This sermon was preached at St Matthew's Lutheran Church, Maryborough, 5.30pm.
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of
Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry
it behind Jesus.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, bless all of us with your
Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear
well. Amen.
Tonight in our last midweek Lent sermon for this year,
we reflect on the event where Jesus was led to place of his death. In our
sermon tonight we are going to reflect on three things.
I. The
fact that Jesus was led out to be crucified, carrying his cross.
II. The
fact that Simon of Cyrene was called upon to help him.
III. Jesus
addresses a group of women who were following him.
So let’s look at the first part, where:
I. Jesus
was led out to be crucified, carrying his own cross.
In Matthew and Mark, we are told: When they
had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him,
and led him away to crucify him.
Throughout the events of the last day, Jesus had been
clothed three times: once by Herod, once by the soldiers when they mocked him,
and then before he was led away. Herod clothed him in “splendid clothing”,
possibly a white garment, or something brightly coloured. The soldiers clothed
him in a purple robe, and now they clothe him with his own clothes.
In some sense, these three different clothes remind us
of different things: the white garment from Herod reminds us of the white
clothing that priests would wear in the temple, and their splendid clothing,
with jewels and gold thread. This reminds us that Jesus is our priest, in fact
our high priest, who constantly prays for us before God the Father. He is a
priest who is able to sympathise with us in our weakness, and was
tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. The purple robe reminds
us that Jesus is a king, since purple is the colour that kings wear. He is
the King of glory; the King of kings and Lord of lords. But
then lastly, before he is led out, they put his own clothes back on him. These
are his simply humble clothes that he normally wore. This reminds us of the
fact that Jesus is a prophet, and just like all the prophets, he wore no fancy
clothes, but was poor and lowly. Remember the encouragement that Jesus gives to
his disciples about their persecution. He says: So they did to the
prophets who were before you.
These three things, that Jesus is priest, king and
prophet, is what it means that he is the Messiah, or the Christ. Messiah (in
Hebrew) or Christ (in Greek) mean that he is anointed. The people who were
anointed with oil in the Old Testament were prophets, priests or kings. Jesus
is all three, and he is not simply anointed with oil, but with the Holy Spirit
at his baptism, and declared by God to be his beloved Son, with whom he
is well pleased. This is the same Jesus who is going to the cross.
In John’s Gospel we are told that Jesus carried his
own cross. This was to add to the shaming of Jesus as he walked to place of his
execution. This was a piece of wood that was going to sustain the weight of a
grown man: it was no twig.
And we are reminded in this picture of Jesus carrying
his own cross that he is the Lamb of God who carries the sins of the world. He
is carrying a heavy load, and he carries it for us. In Isaiah 53 we read
that the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
On one hand, we see the fact that it is us and our sin
that has laid this on him. On the other hand, we also see that we have a
wonderful Saviour, Jesus, who carries it, and takes it off our shoulders and
takes it upon his own.
In Deuteronomy, we also read that the wood of the
cross was a curse from God. It says: Cursed is everyone who is hanged
on a tree. St Paul says about this in Galatians: Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”. Jesus removes
all curses from us, by taking this curse upon his own shoulders, which we see
here as he carries his own cross. He takes the curse, but he gives us all the
blessings of his kingdom.
This brings us now to the second part of our reading,
where:
II. Simon
of Cyrene was called upon to help Jesus carry the cross.
In John’s Gospel we are told that Jesus carries his
own cross. In Matthew, Mark and Luke we are told that Simon carried it. Of course,
there’s no reason to believe that both didn’t happen. Also, it is also quite
likely that Jesus began to carry his own cross, but because he had been so
weakened by his scourging, he needed some help.
