Sounds of the Passion: Tramping Feet :: John 18:1-14

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One of my favorite memories of serving in the Marine Corps comes from boot camp ... the sound of tramping feet. When you get 70 men into formation and start teaching them to march in time, to snap their rifle to port arms in time ... the first thing you hear is something like the sound of bubble pop [Purrrrerdip]. By the end of boot camp, the drill instructors always have everyone in perfect time.

There’s a perfect rhythm in the martial beat of our Lord Jesus, too. It’s a sound that repeats again and again as Jesus is shuttled from Gethsemane to trial, from Caiaphas to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod and back ... and finally from judgment to the cross.

THE SOUND OF THE PASSION MARCHES ON WITH TRAMPING FEET

I. [Left ... Left ... Left, Right, Left] We first hear this sound in the Garden. 

Jesus had just finished his agonizing time in prayer, sweating blood. He roused the disciples from their slumber with the news that his betrayer was at hand. Right on cue, the sound of tramping feet entered the garden. 

Judas was leading this particular cadence. A crowd of 600 soldiers and some officers of the chief priests and the Pharisees followed him. Knowing all that was coming upon him, Jesus stepped forward, asked whom they were seeking, and identified himself as I AM. 

Am I like a robber, he would go on to say, that you came with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was before you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not seize me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled (Mk 14:48–49). 

When Jesus heard the armed contingent coming, he knew he would soon be marching back across the dark brook called the Kidron to the darkness of the cross. They were coming to trample him in front of a kangaroo court called the Sanhedrin. They would in turn march him to Pilate for judgment, then to Herod for mockery, back to Pilate for sentencing, and finally to the cross. God’s Word was marching on to fulfillment to the cross. 

So Jesus went with them silently ... like a Lamb to the slaughter. They marched down the mountainside. ... [Left ... Left ... Left] ... They marched across the ravine, into the city of Jerusalem, up the temple mount, onto the Court of Gentiles! After the Romans were dismissed, the temple guard then marched Jesus into the council chambers to face accusations.

The trial proceeded in almost perfect precision. To be sure, there were some missteps as they marched to the preordained verdict, but it was all done quickly. Jesus, they declared, was guilty of telling us who he really is ... True God and True Man.

Then the guards took Jesus outside. Once again, the soldiers marched him across the courtyard, down the steps, through the city, to the fortress, finally stopping at Pilate’s judgment hall to trample him in another trial. Pilate wanted to release Jesus, so he tried to pass him off to Herod (Lk 23:7). But the cadence of the people ultimately became overwhelming ... Crucify! Crucify! (Jn 19:6)

So Jesus was marched to the barracks ... [Left ... Left ... Left] ... There, the soldiers broke ranks for the first time. The strict discipline that held the battalion together disintegrated as they began acting like barbarians. After scourging him, they stripped him, robed him in scarlet, twisted a crown of thorns on his head, and gave him a stick to use as a scepter (Mt 27:27-28). The rhythm of Scripture would not be broken (Isa 50:6). 

Bowing down, they cried aloud in unison, Hail, King of the Jews! Then they took the stick from his hand and hit him with it, striking him on the head, driving the thorns into his skin. They slapped him, mocked him, knocked him to the ground. The heavy boots that had earlier marched across the ground trampled Jesus. 

Finally, they put the wood on his back and marched him down the Via Dolorosa, that is, the way of sorrows. ... [Left ... Left ... Left] ... In formation, with Jesus before them, the soldiers marched ... their cadence broken only when Jesus fell. The lack of sleep, the loss of blood, and the weight of the cross conspired against him. But the march to the cross would not be stopped. When Jesus fell, the centurion in charge of the procession found a Cyrenian and forced him to carry the cross. And forward they marched ... [Left ... Left ... Left, Right, Left] ... out of the city, across the dry riverbed, to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. 

There they crucified our Lord. 

II.

As they nailed him to the tree ... a word came from his lips ... a word that surprised all who heard it. He had no cry for vengeance, no word of hatred for the men who nailed him there. It was simply a word of grace: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Lk 23:34a).

What a powerful word! 

Instead of calling down legions of angels marching forth to get even with all who were trampling him, Jesus spoke a word of forgiveness. He stayed in step with our heavenly Father. He forgave all who marched him to his death ... all who trampled him underfoot ... who beat him and crucified him ... and killed him. Jesus took their sins ... your sins ... even the sins of their cruelty to him ... and died for them all. His vicarious atonement covers all of us with the forgiveness of sins. Though you who prefer to march in time with a different drummer ... though you prefer to keep your sin silent, pretending that it doesn’t actually exist ... that it is all a simple mistake ... your sin is forgiven. 

Therefore, repent and return to the Lord. 

[Conclusion]

By grace through this faith, the Spirit will guide you and keep you in step with God’s will. Though we will all stumble and fall, the Spirit who lives within us is holy. He teaches us to walk in love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and goodness, and gentleness, and self-control. As we do this, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Instead, as we will soon sing ... Like a mighty army / moves the church of God / brothers, we are treading / where the saints have trod / We are not divided / all one body we / one in hope and doctrine / One in charity (LSB 662:2) ... in Jesus’ name! Amen.

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