St. Paul Lutheran Church
Sermon by Pastor Balogh

MAR 20, 2008 - listen to this sermon in mp3!

This sermon is based on the Lent Series produced by NPH.  The sermon was
reworked to reflect Pastor Balogh's preaching and style.  To God be the
glory.

NIV Luke 23:26-31 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene,
who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made
him carry it behind Jesus.
 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned
and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of
Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren
women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' 30
Then "'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills,
"Cover us!"' 31 For if men do these things when the tree is green, what
will happen when it is dry?"

The most famous road our Savior has traveled has been dubbed the Via
Dolorosa-the Way of Sorrows.  It's a half-mile walk, supposedly the last
steps our Savior took before he died.  On this day each year, thousands
of tourists walk this road in Jerusalem, which has been divided into 14
stations.  The problem is that of the 14 stations only two have
Scriptural support.  For example, tourists kiss dented stones that
supposedly mark spots where Jesus fell with the cross.  Did Jesus fall?
Probably but it is not recorded in Scripture so how can we have the exact
place?  The sixth station reveres a woman named Veronica who wiped Jesus'
bloody face.  Again no Scripture proof of such an event.  Another station
pays tribute to Mary, who met Jesus on the way, but again no Scripture
proof.  How sad that this road has been converted into such a tourist
trap and into a religious shrine that is worshiped as much as the man who
walked it.
Tonight we will walk this road.  We will walk it through the pages of
Scripture and consider the two events that are recorded for us.  One
involved Simon and another involved the women weeping for Jesus.  Both
events are worthy of our study as we walk with Jesus on the road to
Golgotha.
The walk started out at about 8:30 A.M.  Already on this Friday, Jesus
had been shuffled from ruler to ruler.   He'd been beaten by various
groups of people.  He'd been passed over in favor of the region's worst
criminal, Barabbas.  And now, guilty of the crime of being the Son of God
and the King of the Jews, Jesus begins this walk to his death with a
heavy beam on his back and a large crowd looking on.
As this large crowd paraded out of the city, other travelers were heading
into the city to celebrate the Passover, one of whom was a man named
Simon.  Simon had traveled a long way to be there.  He was from Cyrene,
modern Libya, west of Egypt, a trek of over 800 miles.  Whether it was a
round-trip specifically for this festival or a long-term move to the
area, we don't know.  What we do know is that Simon traveled quite a
distance.  Simon had traveled weeks by foot or by animal to make it to
Jerusalem.  He had come to worship and participate in the celebration of
Passover.  What joy and relief must have been in his heart as he
approached Jerusalem, the city of the Temple and the heart of his Jewish
faith.
But his joy was interrupted.  As he was heading into Jerusalem some Roman
soldiers heading the opposite direction pulled him out of the crowd and
forced him to carry the cross of a criminal.  Imagine Simon's
disappointment, confusion, perhaps even anger.  He'd come all this way to
worship.  He had sacrifices to buy, a meal to prepare, religious duties
to take care of.  And now he was forced to carry a cross!  What do you
think he felt?  And understand this: to touch the cross, to be connected
to this death and the blood surely smeared about no doubt had made Simon
ceremonially unclean for the Passover.  That's what the law said.  And so
Simon was unable to participate in the Passover.  In other words, his
800-mile trek was for nothing.  Imagine that.  Imagine walking from
Mayville to Memphis, Tennesee.  Imagine that what you walked there for
you were prevented from doing because you were seized and made to sit
through a criminal trial you knew nothing about!  Then you would have to
walk back home.  I don't think you would be happy.
Now it's true, Jesus has encouraged followers with the words, "Take up
your cross daily and follow me" (Lk 9:23).  But does that really apply
here?  Jesus spoke those words to describe the trials we endure because
of our faith.  To say that's what Simon was doing here would be a
stretch.  Simon wasn't bearing a cross because of his faith, he was
forced to carry this beam of wood because a Roman soldier didn't want to
be delayed by a badly beaten criminal.
Don't get me wrong.  There is something here in Simon that we can admire.
 It's what's recorded in the Gospel of Mark.   Mark describes this
traveler and cross bearer as, "Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus"
(15:21). The casual mention of his sons' names indicates that the readers
of this gospel knew who they were.  In other words, his sons were
well-known Christians, and it's likely that Simon was the one who told
them about the Christ.  It has happened before that the during the
roughest and most disappointing of times, God brings us to consider him.
At first, this was the worst of days for Simon, but in the end, because
of God's grace and mercy, it may have been the best.
Just how did Simon realize that this man he was helping was his Savior?
Perhaps he stayed a few more hours at Golgotha and was convinced by what
he saw and heard about Jesus and his being the Son of God.  Maybe Simon
was convinced of his Savior's identity only after the great event of
Sunday and how that message of resurrection moved him.  In truth we would
have to say, "We don't really know."  What we do know is that God had
touched the life of this man in a rather interesting and extraordinary
way so that Jesus became his Savior.  That's what God is always working
for.  He's working that souls might be saved.  He's working that heaven
might be our home.  He's working as Jesus is being lead to the cross to
win the victory for all of the world.  What an wonder to see how the Lord
cares for us and always works for us.
 That then leads us to consider the next incident the Scripture records
on this road to death that Jesus travels.
Our lesson says, "A large number of people followed him, including women
who mourned and wailed for him.  Jesus turned and said to them,
'Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for
your children.  For the time will come when you will say, "Blessed are
the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed!"  Then "they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the
hills, 'Cover us!'"  For if men do these things when the tree is green,
what will happen when it is dry?'"
What amazing words!  At this low point of his life, the bloodied, beaten,
soon to die Jesus says, "Do not weep for me."  These women felt sorry for
Jesus.  They grimaced at his gruesome appearance, thinking, "This isn't
right.  Jesus doesn't deserve this."  But Jesus says, "I don't want or
need your pity.  Don't feel sorry for me.  Rather, consider yourselves."
And he went on with an illustration, "For if men do these things when the
tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
 The words of Jesus here say something very simple.  The tree is faith.
Not just any faith but rather the very faith of God and what God had
revealed in his word.  The promised Son of God had been called by various
prophets: "a branch that bears fruit, the Branch of the Lord, the
righteous Branch of David and The Branch."  If we understand that, then
the words of Jesus are simple to grasp.  If while the very fulfillment of
God's Word, the Branch is among you, active, working the good and wonder
of God and men do this, then what will happen when the tree of Israel is
cut off?  God's Word had also spoken of that, of how Israel would be cut
off from the Lord because of their rejection of the Messiah and their
abandonment of God's gracious and saving truth.  Jesus was directing
these women to consider all that was going on in connection with God's
Word!  Jesus was speaking to them of the danger to their faith!
Why did Jesus say these things?  He was warning the people of what would
be, but most important, he was also sounding a call to repentance.  He
wanted these women and all other onlookers to step back and see the big
picture.  Instead of crying about the miserable condition of a beat-up
man stumbling to his execution, he wanted them to peer in their own
hearts and see an even worse condition-the mangled mess sin had left.  If
they would do that, then they would understand why Jesus had to walk this
road, not as a criminal but as a Savior. Then they would understand that
their sins had placed him on this cross.
It was not only to the daughters of Jerusalem that Jesus spoke.  These
words are preserved in Scripture for you and for me.  During the six
solemn weeks of Lent, it is so easy for us to look with pity on Jesus.
We feel for him when we hear how he was dressed up in a shiny robe and
ridiculed.  Our hearts pain when we imagine that whip eating the flesh
off his back. We cringe when we consider a crown of thorns being pressed
into his skull.  But if these Lenten journeys do no more than arouse our
sympathy for the suffering Savior in Gethsemane, if they do no more than
make us weep over the agony caused by nails driven through his hands that
healed so many, if our Lent sermons do no more than fill us with anger
toward the self-righteous Sanhedrin, then our preaching is vain and
useless.  These journeys are not meant to conjure up the emotion, "I feel
sorry for Jesus."  Rather they should direct us to the thought, "I feel
sorry for my sins, which did this to Jesus."
That's what Jesus is seeking on this road to Golgotha.  Scripture does
not record the details of Jesus' suffering and death so that we can say,
"I'm sorry for you, Jesus."  But rather that we might know, "Jesus, I'm
sorry for what I've done to put you through that.  I'm sorry that I
treated you so poorly.  I'm sorry that I used your name to curse my
fellowman.  I'm sorry that I treated worship like some kind of burden I
had to endure.  I'm sorry that I acted like my friends, my money, and my
free time are all more important than you are.  I'm sorry that by my
actions, I have put you through hell.  Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner."

