The Viadolorosa

We have come to Jerusalem in January, which is supposed to be the rainy season here. It has been unseasonably dry and warm, however, for the past two weeks. It seems appropriate then, to wake up in the darkness and walk in the pouring rain to the Church of the Flagellation for the first station of the Way of the Cross, the Viadolorosa. Using John Peterson's A Walk in Jerusalem: Stations of the Cross (John Peterson was previously the Dean here at St. George's) we made our way into the still quiet city in the early morning hours. (I've excerpted some of Peterson's prayers below.)

Station VII: Jesus Falls a Second Time
He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (I Peter 2:24)
For those who suffer mental weakness and fatigue; for the mentally ill, the anxious, the lonely, and the distressed; For those suffering from senility; And for all who care for them, their families, friends, and members of the caring professions; Lord have mercy.

Station IX: Jesus Falls a Third Time

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet is without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

For those who experience moral weakness and failure; For those who know what it is to lose their faith; For those who have lost hope in this world or the next; For those who are the very limits of their mental, physical, spiritual, or moral strength; Lord have mercy.

Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. (Mark 15:37-38)

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or Church of the Resurrection. The church is built on a rock quarry that was, in the first century, outside of the city gates; believed to be Golgatha - the place of a skull. This altar is built on top of the site where Jesus was crucified.

This is an excavated burial cave beneath the Church; it is not believed to be the Tomb of Jesus but it does seem to be from the same time period and seems to suggest a garden cemetary of some sort not far from Golgatha.

Standing outside of the cave shown above.

So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. (Matthew 27:59)

Here is the site believed to be the tomb where Jesus was laid, again, inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Walter Brueggemann (you know he'd have to find his way into this blog sooner or later!) says that "we are entrusted to preach Christ crucified. That Friday turn of the world was the exposure of the vulnerability of God to the violence of the empire. Jesus' trial before Pilate - which turned out to be a trial of the empire before Jesus - and his subsequent conviction and execution are the best show of power and authority that the world can muster. In that exhibit of power and authority, the world is exposed as fraudulent in its claim of ultimacy..."

Brueggemann goes on to say: "Luther's famous phrase, 'the crucified God,' calls us always back to the raw claim that it is the utter self-giving of God in weakness that is the true exhibit of holiness that eludes the control of the world. This is the message entrusted to us." (Theology Today, October 2008, "Prophetic Ministry in the National Security State.")

Station XIII: Jesus Body is Taken Down from the Cross

For ourselves: Whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup of salvation; In thanksgiving that Jesus Christ gave his body to be broken for us and his blood to be shed for us; That we may be enabled and strengthened by his Spirit to give ourselves to be broken and poured out for others, for the sanctification of the whole of God's creation; Lord have mercy.