Holy Week and the Via Dolorasa

The Via Dolorosa (Latin for Way of Suffering) is a street in Old City Jerusalem, reported to be the path that Jesus walked, carrying the cross, on the way to crucifixion. The current route, established in the 18th century, is marked by Stations of the Cross.

The route is a place of ritual and pilgrimage. Evangelicals have correctly rejected rituals, favoring the living truth of God’s Word and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. However, there may be something for us to learn by remembering the events which took place. They are the places where Jesus spent time wrestling in prayer, modeled how we are to behave as his disciples, and accomplished redemptive work.

The places on the Via Dolorosa include –

1. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane,
2. Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested,
3. Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin,
4. Jesus is denied by Peter,
5. Jesus is judged by Pilate,
6. Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns,
7. Jesus takes up His cross,
8. Jesus is helped by Simon to carry His cross,
9. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem,
10. Jesus is crucified,
11. Jesus promises His kingdom to the repentant thief,
12. Jesus entrusts Mary and John to each other,
13. Jesus dies on the cross,
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb.
Are any of these events unimportant to our faith? Am I allowed to ask, “Are we giving as much attention to the events of Holy Week as we do to cultural expressions of Easter -- new clothes, family dinners and hunting for eggs?"

Are rituals viable, life giving or redemptive. No, but ignoring the events of Holy Week may allow us to adopt meaningless activity which consumes tremendous energy and resources and miss the meaning of Jesus’ passion and redemption.

Jesus’ words about becoming his disciple may have greater meaning if we paid closer attention to what he endured to make it all possible. Matthew, Mark and Luke all recorded the following –

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

The Via Dolorosa theme is found in old Evangelical music. I hope the lyrics stimulate redemptive, faith-building thought as we approach a special week.

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,
There’s no other way but this;
I shall ne’er get sight of the Gates of Light,
If the way of the cross I miss.

Refrain:
The way of the cross leads home,
The way of the cross leads home;
It is sweet to know, as I onward go,
The way of the cross leads home.

I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way,
The path that the Savior trod,
If I ever climb to the heights sublime,
Where the soul is at home with God.

Then I bid farewell to the way of the world,
To walk in it nevermore;
For my Lord says, “Come,” and I seek my home,
Where He waits at the open door. – Jessie B. Pounds, pub.1906