The Day of the LORD (RP1)

(Audio version; Music: "First" and "How Can It Be" by: Lauren Daigle)

Introduction

We often forget that justice and righteousness are intimately woven into the fabric of God’s person. As a result, compromise, when it comes to justice and righteousness, is not one of God’s characteristics. Just because God is slow to exact His judgment on humanity’s injustice and unholiness, doesn’t mean He never will. One day, God will act in response to humanity’s disobedience. “YHWH’s rule will be made manifest, despite the cost that it carries to the people.”^[1] The prophet Amos says it’s like fleeing from a lion only to run headlong into a bear—or reaching the safety of home only to be bitten by a snake when we believe to be safe. There is no escaping God’s justice and righteousness. And no amount of hiding behind ritual practices can take the place of trusting in His goodness and grace and faithful obedience to Him. Nevertheless, we see this dynamic at work in our churches today. Many of us drive our roomy cars to a sprawling church complex and park in spacious, paved lots outside magnificent church structures. Once inside, our taste senses are greeted with coffee and pastries. We are surrounded by plasma televisions bombarding our visual senses with church activities and coming attractions. Finally, we settle into comfortable stadium seating and worship to music of near-professional musicians utilizing world-class lighting and sound systems (and fog machines!). We are taught by some of the most eloquent preachers of our time who tell us that God loves us and that Jesus died for us. After an hour (exactly one hour in many cases) we make our way to the car and head home thinking we’ve done our part in a spiritual transaction of sorts. This describes the spiritual life in its entirety of many in our churches today.

            Lest you think this attitude and practice is something new, Amos experienced something quite similar in his day. Israel was looking forward to the Day of the LORD in the hopes that God would step in and elevate Israel above its adversaries and enemies. However, Israel in general, refused to acknowledge the unfaithfulness and disobedience of their own behavior. Instead, they brazenly believed that God would overlook Israel’s sin while punishing the sins of their enemies. But no amount of worship, even elegant, verbose, or sincere worship, could hide their sin. Because Israel was unwilling to deal with their own sin, The Day of the LORD would prove to be a grim event for Israel during the time of Amos.

Subject Text

Amos 5:18-27

¹⁸Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. ¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. ²⁰Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? ²¹“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. ²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. ²³Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! ²⁵“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ²⁶You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god—which you made for yourselves. ²⁷Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.

Context

Amos was a prophet during the time of King Jeroboam of Israel in the north and King Uzziah of Judah in the south during the middle of the 8th century BC. This was a period of great prosperity for Israel and Judah. Unfortunately, the elite prospered at the expense of others. Small farmers that once farmed primarily for their own needs were now being forced to farm crops that brought the highest trading prices. At the same time, prosperity and trading with neighboring nations left Israel and Judah vulnerable to experiment and adopt the religious practices of those neighboring nations. This meant neglecting their obedience and faithfulness to YHWH. Also during this time Assyria was battling the forces of Damascus in the north on its way south to pay a visit to both Israel and Judah!

Literary Context

            Many believe that our Subject Text forms a complete literary unit. Although it is part of a larger context within the book, it “still exists as an independent unit.”^[2] This pericope forms one theme divided into three distinct parts:

Part 1 – vv. 18-20: This section includes the claim that the people are awaiting The Day of the LORD. As previously stated, the people were clearly expecting that day to be a day of blessing and triumph for Israel. They seemed oblivious to the coming destruction. “This makes sense only if Amos is contradicting a popular expectation of a positive, beneficial day of YHWH. In that case, then Amos’ audience has been experiencing the beginnings of their own destruction…Amos 5:18-20 emphasizes prophetic contradiction of the people’s hope in the day of YHWH as a cure for their current distress.”^[3]

Part 2 – vv. 21-24: This section focuses on Israel’s worship and sacrificial practices. The clear admonition of their worship and sacrificial practices is not intended to denounce the practice itself but the spirit of the practice. God seeks true justice and righteousness and that cannot be derived through worship and sacrifice alone but in complete obedience and faithfulness to God. Part 3 will demonstrate just how far removed Israel was in the spirit of their worship and sacrifices. Instead, they were using these practices as some kind of quid-pro-quo system with God.

