WEBVTT 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:07.179 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:09.740 the praetorium and gathered the whole company 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:13.320 of soldiers around him. They stripped him and 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:15.599 put a scarlet robe on him and then twisted together 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.399 a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:23.780 put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.079 in front of him and mocked him. Hail, King of 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:29.449 the Jews, they said. They spit on him and took 00:00:29.449 --> 00:00:32.390 the staff and struck him on the head again and 00:00:32.390 --> 00:00:35.310 again. After they had mocked him, they took off 00:00:35.310 --> 00:00:37.909 the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then 00:00:37.909 --> 00:00:42.070 they led him away to crucify him. As they were 00:00:42.070 --> 00:00:44.549 going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, 00:00:44.670 --> 00:00:48.450 and they forced him to carry the cross. They 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:50.969 came to a place called Golgotha, which means 00:00:50.969 --> 00:00:54.600 the place of the skull. There they offered Jesus 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:57.539 wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting 00:00:57.539 --> 00:01:01.960 it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:05.060 him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots, 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:07.819 and sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.060 Above his head, they placed the written charge 00:01:11.060 --> 00:01:14.840 against him, This is Jesus, King of the Jews. 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:19.140 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:22.459 right and one on his left. Those who passed by 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:24.560 hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:27.319 saying, you who are going to destroy the temple 00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.640 and build it in three days, save yourself. Come 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.700 down from the cross if you are the son of God. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.819 In the same way, the chief priests and the elders 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:39.340 and the teachers of the law mocked him. He saved 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:41.799 others, they said, but he can't save himself. 00:01:42.459 --> 00:01:45.680 He's the king of Israel. Let him come down now 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.959 from the cross and we will believe in him. He 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.219 trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants 00:01:52.219 --> 00:01:56.159 him. For he said, I am the son of God. In the 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.140 same way, the rebels who were crucified with 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:03.680 him also heaped insults on him. From noon until 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.959 three in the afternoon, darkness came over all 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.259 the land. About three in the afternoon, Jesus 00:02:10.259 --> 00:02:15.319 cried out in a loud voice. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.240 which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.099 me? When some of those standing there heard this, 00:02:21.219 --> 00:02:24.860 they said, he's calling Elijah. Immediately, 00:02:24.919 --> 00:02:27.680 one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:30.360 with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:33.819 it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, now leave 00:02:33.819 --> 00:02:36.180 him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:39.599 him. And when Jesus had cried out again in a 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:43.280 loud voice, He gave up his spirit. At that moment, 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:45.979 the curtain of the temple was torn in two from 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:49.620 top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, 00:02:49.699 --> 00:02:52.659 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:54.800 holy people who had died were raised to life. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.539 They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection 00:02:57.539 --> 00:03:00.919 and went into the holy city and appeared to many 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:05.000 people. When the centurion and those with him 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.039 who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.360 all that had happened, they were terrified and 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:14.020 exclaimed, Surely he was the Son of God. Many 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:16.900 women were there, watching from a distance. They 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:19.240 had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:22.139 needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.620 mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:29.659 Zebedee's sons. As evening approached, There 