BIBLE STUDY: February 26th
The meeting opened with prayer.
After a short introduction, we proceeded to consider the seventh & eighth Stations.
The Seventh Station: Jesus takes up his cross.
John 19:16b-17
16
.... So they took Jesus,
17
and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha.
It was noted that in the three synoptic Gospels (i.e. Matthew, Mark & Luke) it is not clear that Jesus actually carried his cross at all; from the wording given it could have been that Simon of Cyrene carried it for him all the way. John, writing many years after the synoptics, obviously wants to make it clear that when they set out, Jesus was actually bearing his own cross,
John in fact misses out many of the details given in the synoptic Gospels. They had already been told and John wants to concentrate on incidents which have theological importance.
There was some talk about Golgotha: where it was and how far they had to go to reach it. It was acknowledged that there is more than one site claimed to be the ancient Golgotha; but the majority of scholars consider the site within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to be the biblical Golgotha. None of the Gospels speaks of it as hill. It was a limestone outcrop just outside the city-walls in the time of Jesus. When the Emperor Claudius appointed Herod Agrippa governor of Judea in 41 AD, Agrippa extended the walls and Golgotha become encompased within in city walls. Certainly, Golgotha where Jesus was crucified was never a 'green hill' and now it is most certainly not 'without a city wall'!
The distance from the Praetorium to Golgotha was about 500 metres, i.e. about a third of a Roman mile (slightly less than a third of modern British mile).
The Eighth Station: Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrenaean to carry his cross.
Mark 15:21-22
21
They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
22
They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull).
See also Matthew 27:32 and Luke 23:26.
This incident is recorded in all three synoptic Gospels. Mark, however, is the only one to identify Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus. This must surely mean that Alexander and Rufus were known to the Christians in Rome for whom Mark wrote his Gospel (the ancient tradition is that Mark was Peter's companion and interpreter); the implication is that Alexander and Rufus, and probably also Simon himself, became members of the early Christian community. It is possible that the Rufus mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Roman Church was Rufus, son of Simon of Cyrene (cf. Rom. 16:13).
Cyrene was the chief city of the province of Cyrenaica in what is now called Libya. In ancient times there was a large Greek-speaking Jewish community there. It may be that Simon, having been born in Cyrene, was now resident in Judaea, or that Simon had come from Cyrene as a pilgrim to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem.
It would seem from what John wrote in his Gospel that Simon helped Jesus shoulder the cross, walking behind Jesus. He would certainly have noticed the effects of the scourging on Jesus' back. It may well be that this experience and his witnessing the crucifixion led to his becoming a Christian. If the Rufus named by Paul was Simon's son, then it is clear that his wife as well as his children become followers of Christ.
"Take up your cross and follow me"
The Gospel accounts of these two Stations are very short. We related the incident of Simon to ourselves, and recalled Christ's words: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." We must follow behind Jesus, bearing the cross as Simon did. What does this mean to us?
Mark 8:34-38
34
He summoned the crowd with his disciples andsaid to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
35
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.
36
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?
37
What could one give in exchange for his life?
38
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
See also Matthew 16:24-28 and Luke 9:23-27.
It was clear that some of our group found this passage difficult. At the time of speaking, Jesus had not yet been crucified and there was no reason why the crowd or even the disciples would connect this with Jesus's actually being crucified. However, they would have been familiar enough with the sight of condemned criminals carrying their cross to their place of execution.
The clue is that Jesus is saying that those who follow him must renounce the values of the world - they must, so to speak, die to the things of this world. They must commit themselves to Jesus and not be ashamed of whatever faces them.
Luke adds the word 'daily' in his account. We must take up our cross each day; that is, we should each day consciously dedicate ourselves to Christ and be willing to face whatever comes our way in his name.
Matthew 11:28-30
28
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves.
30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
We considered the use of a yoke to go over the necks of oxen or bullocks so that they can pull carts, ploughs and so forth. We thought of the image of Simon and Jesus carrying the 'yoke' of the cross.
It was pointed out that animals have to get used to the yoke and may react against it at first before they submit to it. Likewise, it may be difficult at first to commit oneself to Christ and lead a Christian life. But we have Christ's assurance that if we do accept his yoke, take up his cross, we shall find rest. If we trust him, his yoke is easy and his burden light.
For next week
Those present were reminded that next week shall
be considering Stations 9 & 10: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem; Jesus is crucified. It was suggested
that members look at the scriptural passages concerned beforehand.
Conclusion
(Payer of St Alphonsus Liguori)
I love you Jesus, my Love, above all things;
I repent with my whole heart for having offended you.
Never permit me to separate myself from you again.
Grant that I may love you always,
then do with me what you will.
Amen.
Our Lady - pray for us.
St Peter - pray for us.
Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American
Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.
