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross

 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

 

- Matthew 27:32-44 

 

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all as he tried to have Jesus released instead of Barabbas, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  This quotation is from Psalm 22:18.  If we read the entire psalm, we see it is a picture of the Crucifixion.

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  Of today's entire reading, my study Bible comments that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own in order to take upon Himself our sufferings.  This He accomplishes by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is indeed our humanity.  Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9).  Of the two robbers, we know that one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), but at first both criminals mock Jesus, as Matthew notes.

So why does Jesus endure all of this at the Cross?  Why has He gone through scourging and mocking and cursing and all the rest of it?  He has said Himself that He could pray to the Father and be given twelve legions of angels to stop what is happening to Him (Matthew 26:53).  In every way, the Gospels teach us that this is a voluntary place that Christ goes to, even this horrible miscarriage of justice, with intentional violations of the Mosaic law at every turn in His trial, from false witnesses to a night trial to all the rest of it.  Even to be "betrayed into the hands of sinners" (Matthew 26:45) is part of what He voluntarily undergoes.  None of this takes away the sin of those who commit such acts (Matthew 26:24).  But the deliberate cruelty and injustice that Christ endures here tells us a story for all of us and for all time, about the power of God for transcendence and Resurrection, about divinity and goodness that are nonetheless not impaired through bad treatment, and especially about the power of God that goes first before us into a deeply sinful world and shows us the way through.  But even more powerfully, we are to understand holiness through Christ and through the gift of the Spirit.  Resurrection, for example, is a mystery far beyond some sort of rational explanation or moral aphorism.  It is the same with the Cross, and all of these aspects of Christ's Crucifixion.  Jesus as both God and Man enters into the territory of the worst of human sin and atrocities of injustice, unrighteousness.  As the Son of God He is blasphemed, tempted, mocked, scourged, derided, and treated to behavior meant to number Him among the lowest criminals, worthy only of cruelty and contempt.  But none of these actions change who Christ is.  There is no injustice or lie that can actually change the truth about Jesus Christ, that He is both divine in origin and sinless as human being.  This alone is a powerful lesson and inspiration to any of us who have experienced injustice in our lives, for we look to Him as the example of righteousness.  Rather, we look to Christ's faith as an example of how we ourselves should endure in a sinful world.  We hold fast to what is good.  It is the transforming power of the divine, of the very mission of Incarnate Christ, that turns the Cross into a way to redeem our lives and to fill even the worst of times with meaning and mission.  For what the divine has touched and endures through Christ sanctifies and heals our lives, even in the worst of what we do or what is done to us.  It is He who went to the Cross voluntarily who has the power to reach into our deepest places, and to teach us what needs to be changed and healed, to teach us what is properly love, to radically transform what needs transforming, and to teach us His love and redeem us through it.  Only through "becoming sin" -- this image of the worst of the worst, the One who was numbered among the transgressors, among the lowest criminals, who appears to the world as cursed (Galatians 3:13), and reviled, and all the rest of the things we see in today's reading -- can Christ's divinity touch us in all our most difficult and dark places.  For if He came to the world in the image of the all-powerful glorious majesty that is truly the Son of God, what would that have done to lift us up with Him?  What would that have done to make us come to Him and reveal our most shameful secrets so that they may be healed in His love?  The beloved disciple writes:  "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19), and that is what this story truly tells us today.  This is the answer to those who taunt Him to come down from the Cross.

Hail, King of the Jews!

 

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 

- Mark 15:12–21 

 

Yesterday we read that immediately, in the morning, after Christ's night trial at the home of the high priest, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.  Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

 

  Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.   Three times Pilate has asked the crowd whether they want Jesus to be released and three times they demanded to release Barabbas and to crucify Jesus.  My study Bible comments that Pilate's sin was less than that of the Jewish leaders who delivered Christ to him (John 19:11), as the Jews had the Law and the prophets to instruct them, and Pilate did not.  Pilate wasn't without sin, however, as he knowingly sent an innocent Man to death, out of his desire to gratify the crowd.   That he scourged Him means that Jesus was treated as a condemned prisoner, and punished with a whip or lash which inflicts great pain.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  My study Bible comments that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is mockery, it's prophetic that Jesus is clothed with purple, and has a crown put on His head, and the soldiers of the governor salute and hail Him as King.  Moreover, bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  See a similar example in John 11:49-51, where Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies Christ's redemptive work.  My study Bible says that this mockery shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by human beings who bears the iniquity of us all (see Isaiah 53:3-9). 

 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  My study Bible comments that Mark mentions that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus as they were likely still living when this Gospel was written, and possibly even known to Mark's hearers.  The spiritual message, it says, is that we, like Simon (whose name means "obedience"), are not only called to carry the cross set on us by Christ, but seeing Christ in others, we are called to bear each other's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2).