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:31.979 came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:36.159 who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.080 to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate 00:03:39.080 --> 00:03:42.240 ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.039 the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 00:03:45.099 --> 00:03:47.620 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:50.719 cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.500 front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:55.580 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:59.930 there opposite the tomb. The next day, the one 00:03:59.930 --> 00:04:02.189 after preparation day, the chief priests and 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:04.969 the Pharisees went to Pilate. Sir, they said, 00:04:05.050 --> 00:04:07.569 we remember that while he was still alive, that 00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:10.810 deceiver said, after three days I will rise again. 00:04:11.710 --> 00:04:14.569 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure 00:04:14.569 --> 00:04:17.709 until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples 00:04:17.709 --> 00:04:20.050 may come and steal the body and tell the people 00:04:20.050 --> 00:04:23.009 that he has been raised from the dead. This last 00:04:23.009 --> 00:04:27.449 deception will be worse than the first. Take 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:30.490 a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:33.930 secure as you know how. So they went and made 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:36.589 the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone 00:04:36.589 --> 00:04:40.529 and posting the guard. The passion of our Lord 00:04:40.529 --> 00:04:46.009 Jesus Christ. So you're out hiking with friends 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:47.629 and everything is going along just wonderfully 00:04:47.629 --> 00:04:52.029 until you see this. Ahead of you is this dangerous 00:04:52.029 --> 00:04:55.850 piece of pathway along a mountainside. So what 00:04:55.850 --> 00:04:57.730 do you do at this moment? You're frightened, 00:04:57.910 --> 00:05:01.629 you're nervous, you're unsure. What's around 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:06.110 that corner? And so some of your group say, let's 00:05:06.110 --> 00:05:09.680 go and look for a way around it. Others in your 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:12.699 group, they say, let's just turn back. I'm done. 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.060 Some in your group say, you know what? I think 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:17.660 we can do it. Let's just go for it. Let's just 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:20.800 run through there. And still, there are others 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.339 who just freeze out of fear. What's the right 00:05:25.339 --> 00:05:29.160 way forward? Now, you might say, well, I'll never 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:30.959 find myself in a situation like this. I'm not 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.240 kind of a hiker. But actually, eventually, we 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:37.379 all do. Because you see, life is a hike. And 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:39.319 you can be going along and everything can just 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.000 be going so smoothly. And then it happens, a 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.079 tragedy, some kind of pain, suffering hits you. 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:49.519 Jesus once said, in this life, you will have 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:53.519 trouble. Suffering comes for all of us at some 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.399 point. Could be the loss of a loved one, could 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:58.500 be a sudden illness, loss of a job, financial 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:02.240 problems, the breakdown of a relationship. And 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.800 suddenly that path that seems so clear and so 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:08.360 easy to you is now dark and dangerous and uncertain. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:12.459 This Lent, we have been asking ourselves the 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:14.000 question, what does it mean to follow Jesus? 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.540 But today we ask that question in a different 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:19.540 way. What does it mean to follow Jesus when following 00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:23.420 Jesus is following the way of suffering? How 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:28.790 do we follow Jesus then? Well, again, some might 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:31.410 try to go around their suffering. You know, a 00:06:31.410 --> 00:06:34.329 hiker sees danger. Their first thought is, let's 00:06:34.329 --> 00:06:38.129 find another way, anything to avoid going into 00:06:38.129 --> 00:06:40.889 what's ahead of us. And so we do the same. We 00:06:40.889 --> 00:06:44.790 often try to go around our pain to avoid suffering, 00:06:44.930 --> 00:06:48.750 even though it usually ends up costing us more 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:52.029 in the long run than if we had just stayed and 00:06:52.029 --> 00:06:56.529 faced the pain. But we often go around. Or rather 00:06:56.529 --> 00:06:59.389 than go around, we might choose to head back. 00:06:59.509 --> 00:07:02.029 Many hikers would decide to head back, and so 00:07:02.029 --> 00:07:05.470 do we. In times of pain, we are tempted just 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:08.589 to run away from our pain, to deny our suffering. 