Jesus walked many miles during
his lifetime. He probably seldom, if ever rode a donkey until his final
entrance into Jerusalem seated on a donkey. It’s about 120 miles between
Galilee and Jerusalem, which we know he walked up and back for the Jewish
festivals when all the Jews would pilgrimage to Jerusalem. So when Jesus went up to Jerusalem, he was
going up with his disciples, along with many other people, for these special
feast days. Jesus may have walked as much as 20,000 miles during his three-year
ministry. Today we read about Jesus’s final walk to Jerusalem for the Feast of
Passover, his entrance into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, his walk to the Upper
Room where he shared the Passover meal with his disciples, his walk to
Gethsemane where he prayed "My
Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but
what you want." And then his arrest, a mock trial, and the final walk to Golgotha,
carrying his cross.
During
his ministry, Jesus seldom walked alone. There were times when he went up on a
mountain to be alone and to pray. Sometimes he took disciples with him, as when
Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured before them on the mountain. Most
of the time Jesus was walking with others--his twelve disciples, a larger group
of followers, and sometimes even large crowds. He walked alongside people, he
companioned them. One time when Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem ten lepers
approached him, keeping their distance as they were supposed to, and called out
to him to heal them. Jesus stopped and healed them. Another time he was walking
through a village of Galilee and a woman quietly came up behind him and touched
the edge of his robe and received healing without anyone else knowing. But
Jesus knew, and stopped walking. He looked at her and said. “Daughter, your
faith has made you well; go in peace.” He walked a two days journey, from
across the Jordan River to the village of Bethany, to raise Lazarus from the
dead. As he walked towards the tomb he was deeply moved and wept with Martha
and Mary, even though he knew Lazarus would be raised from the dead.
Jesus
walked alongside many people, thousands of people, looking at them, seeing
them, noticing their suffering, caring for them, healing them. He loved them. In
the gospel of John, it says, “Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus
knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” He loved
them to the end. When you love people, you walk with them, through whatever
difficulties they are going through. In fact, you draw closer together in love
through suffering.
Since my
parents moved to this area from Arizona about four years ago, my sister and I
have taken on caring for them as they gradually lose mobility, and need more
and more help. I spend quite a bit of time taking my mom to various doctor appointments.
She has a lot of pain in her back and in one knee. Her bones are old and they
are wearing out. I’m spending more time with her than I have spent since I was
in high school, because we always lived so far away from each other. I’m
getting to know her again. I listen to how she remembers things, which is
sometimes different from how I remember things. I am cherishing these years of
being with my parents. When you love someone you want to be with them, even
through the difficult times. Or, maybe,
especially through the difficult times. Perhaps there is someone in your life
who is suffering, whether it’s physical or emotional or spiritual, and you are
walking with them through this difficult time. It’s a beautiful way to express love
to them, that we don’t abandon them in their suffering. We stick it out with
them, helping them have courage.
The
disciples wanted to walk with Jesus through his suffering. They wanted to be
with him through his Passion, his trial and execution. They did not intend to
desert their Lord. Jesus, however, knew that they would. They were weak and
frightened. At the Last Supper he said to them, ““You will all become deserters
because of me, this night.” Peter said to him, “Though all become deserters
because of you, I will never desert you.” And Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you,
this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter
said to him, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so
said all the disciples.”’ They wanted to be with Jesus in his suffering.
It is very
hard to see one you love suffering. It was also hard for the disciples to stay
with Jesus because they were confused and frightened. They were afraid for
their own lives, and fear overcame their own desire to walk with Jesus to his
death. As Jesus said, quoting Zechariah, “I will strike the shepherd and the
sheep of the flock will be scattered.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus took
his disciples with him to watch and pray until his betrayer would come. Jesus
was in his agony, grieved and agitated it says, throwing himself on the ground
in prayer. Yet even his three best friends, Peter, James and John, were unable
to companion him in prayer. They were overcome with sleep. Jesus said to them, "So, could you not stay awake with me
one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." The disciples should
have been praying for Jesus, or at the very least, praying for themselves that
they would be strong enough not to desert Jesus or deny him. But they seemed
not to be aware of the significance of what was happening. They slept instead.
