The Road to Calvary
“Let us go to Calvary to learn how we may be forgiven. And then let us linger there to learn how to forgive.” - Charles Spurgeon
It is the shortest of all of the roads we’ve discussed; it is the road that brings us to our shared tragedy and our ultimate victory.
The Road to Calvary is a rarity as it appears in all four of the Gospels.1 At a mere half-mile, with a steep incline at the end, it is a fifteen minute walk even for one unburdened by multiple beatings and the task of carrying the method of one’s execution.
It would have been an experientially longer walk for Jesus.
The Calvary Road begins at the Praetorium, where the final sentence against Jesus is laid, and ends at the site of the crucifixion on the hill known as Golgotha, which is the alternate name for Calvary, and serves as the inspiration for one of the most emotional and educative of the Lenten/Holy Week devotions.
The Stations of the Cross, a combination of scripture and pious legend, are still walked when pilgrims travel the Road to Calvary during Holy Week in Jerusalem each year. Since the Romanization of Christianity in the 4th century, the road is known as Via Dolorosa, or “The Way of Sorrows”.2
Such is the might of the crucifixion narrative that, of the fourteen stations, only eight are represented in the Gospels. Those not found in sacred literature are still regarded for their evocative power.
The Stations of the Cross are [with the non-scriptural stations in italics]:
Jesus is condemned to death
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, with the elders and
scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation; and they bound
Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate. And they all
condemned him and said, “He deserves to die.” When Pilate heard
these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat
at a place called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. Then he
handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
Jesus takes up his Cross
Jesus went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place
of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. Although he was
a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Like a
lamb he was led to the slaughter; and like a sheep that before its
shearers is mute, so he opened not his mouth. Worthy is the Lamb
who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing.
Jesus falls for the first time
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped; but emptied himself, taking the form
of a servant, and was born in human likeness. And being found in
human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and
bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Come, let us
bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the Lord our Maker,
for he is the Lord our God.
Jesus meets his Mother [Mary is not mentioned in scripture until after Jesus’ death]
To what can I liken you, to what can I compare you, O daughter of
Jerusalem? What likeness can I use to comfort you, O virgin daughter
of Zion? For vast as the sea is your ruin. Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted. The Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross
As they led Jesus away, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross
to carry it behind Jesus. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
We have seen him without beauty or majesty, with no looks to attract
our eyes. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he
was despised, and we esteemed him not. His appearance was so
marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the
children of men. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us
whole, and with his stripes we are healed.
Jesus falls for the second time
Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. For the transgression of
my people was he stricken.
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
There followed after Jesus a great multitude of the people, and among
them were women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning
to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep
for yourselves and for your children.”
Jesus falls for the third time
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has
driven and brought me into darkness without any light. He has besieged
me and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me
dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. Though I call and cry for
help, he shuts out my prayer. He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes. “Remember, O Lord, my affliction and
bitterness, the wormwood and the gall!”
Jesus is stripped of his garments
When they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of
a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when
he tasted it, he would not drink it. And they divided his garments
among them by casting lots. This was to fulfill the scripture which
says, “They divided my garments among them; they cast lots for my
clothing.”
Jesus is nailed to the Cross
When they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they
crucified him; and with him they crucified two criminals, one on
the right, the other on the left, and Jesus between them. And the
scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was numbered with the
transgressors.”
Jesus dies on the Cross
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved
standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son!”
Then he said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And when
Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And then,
crying with a loud voice, he said, “Father, into your hands I
commend my spirit.” And he bowed his head, and handed over his
spirit.
Jesus is taken down from the Cross and presented to Mary [In scripture, Jesus remains are presented to Joseph of Arimathea]
All you who pass by, behold and see if there is any sorrow like my
sorrow. My eyes are spent with weeping; my soul is in tumult; my
heart is poured out in grief because of the downfall of my people.
“Do not call me Naomi (which means Pleasant), call me Mara
(which means Bitter); for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with
me.”
Jesus is laid in the tomb
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea,
named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to
Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to
be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a
clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he
had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of
the tomb.
While there have been attempts, both official and otherwise, to update the stations and make them strictly representative of scripture, or more inclusive of portions of the Resurrection story, the traditional form is still in common use, especially in Jerusalem, and represents events experienced only on the Road to Calvary itself.
Historically, there has been some question as to the exact location of Calvary/Golgotha, however. Even the Gospels don’t entirely agree. While tradition maintains that it is at the end of Via Dolorosa just on the outskirts of the Jerusalem city wall, ending where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is now found, there have been other theories of greater or lesser credence through the centuries. Increased construction in the 40’s A.D. altered the city’s footprint some, and the destruction of The Temple in 69 A.D. disrupted it even more, making absolute precision difficult.3
Today, it is generally accepted that the current accredited location is plausible.
Not that it matters. As with the Emmaus and Damascus Roads, Calvary has become a metaphor and one of greater symbolic than actual authority.
In the language of the Church, all of us are to face our Calvary, as that is the locale of our confrontation with judgement upon our mortal choices mingled with the awareness of the ultimate reconciliation that Jesus has granted us through the cross.
Altruism is written in everlasting and resplendent character on the Cross of Christ, and it was at Calvary that the centre of life was shifted from selfishness to sacrifice. - Jon Weber, jazz musician.
Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19
In Arabic, it is known as طريق الآلام, “The Way of Suffering”. It is worth noting that the Gospels are included under the greater umbrella of Islamic sacred literature and Jesus is regarded as a great prophet in Islam.
I recall one of my seminary professors, the preternaturally calm and elegant Britisher Henry Chadwick, leaping into the fray arguing for a particular location with a theory about the construction of the third, defensive wall outside of Jerusalem sometime after the events of Holy Week. As seems to be the case with Calvaryphiles, he would get un-characteristically enthused about the topic whenever it was discussed. Rather wild-eyed, actually.