00:07:08.689 --> 00:07:11.290 And actually, as a coping strategy, that works 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:15.290 pretty well. But it's a short -term strategy. 00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:18.069 Sometimes that pain is something you actually 00:07:18.069 --> 00:07:20.509 needed to deal with, and if we don't deal with 00:07:20.509 --> 00:07:24.040 it, well then, Sigmund Freud was right. the things 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.839 that we run away from that have the most power 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:30.540 over us. Or others, when they're faced with pain, 00:07:30.699 --> 00:07:33.800 they try to rush past it, put it behind you as 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.060 quickly as possible. And we're pretty good at 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:39.060 this too. Whatever we're struggling with, we 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:41.420 want a quick fix. We want an instant solution. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:45.220 Take a pill or two. Take a drink or two. Get 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:48.079 the relief that you want without the waiting. 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.579 Because we think if we move fast enough, we can 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:56.319 somehow outrun our pain. But that pain is rarely 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:59.500 healed. And our hurts that we tried to leave 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.500 behind us will eventually catch up with us again. 00:08:03.500 --> 00:08:05.939 And so finally, there's always the option of 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:08.779 just giving up. When faced with suffering, we 00:08:08.779 --> 00:08:11.810 just stop, we freeze. And we collapse in despair. 00:08:12.029 --> 00:08:14.189 You know, hikers, you know, faced with a situation 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:16.910 like this on a mountainside. Their legs are tired 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:18.990 and the fear is too much. And you're tempted 00:08:18.990 --> 00:08:21.129 just to sit down and say, I'm done. That is it. 00:08:21.149 --> 00:08:24.149 I'm not taking another step. And sometimes we 00:08:24.149 --> 00:08:27.670 feel exactly like that. You feel like giving 00:08:27.670 --> 00:08:30.610 up. The path is too steep. The distance is still 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:34.269 way too far. But listen, stopping in the middle 00:08:34.269 --> 00:08:37.830 of a dangerous trail rarely makes things any 00:08:37.830 --> 00:08:40.190 better for us. You know, sitting on a narrow 00:08:40.190 --> 00:08:43.450 ledge like that doesn't get you off the mountain. 00:08:43.590 --> 00:08:47.710 It just leaves you stuck. No, we can't go around 00:08:47.710 --> 00:08:51.649 our pain. We can't run away from it. We can't 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:53.950 rush past it and we can't give up on it either. 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:58.149 So what do we do? Well, Jesus today shows us. 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:02.379 how to walk the way of suffering and get through 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:06.019 it. And the reason Jesus knows how to get through 00:09:06.019 --> 00:09:08.480 pain is because, as you just heard, Jesus walked 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:12.399 this trail long before we ever did. Jesus has 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.460 seen the cliff edge. He has felt the ground, 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:19.080 the danger beneath his feet. On Good Friday, 00:09:19.259 --> 00:09:22.779 Jesus looks ahead on a situation like this. And 00:09:22.779 --> 00:09:25.639 he knew what was coming. He knew Judas was going 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:28.179 to betray him. He knew Peter was going to deny 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:30.600 him. He knew his friends were all going to abandon 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:33.559 him. He knew that down that road, there lay nothing 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.919 but rejection and humiliation and torture and 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:40.840 death. But does Jesus go around it? Does he run 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.360 away from it? Does he rush past it? Does he just 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:48.789 give up on it in despair? No. Instead, Jesus 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:52.509 shows us something else. And I want to just share 00:09:52.509 --> 00:09:55.350 with you five or six things that Jesus teaches 00:09:55.350 --> 00:10:00.090 us about walking in the way of suffering. The 00:10:00.090 --> 00:10:04.210 first is this. Jesus shows us suffering is a 00:10:04.210 --> 00:10:07.980 journey, actually. When we experience pain, we 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:10.539 often want an explanation now. We want it to 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:12.740 be over now. We want our problems solved quickly. