Salvation Army officers from the Canada and Bermuda Territory in Jerusalem. Back, from left, Mjr Brian Armstrong, Mjr Lynn Armstrong, Mjr Carolyn Doonan, Mjr Martin Ketteringham, Mjr David McNeilly, Mjr John Kirschman, Mjr Craig Rowe, Mjr Lloyd George, Mjr Roxzena Hayden, Mjr Dave Grice, Mjr Mark Wagner, Colonel Mark Tillsley, Mjr Neil Evenden and Mjr Lorne Jewer. Front, from left, Mjr Mona Moore, Mjr Pauline Gruer-Caulfield, Mjr April McNeilly, Mjr Patsy Rowe, Mjr Glenda Davis, Mjr Marlene George, Mjr Denise Walker, Mjr Lynn Grice, Mjr Isobel Wagner, Colonel Sharon Tillsley, Mjr Merrilee Evenden, Mjr Gail Winsor and Mjr Edith Jewer. Kneeling: Hana Kessler (tour guide) and Hader (bus driver)
BY MAJOR GLENDA DAVIS
I
t was an unforgettable experience to be where Jesus ministered on earth, to walk where he walked. For me, the most sacred and solemn of all the sites we visited was the Via Dolorosa, which means the way of suffering. Everything else pointed to this moment. Whether or not it was the actual road that Jesus took from Pilate’s judgment hall through Jerusalem to Calvary, it became a spiritual journey that led me to the cross. At the beginning of our pilgrimage, our tour guide urged us to use all of our senses to make the most of our experience in the Holy Land. I found myself doing exactly that as we walked along the Via Dolorosa. I felt the heat of the day and the deepening of my breath as we ascended the narrow, winding road in Old Jerusalem. I carried a knapsack and had to tread carefully on the uneven paved stones. I thought about Jesus, walking uphill, carrying the agonizing load of a heavy wooden cross on his wounded body, and wondered what it was like for him. We shared the crowded street with vendors and other pilgrims. The people we encountered were pleasant, other than an occasional aggressive shopkeeper trying to earn a living. Soldiers with machine guns patrolled the route. By this time, we were used to their presence and they posed no threat to us. In contrast, I thought of the hostile crowd that Jesus would have faced and the oppressive Roman soldiers who led him to his death.
Along the way, we stopped in churches and other locations that marked significant moments in Jesus’ final hours: his condemnation, the crown of thorns, Simon of Cyrene taking the cross. Each place was a reminder of his great sacrifice. In a dark dungeon, a place representing his imprisonment, we sang, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” Afterward, there were tears and silence. I found myself taking ownership for his Crucifixion and the part my sin played in all of it. A deep sadness came over me; my heart was grieved. At the same time, I experienced his love in a new and powerful way as I reflected on the words of a song by Sandi Patty: “He chose to walk that road out of his love for you and me; down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.”
Photo: Mjr Marlene George
Scourged: Via Dolorosa
Walking in the footsteps of Christ on the Via Dolorosa
Salvationist March 2016 11