Mark 15:17-21 * March 28, 2007 * Midweek Lent 6 * Rev. Carl Ziemer

This evening we are nearing the end of our journey to the cross. It has been deadly serious so far and will be no different tonight. As we follow Jesus from a distance, it is becoming quite clear that his situation was deteriorating quickly. Not only was the world rejecting him, so were his followers! His death was fast approaching, but there would be no legion of angels coming to his rescue. None of the thousands whom he had helped or healed would rise up to rescue him! Church leaders would not intervene to save him. Nor would the Roman sense of justice kick in to prevent this horrible miscarriage of justice. Tonight, as before, we will gasp in horror to see how sinners treated their Savior. The glory of the Son of God is hidden by the gore of torture and under weight of the cross. St. Mark paints the picture for us in the 15th chapter of his gospel, beginning at the 17th verse:

They [that is, Pilate’s soldiers] put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

I.

How sad it makes us to read these words; yet, the events they report are just as Jesus had predicted. The soldiers mocked him, spit at him, whipped and beat him. To make sure that his humiliation was complete, they bowed down in mock homage to the Creator and Preserver of the world and universe. Where was Jesus’ glory? It was hidden under bruises and blood, under all that spitting, beating, and abuse!

And things kept going from bad to worse. They were taking Jesus out of the city in order to crucify him, but not even this part of his journey would go without more pain and shame! Jesus had not slept, eaten or drunk since the Passover meal the night before. The severe whipping had left him seriously dehydrated and weakened. Then, on those weary arms and shoulders, they tied the heavy wooden beam of his cross. He was to carry it to the place of his own execution!

That was what the soldiers had intended, but Jesus couldn’t finish the task. After a way, he stumbled and fell. How could the Creator of the Universe stumble and fall in exhaustion? The one who had carved out the mountains and fashioned the seas fell under the weight of his own cross because he was our brother!

Why didn’t someone intervene? What about all those people whom Jesus had helped? Why didn’t someone come forward and say, “Here, please, let me carry it for him!” Where were the lepers he had cleansed? Where were the blind and the deaf to whom he had given sight and hearing? Where was the young man of Nain whom he had raised from the dead? Where was Jairus, whose daughter he had given new life? Was there not even one from among the thousands that Jesus fed with bread and fish that would show compassion? Where were his relatives or his disciples? Was there no one who would help? No. Not even one.

Perhaps most astonishing is that Jesus did not help himself! After all, even then he was the almighty Son of God. Surely he could have used his divine power lighten his load. Had he wanted, he could have carried his cross as easily as you or I might carry a twig. But that’s not what happened. Instead, we watch the Son of God and the son of Mary gasping for breath, stumbling and falling under the weight of the cross. And no matter how hard or often the soldiers kicked and prodded him, Jesus could go no further.

Since the soldiers didn’t want that filthy business to take any longer than was necessary, they grabbed someone from the crowd to help, one Simon from the coast of Cyrene. There isn’t anything in Scripture to suggest that they wanted to show pity; they just wanted to get the job done. And further, it seems that Simon knew nothing of what was going on. Nor does anything suggest that he wanted to help Jesus. He had no choice!

How could people be so cruel, so heartless? And why, why didn’t Jesus help himself? Would it have been such a crime to quietly use his divine power to stand up straight and to triumphantly march to the altar of the cross? Would it have been so terrible to spite the devil and all those who hated him with at least some show of dignity? After all, he had shown a glimmer of glory in Gethsemane when they came to arrest him; he had made them all fall backward to the ground. And he had miraculously healed Malchus, whose ear Peter had sliced off with a sword. Yes, even the soldiers obeyed him when he told them to let his disciples go. Would it now be so terrible just to let another glimpse of that glory shine through?