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.080 But suffering rarely works that way. You know, 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:17.919 pain and problems don't usually lend themselves 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.720 to kind of quick fixes and easy solutions. Instead, 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:24.159 it's something you've got to work through gradually. 00:10:25.450 --> 00:10:27.850 It's something that we have to walk through, 00:10:27.909 --> 00:10:31.090 not rush through. Psalm 23 says that even though 00:10:31.090 --> 00:10:33.610 I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:35.850 I will fear no evil. Do you notice the language? 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:38.549 The psalmist does not rush through the valley. 00:10:38.649 --> 00:10:40.710 He does not escape the valley. He does not jump 00:10:40.710 --> 00:10:44.429 over the valley. He walks through it step by 00:10:44.429 --> 00:10:48.190 step because suffering is often a very long road. 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:50.500 You probably thought that that reading we read 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:52.779 was a very long reading. It is. It's the longest 00:10:52.779 --> 00:10:55.899 reading we ever read all year long, and Al did 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:58.440 an amazing job at it. But why do we read such 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.559 a long reading? Because Jesus' road of suffering 00:11:01.559 --> 00:11:06.080 was the longest road. Jesus' suffering isn't 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:08.539 just a single event that happens on a cross. 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:11.899 It is a journey, begins in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:13.919 then the arrest, and the trials, and the humiliation, 00:11:13.940 --> 00:11:17.600 and then, well, you heard it all. Right. Finally, 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.840 the long walk up to the cross on the Mount Golgotha. 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:24.340 Early Christians actually gave a name to that 00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:27.179 walk. They called it the Via Dolorosa, the way 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:30.519 of suffering. Suffering is a journey. And Jesus 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:34.649 walked that road step by step. I don't know where 00:11:34.649 --> 00:11:36.549 you are on that road. You may not even think 00:11:36.549 --> 00:11:38.769 you're on that road. We may all be on a different 00:11:38.769 --> 00:11:40.929 part of that road. Some of you are still enjoying 00:11:40.929 --> 00:11:43.309 a pleasant hike in life. That's great. But for 00:11:43.309 --> 00:11:45.590 others, the path just became steep. Something 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:48.950 happened. For others of you, you feel like you 00:11:48.950 --> 00:11:52.389 have been walking this road for a long, long 00:11:52.389 --> 00:11:56.190 time. Wherever you are in your journey of suffering, 00:11:56.490 --> 00:12:00.009 it's rarely a single moment. We move through 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:04.529 it over time. So Jesus shows us suffering is 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:06.990 a journey. But the second thing Jesus shows us 00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:11.090 is that all we can do is just take the next step. 00:12:11.289 --> 00:12:16.809 Just keep taking the next step. On good days, 00:12:16.850 --> 00:12:19.210 it's true. Life feels like a well -marked trail. 00:12:19.330 --> 00:12:21.549 You can see everything. But then the fog rolls 00:12:21.549 --> 00:12:24.269 in and all of a sudden you can't see more than 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:27.470 a few inches in front of you. You can't see what's 00:12:27.470 --> 00:12:30.090 around the bend. You can't even see five steps 00:12:30.090 --> 00:12:33.149 in front of you. All you see. is what's right 00:12:33.149 --> 00:12:35.590 in front of you and that is what suffering is 00:12:35.590 --> 00:12:38.490 like there's no map that tells us how we're going 00:12:38.490 --> 00:12:40.450 to get all through this sometimes and what's 00:12:40.450 --> 00:12:43.690 going to happen just like on a dangerous trail 00:12:43.690 --> 00:12:47.809 you need enough courage just to take the next 00:12:47.809 --> 00:12:53.289 step in fact tradition tells us that jesus carried 00:12:53.289 --> 00:12:55.909 this cross through the streets of jerusalem and 00:12:55.909 --> 00:12:58.580 as he did he fell along the road. And that's 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:02.100 understandable. Two or even three times he fell. