All Come to the Cross
All come to the cross.
Some come to the side.
Some come to the front.
Some come from behind.
Some come to the front.
They come there with pride.
They know they are saved.
They feel it inside.
By turning his head,
Jesus can see
the ones from the side
who are welcome and free.
But some come in fear.
They sneak up behind.
The Lord lets them know
they’re still in his mind.
We come to the cross,
no matter from where.
The Lord calls us all
to love him and care …
for all God’s children.
The cross rose high against the dark clouds. The women standing near the bottom did not look up. They knew too well what hung on that cross above them, in front of them. They held each other closely, sharing the pain, struggling to ignore the crowd behind them.
Some angry voices taunted the man hanging there. “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.”
At first the women watched the soldiers on the ground casting lots for his cloak, but that dehumanizing activity angered them, so they stared down at the drops of blood on the ground until their tears blurred their vision.
Memories tried to push out the pain, memories of better times. Sitting on the side of the mountain as Jesus offered blessings to a very different crowd. Those people back then understood poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, hungering and thirsting for justice, for peace. For which of these was he being crucified?
Other memories of watching as the skin of a leper turned a healthy color and limbs were restored to usefulness. Hearing the disciples tell of the great windstorm swamping their boat and of Jesus calming the storm. Listening to Jesus tell stories that carried messages. Staring in amazement as a basket of five loaves and two fish passed through a huge crowd and fed them all, with food left over. But even those wonderful memories could not erase the pain of knowing the one they called Rabbi and Lord was dying.
Something that Jesus had told them lingered undercover in their minds, something about three days, but it was buried under the weight of this day.
Now in their pain, they had come to the cross, wearied, hopeless, and alone in their individual grief. How could they sleep tonight? How could they wake up tomorrow? How could they live?
# # #
Three crosses. On each hung a man until death would end their suffering. The two on the outside were thieves, considered rebels by the Roman army as bandits often attacked both Roman and Jewish officials.
The older thief joined the crowd in taunting the man in the middle. “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 1
But Dismas, the younger one, remembered a time when he had followed a large crowd to avoid the soldiers looking for him. When the crowd found the man they were seeking, they gathered around and listened. This thief, lost in the crowd, certain he was now safe from the soldiers, had also listened. Words he had not heard before—blessings on the poor, the mourners, the meek, those who hungered for righteousness. They had something in common, the young man thought, as he was fighting for freedom from oppression. Was that what this man meant by righteousness?
With that memory, Dismas looked across at the one he had fought beside, at the one who had been captured with him. “Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 2
Then the repentant thief turned to the man in the middle. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 3
And Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” 4
No peace erased the pain of crucifixion for Dismas, but he knew acceptance and understanding for the first time in his life.
# # #
To the side of the cross, the Roman soldiers formed a small circle, their task now simply to wait until the three men died. Beside Marcus lay the robe the man in the center had worn when he was arrested. It was woven in one piece, making it difficult to divide among them. Marcus had won the robe by casting lots.
He heard the taunts of the crowd. “Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” 5
The soldiers themselves, huddled in their group, laughed. Their job was to make sure no one ever came down alive from the cross.They had crucified many men. This time would not be different.
Nor was it, until the man in the middle looked down at them and spoke, loudly enough for them to hear, loudly enough for the women in front of him to hear, loudly enough for the crowd behind them to hear:“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” 6
Marcus looked around at the other soldiers. Had they heard what the man said? For an instant or two, their eyes widened, their mouths opened, and they looked up. Then their eyes dropped, and they shook their heads. They heard, but did they listen to those words that cut into his soul?
Marcus, too, looked up, but his eyes did not drop. He made eye contact with the man. The man held his gaze and nodded, just once. Then he closed his eyes as if to shut out the pain.
The words echoed in the soldier’s mind, “Forgive them … forgive them … forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
But he did know. He knew his job was to cause this man to die a very painful death. He had already been so severely beaten that he could not carry his cross. What had this man done to deserve such a death?
Whatever, he, Marcus, was forgiven. Standing to the side of the cross, he was forgiven. Would he ever know what that meant?
# # #
Behind the cross, away from the crowd, a young, well-dressed man sat on a stone. Sometimes he gazed at the spectacle before him; other times he stared at his hands or at the ground.
A scene from his past raced through his mind, over and over and over. He had traveled with the crowd to where the Teacher stood. For a while he listened. Finally he worked his way forward until he stood before Jesus. There he asked the question that had plagued him for a long time. “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 7
Jesus gave him the standard answer, the one the priests and the leaders of the synagogue had given: “Keep the commandments,” 8 and he listed some of them.
