The Sorrowful Mysteries:
He suffered and died for our sins.
1. Agony in the garden
"let this cup pass from me"
- Matthew 26:36-45 ~ "obedience"
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus brought his Divinity face to face with the core issue of the human condition. There comes a time in our existence when we break and die. The prospect of death, and the desire to postpone it indefinitely is a fundamental goad, ruling our motivations, and the knowledge that we can't defeat it is our ultimate despair. Death is the result of sin, of not perfectly trusting and following God's will. But Jesus did; His faith was perfect. And yet, avoiding death was not the plan. Instead, Jesus was going to pay our penalty for sin, so that we could be forgiven. Clearly, however, Jesus' human nature saw the horror of what was about to happen. His soul was going to be ripped from his body, and beyond that point our nature can only imagine loss and despair. Ultimate anxiety is the only honest response.
So that night, when He knew He was about to be betrayed, Jesus went to a garden to speak intimately to God. He needed to review the plan, because the battle was beginning. As He told the disciples, "The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Could there be any other way? Jesus prayed, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me ..." and He went over the consequences of every other option. The struggle on this night was equal, in Spirit, to the battle on the morrow that his flesh was to endure.
A human being is not meant to have one's soul parted from the body, rather the two are one being. Apart, we are broken and incapacitated, helpless to perform or prevent any action. If anything is to be done, it must be done by someone else. Jesus could not do any miracle to save Himself, despite any temptation or mockery He would suffer. He would have to relinquish his power, and depend only on the Father to follow through.
Yes, He had the power to raise others from the grave, but dead men have no power. And He would have to experience what it means to be apart from God, once He was on the cross. When He claimed our sin, God would not be able to look at Him. At that crucial moment, the Father would have to forgive the sins of everyone who ever regretted what they had done, and remember only how truly faithful his only Son had been. God would repent his rashness of condemning all of us for the original sin, and choose to raise his own Son back from the grave. For this, Jesus would need to grasp tightly to his own faith, and trust that his Father could change his mind and his heart.
Finally He saw, the only way to win, would be to lose. "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done." Amen.
2. Scourging at the pillar
"... and after flogging Jesus"
- Mark 15:15 ~ "rejection"
"So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified." This is a rather terse way to recall one of the more gruesome events of the day our Lord was crucified. Pilate had not found sufficient reason to execute Jesus during his interrogation, and wanted to release Him. So he suggested that Jesus should be flogged, and at the same time proclaimed a prisoner release, to show "how merciful Rome can be," as was customary during the jewish holy days, in the hope that this might be enough to placate the crowd. But the High Priest, and many members of the Sanhedrin, were determined to silence Him and quell his movement, so they stirred up a mob to shout for a different prisoner, Barabbas, a known criminal. Pilate was nonplussed. "So what do you want me to do with this Jesus, the King of the Jews?" And the mob grew agitated, chanting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" So there was nothing to do but to release Barabbas, and turn Jesus over to be flogged and then crucified. In his frustration, Pilate publicly washed his hands to declare that this was not his idea of Roman justice. And the High Priest responded to accept responsibility.
Now, in those days, there was a difference between being flogged as a full punishment for civil offenses, or being scourged as a prelude to crucifixion. A public flogging was limted to a maximum of 39 lashes, and the whip had small lead weights at the ends of the cords to make them effective. This was already bad enough, as it would quickly break the skin and cause wounds with profuse bleeding. Traditionally, it has been assumed that this is the flogging that Jesus received, as it is indeed what Pilate had ordered. There was a penalty for giving more, as it could be enough to kill a man to continue further. Any soldier who got carried away could himself be flogged for the offense. These are the kind of wounds shown on the Shroud of Turin.
So we can well imagine the scene. The soldiers knew He was to be crucified, but the sentence was only for flogging. A relaxation of restraint could be overlooked, up to the count, so long as it didn't kill the prisoner. Then He had to be unchained and given a seat. Of course, the soldiers had heard most of the discussions, and the charges, and they were sarcastically amused to have the "King of the Jews" in their hands.
3. Crowned with thorns
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
- John 19:2-3 ~ "mockery"
When the soldiers took Jesus down from the flogging post and let him sit, He was bloody and trembling with pain. This is the blood of the new Covenant, spilled for the forgiveness of sin. Let us look closely at the stripes by which we are healed. The flogging whip has 12 thongs, each ending in a small leaden barbell, intended to bruise and break the skin to make the victim bleed. Thirty-nine times, He was struck by a veteran soldier who was not "pulling his punches." Twelve multiplied by thirty-nine lashes is 468, almost the full count of "seventy times seven times" that Jesus said we should forgive one who wrongs us. He is now suffering in such misery that He feels dazed. And indeed, He must have been hard to look at without at least some pity.
Then one soldier found a discarded red robe and draped it across his shoulders. Another, remarking that every king needs a crown, pulled a vine of thorns off from the wall of the fort and coiled it into a circle. Then, after roughly shoving it onto Jesus' head, knelt before Him and sneered, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They all lined up to mock Him with sarcastic homage. One man brought a stick, saying, "Look! A sceptre!" and struck Him on the head, driving the thorny crown deeper into his scalp. Then he placed it in Jesus' hand. By now, most of the soldiers in the garrison were aware of the scene. One by one, they came to kneel and bow, and when they rose up, they spit on or slapped Him. "What kind of king are you?" they mocked, "You're as pathetic as this pathetic people!" They jeered at Him, rudely laughing, until an officer gave the order to bring up a cross bar. It was time to move on.