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:07.600 The weight was just too much. But each time he 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:12.139 got back up again and he kept walking, not running, 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:15.379 mind you, not escaping, not giving up, just taking 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:21.379 the next step, the next. And that is exactly 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:24.960 how we walk through suffering. We walk by faith, 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:29.799 not by sight. Because you can't see what is around 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:32.320 that bend or down that road or where it is all 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.500 going. And we may stumble and we may fall. But 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:40.279 when we fall, faith means we get up again and 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:42.840 we take the next step. And even if that next 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:46.970 step is just a small step, that... is okay because 00:13:46.970 --> 00:13:51.870 small steps are how we walk the way of Jesus 00:13:51.870 --> 00:13:57.110 on the road of suffering. The third thing Jesus 00:13:57.110 --> 00:14:00.590 shows us is on the road of suffering, God walks 00:14:00.590 --> 00:14:04.350 with us. You know, a hiker might be willing to 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:06.169 tackle a dangerous trail if they knew that somebody 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:08.029 else was with them, someone to kind of hold on 00:14:08.029 --> 00:14:10.610 to. The hardest part of suffering is actually 00:14:10.610 --> 00:14:12.549 not the pain itself, but it's the idea that you 00:14:12.549 --> 00:14:14.389 feel like you're alone. And many people feel 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:16.409 like in the midst of their suffering that God 00:14:16.409 --> 00:14:18.629 has abandoned them too. Because if God were here, 00:14:18.769 --> 00:14:20.990 then why would I be going through this in the 00:14:20.990 --> 00:14:24.049 first place? But that's not how Jesus walks the 00:14:24.049 --> 00:14:27.009 road of suffering. Because you see, before Jesus 00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:29.460 went to the cross, he went to the garden. And 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:31.899 he went there to pray. And he fell with his face 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:34.620 to the ground and he prayed, my father. And he 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:38.240 poured everything out to God. But what he was 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:40.799 really doing in that moment was not just giving 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:46.759 his stuff to God, but inviting God into his suffering. 00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:50.759 Reassuring himself that God, yes, was walking 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:54.539 this road with him. It's like the psalmist says, 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:56.500 even though I walk through the valley of the 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:59.019 shadow of death, I fear no evil. We heard that 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:05.419 part. For you are with me. God is with Jesus 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:07.899 in his suffering. And that means that when we 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:10.539 walk the road of suffering, God, he's not watching 00:15:10.539 --> 00:15:12.360 from a distance. He's not way ahead of us. He's 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:16.460 not way behind us. He's right beside us. So as 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:19.179 it turns out, we do actually have someone we 00:15:19.179 --> 00:15:23.000 can hold on to. God is with us in our suffering. 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:26.820 But the fourth thing we learn from Jesus as we 00:15:26.820 --> 00:15:30.299 follow him on this road is that suffering can 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:33.600 actually shape us. You know, if you're a hiker, 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:37.500 it's the steep trails, right? It's the really 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:40.419 rugged terrain that develops a hiker's muscles 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:43.860 and their endurance. And the same is true in 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:49.049 our suffering. It can make us stronger. Now, 00:15:49.070 --> 00:15:51.850 I want to say this very carefully because, you 00:15:51.850 --> 00:15:55.370 know, pain is real and loss is real. And Good 00:15:55.370 --> 00:15:57.970 Friday reminds us, you know, suffering is never 00:15:57.970 --> 00:16:01.509 something to celebrate or pretend is good. The 00:16:01.509 --> 00:16:05.330 cross was brutal. And whatever pain you're going 00:16:05.330 --> 00:16:08.870 through, it is not beautiful either. And yet, 00:16:09.029 --> 00:16:12.389 the mystery of the Christian faith is that God 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:16.279 can take our suffering. And use it to shape us, 00:16:16.379 --> 00:16:20.019 to teach us, to grow something in us. We even 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:22.360 see this in the life of Jesus. Believe it or 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.159 not, the book of Hebrews says this most surprising 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.039 thing. It says that although he was a son, Jesus 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:31.860 learned obedience through what he suffered. Now, 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:33.720 just think about that for a moment. Jesus, the 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:37.399 son of God, who was perfect, they say, and yet 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:42.120 even he learned. Through suffering. With every 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:44.720 step toward the cross. With every fall under 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.460 the weight of the cross. Every moment that he 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.139 could have turned back and he did not turn back. 