“The seeking of divine favor through cultic excess appears so futile that God asks the people to desist, emphasizing the utter impossibility of cultic influence upon divine actions…God shows no interest in human activities that might render them acceptable. To the contrary, this passage asserts the futility of human attempts to earn God’s favor through any means, especially through acts of worship.”^[4]

Part 3 – vv. 25-27: This section naturally progresses to the point of shining a bright light on the detestable practices of Israel. Not only do they claim to worship God but it is revealed that they also worship foreign gods! During their wilderness wandering, God proved himself faithful to Israel by caring for and protecting them. During that time, none of his care required sacrifices by the people. Now that they were finally in the land promised to them during their wilderness wandering, they could offer sacrifices to God to demonstrate their love and affection for him. However, they turned the cultic system into a means to an end while simultaneously worshipping foreign gods. Ultimately, God would not be mocked by their selfish acts of worship and proclaimed their impending doom.

            There are a number of interesting interpretive and exegetical issues within this text that are worth noting:

Text Analysis

¹⁸Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. ¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. ²⁰Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light—pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

            In order to properly understand our Subject Text, we must have a proper grasp of the terminology and imagery used by Amos in v. 18-20 that sounds foreign to most of us.

• “Woe” – This interjection carries with it the weight and “nature of a threat.”^[5]

• “The day of the LORD” – In scripture, this expression is used for the first time in the Book of Amos. No doubt, the people anticipated something great and triumphant associated with this day. However, “Amos did not share that hope. He knew that this ‘day of the Lord’ would be a day of ‘darkness, and not light’ for the Israelites who had rejected the truth. It would not be a time of victory for Israel over her enemies, but a time of victory for God over Israel.”^[6]

• “That day will be darkness, not light” – Amos’ use of this term is clearly metaphorical. Instead of a day of triumph and celebration filled with light and hope, it will be a day of judgment and sorrow filled with the darkness and despair of being conquered and taken into captivity.

• “Bear” occurs as a pair with “lion” in v. 19 and in places such as Proverbs 28:15, Lamentations 3:10 and 1 Samuel in the story of David. In all but one of these cases “lion” precedes “bear.” This is presumably intended to communicate that the latter is more fierce than the former as Hebrew poetry usually adds strength and precision to the second word in parallel lines.^[7] The second part of v. 19 reinforces the first part that there is no safe place; no escaping the coming judgment. YHWH’s inescapable judgment will come with the ferocity of a lion that chases its prey into the waiting teeth of a bear. And those who escape the clutches of the lion and the bear will perish in the safety of their own homes as though they were unexpectedly bitten by a poisonous snake.

“Amos takes this well-known concept and reverses the fate of Israel; instead of salvation and light, there will be darkness and defeat…Destruction and death will ultimately be caused by God passing through their midst in judgment…a military defeat will be one of the main ways God will accomplish this…The audience understood the traditions Amos was describing, but they expected darkness for their enemies, not for themselves…

      These folksy, proverbial sayings portray a situation where death is everywhere and inescapable. When a person thinks he has escaped from these fierce animals and is securely resting at home, then death will strike in a most unexpected manner.”[8]

²¹“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. ²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. ²³Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

            God went to great pains to describe exactly how He wanted His people to worship Him. God identified all the religious feasts and festivals the people were supposed to recognize and celebrate. He described how and in what ways He wanted sacrifices prepared and offered. God didn’t miss a detail even down to exactly how the priests were supposed to purify themselves, how they were supposed to dress and how they were supposed to conduct the affairs of the temple. However, vv. 21-24 make clear that God doesn’t care about any of that if the hearts and motives of the people are impure. In fact, God “hates” pretentious worship and devotion. Here in America, we see this all the time as worshippers flood churches every Sunday praising God through song and prayer and then watch those same worshippers live the other six days of the week as though they had never known the God they worship on Sundays. No matter how elegant the sermon may be or how amazing the music is or how entertaining the church production may be, if the hearts and minds of the people are not truly committed to God and God alone, then God will hate everything about it.

            There have been some who have used this text as evidence against certain songs and instruments during worship. The text does not indicate anything inherently inappropriate about the music described in this verse. It seems to be part of the festivities described in v. 22. Consequently, because the activities of v. 22 are rejected, the activities of v. 23 are likewise rejected.

