Were You There?

     Were you there?   We sing the old spiritual comfortable in our pews and in the belief we were not there.  Because if we were, we surely would have done something to stop them from crucifying Jesus, God’s Messiah.  At the least we would have helped carry His cross.
      Having just helped carry (more precisely half carrying and half dragging for a few blocks) a cross thru our city, I am not sure if I would have volunteered.  I would like to think I would have said, “Let me help you Jesus.  I’ll carry it for the rest of the way”.  Yet I know that carrying a cross as I did is a far cry from what Jesus was compelled to do. Would my love for Jesus be greater than my fear of the governor’s cruelty or the crowd’s mockery?  I can only pray that if given the real challenge, my Lord would give me the strength and courage.
      That cross was very heavy for me and I am a fairly strong man. Part of the burden I felt was a deep sense of grief.  Jesus was feeling the “horror” of carrying all our sins. He was fearful of being abandoned by His father.  He was exhausted, almost whipped to death by the dreaded leaded Roman “cat”, without sleep, dehydrated from no water and blood loss, overheated on that hot day and struggling up hill. Even the brutal Roman officer saw Jesus could never make it and compelled an innocent farmer to carry that heavy rough beam.  Had I volunteered, I would have been included in the crowd’s vicious mockery.  I just had a taste of that from the people in our town.
      Most people here reacted with indifference although I saw a young woman dabbing her tears as our little procession walked by.  It gave our little band of people from a variety of denominations, the chance to read the scripture on the main corners, to pray for our mayor, council and administration and to sense the “fellowship of His sufferings”.  For Jesus there was continuous shouting mockery.
      I counted 12 separate occasions recorded in the gospels that Jesus the King of Glory was mocked.  How could we have done that?  Yes, we were there.  In your mind’s eye see yourself somewhere in that fateful situation.
      Were you one of his disciples, “friends that stood at a distance” (Mk. 23:49)?
Or Peter that couldn’t stand up for Jesus but couldn’t run away either,
Or John, who used his influence to get inside and record what happened but didn’t speak up for Jesus,
Or Pilate, who knew better and had the power but worried about how a low rating in public opinion polls would affect a possible promotion,
Or Herod, who lived idly in luxury and didn’t want to lose his comforts,
Or one of his many sycophants, who sat around to flatter “King Herod” in order to enjoy his parties,
Or one among the crowds who “gathered before Pilate’s house” to watch the live action on the big screen and shouted, “crucify, kill him” when given some cheer leading by the big guys,
Or one of the “leading priests and other leaders” who met illegally to get rid of the opposition and thorn in their side,
Or one of the “witnesses” who lied to ingratiate themselves with those in power,
Or one of “many other women” who had “come with Him to Jerusalem”, I suspect because He was so supportive and encouraging,
Or someone in the “great crowd” which “trailed along behind him” on the way to Golgotha to see what would happen next or to be entertained by a gruesome dying,
Or one of the “entire battalion” who came to mock, abuse and beat Jesus as the scapegoat for their frustrations with Jews and other people they could not understand,
Or one of the  “bystanders” at the cross, some of whom were thinking, “that could have”, maybe even, “should have been me but I dare not do anything risky, at least not now”, or  “I haven’t been called to do that sort of thing”, or “it really isn’t my passion you know”,
Or, but surely not, one in the crowd that “all shouted”, “We take responsibility for His death, we and our children”, because if you were, you will get what you asked for.

We were all there somewhere.  Only as you search your heart can you honestly place yourself that day.  I have a better appreciation of where I would have been by “carrying the cross”.  May the Lord forgive me for any part of my motivation being vanity or pride? If you want to better understand what happened that day and would like to gain some insight, you should carry a cross in public on Easter.
     Now remember this  “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did it not to me”  “Beware that you don’t despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angles are always in the presence of my heavenly father.” (Matt 25:45 & 18:10).   Thus all these human reactions also apply to abortions.
     Of all these attitudes you may select for yourself with respect to abortion, you are living with respect to Jesus, God’s Holy and Anointed One.  Do you tremble?  Most should because we are in that dehumanizing crowd who mock the “fetus” as not yet a human or shouted, murder them by abortion or did little or nothing to protect the preborn, for fear.  Yes it is fear. If you don’t believe me, then identify with Jesus and help carry a cross thru your town.
      By our indolence and apathy toward the preborn babies, we are crying, “let their blood be on us and our children.”  It will be and soon I suspect.
        “Gather together and pray you shameless nation. Gather while there is still time, before judgment begins and your opportunity is blown away like chaff.  Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins.  Beg the Lord to save you-all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice.  Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you from His anger on that day of destruction.”  Zeph. 2:1-3

                                                             Philip Ney        Pioneer Publishing