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:52.700 He was growing in his obedience. His suffering 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:54.379 was not pointless. Of course it wasn't pointless. 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.500 It changed the world. But his suffering also 00:16:56.500 --> 00:17:01.059 changed him somehow. And if that was true for 00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:04.279 Jesus, then it should not surprise us that God 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:08.960 uses suffering to shape us as well. God has the 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:13.500 power to take the very pain that threatens to 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:17.200 break us and use that pain to transform us. The 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:19.200 apostle Paul said it this way. He says, suffering 00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:21.720 produces perseverance. Perseverance, character, 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.859 and character, hope. Psychologists, they point 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:28.819 out that those who walk through suffering often 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:32.000 become more resilient. Their relationships grow 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.410 deeper. Their priorities become clear, and many 00:17:35.410 --> 00:17:38.190 of them discover a deeper spiritual life than 00:17:38.190 --> 00:17:43.630 they had before. In other words, when we keep 00:17:43.630 --> 00:17:46.529 walking with God through suffering, something 00:17:46.529 --> 00:17:51.369 changes in us. Our faith deepens, our hope becomes 00:17:51.369 --> 00:17:54.869 stronger, and our lives are slowly being shaped 00:17:54.869 --> 00:17:57.869 by the grace of God. It's funny, but the road 00:17:57.869 --> 00:18:02.720 we most wanted to avoid can be the road. where 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:07.599 God forms us the most. But how about the fifth 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:09.220 thing we learn about this road of suffering? 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.420 We don't walk alone. I mean, if you've ever hiked 00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:15.460 a difficult trail, you know something important. 00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:18.660 The hardest trails are actually meant to be hiked 00:18:18.660 --> 00:18:22.180 together, right? When the path is narrow and 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:24.660 the climb is steep, you need people beside you 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:25.779 who are going to encourage you, say, you can 00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:29.609 do this. Keep on going. I'm here for you. Now, 00:18:29.630 --> 00:18:31.970 I know that in the reading we just heard, yes, 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:34.230 Jesus' friends, they seem to eventually abandon 00:18:34.230 --> 00:18:39.440 him, but they were there for him. In his difficult 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.480 times too, in the Garden of Gethsemane, just 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.220 before he hits the, as he hits the road of suffering, 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:46.259 Jesus turns to his closest friends and he says, 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:49.519 hey, listen, just stay here with me. Keep watch 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:52.740 with me. He knows what's happening and he doesn't 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:54.900 want people around him to try to fix it. He doesn't 00:18:54.900 --> 00:18:56.599 want people to try to explain it. He just wants 00:18:56.599 --> 00:18:59.579 people to be present. And sometimes the greatest 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:02.259 gift we can give to someone who is suffering 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:06.470 is simply just to walk beside them. Or, you know, 00:19:06.490 --> 00:19:08.809 what about this moment? You heard this in the 00:19:08.809 --> 00:19:11.670 reading. Jesus is walking toward his crucifixion, 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:13.869 and they end up yanking this man named Simon 00:19:13.869 --> 00:19:16.150 out of the crowd, and they get him to carry the 00:19:16.150 --> 00:19:19.730 cross for him. Jesus was exhausted, so what? 00:19:19.789 --> 00:19:24.569 God provides another person to carry his burden. 