One day, I had to go into the city and beg for money for food and the anniversary that Abigail and I proclaimed our love is coming so I want to buy a gift for Rufus. If I bundle up and go during the mid-day, people may not recognize me (at least those Roman 'soldiers'...the dogs). Bundled head to toe, I made my way into the city. I hated this. I settled on a spot in a side alley where traffic was neither heavy nor light. I held my cup before me. As each coin dropped in, I hated myself more, but my love for Rufus and Abigail drove me on. Most passed by and dropped in a coin, but one man stopped. I could tell from His feet that He was common and hardworking. This man saw me. I'll never forget His words, 'I know your heart breaks Simon. I know your pain. Follow me and I will heal you.' With that, I slowly covered my mangled foot (a reminder of when Roman 'soldiers' harassed my family years ago). He then took hold of my foot. The very flaw that I tried all my life to hide. It was the object of jokes and mockery. I was ignored and sneered at. I had become determined to become such a success that nobody would ever treat me like that again. Soon a shock went through it and up my leg. He commanded me to get up. Get up, why make fun of a man who is doing you no harm. But here ws a sensation I had not felt in years. I began to move it freely. I got up. I could barely see because of the tears swelling up in my eyes. But I caught His eye, and I will never forget the gaze of the One who loved me so and saw me as a man.
A few years later, our business having picked up as had my dignity, Rufus and I went into the city to get supplies. Up ahead was a mob- another criminal being punished? As we continued to walk, one of those Roman 'dogs' grabbed me and pushed the food out of my hands. I was being forced to carry the cross of this criminal. How humiliating that I should be associated with such a person. I was tired, I was hungry, I just wanted us to get home. As the cross was being shoved onto my shoulders, I caught the eye of the Man being punished. It was Him. The One who had healed my heart and my foot. I barely recognized Him. Those feet I will never forget were now dirty and bloody. His eyes that once shone bright with love and grace, now heavy with agony and pain. As our eyes locked, He uttered, 'This I must do for you.' With strength and a dignified determination, I accompanied Him to the hill. Rufus knew something was wrong, he stayed back and looked on. As those dogs played and tortured Him, a pale dead flower stood where His cross was planted in the ground. As the sky grew dark, Rufus and I walked home. Another love of my life taken by the grave.
The day after Passover, I walked by that hill and looked at the spot where My Lord died. That pale dead flower, now proudly stood colored crimson, alive and new. Stained with blood, the blood of love.