The Way of the Cross

Lent 4, Week of March 22, 2009
John 3.14-21

Just as the Israelites were given new life as they gazed on the bronze snake after they had been bitten by the deadly snakes, so those who witness Christ’s elevation on the cross will receive new life. Now, we usually like to associate new life with Christ’s resurrection, not his death. But this well-loved passage from John, about the profound love of God, is not about resurrection, but about death, about surrendering a beloved child to the ways of the world. This is the sign of the depth of God’s love for us—the death of a beloved son on a cross.

No wonder we love darkness rather than light. This light is strange and painful to behold. It is not pretty or successful. It is simply obedient. No wonder we love the darkness.

Just as the Israelites beheld God’s love as they gazed on the bronze serpent, so those who witness Christ’s crucifixion behold God’s love, there on the cross. These words don’t seem so joyful to those of us who are living high—plenty of food, freedom to travel and spend time with our loved ones, living in security in the heartland of America. But to those who are suffering, the cross is a comfort—God, too, knows suffering. God knows pain and abandonment; God knows persecution; God knows powerlessness in the face of military might.

So this image of Jesus lifted up on the cross, distasteful to us, is a comfort to the people of Beit Jala, near Bethlehem—to Sousan, who has a dress shop, but cannot go to Tel Aviv to the merchandise shows to purchase the clothes for her shop. She has to buy them without seeing what she is getting, which makes the quality difficult to control. Sousan knows what it is like to be at the mercy of the authorities, who control where she can travel and what she can ship to her store and what she can ship out.

Perhaps this is why Holy Week is such a big deal to the people of Bethlehem. While we in America would prefer to skip from the triumphant procession of Palm Sunday to the glorious musical production of Easter Sunday, the people of Bethlehem spend the entire week celebrating Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. For them, there is no skipping over Holy Week to get to Easter. For them, there is no skipping over the painful part to get to the victory, in Holy Week or in everyday life.

Because the story of Holy Week is a story of geography—Jesus travels to Jerusalem for the Passover and processes outside the city carrying the cross—the people of this area have, for hundreds of years, spent much of their week going to Jerusalem to re-enact the holy travels, the Way of the Cross.

So it is especially disappointing when they are denied travel permits to go to Jerusalem—as they have for the past few years. In particular, the students at the Catholic Bethlehem University were denied permits, even though the visit was part of their studies. Because Easter and Passover often occur during the same time, Israel is especially sensitive to their security and tightens the restrictions on Palestinians’ travel.

Another sad reality is that many of the tours arranged for Western pilgrims do not even go to Bethlehem when they visit for the holy days. They are told that it will be too dangerous. While these pilgrims walk the holy streets of Jerusalem, the Christians five miles away in Bethlehem are denied the travel permits to walk with them.

O God, you loved your people so much that you gave even your most precious son so that we might have new life. Help us, who live in comfort and security, to make time during your Holy Week to walk in solidarity with those who suffer in your world today. Amen.