Evil can often be said to be a time upside down, in which truth is perverted, and everything that makes sense is distorted into a false logic which is the opposite of the truth.  In this scene of false trial before the crowd, we have several elements which bear witness to this.  First of all, it was a crowd that welcome Christ into Jerusalem as Messiah a week before this event.  Are there members of that crowd here?  Are they simply stirred by whatever is passing, or whatever others are doing?  And what of the crowd which heard Him with delight as He debated with the religious leaders in the temple?  It is Mark who tells us that "the common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37).  This particular crowd, representing those same people who are in Jerusalem for the Passover, seems quite different from those who were eager to hear Jesus in the temple and who welcomed Him into Jerusalem, for these are somewhat easily stirred by the religious leaders.  Perhaps there are many who simply "follow the crowd" -- but we know that in Jerusalem there are also faithful.  The second strangely inverse parallel is the name of Barabbas.  It means "son of the father" and yet we know that Christ is the true Son of the Father.  The religious leaders use their influence to rig the game, so to speak, in favor of the other "son of the father," who seems to be, according to the Gospels, a nationalist brigand and insurrectionist who has also committed murder.  What we see is a kind of exchange, in which the true Son and fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets is crucified in place of one who uses violence in the name of nationalist insurrection.  One embodies mercy, the other embodies political expediency for power, a fitting representation of these particular leaders who stir the crowd against Christ whom they know to be innocent.  And then there is Pilate, who clearly understands the envy of the religious leaders (see Mark 15:10 in yesterday's reading, above), and has found for Himself that Christ is innocent of the charges brought against Him.  He clearly knows how guilty people act, and Christ doesn't even defend Himself.  But although he is the Roman governor, he also seeks to appease the crowds.  We can understand that his job is to keep the peace as he also has to answer to Caesar.  But the Romans were also known for their law and codes, and this "order" is simply used to treat an innocent Man in the cruelest and harshest way possible.  Scourging and crucifixion were reserved for the worst criminals because of the amount of suffering they inflicted.  So the evil time -- and, we could say, the devil -- has its way in that the compassionate, loving, and merciful Lord receives the worst punishment of a system of law designed to keep a certain kind of peace.  My study Bible explicitly remarks upon the mocking acts of the soldiers hailing Christ as King, and even worshiping Him bowing their knees (see Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10), which become inadvertent prophesy.  These examples of truth turned inside out and upside down are frequently characteristic hallmarks of evil.  This is found in the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (or Tares), in which the indigestible weeds, which aren't nutritious for human beings, resemble the good wheat (see Matthew 13:24-30), also understood as a characteristic of heresy.   Evil sets up a pattern that seemingly is fully aware of the good, as it so often seeks to pattern itself in the image of the good, only suited to its own purposes through lies.  In a recent historical example, there are well-known forms of propaganda used by the Nazis which twisted seemingly good and truthful maxims into masks of order which conceal hideous truths, such as the phrase "Work makes freedom," found on concentration camp gates.  (It was originally a phrase used to describe the therapeutic value of work for rehabilitation of criminals.)  We can think of other examples of modern propaganda designed to cover up terrible abuses of power and acts of extreme destructive cruelty and violence, especially by tyrannical or totalitarian movements.  They all bear this similar stamp of perversions of truth, patterning themselves after the good in horrific imitation.  This mimicry of truths seems to indicate an awareness of the good, a deliberate choice to subvert what is understood as good and true.  And so, we can look at the nature of evil which presents itself in a pattern.  But what of our Lord, who takes on all of this voluntarily?  In the second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes of our reconciliation in Christ, and that "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-21).  What this means, according to my study Bible, is that Christ voluntarily assumed the consequences of the sin of human beings, corruption and death, without sinning Himself.  He submitted to this unjust suffering we read in the Gospels because of the sinful passions of human beings and angels.  What it means is that salvation is much more than forgiveness of sins; it is rather new life -- we are reconciled to God and become new creatures.  Moreover, He is that faithful and true Witness who is ultimately the Judge of all.  Through His suffering and death, He needs no other testimony to condemn the ruler of this world who is the ultimate tyrant and cause of evil, the one ultimately responsible for the perversion of truth and misleading and suffering of human beings.  Christ once and for all takes away the justification of expediency and injustice, for in His own innocence He remains the perfect witness against the evil of the world.  The early Christians understood themselves as those who witness, following Him even to death.  The word "martyr" literally means witness in Greek.  We walk in His way, and our own innocence also contributes in metaphysical terms to this struggle which is ultimately "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  Let us consider the great significance of remembering what we are about when others follow the crowd, when we are stirred to violence by those who seek power for themselves.  For as faithful we enter into His struggle and follow Him, and all of this has meaning and value and substance far beyond what we see in the moment.

 

They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  The text quotes from Psalm 22:18.  St. Leo the Great (Pope Leo I) comments that the compelling of Simon of Cyrene to carry Christ's cross is symbolic of Christianity coming to the outsiders, the Gentiles.  Regarding the sour wine mingled with gall, see Psalm 69:21.