Some have translated “never-failing stream” as “mighty stream” in v. 24. However, “The words ‘mighty stream’ cannot be found in any recent English translation of the Bible; all our contemporary versions recognize the Hebrew…[as meaning] something like an ‘ever-flowing’ or ‘everlasting’ stream.”^[9] The sense is not of something that grows or gets bigger but instead of something that always continues and advances.

            “Israel’s God requires regular, consistent keeping of the covenant. Sacrifices and other elements of worship constituted occasional, intermittent righteousness and were rejected because they were not complemented by proper living in general. A society truly in harmony with Yahweh’s will must practice justice and righteousness routinely: always and everywhere. It is in the nature of a covenant that it cannot be kept merely now and again. For example, no one can say, ‘I keep my marriage covenant; I commit adultery only every few days and the rest of the time am completely faithful to my wife.’ Likewise the Israelite’s implicit argument was ludicrous: ‘I keep Yahweh’s covenant. I misuse and abuse others only some of the time and otherwise faithfully worship Yahweh.’

            Canaanite cultic religion allowed people to be personally immoral and unethical; they could still be right with the gods if they merely supported the cult enthusiastically. Yahweh’s covenant denied his people any such option. Justice and righteousness cannot stop and start like a wilderness wadi that flows with water only during the rainy season and otherwise is just a dry stream bed. They must instead continue night and day, all year, like the [never-failing stream] that never goes dry.”[10]

²⁵“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ²⁶You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god—which you made for yourselves. ²⁷Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.

The rhetorical question in v. 25 is meant to be answered “No!” “If the prophet’s listeners had to concede that Israel did not offer Yahweh sacrifices in the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, which could be regarded as a time when the people were under the full care of Yahweh, they would be able to realize that sacrifices had no influence on Yahweh’s good will towards the people, and therefore were not a necessary part of the people’s worship of him.”^[11]

There is some debate about this particular position with respect to whether there was or was not a mandate to offer sacrifices. However, some believe that this misses the point altogether insisting that “Amos does not refer at all to the question of whether Yahweh prescribed cultic laws to the people through Moses, but simply fastens on the fact that the wilderness period was in fact a time of God’s favour.”^[12]

The difficulty in v. 26 lies in the translation of “shrine” and “pedestal.” Instead of translating the words as ‘shrine’ and ‘pedestal,’ consider instead that “originally it [“shrine”] certainly read Sakkut, which is an alternate name of the Assyrian and Babylonian god Ninib (Saturn). Similarly [“pedestal”]…is in reality a proper name for Kaiwan or Kewan, which also corresponds to the planet Saturn.”^[13] I believe the use of Sakkut and Kaiwan respectively in the translation of this verse is the better translation of the Hebrew given the overall context. The Hebrews wanted to worship the celestial bodies while at the same time worshipping God who created the celestial bodies! It’s not difficult to see why God would be so upset. It is as ridiculous as a man sleeping with his neighbor’s wife and then going home and climbing into bed with his own wife and expecting her to ignore his behavior and instead be loving and accepting.

The reference to “beyond Damascus” in v. 27 is assumed to imply Assyria since “This phrase in earlier days represented the climax of judgment, as did Babylon in later days.”^[14] However, strictly speaking, “the Hebrew means ‘in a land which is farther than the town of Damascus.’ The actual distance is not important in the meaning, and it is not clear how far the people were to be taken beyond Damascus. Even if this is a reference to Assyria, such information should not be stated in the translation, since the author intends it to be vague.”^[15] Nevertheless, it is interesting to note the irony that Israel would go into exile to become slaves to a nation whose gods they prostituted themselves to!

            The trajectory of these verses make it clear that Israel wanted God’s blessing and protection as they looked forward to The Day of the LORD. They worshipped and offered sacrifices to God but failed to address their own sins. They seemed to think that as long as they “performed” for God through their worship and sacrifices that God would somehow be obligated to overlook their disobedience and unfaithfulness (maybe they needed a fog machine or a better light show or maybe a more expensive sound system!). Instead, their view of The Day of the LORD and God’s view of The Day of the LORD would be dramatically different in the face of the Assyrian military onslaught and subsequent exile.

