Down the Via Dolorosa

Mark 8: 31-38

Did you know that long before it was ever a religious symbol of the Christian faith, the cross was an instrument of violence and humiliation? It was used by Romans as a ruthless deterrent to any and all that would rise in oppose laws and regulations of the Roman empire. The cross sent out a clear message to all subjects under Roman authority: if you disobey the laws of this empire, this will be your fate; you will hang up there in dishonor, suffer under the agony of it and you will die.

Back then, the cross was not glamorous. No one would fashion it into a necklace or earring as we do today, or even cast it in gold and hang it as a centerpiece in their living room. It was absolutely disgraceful, more so to people that were colonized and ruled by a foreign power. The only people that might have relished it would be the Roman conquerors, particularly the soldiers because it was a symbol of their conquest and power of the vanquished peoples.

So you can understand Peter’s vexation with Jesus when the latter starts talking about dying at the hands elders, on the cross. Mind you, this is right after the great disclosure that Jesus is the Christ, he that is expected to restore Israel to its former glory. How can a glorious king anticipate death on a cross? No way! Peter rebukes Jesus, trying to dissuade him from even considering the possibility that His life could end like that of a common criminal. The Messiah has to be a man of power.

Well, he quickly discovers that he cannot dissuade Christ from going down the ‘Via Dolorosa’. Jesus not only sharply rebukes him, he also goes ahead to instruct his disciples “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will loose it, but whoever looses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Peter, I’m the Messiah, the all-powerful one who will restore the people of God to their glory. But I’m not taking the easy way to power and glory. I’m going down the way of that disgraceful cross. What’s more, I’m not going down alone—you are coming with me, or you are not my disciple. Do you understand?

This must have been very, very sobering for Peter and the disciples who had expected a Christ of power. One contemplative Christian has called this the way of downward mobility. Peter would later relay that truth as he wrote to Christians in his epistle “…it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering, because he is conscious of God…to this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1Peter 2:19-21). History tells us that Peter would later die on a cross hanging upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified right-side up like Jesus.

Easter is a season to think about the Lord, about his sacrifice on our behalf. So I say, do not be quick to seek a personal application, rather, think this over and try to go beyond the obvious answers such us ‘to save us from our sins’. You know all about Jesus miracles, demonstrations of immense power over nature, powers of darkness and people; why on earth did he still choose to forfeit that power and go down the Via Dolorosa?

Your reflections and comments?