Via Dolorosa

Tomorrow will be Good Friday. And at this time every year, I'm blatantly reminded of how Jesus was crucified... and rose victoriously from the grave just a few days later.

So, in order to fully appreciate the significance of Good Friday, we must never forget the greater day, Easter Sunday! Good Friday would be meaningless if Jesus had died and it'd stopped there. His death would have been any ordinary death and it would have meant that he is powerless against death if he had not risen again.

Yet, Good Friday, for me, would always be special simply because Jesus died FOR ME and uttered these words "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). 

But it's sad how Easter has been overrun by bunnies and commercialism. In these days, if we do not tell our children about the real meaning of Easter, all they would think about would be Easter Eggs and having a good time. Just like Christmas has become a tradition of giving gifts, Easter has become a day of decorating and hiding eggs. I'm just glad that my child understands this bit - now I just have to pray that one day my child will also accept the salvation that Jesus offers.

Well, words will never be enough to describe the pain our Saviour had to endure for our sake but this song does help, in a small and simple way, to remind me of how Jesus not only died but suffered at the hands of those who'd just praised and hailed Him as the King just a few days past. 

Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day

The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street

But the crowd pressed in to see

The Man condemned to die on Calvary

He was bleeding from a beating, there were stripes upon His back

And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head

And He bore with every step

The scorn of those who cried out for His death

Down the Via Dolorosa called the way of suffering

Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,

But He chose to walk that road out of

His love for you and me.

Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.

The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men

Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.

Praise be to my God and Saviour who loved me and gave His life for me. Hosanna to the son of David, Hosanna to the King of Kings! Amen