Step into the Crowd

Step Into The Crowd!

When Jesus walked the “Via Dolorosa” – “The Way of , it was dangerous, violent, and hate filled.

Imagine it as it was – a narrow, stone-covered street that was little more than an .

Jesus was on a march – we need to Him.

So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. John 19:16-17

1^st Let’s on the scene.

What has brought us to this moment?

• It has been about 2½ hours since Jesus was brought to stand trial with , about 14½ hours since the began in the Upper Room.
• Jesus has endured illegal and at least beatings.

He was despised and abandoned by men, A man of great pain and familiar with sickness; And like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, And our pains that He carried; Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, Struck down by God, and humiliated.  Isaiah 53:3-4

• Jesus has suffered by one disciple, been by another, and by all.

Now the trials have ended and the to Golgotha is underway. By now, it is about and the streets are .

For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it back. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. This commandment I received from My Father.” John 10:17-18

This is the of God taking away the of the world, and the crowd is blinded to the of all the is happening.

The responses of the crowd:

1^st A !

And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. Luke 23:26

Jesus carried His own but – not for long.

The soldiers in charge of Jesus’ execution someone into service.

This was Roman Law, sometimes called, “the of the ”.

Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Matthew 5:41

• His Name: of Cyrene!

He came to the paschal lamb; he will unknowingly in the sacrifice of God’s true .

• His Situation: He was forced against his to carry the of Jesus.

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?  Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?  Matthew 16:24-26

And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.  Mark 15:21

 Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Romans 16:13

2^nd The !

Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and grieving for Him. Luke 23:27

Do you notice – the are missing.

It is interesting that nowhere in the Gospels are shown as of Christ.

What were the women mourning?

1. His
2. His
3. His

But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”  Luke 23:28-31

Jesus is declaring – I don’t want your – I want your .

A !

they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it. Matthew 27:34

Jesus it all for .

Four on Jesus’ journey to the Cross!

• The view of !
• The and the
• The
• of Cyrene