Music. Movies. The Way of the Cross. Week 2

Jesus Takes up His Cross & The Cross is Laid upon Simon of Cyrene

Then delivered [Pilate] therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha...John 19:16-17

“Take up your cross and follow me,” Jesus calls to those who will listen. His exhortation is a foreshadowing of his own fateful climb, one that we are tracing over the course of Lent. His exhortation is also a way of life for those who want to be his disciples.

This call of Jesus is a fragile, and possibly dangerous, thing. Since it was uttered, it has been hurled at people, demanding them to shoulder the burdens of injustice; from physical abuse and bigotry; to financial oppression and colonialism. “Take up your cross,” can sound a lot like, “just deal with it.”

This week (for a more hopeful perspective), we considered Jesus’ profound act of taking up a cross by way of another agent of change: Mahatma Gandhi.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. James 1:22 (KJV)

As doers, Jesus and Gandhi put equal emphasis on the second half of this call to action: follow me. Gandhi’s concern was India’s independence from the oppressive control of England. He wanted the Indian people to liberate themselves through acts of nonviolence. Watch the first minute and a half of this clip:

Taking up the cross may mean accepting the result of nonviolent active and provocative measures for the sake of change. As Jesus said in last week’s film, The Last Temptation of Christ: “All I’m saying is that change will happen with love, not with killing.”

Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21 (KJV)

Jesus calls us to follow him, to change ourselves and the world. If we believe that God’s kingdom is within us, then, as people of faith, we must act in order for it to arrive around us.

And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. Mark 15:21 (KJV)

In a second clip from Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, (suggested by a student) our Wednesday night group watched as Simon of Cyrene - coming out of the fields - was compelled to carry the cross.

One high schooler saw the leader, the man with the black cap, as Simon. Even though Gandhi had been put in jail, this gentleman took up the cause to lead a non-violent active and provocative (to quote the first clip) action. He was bearing Gandhi’s cross.

Aware that it would have been very easier for those struggling for independence to quit once Gandhi was jailed, another student said that each row of white clad workers were like Simon. Like soldiers, marching peacefully, they stepped up and filled the shoes of the line that went before them.

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14 (KJV)

Non violence is in harmony with the deeper truth, the paradox that in giving we receive, in loving we are loved, in dying we rise to a new life.

So what song works? For both Lindsay and I, the answer was obvious. But we are both fans of classic rock.

The Band’s song The Weight is such a classic. Yes, it’s ambiguous, but the amount of biblical language, references and themes has led people to assume it was related to the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Robbie Robertson and other members of the band have denied it.

Take the load of Fanny and you put the load right on me. Maybe not a scriptural bullseye but it’s certainly resonates with the concept of sharing the burden.

Looking forward to next week’s class and to discover what films and music our high schoolers will share. Have a great week.

The Rev. Jesse Lebus