Now, we don’t know much about this man Simon, except
that he was Cyrene, and Mark tells us that he was the father of Alexander and
Rufus. In Romans 16, we read at the end of the letter where Paul is passing on
various greetings to various people. He says: Greet Rufus, chosen in
the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. If
Mark mentioned Alexander and Rufus, it is probably likely that many people knew
who these people were, and it seems that in Romans here, there was a man called
Rufus and his mother who were particularly close to Paul, and had looked after
him. Simon of Cyrene probably became a Christian himself and raised his family
as Christians too.
We read that he was from Cyrene. Cyrene was a city,
founded by the Ancient Greeks, on the North African coast of the Mediterranean
Sea. Today, this region is part of modern day Libya. Simon is a long way from
his home. On the day of Pentecost, we read that there were people from Cyrene
there, amongst all kinds of other people. We read where the people say: Are
not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of
us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents
of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappodocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Romes, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in
our tongues the mighty works of God.
Simon was not the only person from this part of the
world who was in Jerusalem, and yet he was most certainly a foreigner. We read
in Luke: And as they led [Jesus] away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene,
who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it
behind Jesus.
We have here a wonderful picture here of the words
which Jesus had said to his disciples earlier: Take up your cross and
follow me. It’s strange: on one hand, Simon doesn’t have any choice
about the matter. He is forced to carry it. And also, it is not his cross—it
belongs to Jesus, and Jesus is the one who is going to die on it.
This gives us a wonderful picture of our own Christian
lives. Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow me. He
lets us carry his cross for a little while, so that something sinful in us can
be put to death. But Jesus doesn’t make us pay for our sins, and atone for
them—that is his job. Sometimes we feel in our lives that we have been carrying
an incredible burden, which has been laid on us for a time. Often we carry
things around with us that are actually not for us to carry—we have decided to
carry them, whereas Jesus is the one who carries them. For example, sometimes
people that we love might not act and behave in a way that we would like. And
we take upon ourselves the task of changing them, or even converting them to
the faith. Now, we can talk to people, encourage them, warn them, teach them,
but we can’t change their hearts—that is Jesus’ job, and the Holy Spirit’s job.
What a wonderful thing it is when we realise this, and we can say to Jesus:
“Jesus, I realise now that I cannot carry this burden. I ask that you would
take this burden away from me, and take it upon yourself.”
In 1 Corinthians 10, we read something about bearing
temptations. St Paul writes: No temptation has overtaken you that is
not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond
your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape,
that you may be able to endure it. It’s strange—even Jesus is given
the help that he needs to bear the weight of the cross. Simon only carries the
cross for a time, and then it is no longer his any more. But Paul writes that
God provides the way of escape. When we are burdened by some sin or
troubles, we should be encouraged by the fact that God will provide the
way of escape. But we often think that escaping means that we don’t
have to bear it any more. Actually, it says: He will also provide the
way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. He provided the way
of escape, not so that we don’t need to endure it, but so that we can endure
it. He provides the way of escape through the temptation. He leads us through
it, not around it. And the wonderful thing about this is that God lays these
things on us as long as they are of some benefit to our soul. And when we
realise this, there is then a great joy in being able to bear the cross for as
long as God would have us bear it. We know that in just a little while that
Jesus will demonstrate his power and glory by showing us how he died on that
same cross. St Peter writes: Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of
suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. But
now listen to what he says: And after you have suffered a little while,
the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will
himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Also, there is that wonderful passage in Matthew where
Jesus says: Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. He doesn’t say that he will remove the load
immediately, or straight-away, or when we think that we need it. But he does
promise us rest. And he promises us rest in a very strange
way. He says: Take my yoke upon you. You have carried your
burden for long enough. Now carry mine for a while, follow me, and I will show
you where this road ends up. It ends at Golgotha, at Calvary, where I die for
your sins, and make full payment for them, and where I win you for myself. He
says: Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. We find rest
for our souls, knowing that the cross we bear belongs to him, and he is just
lending it to us for a while for our training and our blessing. The loads we
carry are heavy and burdensome, but to follow Jesus and carry his cross is a
much easier weight. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. What
a wonderful privilege it is to walk with Jesus and carry his cross!