This
week is Holy Week, the week when we walk along side Jesus, companioning him on
his way to the cross. Today we entered with him into Jerusalem and saw the
humble king, seated on a donkey. We waved our palm branches praising him and
proclaiming him as king. But then at the reading of the Passion story, we
shouted ‘Crucify him! Crucify him.’ We also are weak, easily swayed by crowd
mentality. We also are weak like the disciples, too tired, too afraid to be
with Jesus in his Passion. He was the one who took upon himself our sin, our
weak flesh, our confusion, our inability to see the significance of what is
happening on the cross. He knows our sinfulness, he knows our weakness and he
loves us to the end.
This week
we come to the great Paschal Triduum of the Church, the three days of prayer
and liturgy that culminate with the celebration of the Resurrection at the
Easter Vigil and on Easter Day. The Triduum begins Thursday evening with the
Maundy Thursday liturgy commemorating Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples and
the new commandment he gives to them. Jesus says, “I give you a new
commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also
should love one another.” The word Maundy comes from the Latin word for
Commandment. Jesus demonstrates his humble love for the disciples by washing
their feet, and then he commands us to love one another, just as he has loved
us. Then we share in the Last Supper with Jesus and the disciples as we
celebrate the Eucharist.
On Good
Friday we walk the Via Crucis, the Way of the Cross, with Jesus, stopping to
pray along the way as he goes from his trial to his burial in the tomb. In the
early centuries of the church and throughout the Middles Ages, Christians made
pilgrimages to Jerusalem. They walked in the footsteps of Jesus from the Temple
Mount where he was condemned to Calvary and to the Tomb. But not everyone can
make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and so the practice began in churches to have Stations
of the Cross. It is a kind of pilgrimage to Jerusalem that we can participate
in spiritually as we move through the 14 Stations this Good Friday
at noon. The church remains open until 3:00 for people to stay and pray during
the time that Jesus was on the Cross.
Friday evening is the Good Friday liturgy, a meditative service of Scripture,
the Solemn Collects, the veneration of the cross, and Holy Communion from the
Reserved Sacrament.
Holy
Saturday we come for the Easter Vigil, where the first fire of Easter is lit
and the Paschal Candle is processed into the darkened church and our own
candles are lit. We hear the Exsultet, the great hymn of praise, sung before
the Paschal Candle, celebrating the light of Christ come into the world. “This is the
night
when Christ broke the bonds of death
and hell, and rose victorious from
the grave.” We hear the scripture telling of salvation history leading up to
Christ, we renew our baptismal vows, and then suddenly we say, “Alleluia.
Christ is risen” as the lights go on and bells ring.
Will you walk with Jesus this
week in his Passion? Will you companion your Lord on his way to the cross? Will
you be with him as one of the disciples in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday as
he washes the disciples’ feet and eats the Passover Meal with them? Will you
stay and pray with him in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying that you might not
fall into temptation? Will you go with him to his scourging, his trial, and his
sentence of execution, following him as he takes up his cross for his final
walk to Golgotha? Will you stay with him as he hangs on the cross for you,
suffering and bleeding and dying? Will you go with Joseph of Arimathea to lay
Jesus in the tomb? Will you wait with the women and the disciples through Holy
Saturday? Will you go with the women to the tomb at the first rays of dawn to
find the tomb empty and Lord risen from the dead?
Holy Week is
our time to companion Jesus through his last days as he humbly walks to his
crucifixion, death and burial, and his resurrection from the dead. As we
companion him, we discover he is companioning us, showing us how much he loves
us. He looks at us and sees us. He takes our sin and suffering upon himself so
that we might be set free from sin and death. He shares is joy and resurrection
life with us. He loves us to the end. Let us walk this Holy Week with Jesus,
our Lord and Savior, because we are so grateful for what he has done for us,
and we love him so much. Amen.