00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:27.430 It's just amazing to think that even Jesus didn't 00:19:27.430 --> 00:19:31.029 carry the cross alone. And we need to remember 00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:33.630 that when suffering comes, we're not meant to 00:19:33.630 --> 00:19:37.769 carry it by ourselves either. God meets us through 00:19:37.769 --> 00:19:41.190 the presence of other people. Maybe that is just, 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:43.210 you know, you've got a friend who listens. Maybe 00:19:43.210 --> 00:19:44.849 you've got a parent who prays for you. Maybe 00:19:44.849 --> 00:19:46.849 you're part of a church community who can help 00:19:46.849 --> 00:19:49.089 bear the weight of all that you're going through 00:19:49.089 --> 00:19:52.950 when we cannot do it on our own because the road 00:19:52.950 --> 00:19:56.380 of suffering is too heavy. For one person to 00:19:56.380 --> 00:19:59.740 walk alone. But together, together we can keep 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:04.160 on walking. And now the final thing that we learn 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.460 from Jesus about the way of suffering is this. 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.759 The road, believe it or not, leads somewhere 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.839 good and beautiful. You know, on a hike, I suppose 00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:16.960 it's easy to be discouraged when all you see 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:20.000 is dark skies and rain clouds and dangerous cliffs. 00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:22.740 But you see, hikers know something important. 00:20:22.859 --> 00:20:29.670 They know. that trails turn corners. And what 00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:32.470 looks like an endless struggle may actually suddenly 00:20:32.470 --> 00:20:35.029 open up into a clearing. What looks like a steep 00:20:35.029 --> 00:20:37.309 climb may level out. What looks like rough road 00:20:37.309 --> 00:20:39.930 may actually smooth out. And the most amazing 00:20:39.930 --> 00:20:44.910 view might appear, will appear, when you least 00:20:44.910 --> 00:20:49.450 expect it. And the same is true on the road of 00:20:49.450 --> 00:20:51.650 suffering. When Jesus walked that Via Dolorosa, 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:54.849 the way of sorrows, It must have looked like 00:20:54.849 --> 00:20:57.710 the end of everything. The crowds watching must 00:20:57.710 --> 00:21:00.329 have said, this is a failure. The disciples assumed 00:21:00.329 --> 00:21:03.029 that all their hope had died. But you see, they 00:21:03.029 --> 00:21:08.450 couldn't see around the corner. The road was 00:21:08.450 --> 00:21:10.710 not the end of the story. The writer of Hebrews 00:21:10.710 --> 00:21:14.920 tells us that for the joy set before him. Jesus 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:18.380 endured the cross. He kept walking because he 00:21:18.380 --> 00:21:22.339 knew the road led somewhere beautiful and good. 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:24.640 Through that cross was going to come forgiveness. 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:26.559 Through the cross was going to come redemption. 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:28.440 Through that cross was going to come healing 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:31.579 and resurrection. At the end of his journey, 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:36.480 we would have a whole world made brand new. And 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.059 so Good Friday reminds us that yes, while the 00:21:39.059 --> 00:21:44.640 road is long and it is not endless, And though 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:48.799 suffering, it has its limits. And that eventually 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:52.579 we too are going to round a bend and we will 00:21:52.579 --> 00:21:55.980 see our heart's desire. So I want to tell you 00:21:55.980 --> 00:21:58.319 guys, no matter what your road looks like today, 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.740 God is taking you to a beautiful destination. 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:07.579 So let's return to where we started. The dangerous 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:11.869 path. The winds are blowing. Steep. drops beside 00:22:11.869 --> 00:22:13.869 you. You're afraid to keep on going. What do 00:22:13.869 --> 00:22:16.130 you do? Well, today Jesus tells us what to do. 00:22:16.190 --> 00:22:18.230 When suffering comes, you don't try to go around 00:22:18.230 --> 00:22:21.869 it. You don't run away from it. You don't rush 00:22:21.869 --> 00:22:25.890 past it and you don't give up on it. We follow 00:22:25.890 --> 00:22:29.650 Jesus down the road of suffering. He shows us 00:22:29.650 --> 00:22:31.690 that suffering is a journey. He inspires us to 00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.150 take the next step. He reminds us that God walks 00:22:34.150 --> 00:22:36.930 with us. He reveals that suffering can shape 00:22:36.930 --> 00:22:39.950 us. And he encourages us to walk together. And 00:22:39.950 --> 00:22:43.190 finally, he assures us this road leads somewhere 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:46.390 good. So today, yeah, today we stand at the darkest 00:22:46.390 --> 00:22:50.069 part of the trail. We stand staring at the cross. 00:22:50.650 --> 00:22:53.609 And the road seems to end here, but we know it's 00:22:53.609 --> 00:22:57.410 not the end. So if you're finding yourself walking 00:22:57.410 --> 00:22:59.609 a hard road today, if the path feels steep, if 00:22:59.609 --> 00:23:03.630 the future seems unclear, just take heart. Jesus 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:06.970 has walked this road before us, and Jesus is 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:11.170 walking this road with us, and he will bring 00:23:11.170 --> 00:23:17.109 us safely home. Thanks be to God. Amen.