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified Him reviled Him with the same thing.   Of today's entire passage, my study bible says that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own to take upon Himself our sufferings.  He accomplishes this by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is our humanity.  Although Christ has no sin, He was made to "be" sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 2:9).   Although one robber would later repent (as we know from Luke's Gospel, see Luke 23:39-43), at first both criminals mock Jesus.

As we read in today's text, Jesus takes on the sufferings of the world.  It doesn't seem to be precisely understood today what "gall" was that was mixed with the sour wine commonly consumed by the Roman soldiers, but quite possibly it was a bitter substance designed to help blunt the pain and shock of crucifixion.   If we understand this correctly, we see Jesus willing to endure and suffer all things that humanity does.  This is a voluntary act, and in the refusal of the wine mixed with gall He does not even take a preparation designed to help minimize that suffering, even to some small extent.  Why does Christ suffer?  This question opens us to what is called a theodicy.  This word comes from two Greek words:  theos/θεος meaning "God" and dikē/δικη which means justice.  A definition provided by the Oxford English Dictionary describes theodicy as "the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil."  In other words, it asks the question, "Why does God (who is ostensibly "good") permit evil?  That would especially mean the evil that exists in our world, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as a most explicit example of evil, and is committed against One who has no sin.  But in the words of St. Paul (and echoed in my study bible), Christ "became" sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Clearly, one thing we know absolutely from the Gospels, is that this suffering and death on the Cross by Christ is a necessary part of the salvation plan for us.   There have been many answers to the question of why this is so throughout Christian history.  But I would offer one particular understanding which has to do with Christ's return and the Judgment that is initiated through His life in the flesh, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  That is, this suffering of the innocent Christ becomes a testimony against the evil of the world, rendered effectively by His suffering as witness (in Greek, the word for witness is "martyr").  It most especially becomes a testimony against the "evil one."  When we also enter into suffering in His name and for the sake of our faith, we do the same, we are witnesses ("martyrs") in the sense of the framework of judicial language in which Christ has often used in His mission into the world, and the eventual judgment to come at His return.   Even when we declare our faith, we say that we give testimony, as in a courtroom.  The Holy Spirit is the called the Counselor, an Advocate; that is, one who defends at trial and offers assistance.   In this role He is called Helper and Comforter; in Greek Parakletos/Παράκλητος, meaning the one who comes (to one's side) when called, as does a legal advocate in a trial.  The entire Passion of Christ is an indictment of injustice itself, and also of lies, the spirit of the anti-Christ.  And here we must recall the Holy Spirit is also called by Christ the Spirit of Truth (and remember who is the "father of lies").  Our own salvation comes when we take up our own crosses, as He has taught us, and we share in His ministry, testimony, and "martyrdom."   We walk in the way of God, in some sense taken out of the world, although the world will respond in its own way.  Like Christ we are "not of this world" through faith and participation in His Kingdom; that is we are in the world, but not of it (see John chapter 17).  When we are met with the evil of the world, we must turn to our faith, our steady participation in the life Christ offers, to prayer:  and follow in the ways that Christ gives us.  In this way, we offer testimony in the fullness of true judgment that belongs to Christ.  What Christ offers us on the Cross is the ultimate freedom, for He shows that He is no slave of the evil one nor of the world, but rather, He says, the enemy, or the "ruler of this world," "has nothing in Me" (John 14:30).  On worldly terms, God intervenes in the mysterious ways of God.  But God's justice has a way of working itself out:  witness Christ's prophetic words regarding the eventual Siege of Jerusalem (in this reading), or the effective peaceful resistance movement of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.  Just as the world (in the collective presence of the mob) was offered a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, so we are effectively always offered this choice.  We are essentially asked what we choose first:  God or a worldly fix.  Do we walk through life prayerfully and seeking God's guidance, or do we live by the sword alone?  This is not to say that there is never a time to take up arms, or to use other means available through a worldly justice system.  But we are asked to be guided by our faith, always, and before all things.  We follow the first great commandment to love God with heart, and soul, and mind -- and the second, to love neighbor as ourselves.  We are asked to live as part of His Kingdom, even as we are in this world, and we are given a solution that in effect challenges evil in its very root, as the spiritual problem it truly is.  There will be times when we bear our own cross and suffer injustice, but even that is ultimately a part of a much greater movement of justice, one which includes healing and beauty and truth, and the goodness and love of God.   It is the Cross that saves us.  For the Cross is transcendent, and takes us from simply material beings who suffer and contest in constant struggle with one another over scarce goods, to human beings who are created in the image of God.  It offers us life in a much greater and larger cosmos than we can imagine, a shared love with all the saints of God, participating in God's glory and strength and purpose.  And it offers us the growth in ourselves of all the fruits of the Spirit, the stature of dignity as God's children by adoption.  Behold the Man on the Cross.  He leads the way first.  Even in our very personal and most intimate struggles, His Cross is transcendent for us, and leads the way through and beyond to Resurrection and His life.