This young man had responded, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 9
At this point, his memory changed from black and white to vivid color. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 10
But he could not. Too much of his life depended on his wealth. How could he give it all up? He turned and walked away.
Now it was too late.
Yesterday he sold what he had and distributed the money among the beggars near the Temple. Then he went in search of the Teacher. He found him at the governor’s house early in the morning, just as Pilate was pronouncing his death sentence.
Yes, he had followed the crucifixion procession out to Golgotha, but he was certain that was not what Jesus meant by “Follow me.” How could he become a disciple when the Rabbi was dying?
# # #
Later in the afternoon, most of the crowd left. They fled when the sun disappeared and the earth shook them off their feet. No matter, the one they had come to mock or to mourn was dead.
The soldiers who had fastened the three to their crosses now turned to a different task. Because the next day was not only the Sabbath but the beginning of Passover, the priests did not want bodies left hanging on the crosses.
Dismas felt a moment of relief as the pressure on his arms lessened, but he screamed again when the soldiers broke his legs. They did the same for the other thief.
When they turned to Jesus, he was already dead. One of the soldiers, just to be certain, thrust his spear into Jesus’ side. Both blood and water gushed from the body.
As someone important took Jesus’ body and carried it away, Dismas cried. The only man who understood him was gone.
# # #
The women followed Joseph to the tomb, then went home to wait through the Sabbath. Although the Sabbath began that evening and would end the evening of the next day, nothing could be done until daylight the next morning. A night, a day, and a night, they would not sleep.
# # #
After finishing the crucifixion of the three men, Marcus watched his fellow soldiers leave. He sat at the foot of the middle cross, trying to understand what forgiveness meant. This was not his first crucifixion or even his tenth. He knew the pain this torture caused. He did not understand why the man forgave him.
# # #
The well-dressed young man walked slowly away. Why hadn’t he followed the Teacher sooner? Why hadn’t he done what Jesus told him to do? Yesterday, when he gave out the last of his wealth, he’d never felt such freedom. If he’d only known, he would never have walked away from Jesus.
But now, now what was he going to do?
# # #
The morning after the Sabbath, the women pushed themselves to the tomb. Grief remained. Their eyes struggled to stay open. But they would go. Somehow, they intended to roll away the stone and wash the body. This one last thing they could do for the Teacher, for their friend.
At the tomb, they rubbed their eyes, not to remove the sleepiness but to verify that they saw what they saw—the stone was rolled away and an angel sat on it!
Could they … Did they believe when the angel told them Jesus had risen? Grief gone, sleepiness overcome, they ran back to the disciples to deliver the good news.
The disciples scoffed, but Peter ran to the tomb. He only saw the linen cloths, but the tomb was empty.
The two who headed to Emmaus raced back to Jerusalem with the news that Jesus walked with them. They didn’t recognize him until he broke bread as they ate.
Jesus appeared to the disciples in the room with locked doors. He ate a piece of fish and explained how the Scriptures foretold that he must suffer and die and rise again.
Then they all went to Bethany, where he blessed them and was carried up into heaven. His followers rejoiced.
# # #
Weeks later, Marcus found himself on assignment on one of the Jewish holidays at a house with known followers of Jesus inside. His instructions as always were to keep the peace.
But what to do about that wind that blew through? Dust swirled around him and the crowd as they huddled to find shelter. When the wind died down as suddenly as it appeared, he turned to the no-longer-so-well-dressed young man standing next to him. “Wow! I’ve never felt anything like that.”
Before the young man could respond, one of the leaders of the followers of Jesus stepped out of the house and began speaking. How did this Galilean know Latin? Other people, obviously foreigners, were shaking their heads in disbelief. They murmured something about hearing the man in their own languages.
Were they drunk?
But the Galilean spoke and explained that this was what the prophet Joel had foretold. He continued talking, telling them how Jesus had been raised up and those inside had received the Holy Spirit.
The other young man’s face broke into a smile. “It’s not too late! I can still follow!”
And Marcus joined him in the line to be baptized.
For consideration:
General Questions
1) How does this story follow its Scripture?
2) How does this story expand its Scripture for you?
3) What is the message of this story?
4) How does the message apply to us today?
Specific Questions
5) How does remembering help us deal with grief?
6) What would forgiveness feel like for a soldier who had crucified Jesus?
7) Would we recognize Jesus as he walks beside us?
8) Is it ever too late to follow Jesus?
1Luke 23:39b
2Luke 23:40
3Luke 23:42
4Luke 23:43
5Mark 15:32a
6Luke 23:34
7Matthew 19:16
8Matthew 19:17c
9Matthew 19:20
10Matthew 19:21b
11Acts of the Apostles: 2:12b
12Acts 2:13b
