Walking The Passion

By / April 18, 2019

Dear Caldwell,

Last fall, several Caldwell members traveled to the Holy Land. As we pause in the three days from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday, I invite you to walk with Jesus and the scriptures through some of the pictures from that trip and consider these questions.

Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I will tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." - John 13:37-38 This plaque is on a building along the path to Gethsemane. Do we promise Christ one thing and do the opposite?
Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I will tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” – John 13:37-38
This plaque is on a building along the path to Gethsemane. See how Peter (right in red) is saying, “Who, me?”
Do we promise Christ one thing and do the opposite? When do we say to Christ, “Who, me?”

 

The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray often, is kept today as a quiet place, full of nature and serenity. It sits outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. On the night of his arrest, after the Last Supper with his disciples, he prayed in anguish and a conflicted heart about what he knew would happen to him. "Lord, not my will by thy will be done." How authentically are we able to pray those words?
The Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray often, is kept today as a quiet place, full of nature and serenity. It sits outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. On the night of his arrest, after the Last Supper with his disciples, he prayed in anguish and a conflicted heart about what he knew would happen to him. “Lord, not my will by thy will be done.”
How authentically are we able to pray those words?

 

This plaque near where Jesus was arrested presents the scene we find in John 18:12-14. "Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him ." In what ways are we complicit in binding Jesus and attempting to take him where WE want him to go?
This plaque near where Jesus was arrested presents the scene we find in John 18:12-14.
“Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him and brought him .”
In what ways are we complicit in binding Jesus and attempting to take him where WE want him to go?

 

After his appearance before the high priest Caiaphas, the crowd took Jesus to be sentenced by the Roman official Pilate. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me," Pilate said. "What is it you have done?" Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to resist my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." - John 18:35-36 Whose rule do we follow? Whose kingdom do we serve and seek?
After his appearance before the high priest Caiaphas, the crowd took Jesus to be sentenced by the Roman official Pilate.
“It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me,” Pilate said. “What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to resist my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” – John 18:35-36
Whose rule do we follow? Whose kingdom do we serve and seek?

 

While there is no written account of where Jesus spent his last night before he was crucified, one theory is that these ancient cisterns doubled as jail cells. They are adjacent to Caiaphas' palace.
While there is no written account of where Jesus spent his last night before he was crucified, one theory is that these ancient cisterns doubled as jail cells. They are adjacent to Caiaphas’ palace.

 

As with many pilgrims, we walked the narrow, tight streets of ancient Jerusalem, following the path on which Christ carried the cross. The feeling there is somber, mixed with the life of street vendors and open markets.
As with many pilgrims, we walked the narrow, tight streets of ancient Jerusalem, following the path on which Christ carried the cross. The feeling there is somber, mixed with the life of street vendors and open markets.

 

Along the way, there are stations marking events documented in scripture. This small chapel marks the spot where Christ fell for the first time under the burden of the cross. Note the absence of anyone there to help him - just the angels praying in agony overhead. Again, this brings to mind the Christ hymn from Philippians 2 we have studies in Lent: " ... though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men...." When have we stood back and watched Christ shoulder the burden of the world's brokenness all alone?
Along the way, there are stations marking events documented in scripture. This small chapel marks the spot where Christ fell for the first time under the burden of the cross. Note the absence of anyone there to help him – just the angels praying in agony overhead. Again, this brings to mind the Christ hymn from Philippians 2 we have studied in Lent:
” … though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men….”
When have we stood back and watched Christ shoulder the burden of the world’s brokenness all alone?

 

"So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Here they crucified him with two others." - John 19 17-18 Gaze upon the actual face of Golgotha. Consider how lifeless and bereft it must have looked to Jesus as he dragged his cross to where he would hang.
“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him with two others.” – John 19 17-18
Gaze upon the actual face of Golgotha, the place of the skull. Consider how lifeless and bereft it must have looked to Jesus as he dragged his cross to where he would hang. Try to imagine how abandoned, lonely and desperate Jesus must have felt.