Hail, King of the Jews!

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. 

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

- Mark 15:12-21

Yesterday we read that, immediately following Jesus' night trial (and Peter's denial of Christ), in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.  Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. 

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  It's clear from his statements that while Pilate really does not know the circumstances nor the nature of Christ's ministry,  he does see Jesus quite clearly as innocent of the charges brought against Him.  He gets no answer to his question, "Why, what evil has He done?"   My study bible comments that Pilate's sin was less than that of the Jewish leaders who delivered Christ to him (John 19:11), because the Jewish religious leaders had the Law and the prophets to instruct them -- while Pilate did not.  So there is in addition to his lack of knowledge about Jesus, there is Pilate's lack of knowledge of Jewish spiritual history and faith.  But Pilate's sin is that, in his desire to gratify the crowd, he will knowingly send an innocent to be crucified.

 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.   My study bible comments here that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is to mock, it is a prophetic act that Jesus should be crowned and hailed as King by soldiers of the governor (see also John 11:49-51, in which Caiaphas unwittingly makes a prophecy regarding Christ's salvific work).  My study bible adds that this mockery shows that Jesus is the One who is despised and rejected by all, and who bears the iniquity of all (see Isaiah 53:3-9).  Here in Mark we read that they clothed Him in purple; Matthew's Gospel says red or scarlet.  But the word for purple is porphyra/πορφύρα, a royal color of reddish-purple.  (It's also known as Tyrian purple or Tyrian red, made with a rare and extraordinarily expensive dye; see this image).   My study bible comments that this deep reddish-purple colored robe represents both Christ's royalty and also the sins of humanity, which He has taken upon Himself.

 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  My study bible says that Mark mentions Alexander and Rufus as they were likely still living, and possibly even known to those who would first hear Mark's Gospel.  It notes that the spiritual message here is that we, like Simon (whose name means "obedience") are called not simply to carry the cross which Christ has set upon us, but also seeing Christ in others, we are called to bear one another's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2). 

We receive many images in today's reading, which form something like icons for our understanding of our faith.  Christ's mocking -- dressed in the red/purple robe, with a crown of sorts, and even soldiers bowing their knees to worship -- forms a prophecy despite its intent.  If we see through the strangeness of the time and its malice and evil, we also see its irony, that it is telling something -- despite all intent to the contrary -- which is nevertheless true.  In Romans 14:11, St. Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23:  " For it is written:  'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.' "   St. Paul also writes, ". . . that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth . . ." (Philippians 2:10).  The soldiers, in effect, are unconsciously mimicking what they don't understand, even in calling Christ a King.  And there is another spiritual image or "icon" we're inadvertently given, also at the direction of the Roman soldiers, that of Simon called to carry Christ's cross.  There is a depth of meaning there that not only calls us to bear one another's crosses in times of suffering, as my study bible notes, but moreover that our lives are lived in the very participation of Christ's Cross as well.  That is, each of us will have our own crosses to bear, and we look to Christ's crucifixion to teach us about doing so with grace and forbearance.  If we could but remember that it is also our work to help one another to do so as well, we would go a long ways to coming to terms with an idea of what Christ's Church should look like, what it should mean that we are one Body, and brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are called to live in a particular way, with particular meanings and values that transcend everything, so that even in this scene of evil -- the innocent condemned to suffer and die -- we find words and actions of prophesy, that tell the truth to us instead of the lie.  This is the way that Christ's life and truth shapes the reality of who we are, regardless of circumstances.  These are images that tell us that even in the worst of things, we can find the place where Christ's life bears fruit in us, a way that we follow Him, a way that His truth will come to bear upon each and every one of our circumstances.  Let us remember that He is at work, even through all things, with faith as our guidance.

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

Yesterday we read that when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all with the crowd, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.   Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."   The prophesy is from Psalm 22:18.  The entirety of the Psalm tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion.  Simon of Cyrene is possibly a pilgrim in Jerusalem for the Passover, or he is possibly there for other reasons and is not a Jew.  At any rate, he is compelled as one from a Roman colony.  Cyrene was originally a prosperous, cultural Greek city in eastern Libya.  He and his family would become known in the early Church, as Mark's Gospel refers to him as "the father of Rufus and Alexander" (Mark 15:21). 

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  My study bible tells us that Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His won to take upon Himself our sufferings.  He accomplishes this by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is our humanity.  A note tells us, "Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9)."   We are told here of the two robbers on either side of Christ.  Although one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), Matthew tells us that at first both criminals mock Jesus.

