Station 2: Simon helps carry the cross | Scripture Reflection

Matthew 5:38-42 (NIV, 1984)

You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV, 1984)

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Philippians 3:7-15a (NIV, 1984)

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things...

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV, 1984)

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Station 2: Simon helps carry the cross | Reflection by Paul DeGuelle

“When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.”
Luke 23:26 (NASB)

What does it mean to, “carry the cross,” in this Lent season? How do we posture ourselves as we approach Calvary? It will probably look different for all of us, but if we take part, in the end the result is the same, redemption.

For those of you that don’t know, I am a specialty contractor. Recently, a customer of mine and his general contractor made some decisions without letting me know until the last minute. Besides throwing off my schedule, there were installation ramifications taking place by the time I received his call. He seemed frustrated by finding out that details may not be quite right now. I was frustrated by not being able to be part of the conversation and provide the information he would have needed. Communication can be critical in every aspect of life. In the end, everything worked out ok, but there were a few details we both would have liked different.

I think my relationship with God over the years has worked in this same manner. I sometimes act impulsively towards God and without consideration. I can look back and see points in which I wish I had checked in with the Lord first before making decisions. If I’m honest, in most of those moments there was sin in my life and I didn’t want to approach Calvary truthfully. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (NASB). I love that God somehow redeems every mindless, selfish, missing-the-mark moment in life.

I believe the Lent season is a great place to work out our communication with the Lord, lay down those moments we didn’t get it right, place before him our cry for mercy, and dedicate ourselves to seeking him first. As we continue to walk through this season and approach Calvary, the Lord asks, “Will you walk with me?” The road to Calvary shouldering the cross may seem heavy, arduous or possibly painful at times. It might seem like we are forced into it, as Simon of Cyrene was. However it feels, remember the Lord is walking right in front of you bearing much more. As we bear the weight of the cross, he will shoulder our sins, the weight of the world and even redeem the mistakes we made; pick up the cross and walk.

Station 2: Simon helps carry the cross

Luke 23:24-26 (ESV)

So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will. And 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.

Station 1: Pilate condemns Jesus to die | Haiku & Scripture Relfection

Haiku by Dag Hammarskjöld (Markings, 1963, p. 190)

God took the form of man
In the victim
Who chose to be sacrificed.

           ************

Romans 8:1-4 (NIV, 1984)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Station 1: Pilate condemns Jesus to die | Hymn Reflection

Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended
Written by Johann Heermann (1630), Translated by Robert Bridges (1897)
Source: hymnary.org (referenced 02.20.18)

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, 
that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? 
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, 
O most afflicted! 

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? 
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! 
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; 
I crucified thee. 

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered; 
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered. 
For our atonement, while we nothing heeded, 
God interceded. 

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation, 
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation; 
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, 
for my salvation. 

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee, 
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee, 
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, 
not my deserving.

Station 1: Pilate condemns Jesus to die | Scripture Meditation

Isaiah 53:1-6 (NIV, 1984)

Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hid their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.