Application

I don’t want to leave you with the impression that I’m opposed to worship—I’m not! In fact, I love worshipping God. My concern is that some have lost sight of what worship really means in its entirety. They think that worship is a “performance” that only happens on Sunday mornings.

“Worship, it seems, is one of the ways we lose focus in our service to God. Distracted by pomp and circumstances, we fall in with false expectations of worship. We think large congregations are more impressive than small ones. We think renowned preachers are more important than simple ones. We plan our worship to impress others and to impress God. Most of all, we fall into ways of manipulating God. We judge the worth of our worship by what we ‘get from God’ rather than how we give ourselves to God.”^[16]

The giving of ourselves in service to God and to humanity strikes at the very heart of what it means to worship and sacrifice to God. However, we continue to pretend to be obedient to God in our churches as we hide behind our well orchestrated worship services. We are quick to proclaim, with raised hands and loud voices no less, that our way of worship is the best way. However, I wonder how many of us would just as quickly recognize the neighbor that is desperate to know someone loves them as they sit beside the hospital bed of their cancer stricken child? How many who enjoy the relative safety of their suburban neighborhood churches have walked the dangerous streets of Juarez, Mexico caring for those innocently trapped in a society controlled by corrupt politicians and murderous drug cartels? How many who leave their happy and healthy babies in the church nursery have held a dying AIDS baby in a remote African orphanage? How many want God to deal with our neighbor’s sin but close His eyes to our sin? How many sit and stare weekly at the cross and still fail to take serious the fact that God demands justice and righteousness all the time and no amount of church attendance and religious finery can satisfy that demand? How many realize the enormity of the cost associated with God’s justice and righteousness?

Amos proclaimed to Israel that the cost of that justice and righteousness for their disobedience during his generation was that they would be forced into exile. Centuries later, God’s continuing demand for justice and righteousness would require the ultimate price—a price that only He could afford to pay. The Father sent the Son to pay the price that would fulfill God’s demand for justice and righteousness once and for all. Nothing we do, whether they are personal sacrifices or beautifully produced worship services, will fulfill God’s demand for justice and righteousness. That demand has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As a result, those who put their trust in Christ are made just and right because of what Christ did on the cross. Being, therefore, made just and right, we are called to do what is just and right as well—all the time! And that, my friends, is sacrifice and worship that is acceptable to God as a sign of our love for and devotion to Him.

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[1] Jon L. Berquist, “Dangerous Waters of Justice and Righteousness: Amos 5:18-27,” Biblical Theological Bulletin 23, no. 2 (Summer 1993), p. 59.

[2] Jon L. Berquist, “Dangerous Waters of Justice and Righteousness: Amos 5:18-27,” p. 58.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., p. 87.

[6] Bernard Thorogood, A Guide to The Book of Amos, (S. P. C. K. Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone, London, 1971), p. 63.

[7] Robert Alter and Frank Kermode, eds., The Literary Guide to the Bible, (First Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1987), pp. 611-624.

[8] Gary V. Smith, Amos—A Mentor Commentary, (Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1998), p. 248

[9] Susan Ackerman, “Amos 5:18,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 57, no. 2 (April 2003), p. 190.

[10] Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah—Word Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1987), p. 355.

[11] Erling Hammershaimb, The Book of Amos a Commentary, (Schocken Books, New York, NY, 1970), p. 91.

[12] Ibid., p. 92.

[13] Ibid., p. 93.

[14] William Rainey Harper, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Amos and Hosea, (Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, NY, 1905), p. 138.

[15] Jan de Waard and William A. Smalley, A Translator’s Handbook on The Book of Amos, (United Bible Societies, West Germany, 1979), p. 124.

[16] Emilie Griffin, “The Hidden Way: Elijah & Authentic Worship,” Conversations: A Forum for Authentic Transformation 7.2, (Fall/Winter 2009), p. 70.