Once again the Gospels give us a picture within a picture:  although Christ is mocked, the truth is here in the story.  It is here in the accusation:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Apollinaris of Laodicea (Bishop of Laodicea) comments that Jesus is now glorified while the day of the righteous is always mocked by the ignorant.  The world brings to Jesus in this scene all of its scorn and mocking, a projection of its hatred and destruction and condemnation.  Leo the Great (Pope St. Leo I) sees in Simon of Cyrene compelled to carry the Cross a vision of the faith that would come to the Gentiles, to whom the cross of Christ was not to be shame but glory. He writes, "It was not accidental therefore but symbolic and mystical, that while the Jewish rulers were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share his sufferings. Thus the apostle would say, 'If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him'" (2 Timothy 2:12; Romans 8:17).  It seems essential to understand how Christ stands in for us in this place of mocking and derision.  The cruelty of His extreme suffering becomes something to laugh about, to make worse through jeers and rebukes.  He is the One who is wholly innocent and without sin, and yet He takes on this sin and bears it for us.  But the irony is that it is sin being crucified so that we may be reborn without it.  This is the hour, contrary to the worldly appearance, that Christ calls His hour of glory (John 12:23).  Regardless of what is being done to Him, the true reality of Christ is one of glory and divinity.  The lies and injustice -- for injustice is also a form of a lie -- cannot truly touch the essence of Christ, His substance.  Through faith, this becomes our own hour of glory, as to be to crucified with Christ is to awaken to our own true nature as His children:  we may be reborn through His suffering to be "like Him," to take on and grow in His likeness, and to come to understand ourselves as creatures made in the image of God.  Is this a picture of humanity, made only for the lowest and most miserable existence -- or is it rather a picture of what we do, how we sin, what lies we tell ourselves, what suffering we cause or are made only to endure?  That particular picture of sheer misery is the "worldly" one, in which meaning and value are only attached to appearance -- a "material-mindedness" that subjects us to a valuation based on rank, competition, manipulation, a hierarchy of who can claim what.  But Christ's crucifixion turns that world upside-down, gives us a reality that transcends it and even more -- the reality that is present here transforms that suffering.  It takes the suffering and through it tells us the truth instead.  That truth is that God is love, who loves us and values us so that we are worth God's suffering -- even to give us life in ways we didn't have it before.  This is a picture of the eternal God who intersects our time in order to bring us the gift of life, even hidden in this picture of a gruesome and miserable death.  There are several here who will themselves be transformed:  the centurion and men who are with him, one of the robbers crucified with Christ, Simon of Cyrene and his sons -- and these are just the immediate beneficiaries we can name, for whom a new life begins at the Cross.  And there is even more to this story:  our faith may come to us even when we are alone and outcast, when the whole world seems to collaborate to tell us we are nothing but sin.  Leo the Great goes on to note that Christ is crucified outside the gates of the city; He is the new lamb slain not in the temple whose sacrifices will come to an end, but on the altar of the Cross once and for all -- and for all the world.   This transfiguring moment means that we are never alone, He is always with us in every hour and at all times of our lives.  His gift of life is waiting for our own suffering to be transformed in His image, if we live our own suffering with Him.  And in this understanding, nothing will ever be the same again.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

- Mark 15:12-21

 Yesterday we read that, immediately, in the morning following His trial before the Sanhedrin, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.   Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  My study bible points out an important difference between the Jewish leaders and Pilate, in terms of their judgment of Jesus.  That is, the Jews had the Law and the prophets to instruct them, and Pilate did not.  But Pilate also bears sin, because he gives in to his desire to gratify the crowd, knowingly sending an innocent Man to death.  Not only has Jewish law been violated in the process of convicting Christ to death, but so has Roman law.


Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  The whole garrison of soldiers are gathered to mock Jesus, the "King of the Jews."  My study bible says that every king is proclaimed by his soldiers.  Although the intention here is mockery, it is also prophetic that Jesus is crowned and hailed as King by the soldiers of Pilate, the Roman governor.  (See another inadvertent prophesy in which Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies Christ's redemptive work in John 11:49-51).  In accordance with Isaiah 53:3-9, the mockery here shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by men, and who bears the iniquity of us all. 

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  Mark calls Simon the father of Alexander and Rufus, possibly because they were still living and expected to be known by Mark's hearers.  My study bible says that the spiritual message is that we, like Simon (whose name means "obedience"), are not only called to carry whatever cross is set on us by Christ, but also seeing Christ in others, we are called to bear one another's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2).

