The Second Station: Jesus Takes Up The Cross

"Jesus was led away, and carrying the Cross by himself, went out to what is called the 'Place of the Skull,' Golgatha."

The cross is heavy. The cross is rough. Jesus has already been beaten down. He is weak. But he accepts the cross, because that is what he came to do. It is his responsibility to carry the cross. He knew that was why he was here. That is part of our walk too - our walk with Jesus. How easy we find it to avoid responsibility. "It's not my job," we say. We let someone else bear the burden God has given us to bear.

I was on a bus, talking to the driver. He was nearing retirement, and anxious to get away. He said he was moving to some place out west – Texas, I think. He was moving to a retirement community. Now, my grandparents had lived in one of these – not always happily. I remember visiting them, and seeing people look at us as unwelcome guests, with our two sons. I mentioned that to him, and how difficult I think it would be to live in a place without children. He was looking forward to it. He said he didn’t see why he had to pay taxes to send other people’s kids to school. He didn’t see why he had to put up with them and their noise on the street. He felt they were nothing but a nuisance and a bother. I think his neighborhood will be very glad to see him go.

We don't want to pay taxes to send other people's kids to school. We don't want to pay the full cost of doing business - which includes taking care of those who have been laid off. We don't want to pay for clean air and water, so that future generations can have a high quality of life. "It's not my job," we say. We let someone else bear the burden God has given us to bear.

I have a friend that is a pastor now. He used to be a lawyer, practicing family law. Mostly he handled divorces and wills. He saw, first hand, people who sacrificed their children to get even with their spouses. He saw how readily people give up relationships for the sake of a few dollars. Let others bear the burden. It's not my job. We let someone else bear the burden of our pain, we let someone else bear the burden God has given us to bear.

The cross that Jesus bears is not for his own sake, but for ours. His is a cross too heavy for any person to bear - it is weighted with our sin, the accumulated sin of all humankind. To walk with him does not require of us that we bear the sin of all humankind, but requires that we be willing to bear a small part of that cross - the cross of others, which is also our cross. We are, after all, all in this together. Sin is a messy thing - our sin gets splattered all over other people's crosses, and theirs on ours. So we bear a bit of everyone else's cross as our own - the cross of the alcoholic, struggling for sobriety, the cross of the single mom, trying to raise a child by herself, the cross of the widow who is lonely and angry, the cross of those who don't have enough time to care - even the cross of those who have to bear with our imperfections.

Easier said than done. But do it we must, if we are to walk with Jesus.

We take our stand with Jesus. We want to walk with him, walk all the way - all the way to Calvary.