Sun Myung Moon
June 4, 1967
Excerpt
The Selected Speeches of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Volume 18
Unofficial Translation
Sun Myung Moon, Haj Ja Han, Hyung Jin Moon and family, April 2011
Requirements in the Course of Indemnity
While my head was being shaved when I entered the prison, I prayed to God. I prayed that my head is not shaven because of my desire, but rather it is being shaven forcibly by my enemy against my will. You would never know how bright my eyes were with my determination. Watching my hair fall as my head was shaved, it was a miserable moment to abandon my desire for happiness.
An even sadder thing was that it was forced upon me by the hands of my enemy. As you pursue the course of restoration, you face adverse circumstances that are filled with bitter pain and sorrow. When you are experiencing such situations, you will be confronted with resentful feelings. However, as I passed through them, I realized that God remembered every second of my suffering so that I could overcome these challenges and hardships. As I was tortured repeatedly day after day and I fell down to the floor being beaten and whipped by my enemy, it was still the same. When I was whipped, I was beaten not for my own sake but for the sake of my people. And I shed tears not for my own misery but for my people's pain as the representative of my people. My tears were the tears for indemnity.
I embraced God while trembling as I went this course. I had to go this course of indemnity until I could receive God's compassion. I went this path by myself. I had to overcome this path all alone. I know Jesus went the same path with the same attitude. While he walked the path of restoration through indemnity as the representative, the tears he shed were not the tears resulting from his concern for his own death. Jesus shed tears out of his concern for his people's demise. As people who were to follow him betrayed him, Jesus shed tears concerning them as they were destined to face the final judgment from Heaven as the result.
When I visited Jerusalem, I saw the signs that indicated the places where Jesus fell down as he walked to the top of Golgotha. Looking at the twelve places where Jesus fell down, I told to myself, "He had to go such a path of indemnity." Therefore, I prayed while following his path to the cross, "How miserable and painful the situations that Jesus faced as he visited the places like the desert and the wilderness, in darkness while carrying the new Heavenly Mission two thousand years ago? Ignoring all wealthy peoples of the world, Jesus visited the scrawny Israel nation and people instead. In this place, I know there was the desperation of God's situation, trying to resolve the resentment of the Israel people quickly."
Everyone who visits this place must offer a prayer of consolation for Jesus knowing his situation walking to the cross. Then, Satan is worried and God will be consoled. Because of such prayers, Satan cries with sorrow while God cries tears of joy.
When God wept in sorrow because Adam fell, both Satan and Adam shed tears, too. Satan shed tears because he was chased out after he had betrayed God. And Adam shed tears because of the fall. This is the reason why Jesus shed tears, Satan shed tears and Adam too shed tears. Because of this, at the hill of the course of restoration, restoration cannot be achieved without both God and Satan shedding tears. You, yourselves, too must shed tears. Unless you shed tears that move God to tears and make Satan cry, restoration is not possible. You must clearly know that this is a required condition in the course of restoration.
You must know how lonely the path is that I have gone through carrying the Heavenly Mission, dealing with the major problems in the world. I am not saying this to get your sympathy. I am a very lonely man. You may not realize this because there are so many people who have been following me. However, in my heart of hearts, I am a lonely person. I am a very lonesome man, who can receive no sympathy from anyone.
As no one gave sympathy to Adam and Eve, so, too, I do not get any sympathy from anyone. I am not pitied by Satan nor do I not seek sympathy from God. If I seek any sympathy, it is to find comfort in my own wisdom and in knowing that I am struggling on in the place where I give my tears, blood and sweat, while offering my utmost sincerity to God. You must know my course going through this path filled with bitter sorrow. You must know this as the path you must follow today and tomorrow. Moreover, you must clearly engrave in your hearts that you go this path for the course of world restoration, a purpose beyond your own race and people.
Notes:
Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa
Father is referring to his 1965 visit to Jerusalem. As part of his tour he walked the The Via Dolorosa (Latin for Way of Grief or Way of Suffering) which is the traditional path of Jesus from his trial to his crucifixion. It leads through streets in the Old City of Jerusalem and has twelve stations where pilgrims stop and pray. On the Via Dolorosa Jesus fell three times, not 12.] The 12 stations are:
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death
Station 2: Jesus receives His Cross
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time under His Cross
Station 4: Jesus meets Mary His Mother
Station 5: Simon helps Jesus to carry His Cross
Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station 7: Jesus falls the second time
Station 8: Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem
Station 9: Jesus falls the third time
Station 10: Jesus is stripped of His garments
Station 11: Jesus is nailed to the cross
Stations 12: Jesus dies on the cross
Entrance to Station 3: Jesus falls the first time under His Cross
Entrance to Station 7: Jesus falls the second time
Entrance to Station 9: Jesus falls the third time