It's interesting to think about how any encounter with Jesus changes people's lives.  Simon, a visitor to Jerusalem from Cyrene (an ancient Greek coastal city in what is now Libya) is compelled to carry Jesus' cross.   The text tells us that Simon was simply passing by, and so was in a sense commandeered by the soldiers for this job.  It gives us a sense of life under the Romans, and also how an inadvertent and chance meeting with Christ can change lives.  If the sons of Simon, Rufus and Alexander, are expected to be known to the readers of Mark's Gospel, then somehow this family has become a part of the Church.  In the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul asks that his greetings be given to Rufus, and also to the mother of Rufus, as well as St. Paul's own mother (Romans 16:13).  Somehow this chance meeting, this being compelled to carry Jesus' cross, becomes a touchstone for Simon and his entire family.  It is a way in which he becomes entwined with Christ and with those others who are His followers and friends and who love Him.  Pilate, too, will be changed by his encounter with Christ.  After sending Jesus to Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, both Pilate and Herod become fast friends and apparently mutual admirers, after having been at odds with one another (Luke 23:12), united by the custom of courtesy of jurisdiction that Pilate gives to Herod, but also certainly in their mutual understanding that they have sent an innocent holy man to be executed.  (In this, it wasn't the first time for Herod - see this reading.)  We know of the things that will come to be in Jerusalem, what will befall the leadership and even the temple.  But each encounter with Christ seems to bring its own consequences in accordance with the ways in which people respond.  He is at the center of things:  as the vine to which all branches must flow and from which branches are trimmed, He is the touchstone for all things (see John 15).  His is the place where all things meet, where all are found -- if they are to be found at all.  As Judge He will sit at the center of all things, as the crucified Messiah He alone is in position to judge.  No encounter with Him, regardless of response, is without its consequences.  He creates relationships, and He also breaks them.  He tells us, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters" (Luke 11:23).   As Christ has sent to us the Holy Spirit, Who is, according to one prayer, "everywhere present and filling all things," then Christ is encountered everywhere and by all people, regardless of whether or not they have nominally heard of Christ and regardless of whether or not they call themselves Christians.  In today's reading, we get a taste of what conscience means, when we learn that Pilate is more willing to please the crowd (most likely in order to keep his job and position as governor, just as the Jewish leadership worries about their places) than to prevent the unjust execution of an innocent man.  St. Paul writes about the conscience, and the judgment of all:  "For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel" (Romans 2:12-16).  As we each have encounters with our own conscience, so we are also all blessed with the gift of the Spirit, and where the Spirit is, so is the Father and the Son.   We are all, in some measure, living in response to an encounter with this reality and presence, whether we are aware of it or not.  The idea of neutrality is delusional; we are all in a place where we respond to the presence of Christ, knowingly and unknowingly, just as St. Paul spoke to the ancient Athenians about the God they worshiped without knowing His name (see Acts 17:22-28).  While all will be judged by Christ according to the depths of their hearts, the essence of this gospel is the living encounter and our own capacity to "grope for Him and find Him," as St. Paul writes (Acts 17:27).  Each of these individuals in the Gospels comes to this place of encounter, and each life reflects the response.  Let us remember that the work of grace is ongoing and living.  The stories we read in the Gospels are illustrative of what is a living, ever-flowing reality, present to each of us and to each choice we make in our own hearts.  This process hasn't stopped and isn't frozen in time; rather, encounters happen constantly and ever-presently, everywhere and in each one.  From the mocking soldiers (at least one of whom will be converted at the Cross) to Simon to all the rest in the crowd that demands His crucifixion, to the present day and each encounter we know (both internal and external), Christ is present, shaping and forming lives and relationships and even who we are as persons.  How do you encounter Him?  How does that shape you, one way and the other?

Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!

 Now as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.  And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which 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 in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"

- Luke 23:26-31

Yesterday we read that Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them as he presented Jesus before them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him" (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

Now as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on hi they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.   Simon means "obedience," my study bible says.  This faithful man, Simon of Cyrene, stands for all who desire to follow Christ and carry the cross He places on them (9:23; 14:27).

And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."    A note tells us here that weeping isn't appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross.  But it is suited for one's own sins and for the suffering of others.

"For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'  Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"'"  Jesus is referring in these verses to the events that are to come in Jerusalem, which will manifest in AD 70 at the Siege of Jerusalem.  This blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgment, my study bible says, of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  St. John Chrysostom writes of this passage:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Hosea 10:8, giving spiritual reference to the outcome of this time.   See also the reading in which Jesus wept over Jerusalem before entering the city at the beginning of Holy Week, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."

"For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"  The green wood, my study bible notes, is Christ -- who is full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for this population destitute of spiritual leadership and the virtue it would encourage, barren of life and righteousness.  If the Romans will eagerly destroy the righteous, then what horrifying things await the unrighteous?

