Sermon Summary
The sermon is about the significance of commemorating the Holy Week, specifically the events leading to Jesus' crucifixion. The pastor reflects on Luke 23:26-31, where Jesus is led to Golgotha and tells the women not to weep for him but for themselves and their children. The main points of the sermon are that believers should not focus on the sadness of Jesus' death but on the purpose and meaning of his sacrifice, and that they should be willing to carry their cross and follow Jesus. The sermon also emphasizes the importance of sharing the gospel with others and mourning over people dying without Christ. The pastor highlights that the commemoration of the Holy Week can become a ritual without understanding its true meaning. He uses the example of the Via Dolorosa, a crowded tourist spot, to illustrate how the significance of Jesus' suffering and death can be lost. The sermon encourages believers to refocus their minds on the purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection, which is the salvation of mankind. The key take-aways from the sermon are:
- Believers should not focus on the sadness of Jesus' death but on the purpose and meaning of his sacrifice.
- Believers should be willing to carry their cross and follow Jesus.
- The commemoration of the Holy Week should not become a ritual without understanding its true meaning.
- Believers should share the gospel with others and mourn over people dying without Christ.
- The purpose of Jesus' death is so that his good news can spread to people who need to hear the message of salvation.
The Sermon
So the title for our passage, our sermon today is "The Way to the Cross." This is talking about the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering as they call it. Let's read the passage together, Luke 23:26-31.
As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, 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 tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
I put there a picture of the street called Via Dolorosa. Actually, I took it from Google Maps, and that is one of those days when it's always crowded, and especially during this Holy Week, it's more than twice that much crowd. There are portions there that are really full of souvenir shops, and so it's people going there to think of the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I think it's lost its solemnity, and it's more about the pilgrims and the tourists that are crowding all the time.
And I think that is also part of what the passage is informing us about: what's the point of commemorating the Holy Week? Because it seems that we always lose focus on what we are commemorating. Even the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes the things that we do seem not to reflect what God really desires for us to do.
In this passage, brothers and sisters, Jesus said something very important that puts into perspective what he did on the cross, and that hopefully we will also be put into the proper perspective of why we are commemorating Holy Week. Is it about the sadness that Jesus died on the cross, or is it about something else?
Of course, as we have it, it's not just about Jesus; it's about understanding the value, the priceless gift of God's grace for salvation to us, even in the image of his suffering on the cross. It is to us a celebration of peace, forgiveness of our sins, being freed from the bondage of sin and guilt, and being released from the power of death and darkness.
So the two things here are: from verse 26, we must be willing to carry the cross and follow the Lord. And in verses 27 to 31, we must mourn over people dying without Christ. If we are shaken by the image of people dying, going to hell without Christ, that it may spur us to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, the meaning of his death and his resurrection, so people understand the need to be saved, to be forgiven of sins, to accept the gift of salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Very interestingly, verse 26 says that as the soldiers led Jesus away, they seized Simon from Cyrene. Simon was just a random person, a pilgrim who happened to be there, and he was chosen to carry the cross. But the fact that he is mentioned by name, and his children are mentioned, tells us that this random act had a significant impact on him and his family.
For us, carrying the cross is a metaphor, but for Simon, it was a literal cross, and to carry the very cross of Jesus where he died. And for him to hear Jesus saying, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me," has become real to him and to his children.
Jesus said to the women, "Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children." He's saying that the real tragedy is not his death but the fact that people die without knowing Christ. And that's still relevant today; we should be mourning over people dying without Christ.
To think about:
- How can we, as believers, ensure that our commemoration of the Holy Week is not just a ritual but a meaningful reflection on the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection?
- In what ways can we, like Simon, be willing to carry our cross and follow Jesus in our daily lives?
- How can we balance our focus on social justice with the need to share the gospel with others and mourn over people dying without Christ?
- In what ways can we, as believers, be a source of comfort and strength to those who are suffering or dying without Christ?
- How can we ensure that our understanding of the purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection is not lost in our daily lives, but remains a guiding force in our thoughts and actions?