Man Of Sorrows (RP1)

(Audio version; Music: "Man Of Sorrows" by: The Beautiful Discord and "Glorious Day" by: Casting Crowns)

Introduction

            Have you ever ordered something based on a detailed, written description or even a picture and when it showed up it wasn’t exactly what you had hoped for? I’m an avid reader and it happens to me occasionally—I’ll order a book based on a review of its content only to find out that it’s not ultimately what I expected. Maybe that’s happened to you with movies—you see a trailer that excites and motivates you to see the movie only to realize that the trailer was the only good part of the movie. I think Easter can be like that sometimes. We only want Easter to be about the victory represented by an empty tomb but it’s really about so much more than that. Easter is just a few days away and for Christians it represents the pinnacle of our faith. Easter validates Jesus as the one through whom and by whom we receive forgiveness for our sins. The primary focus of Easter is often the empty tomb because it represents the image of Jesus alive and well; the image we expect; the image we’re most comfortable with—just give us the empty tomb please and we’ll be happy. But that’s not what we get is it? Or at least the empty tomb is not the only image that is part of the Easter celebration. Most Christians love Easter Sunday but aren’t particularly fond of dwelling on the road that led Jesus to Easter Sunday. However, the salvation we enjoy as Christians loses some of its value if we’re unwilling to keep the cost of that salvation in view. Our salvation is not just about the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. Our salvation is also about all the steps along the way to the empty tomb.

            One of the reasons so many of the Jews, especially the religious leaders, during the time of Jesus had a hard time believing in Jesus as the Messiah was because He didn’t fit their definition of the Messiah. They were convinced the Messiah would be a king and military conqueror that would lead Israel to defeat her enemies and return her to national prominence. The prophet Isaiah, writing over a period of approximately 50 years during the 700’s BC, described the Messiah as a King (i.e. Isa 9:1-7) and Conqueror (i.e. Isa 63:1-6). This was the image the Jews had of the Messiah they were looking forward to. While all those images of Jesus are completely true and accurate, Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy is descriptive not necessarily chronological. This is important when we remember that Isaiah described the Messiah in another way as well—as a servant; specifically as a suffering servant; a Man Of Sorrows (Isa. 53:3). This is the Messiah that came to the Jews in the person of Jesus Christ at their particular point in history. This is the Messiah the Jews didn’t seem to want. Yet this is the Messiah that Isaiah prophesied about. This is the Messiah we recognize and celebrate as Christians. We recognize Jesus as King over all of creation even though he doesn’t occupy an earthly throne. We recognize Jesus as Conqueror because he defeated humanity’s greatest enemy—death. Nevertheless, the cross is never far from our view of Jesus. However, for the Jews, the Messiah and the cross didn’t belong together. A Messiah as King and Conqueror—absolutely! A Messiah as a suffering servant dying on a cross—no way! But this is the picture of the Messiah that Isaiah paints for us.

Subject Text

Isaiah 53

            ¹Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? ²He 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. ³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵But 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. ⁶We 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. ⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. ⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. ¹¹After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Context

            More than 700 years before the time of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah painted a picture of the coming Messiah that the people could look for. However, when He came, they refused to believe it was Him. They wanted the King and Conqueror Messiah so desperately that they refused to see the Man Of Sorrows Messiah in their midst. However, the Servant needed to come first before He could be properly understood as King and Conqueror. We too get lost sometimes in our favorite image of Jesus as Savior, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God or Immanuel and we try not to focus on the fact that Jesus was also the Man Of Sorrows. When we remember this part of Jesus then we can truly celebrate the depth of meaning represented by the empty tomb.

