Walking to Calvary

Picture in your mind's eye, friend, the day of Christ's crucifixion. If you could be in the crowd that day, as it left Pilate's court, through the busy, narrow streets, on its winding way beyond the city gate to Golgotha's hill, the streets of the city are jammed with the curious, as three men are pushed along beneath their burdens, the Roman soldiers are base and cruel, as they lead these three condemned men to the place of their crucifixion. One man stands out from the others, as he wears a crown of thorns and is the object of the most ridicule.

He is spit upon and mocked as he moves along through the crowd, on its way to Calvary. The women who follow Jesus the most closely are the ones lamenting the loudest, as they can hardly see through the hot tears that stream down their anguished faces. The horses of the soldiers neigh and snort beneath their cruel burdens, as this procession slowly moves forward beyond the city gate.

Jesus falls beneath the weight of the wood upon him, and Simon comes alongside and bears that cross until they reach the hill of Golgotha. There on that rise, the three condemned men are appointed to their cross of execution. The hammers begin to sound upon the wood, as nails pierce human flesh, and the cries of the suffering are drowned by the gasps of the onlookers.

One by one, those crosses drop into their holes and are drawn upright by the soldiers. The forms on the cross twist and squirm in agony of excruciating pain, as they struggle to breathe. The figure on the middle cross is maligned the most by the religious leaders of the Jews, as they point at him, jeer at him, and shake their heads at him in mockery.

One yells, he saved others, himself he cannot save. Above the middle cross is a sign which reads, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews, and there beneath that sign hangs the man of sorrows, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Listen to the prophet Isaiah as he speaks of him.

He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

There, beneath the cross, the Roman soldiers sit in indifference, and they laugh and cast lots for his garment. You hear Jesus pray for his enemies as he struggles on that accursed tree. You make out his words, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.

One of the condemned criminals, next to Jesus, is speaking to him. You hear the thief say in a trembling voice, Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And you hear the Son of God reply with authority, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

You see Jesus' gaze fall upon his mother, and John the disciple next to her. You hear him tenderly say to her, O woman, behold thy son. His eyes turn to his beloved disciple as he declares to him, Behold thy mother.

You hear him struggle for breath as he gasps, a thirst. As the hours pass, the cross turns crimson red from his blood. Suddenly you see darkness fall all over the land, as you hear his awful cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The wind blows dust into your eyes, terror seizes your soul, as you see the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Through the wind you hear Jesus cry with a loud voice, It is finished! And the crown of thorns lowers as he bows his head in death. As the Christ of the Cross breezes last, your ears are filled with the noise of the rending of rocks, as the very earth trembles beneath your feet, as the crowd backs away in horror and fear and disperses. And back in the city, the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, as the Prince of Glory dies.

You see the centurion standing near as he beholds the motionless figure on the cross, and declares, Truly this man was the Son of God. Dear sinner friend, have you ever come there, to that terrible scene, and taken your place as a lost guilty sinner at his feet? The Christ who shed his blood as a substitute for sin, bearing the wrath of the Father, so all who come to him and own him as Lord can have forgiveness of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke of this when he said, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Christ the Redeemer, on that ignoble cross, in Isaiah we read, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. The beloved Son of God, who came to earth to suffer and die, and who rose again, is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. No man comes to the Father but by the Son.

One must come to him empty-handed, as a beggar who seeks mercy. The gospel is for the hungry, the weary, and the thirsty. It's for those sin-sick souls who feel their need of a Savior from sin.

There's a promise to all who come, Aho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. The duty of a sinner is to come to Christ. Christ has a promise to all who come to him, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Come to Christ, friend, salvation is Christ, he is your only hope. Let us pray.