That's the emotion our Savior wanted to work in our hearts as we
confessed our sins earlier in the service.  That's the emotion our Savior
wants to work in us by telling us to examine ourselves before we commune
at his table and partake of his body and blood.  God wants us to realize
that our sins caused Jesus to walk this road and shed his blood.
God also wants us to realize something else.  He wants us to know that he
heard our confession.  He wants us to know that he heard our prayer for
forgiveness.  He has had mercy on us.  God's Word, which crushes our
hearts by leading us to admit that our sins put Jesus on the cross, also
comforts us by assuring those sins were paid for on the cross.  The same
God who says, "Your sins put Jesus there," now says, "Your sins are
forgiven."  This same Jesus who said, "This is my blood which was shed,"
adds the words, "For you, for the forgiveness of your sins."
How awesome!  That's why God invites us to examine ourselves and repent
of our sins.  It's not because he wants us to feel guilty for our sins.
Rather, he wants us to know and appreciate all the more that we're
forgiven for those sins.  They're paid in full.  Our Savior, who walked
the road to Golgotha, has erased them all.  He no longer holds anything
against us.  He forgives and He wins the victory on our behalf.
 Isn't it an awesome thing to see how God acts and moves for us.  Whether
it is what happened with Simon or with the women, God, yes, Jesus is
working on our behalf and for our salvation.  Let the load you are
carrying lead you to see the big picture of God in action.  Let the words
Jesus speaks help you to see his eternal care for us.  Amen