Listen

The Jewish leaders cried out, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

Pilate responded, “What? Do you want me to crucify your king?”

“We have no king except the emperor,” the chief priests answered. Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.

The soldiers took Jesus prisoner. Carrying his cross by himself, he went out to a place called Skull Place (in Aramaic, Golgotha). That’s where they crucified him—and two others with him, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a public notice written and posted on the cross. It read “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.”

John 19:15-19

Think

The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus carried the cross “by himself.” What must it have been like to be Jesus, in that moment? As the Son of God, he’d always been connected to God… to his disciples… to his friends… to the world. But in that moment, carrying his cross, Jesus was by himself; completely alone. What must that have been like?

Jesus knew who and whose he was. Jesus knew the promises. Jesus trusted in the resurrection. But that doesn’t diminish the isolation and anguish that he experienced as he walked to and was then nailed to the cross.

We, too, carry our own crosses. We carry the weight of our history, our sin, our brokenness. We, too, experience loneliness and pain. In this sense, we have been journeying alongside Jesus, following him to the cross. Or maybe more appropriately, Jesus has been journeying alongside us.

And because of Jesus’ great love, we too experience the promise of new life that will come to us in the resurrection.

But not quite yet.

Today, we hear the story, we hear the nails being pounded, and we see his pain.

Today, we grieve.

Todd Buegler

Pray

Dear Jesus, you journey to the cross, and you call me to follow.

The cross you carried, you carried for all of your people. And while that cross brought pain and death, I trust that it also will bring joy and new life. Be with me as I carry my cross, and as I share in that gift of grace.

Lead me, Lord Jesus, to the cross that brings death, and to the cross that brings resurrection.

In your holy name I pray, amen.

Go

May God bless your steps as you make your way on difficult paths.

May God bless your steps as you navigate fear, guilt, and shame.

May God bless your steps as you seek new ways to follow Jesus.

May God bless your steps as you accompany the broken and those on the margins.

May God bless your steps as you experience new ways of bearing hope to a world in need.

May God bless your steps as you journey to the cross.