It didn’t happen that way because that wasn’t God’s plan. The Holy Son of God had to carry the full load of our guilt and suffer the penalty we sinners deserved in order to save us. Only he could do it; no one else. But the fact that he willingly endured such pain and suffering for us proves how much he loves sinners! That’s where his glory shines most brightly! The price Jesus paid to redeem us was sky-high, not bargain-basement cheap. It wasn’t even a pile of gold or silver that he offered. No. Jesus paid for you and me with his holy precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death!

Jesus stumbled under the crushing weight of the cross. He fell down on the pavement and stained it with his blood. But note this well! He did not stumble morally by cursing his tormentors then or while on trial. Nor did he stumble spiritually by hurling lightning bolts at those who beat, scourged, and spit on him. Instead he suffered just as Isaiah had prophesied, as quietly as lamb on it’s way to be slaughtered. He went to his death as our brother. In suffering that won forgiveness and eternal for us and every sinner we can now recognize and appreciate his glory.

II.

Whenever you recall the sight of Jesus stumbling and falling, take comfort. You see, he knows how often you stumble and fall into sin – and he cares! The epistle to the Hebrews puts it so well:

“We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness”

(Heb. 4:15; 5:2).

Unlike Jesus who never sinned, we stumble and fall morally and spiritually. Even though God has given us his holy Word to keep us from falling, we often ignore or despise it! If we would just watch and pray with Jesus, fill our eyes, minds, and hearts with his Word, if we would just pray for his help and presence in the hour of trial, he would provide a way to escape temptation.

But we haven’t done that, have we? Instead we pander to our own moral weaknesses. We think that we can play with the devil, just a little greed, just a little getting even, just a little gossip, a little lie, a little here, a little there. I’ll think about something unclean, just for a little while. I’ll toy with a grudge, nurse and feed it, just for a little while. It feels so good to look down on this one and to despise that one just for a little while. Our sinful flesh is always looking for a moment not to serve and to follow Jesus, not to love and obey him. I’m going to love myself for a change!

III.

And so, it’s our own fault that we stumble and fall, isn’t it? The soldier of conscience may be near at hand to kick us while we are down. Others may cry out:

“Look at that hypocrite! He’s no better than we are. His Christianity is nothing more than play-acting. When it’s convenient, he puts on the show, and when it’s not, he turns it off.”

Oh, how blessed we are when our conscience kicks us while we are down. How blessed we are when others shame us because we have stumbled and fallen into hypocrisy. For down on the street, kicked and prodded by conscience, ridiculed and shamed by those who expected better from us, we may at last see Jesus. Jesus stumbled on his way to Golgotha in order to pay for our moral failures! He fell to endure the eternal shame that we deserve because we love to fall. It was because of us that he allowed others to kick and torture him. He did it so that he could meet you when you fall on the street of your shame and into the gutter of your guilt. What a loving Savior we have!

And there’s more! Jesus is always there for us to raise us up with his holy Word and Sacraments that we might begin our journey of life all over again. With the water of your baptism, he washes you from the filth and the grime of your fall. In Holy Communion, he refreshes your parched soul with the wine of his blood. In that sacrament he feeds you with the bread of his body to renew your strength.

Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for Jesus, but Jesus willingly and eagerly comes to your side to pick you up and carry you when you stumble and fall. Isn’t that amazing? And is it not reason to love him all the more and to follow him? Fill your mind with the sight of this glory concealed in his stumbling. Fill your heart and soul with his grace and mercy. And then, maybe, just maybe, you will not stumble so often and fall so far.

And then, maybe, just maybe, you will even reach out to others who have stumbled and fallen. Do not join them in sin but to point them to Jesus so he might raise them up. Find your joy and glory in loving and serving others, the members of your family, your friends and neighbors. Don’t scold or and lord it over them. Don’t ridicule, abuse, or kick them when they are down. Instead, point them to Jesus and his love. Freely forgiven, freely forgive. Comforted and helped, comfort and help others to bear their burdens.

Only believers will see and appreciate Jesus’ glory because, though hidden in his suffering and dying, his glory shines ever so brightly as we marvel at the depths of his love! Amen.