Jesus knows what is to happen in Jerusalem within the current generation. A great destruction will come that will level the temple and destroy the people, leading to a time of exile and dispersion.  Hence, His warning words about what is to come.  Many of His followers survived the destruction, due to His warnings to the Church.  But His words, "If they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?" serve as warnings to us now.  Indeed, there is nothing in the Gospels that stands simply as a lesson about the past.  Everything teaches us about ourselves, our present, our choices, our faith, our weaknesses and temptations.  What decisions do we make today?  Do we find ourselves, in some sense -- even in the most tangential of ties -- connected to decisions to harm those who are righteous or who have done no harm?  Do we take accountability for prayer for those who are innocent and need protection?  Do we concern ourselves with righteousness, and doing and seeing righteousness even when it is masked behind a popular dislike or manipulation against an unpopular cause or person?  These are the tough choices Christ calls us to make.  Indeed, in John 16:2, He tells His followers that "the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service."  He assures us that the cause of the righteous is never lost with God, although it is true that the outcome of terrible choices may lag and be delayed, so that those who commit such errors as we find in His story remain unaware of the lessons they failed to learn at each choice offered.  Never is coercion offered by God, as repentance is voluntary.  This is a great mystery, and one with which we all may struggle, as we understand and know the mercy of God.  How is mercy compatible with the outcome of bad choices, of unrighteous behavior -- of a refusal to acknowledge the places God calls us to, even the conscience with which we're bestowed?  Let us be assured that Christ is with us, and so remains also the unrighteous behavior we read about in the Gospels.  Over and over again, Scripture calls us to awareness that the presence of the righteous among the unrighteous may save a city, a country, a group of people, some population in the world.  We may read the stories and find them quaint, or simply ancient.  But we must take it to heart that the importance of righteousness is not diminished -- not by time nor by fashion.  And the presence of God's love remains real for those who find it, and seek it, and return it, so that what they practice may also be a part of this world.  There are no rules that substitute for this living love nor for participation in God's energies of mercy, of grace.  We don't know how they may affect others.  But from Jesus' story, we do know they make a difference -- even in ways unforeseen by those who reject them with hard hearts and selfish choices.   He has taught us that even those who offer such a one so much as a cup of water will have his or her reward (see Matthew 10:41-42).  Let us remember His words.

They clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

Icon of Christ the Bridegroom

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

- Mark 15:12-21

Yesterday, we read that immediately, in the morning after Jesus' night trial by the Council, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate.  Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"  He answered and said to him, "It is as you say."  And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing.  Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing?  See how many things they testify against You!"  But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.  Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.

 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  My study bible says that Pilate's sin was less than the deliberate "framing" of Christ by the religious leaders who delivered Him to Pilate.  Pilate, after all, did not have the Law and the prophets to instruct him, and knew nothing about Jesus' preaching and teaching and how it linked to the whole heritage of Jewish spiritual tradition.  But Pilate's desire to gratify the crowd means nevertheless that he knowingly sent an innocent man to death.

Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.   Here's the ironic twist that evil puts on these scenes of Jesus on trial.  He tells the truth, and even His mockers, jesting at a framed up charge, inadvertently reveal the truth.  My study bible says that it's prophetic that Jesus should be crowned and hail as King by soldiers of the governor.  It notes, "This mockery shows Jesus as the One despised and rejected by men who bears the iniquity of us all (see Isaiah 53:3-9).   It notes also the prophetic pronouncement inadvertently made by Caiaphas as written in John's Gospel (John 11:49-51).  The royal purple was closer to what we would call a reddish color (red/purple) -- representing both His royalty and the sins of humanity that He's taken upon Himself.  (Here is a photo of a mosaic depicting Empress Theodora dressed in what is called Tyrian puple, 6th century.  Here is another example, an 11th century Byzantine robe.)

Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.  My study bible suggests that Mark mentions that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus because they were still living and possibly even known to Mark's contemporary hearers.  It says, "The spiritual message is that we, like Simon (whose name means 'obedience'), are not only called to carry the cross Christ sets on us, but seeing Christ in others, we are called to bear each other's burdens as well (Galatians 6:2)."

So here is the picture of Christ bound, mocked, spat on, ridiculed.  And in the contempt, there is inadvertently truth.  It's a strange way in which evil circumstances still can't really hide truth.  The twisted nature of evil isn't something new to observe at all, but there are so many ironies in all the ways that people try to belittle and hold Jesus in contempt, in all the varied scenes of those who -- one way and another -- seek to take Him down.  Perhaps there's a clue in the element of truth that makes a person genuine, who they really are, an internal reality that can't really be denied.  Oh, we can try and deny and cover up all we want.  But when something is a truly genuine part of an intangible internal reality, then it becomes a different matter.  That can't be taken away.  It's a force that comes from a different place than a worldly crowning or declaration of a king.  It's not something that belongs to Christ because others say it's so or assent to it or recognize it.  It simply is -- as in the name I AM.  Jesus' reality is transcendent of His circumstances and the opinions of others.  There's a lesson there for all of us, particularly in a time when we so value images and publicity or fame, and we're bombarded with its values all the time.  What makes a person genuine?  What gives us the quality of dignity or honor?  Whose praise matters when it comes to declarations of true reality and identity?  What can't really be taken away, no matter how much contempt or mud or spittle is cast at it?  That's what we think about when we look at this icon of Christ as prisoner.  The icon above is called "The Bridegroom."  It's a portrait of Christ in captivity, but more truly, an icon of love.  He's bound to us with His covenant.  As His hands are bound in the scene of imprisonment, so we are bound with Him, and to those whom we love.  All He goes through is for our sake, humiliated as vulnerable human being -- His voluntary sacrifice for love.  All for us.  As Bridegroom He is a picture of what it means when we, too, love enough to sacrifice, to carry the burdens of others as Simon does:  and that becomes another glimmer of the truth that can't be hidden although it's twisted as conscription, compulsion, weakness.  It's the truth that dignifies, even if others mock because of it. Sound familiar?  Simon becomes a believer, and his sons well-known members of the Church, crowned and honored as true soldiers of Christ.  Let us think about Bridegroom, the heavenly Jerusalem and Church as His bride, and truths that can't be hidden although mocked, and twisted, and ridiculed.  Let us remember who we are, in His name and His truth for us, His love.