Remembering The Road To The Resurrection

            For a number of years when my girls and I did missions work in Mexico, we would inevitably be there over the Easter weekend. One time when we had finished our work for the day and were returning to camp, we encountered an elaborate procession along the road with crowds of people hollering and screaming and what seemed like soldiers mounted on horses at the front of the procession directing the crowd. As we got closer, we could see a man at the front of the procession dressed in a burlap robe dragging a cross draped over his shoulder. We were told that the locals were celebrating an annual Easter ritual of remembering Jesus’ final hours and the road to the cross. I had never seen anything like that before. It was mesmerizing to watch and moving to witness. In church practice it is formally known as the Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross. In Latin it is called the Via Crucis or Via Dolorosa. It is also referred to as The Way of Sorrows, or as The Way. Remembering the Stations or Way of the Cross may have begun as early as the 5^th century AD when a few monasteries wanted to reproduce the holy places along Christ’s route to where He was crucified. The various stages (Stations) of Jesus’ trek were depicted in artistic renderings or sculptures. These images were placed around the church as a kind of remembrance. St. Francis of Assisi began the tradition of moving from Station to Station to commemorate the Passion of Christ. It is a rich tradition that has sadly been rejected by the Evangelical church generally. However, while some traditions should rightly be rejected, embracing this tradition as a way to remind us of the cost of our salvation can be properly used to add texture and greater meaning to our life of faith. During this Holy Week or Passion Week, I want to walk through the Stations of the Cross for you to reflect on. This season, as you move from Station to Station, try not to see the images as a spectator or innocent bystander but as a participant in the events. Try and find yourself in the people along the way. Are you the betrayer? Are you the religious leader? Are you one of those screaming for Jesus to be crucified? Are you hiding in the shadows afraid that someone might notice that you are one of His followers? Are you the one who helps Jesus carry His cross? Are you the centurion carrying the hammer and nails? Are you throwing dice for Jesus’ garments? Are you the thief on the cross next to Jesus? Are you the one who pierces Jesus’ side to make sure He’s dead? Are you the one crying at the foot of the cross because you think your only hope is now dead? Are you the one placing Jesus’ dead body in the tomb? Are you the one who finds the empty tomb? The original version of the Stations of the Cross includes a number of Stations based on church tradition. Although none of the Stations based on tradition cast any aspersions on the written Word or in any way affect any biblical doctrines, I would like to use the Protestant version that is supported by Scripture only.

Station One

Jesus prays alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22:39-46

          ³⁹Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. ⁴⁰On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁴¹He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ⁴²“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. ⁴⁵When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ⁴⁶“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Station Two

Jesus is arrested.

John 18:2-11

          ²Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. ⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” ⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. ⁷Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁸“I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” ¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) ¹¹Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Station Three

Jesus questioned by the Sanhedrin.

Matthew 26:57-68

          ⁵⁷Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. ⁵⁸But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome. ⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward ⁶¹and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” ⁶²Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶³But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” ⁶⁴“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. ⁶⁶What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered. ⁶⁷Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him ⁶⁸and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?”

Station Four

Pilate tries Jesus.

Luke 23:13-25

          ¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” ¹⁸With one voice they cried out, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder. ²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” ²²For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” ²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Station Five

Pilate condemns Jesus to die.

Mark 15:15

¹⁵Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Station Six

Jesus wears the Crown of Thorns.

Matthew 27:27-30

          ²⁷Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ³⁰They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

Station Seven

Jesus carries his Cross.

Mark 15:20

          ²⁰And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Station Eight

Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his Cross.

Matthew 27:32

          ³²As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

Station Nine

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem.

Luke 23:27-31

          ²⁷A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ ³¹For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Station Ten

Jesus is nailed to the Cross.

Mark 15:22-26

          ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). ²³Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. ²⁵It was the third hour when they crucified him. ²⁶The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Station Eleven

Crucified criminals speak to Jesus.

Luke 23:39-43

          ³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Station Twelve

Jesus cares for his mother.

John 19:26-27

          ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” ²⁷and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Station Thirteen

Jesus dies on the Cross.

Matthew 27:45-50

          ⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”--which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” ⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Station Fourteen

Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Mark 15:46

          ⁴⁶So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Resurrection Day

The empty tomb.

John 20:1-9

          ¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ²So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” ³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

Conclusion

            No matter how many times I reflect on the images and the associated Scripture verses, I am always moved by the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice and the sheer brutality of the beating and crucifixion. The images are jarring I know. Especially when we think of Easter only in images of beautiful, sunny, spring days, girls dressed in pretty dresses, churches filled with the sound of celebratory music, Easter baskets, fluffy bunnies, colored eggs, chocolate, banquet tables stacked with food, and laughter and celebration with family and friends. These are the images we want; the images that make us feel good. We love the image of the empty tomb because it represents the Jesus we want—King and Conqueror. However, there were no short-cuts to the empty tomb for Jesus. First He had to travel the humiliating, painful and bloody road that would lead to His death. Before Jesus can take His rightful place in our lives and hearts as King and Conqueror, we must face and accept the fact that He first came to us, and more importantly for us, as the Man Of Sorrows.