Additional Resource Material for this Sunday
Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel.
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Good Friday (Cycle B)
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The Road to Golgotha(Mt 27:31-32; Mk 15:20-21; Lk 23:26-32; Jn 19:17)
The road traversed by Jesus to Calvary, his way of the cross, started from the Antonia Fortress beside the Temple, crossing the city through the barrios of the north up to the gate of Ephraim, through which he passed on his way to Golgotha outside the city. The road is presently called the Via Dolorosa, which is a long and winding street of Jerusalem, steep like the rest of the streets in the old city. It ends up in the Basilica of the Holy Tomb. Today, it is difficult to ascertain if the layout of this road corresponds to the exact route undertaken by Jesus two thousand years ago. Nevertheless, pilgrims from all over the world reenact it in a procession held on Good Friday every year. Throughout this Via Dolorosa, various churches and places recall the 14 stations or phases, which, for many years, tradition has set as highlights of Jesus’ journey to the cross. Some of these stations are based on the evangelical texts and others – that of Veronica, the encounter with Mary and the three falls – take their origin from the tradition of the people who faithfully observe this pious exercise of the via crucis. It was the Roman custom to make the condemned carry to his final destination, not the entire cross (as shown in images) but only the transversal beam, called the “patibulum.” This wooden beam was placed behind the nape and had to be supported by the arms tied to the same. The wood was positioned over the shoulders like a yoke. This was extremely painful for a man who had been tortured. This explains the enormous suffering of Jesus, forcing the soldiers to ask the help of Simon from Cyrene. The two revolutionary zealots were also brought to be crucified, together with Jesus. They were not thieves but political criminals. The Greek word used in the gospel is “lestai,” the same word used to refer to the militant members of this guerrilla group. The names of Dimas and Gestas are not historical but traditional. The wooden beams carried by the three condemned would absorb the blood of many other condemned men. Jesus was not the only crucified man in history. Neither was his case exceptional during that day. On a white piece of wood was written the cause of his condemnation. This piece of wood (the “title”) was carried by a town crier before the criminal or it was hung on his neck. To go through the streets carrying the wooden beam on one’s shoulders and bearing the title on the neck was the ultimate form of humiliation which a criminal could be subjected to before meeting his death. This was done to teach future troublemakers a lesson and to serve as a warning to them. The via crucis was more of an act of repression on the part of the establishment. The title given by Pilate to Jesus indicated the reason for his condemnation: “Jesus, the Nazarene, king of the Jews.” The final accusation against Jesus was therefore political. It was like saying: This man is condemned for pretending to be the representative of these people. In the word “king” the Jews read “the Messiah.” In any case, the “king” of the Jews was then Caesar, and for any political leader to enter within this reality was to challenge the empire. The title was written in three languages: Hebrew, Latin and Greek. In the language of his own, in the language of the empire, and in the language of the Greeks, the actual foreigners present during the holidays. It was important for Rome that the title be well understood by the thousands of visitors in Jerusalem; it must be made very clear how Rome castigated her agitators. The INRI found in a number of crucifixes is the abbreviated form of the condemnation in Latin: “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum.” The soldiers sought the help of a bystander, a certain Simon of Cyrene, to help Jesus to his final journey and to keep him from dying along the road. Cyrene was an area of Africa where present-day Libya is located. That foreign Greek colony, which later became a province of Rome, had been inhabited by a number of Jews. Some of them came for the feast of the Passover, while others were born there and resided in Jerusalem. The gospel of Mark (Mk 15:21) tells us that Simon of Cyrene was the father of Alexander and Rufo. Certainly, these two young men were part of the Christian communities for whom this gospel was written. In one of his letters, Paul mentions a certain Rufo who could have been the son of this Simon (Rom 16:13). The women of Jerusalem were members of a certain charitable organization which devoted itself to various forms of charitable acts. Aside from giving alms, they performed other deeds like praying for the conversion of those who were condemned to death, and bringing them wine mixed with incense – which served as some kind of narcotic – to diminish their pain. During his ministry, Jesus had implanted in the minds of his companions that to proclaim the good news was to be willing “to carry the cross” (Mk 8:34). We usually take these words as an invitation to bear, with patience, whatever God gives us. That would have been a narrow interpretation of what Jesus really meant. “To carry the cross” should neither be interpreted simplistically as being willing to suffer martyrdom, since it does not only deal with a disposition which perhaps will end up one day in a violent death. Jesus does not invite us to an isolated act but to an attitude. To carry the cross is to have the courage to undertake a journey where one tastes, experiences failure, bitterness and ridicule. The powerful render the condemnation, humiliate, harass and insult the criminal up to his death. That was how Jesus saw it, and therefore, suffered. The road to Christianity is tough. To stick to this road up to the last is the proof of our faithfulness to our commitment to justice. (Mt 27:31-32; Mk 15:20-21; Lk 23:26-32; Jn 19:17)
Taken
from the book: A Certain Jesus, Vol. 3 (Chapter
121) This book offers a new approach to appreciating the life of Jesus. The first part of the Chapter is in dialogue form in an up-to-date conversational language. This makes the reader realize that Jesus was once a very ordinary guy, a typical man in his time. The last part of each chapter contains an explanation of the biblical references, thus giving one the perspective for reflection. |
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