No one should doubt for a moment the degree of excruciation that Jesus suffered for our salvation. Poems, pictures and movies have graphically depicted the horrific scourging and crucifixion that He endured for the sins of humanity. We have all been horrified by these images of our suffering Savior and should never allow anyone to diminish the magnitude of His sacrificial suffering and death.
The Gospel writers all give some degree of insight into the final days of Jesus' life on Earth. As you weave the tapestry of their records together, you discover that a very commonly held viewpoint is missing from these four Gospel accounts.
The popular perception of Jesus' last hours has Him leaving Pilate's Judgment Hall and carrying His cross up the Via Delarosa toward Golgotha. At some point, so this view goes, Jesus is unable to continue and He falls beneath the weight of His cross. At this time, Simon, a Cyrenian, is commandeered from the crowd of onlookers to carry it the remainder of the way to Calvary. But, does the Bible state this as fact? We need to know! So, let's go to the Greek as see what nuggets we may uncover.
We will look at two separate portions of the Scriptures to see if we find some gold. First, we go to John19:17. Here, the Apostle states "and He (Jesus) bearing (bastazo, SC 941, 'to endure, bear, sustain, take up, to lift, carry') His (autou, SC 848 "himself, of his own"), cross went forth into (eis, SC 1519, 'to', 'indicating the point reached or entered, to express results, purpose, implying duration'), a location called the "place of a skull."
Here John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, uses the present active form of the verb "to bear." This carefully chosen and specific word usage means that Jesus, "by a continuous action, carried His cross". The grammar forbids the view that He might have dragged it and He certainly did not drop it. The verb form indicates that He started and continued the action until He completed the task. Additionally, John states that He carried the cross into ("all the way to") Golgotha. Jesus actually arrived at Golgotha still carrying His cross. There is NO biblical record of Jesus falling beneath the weight of His cross.
Second, we look at what Luke, the Physician, spoke by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In Luke 23:26 he writes "and as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear (phero, SC 5342, 'to bear, carry, bring, move,') it after (opisthen, SC 3693, 'from the rear, at the back, backside, behind, aft section') Jesus."
Putting these two eyewitness (Greek, autopsy) accounts together we see the accurate picture of Jesus' trip to Calvary. John and Luke combine to tell us undeniably that Jesus carried the front of the cross all the way. At some point in the journey, the soldiers forced a Cyrenian man to take the back portion of the cross and carry that portion behind Jesus, who was still carrying the front portion of the cross. JESUS never dragged it nor dropped it! He bore His cross all the way. Can we do less?
Donald M. Frazier
Author: Donald Frazier
| Author's Website: http://donfrazier.com
Written: 03/01/2006
| 
Category: Golden Nuggets
Comments: 8
RSS Feed
| (What's an RSS feed?)
Ads Sponsored by Southern Spin
Wow! Another golden nugget from Dr. Frazier. Thank you for sharing these precious truths.
Thank you,Don,for your encouragement. These articles are designed to point people to the Word and motivate in-depth study. The "SC" in the articles stands for Strong's Concordance allowing anyone to verify the accuracy of my work.
Aren't we glad that Jesus DIDN'T show us that there are just some things that even He can't handle? Therefore, we can go to Him with ANY problem, no matter how great and know that He will be able to hold up His end of the agreement. If the cross didn't crush Him, neither will our problems.
Blessings! DMF
I had a vision many years ago and saw Christ stumble beneath the cross, but not fall and not let go of it. Just as He prayed for the cup to pass in the Garden, and just as He cried out to His Father when he felt forsaken, Jesus was completely human. Yet His trust in His Father was so complete, He continued on. No matter what happened. He went before us. We can only follow. Praise the Lord for Bro. Frazier's nuggets which are blessing the Body of Christ!
From Dr. Frazier:
Thank you,Sandi, for reading and responding to the article. I must remind you that the stated purpose of the article was to remind us that the Bible has the definitive and defining last word in all matters pertaing to life and godliness.
Since most theological error stems from personal thoughts, ideas,conclusions and even visions/dreams that cannot be supported by Scripture, I caution our readers to not accept ideas that CANNOT be verified by God's Word.
Specifically, the texts used in this article DO NOT give a hint that Jesus did anything other than carry His cross, without stumbling or falling to Calvary.I personally would not accept a dream or vison that cannot be confirmed by the Bible.
Let us all remember that the Spirit AND the Word must be in total agreement for it to be considered a "word from God".
In an earlier article I wrote about "eisegesis" which is reading INTO the Scriptures what is NOT there. This is contrasted with "Exegesis" which is drawing our conclusions as a result of reading OUT of what the Bible says.The habit of trying to make the Bible support our opinions is the essence of this month's article. We must form our perspectives AFTER we have seen what God's word says, not before!
I hope this helps us all adhere to the proper method of Bible study. Blessings to you.
Thanks for your article and comments, Doc. It's highly encouraging to find an article based on a thoughtful and very Berean-like review of Scripture.
I appreciate you for highlighting the danger of allowing ourselves to be influenced by extra-Biblical imagery and interpretation when it comes to our understanding of what is actually being related. When we take the time to study and just take the Lord at His Word, every hint of doubt fades and is replaced with the unwavering trust in Him that He expects and of which we stand in need.
Being a first time visitor to this site, seeing your article and willingness to reply to responses has landed it in my bookmark list for daily visitation. Thanks again!
From Dr. Frazier:
Thanks,Scott. Your comments were very much appreciated. I hope you will check the site requently to see the articles and their responses. We place new articles at the first of each month.
If you have not had the chance, go to the shaded box just below my article and you will see that these are file under "Golden Nuggets'. You can see 4 or 5 previous articles that may really capture your attention. I'd like to hear from you again.
God Bless you today!
What a challenge for us to take up our cross, as He commanded, and follow the One who carried the cross for us! It is absolutely impossible for us to imagine the degree of pain and suffering that He bore on that dark day. What you have written makes it clearer to us how very thankful we should be!
As an RC, I have always presumed that Jesus falling was somewhere in Scripture. I set out this time to find out where and couldn't. I hit on your site and read your article. Thank you. It is hard to believe that although I do read the Bible, and have read the different accounts of the Passion at different times but I have never, until yesterday, when I read all four accounts one after the other, questioned these 'falls'. As I read all the accounts of the Passion, it suddenly dawned on me that there was no mention of them. I set out to try to find out where they are mentioned and could only find various meditations on the 'Stations of the Cross'. It was troubling me and then I hit on your site. Teaching 'tradition' as if it were Scripture is very wrong. It is hard to believe I have lived this long believing a 'presumption' that has no Scriptural foundation. Yours was the first article I came to that addressed my problem. Thank you for putting me straight.
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