The other important thing about Simon carrying Jesus’
cross, is that he was forced to carry his cross. Sometimes in
our Christian lives, the people outside of the church force Christians to
suffer for some part of the Christian faith that we would rather not have to.
At first, it is painful. We might have preferred to suffer for some other
reason, but Jesus chooses the issues for us that we have to wrestle with. And
as he trains us, and as we endure with him, we realise that Jesus was even more
gracious and merciful than we could have ever have imagined. He draws us
further away from the corrupt and sinful world, and closer to him and his way
of thinking. He trains us to think like him, as St Paul writes to the
Philippians: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ
Jesus. This is what is says in Hebrews 13: Jesus also suffered
outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he
endured. A chapter earlier we also read: For the moment all
discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful
fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
The last part of our sermon has to do with where:
III. Jesus
addresses a group of women who were following him.
This is what we read: And there followed him a
great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for
him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me,
but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming
when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and
the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains,
‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when
the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
We read that there was a large group of people, mostly
women—and Jesus addresses the women—who were mourning and grieving over Jesus.
They felt sorry for him for what was about to happen to him.
But Jesus says to them: Daughters of
Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your
children. Jesus is saying: Don’t feel sorry for me, because I am going
to do a wonderful thing now that is going to change everything as we know it. I
am going to go and win the forgiveness of sins.
Previously, the Jewish people had divided the world up
into two categories: themselves, and the Gentiles. But they had seen it all as
an external kingdom. They were looking forward for a Messiah who was going to
be a political figure, a great world leader who was going to suppress all their
enemies. But now, Jesus is telling them: No—my kingdom is not of this world. The
true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. I am going to
establish a new kingdom now, I am going to be enthroned. The old older of
things is finished, now there will be a new kingdom with a new kind of worship.
This will be a kingdom of word and sacrament—of preaching, baptism and the
Lord’s Supper—it will be a kingdom of the forgiveness of sins.
The world will now be divided into the sheep and the
goats. There are those who trust and follow Jesus, and there are those who
reject him. Anyone can weep for Jesus, but Jesus tells these women to weep for
themselves and their own children. Weep over your own sins. And weep over the
fact that your children will be sinners with you. But rejoice in what I am now
accomplishing.
Jesus says: For behold, the days are coming
when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and
the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains,
‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ What Jesus is saying here
is that there is going to be a judgment over the world, and even in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will end, and the world will end. And it will be preferable to wish
that their children had not been brought into the world than to see them have
to endure it. It will be preferable to want to be swallowed up by hills and
mountains than to be face to face with that judgment of God.
Jesus says: For if they do these things when
the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry? What does this
mean? Jesus has been walking around and teaching and healing, and it has been a
wonderful time, where many people have been called to follow him. It has been a
day of salvation. It is a time when the wood is green, and leaves and fruits
can grow. When Jesus calls us to repentance and faith, we should not put it off
until later. We should take his hand when he reaches it out to us. But Jesus
speaks of a time later when it will be too late, when the wood is dry.
It is like the parable of the 10 virgins, where the five foolish virgins have
missed their chance, and the doors are shut, and the bridegroom says: Truly,
I say to you, I do not know you.
And if Jesus, the Saviour of the world, who has no
sin, receives this kind of treatment, what kind of treatment do you think
people deserve, like us who do have sin? Jesus turns the women’s eyes away from
the glory of the city, away from the glory of Jerusalem, and towards him, who
is the light of the world. It is not the world and people and politics and
society and culture that saves us, but Christ alone. He is the green wood,
everything else is dry. And when nations fall, cities are overthrown, cultures
are eaten away, societies crumble, Jesus shows to us his victory over all of
it—his cross, his death, his blood, his sacrifice.
Hebrews 13 says: Here we have no lasting city,
but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer
up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge
his name.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world –
grant us your peace. Amen.
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