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come o a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Hm sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who  passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

- Matthew 27:32-44

Yesterday, we read that when Pilate saw that He could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.  You see to it."  And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children."  Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him.  And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.  And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head.  And when they had mocked Him, they put the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.  Him they compelled to bear His cross.  And when they had come o a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, they gave Hm sour wine mingled with gall to drink.  But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.  Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:  "They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."  This quotation is from Psalm 22, verse 18.  The entirety of Psalm 22 is reflective of Jesus' Crucifixion.  Tomorrow's reading will give us yet another verse, this time from Jesus.

 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.  And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:  THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.  And those who  passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.  Of today's entire passage, my study bible notes that "Jesus accepts mockery and endures the weakness of our body in His own to take upon Himself our sufferings.  This He accomplishes by uniting His divine nature to our human nature.  His humanity is indeed our humanity.  Although He has no sin, He was made to be sin for us, that through His flesh He might condemn sin itself (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 2:9)."  Of the two robbers, one would later repent (Luke 23:39-43), but at first they both mock Jesus.

Jesus' humiliation is complete.  He's surrounded by those who mock Him, those who "pass by" blaspheme Him, they ridicule Him according to their own twisting of His words.  This includes men among the leadership:  chief priests, scribes and elders.   Another text also mentions the Pharisees.  Origen comments (among others) that it is those who "pass by" who blaspheme Jesus, shaking their heads -- but none of these stand before Him or approach Him directly.  Origen finds in this act the primary symbolism of the Cross -- and how it is either approached or turned away from, or passed by.  St. John Chrysostom comments on the fullness of the humiliation of Jesus: "Consider his words. Consider his actions. Remember that he is Lord and you are his servant. Remember that he is suffering for you, and for you individually. You may be suffering only on your own behalf. He is suffering on behalf of all by whom he had been crucified. You may be suffering in the presence of a few. He suffers in the sight of the whole city and of the whole people of the covenant, both of strangers and those of the holy land, to all of whom he spoke merciful words.  Even his disciples forsook him. This was most distressing to him. Those who previously paid him mind suddenly deserted him. Meanwhile his enemies and foes, having captured him and put him on a cross, insulted him, reviled him, mocked him, derided him and scoffed at him. See the Jews and soldiers rejecting him from below. See how he was set between two thieves on either side, and even the thieves insulted him and upbraided him."  Chrysostom adds:  "By what he said and what he did he offended all our expectations to the utmost. He was forever correcting beforehand our assumptions about him. Even when all these ignominies were said and done, they could not prevail, even at that time. The thief who had lived depraved in such great wickedness, who had spent his whole life in murders and house breakings, when these things had been said, only then confessed him. When he made mention of his kingdom, the people bewailed him. These things that were done seemed to testify the contrary in the eyes of many who knew nothing of the mystery of God’s dispensations. Jesus was weak and of no ostensible power; nevertheless truth prevailed even by the contrary evidences."  (All quotations from Gospel of Matthew Commentary, Homily 87.2.)  Let us remember that the only "help" given to Jesus is from an outsider, a foreigner, Simon of Cyrene.   Yet Jesus keeps His silence.  There is power in His word, but He is the Word.  Everything He does is for the Gospel, even when He does not speak.  And the Cross conquers everything.  St. Chrysostom, in the same homily, also warns us about our own anger and outrage.  He who is on the Cross - the true Judge - completely humiliated, teaches us everything about forbearance.  Let us remember always to look to Him, silent, and the most powerful One of all.  It is He to whom we turn in our most aching times of trouble, our humiliation, weakness in the face of worldly injustice.  We endure, at His word.  Let us remember, it is Jesus who also gave us the story of the persistent widow and the Judge.  Endurance, persistence, doesn't mean we just "give up" to injustice when there are appropriate actions to take.    But silence and patience are also a part of those valuable options open to us in any situation, and God may call upon us also to develop these capabilities, even in the face of injustice.  We turn in prayer to Him, for discernment.  Jesus' actions are all in the service of justice, on a cosmic scale, and for each of us.