The irony of this situation cannot be lost on us. We know that Jesus truly is the King of the Jews. Even Pilate, in mocking the crowd, has said as much. And now, in this moment of apparent defeat, He is being crowned, not only King of the Jews but as King of Heaven. And from this bloody ceremony, He goes forth into battle, to win our forgiveness and salvation on the cross.
And yet, the significance of these events is lost on the Jewish people whom He came to save. This is not the king that they expected, even though we, in hindsight, can see how this was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. The king they had been hoping and praying for was supposed to be a political leader, strong to lead an army of patriots, and chase out the foreign armies of the oppressive Roman Empire. They did not equate the suffering servant passages in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 with the expected Messiah. Nor were they thinking that the oppressor to be defeated was Satan, the evil Adversary of all humanity.
4. Carrying the cross
"carrying his own cross"
- John 19:17 ~ "suffering"
When they brought out the cross, this was not a nice piece of lumber. It was a rough-hewn split rail, squared off with an axe, about two meters long, and it weighed close to 100 pounds. No one had cared to smooth any sharp edges or splinters that remained. This was a weapon of execution. It was meant to terrify rebels and deter criminals. It was a burden meant to humiliate Rome's enemies, and that's why the condemned were paraded through the city on their way to Golgotha. There was no pity now. The soldiers were driving them on with whips and batons, fully aware that soon they would put nails into their hands and feet. And still, Jesus was determined to bear our sins meekly, like a lamb going to slaughter.
But this cross was more than a wooden beam. It was the burden of our guilt. Jesus was carrying all of the sins of the world - all that ever had been, and all that ever would be committed. Each one weighed Him down with shame, separating Him from the Father like never before. Never had He ever felt this alone. And then He stumbled, falling to his knees, and the cross dug deeply into his shoulder, a splinter jabbing under his already lacerated skin, and breaking off. Just like our consciences will never forget our worst offenses, this one won't come out.
Then He saw and heard the crowd, gathered along the way. Some were weeping for mercy, and some were jeering at the condemned. He stopped to tell the wailing women to weep for themselves, and for Jerusalem, and a guard shoved Him. He fell, and Veronica stooped close to wipe the sweat and blood from his face. Jesus struggled to his feet, and carried his cross a bit longer. Then, stumbling again, He sprawled out on the road. Annoyed, this time the guard singled out a man from the crowd. "You. Come help carry this," so Simon helped Jesus to stand, and picked up the heavy cross. Together, Jesus, his new friend, and the other prisoners trudged slowly and wearily out through the city gate and around the wall to the hill where the scaffolds were standing. Simon was released to go about his business. Then Jesus was brought over to his position, in the middle place, between a rebel and a thief. Jesus looked around. No sign of Peter or James. Only John and his Mother were there. The soldiers took what was left of his clothing, and He was left naked and exposed. Then they led Him to where He would lie to be nailed to the wood.
5. Crucified to death
"Father, forgive them. They know not ..."
- Luke 23:32-34 ~ "intercession"
It was our darkest hour, when we rejected the Son of God and tried to cast Him out of this world. That was Satan fighting at his hardest, and the unbelievers showing who is their god and Father. When we do not agree with God's plan in honest humility things can, and will, go seriously wrong. But our God knows all of this beforehand, and plans to make even our foolishness and cruelty turn to achieve his ultimate design. Of course, it would have been better all around if we had never needed to be redeemed, but sin has consequences. The only way to restore our relationship with God was to show how much pain and terrible suffering our sin causes, so that we would see clearly why we must avoid it, at all costs. God relies on our empathy to observe how He feels - how any victim feels - about sin.
We are all familiar with the scene. Roman soldiers are not paid to care about how the criminal feels. Crucifixion is punishment, and it is meant to deter all rebellion against Rome. Cruelty and spite are part of the deal. Anyone who merits a cross becomes the object of abuse. Nor is it supposed to be a quick execution. It's a prolonged struggle just to breathe. The victim pushes with his feet to raise his body enough to compensate for hanging by his outstretched arms. But one way or another, by sunstroke, dehydration or slow exhaustion and weakness of breathing, death is inevitable and painful. With his legs bent, pushing against the nails would make each breath a surge of pain, and his back would also scrape against the cross. But this is the afternoon before one of the Jewish religious Holy Days, and this can't go on for long, so the soldiers made it hard for Him to push up. It was a cruel kind of mercy.
But for Jesus, the worst part of all of this was not the pain, nor the fear of dying. It was the separation from the close communion He treasured with the Father. In Scripture, there is a curse on one who hangs on a tree. Thus He cried out, "My God! My God, why have you abandoned me?!" That was when He truly knew how empty and meaningless our usual experience is as sinful human beings. We don't know how He felt to be One with the Father, but suddenly, it was gone.
And in his last extremity, He would pray, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." With these words, Jesus won the battle against Satan, paid the penalty for sin, and ransomed us from the power that corrupts our flesh. When we look at Jesus on the Cross, we do not see defeat. We see the Victory of God's Son, the King of the Jews, and the King of Heaven. "Father, into your hands, I commend my Spirit."
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