STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Make your Lenten season more meaningful by following our labyrinth through the stations of the cross. All of the verses below are from the CEB translation of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.
Station 1: Sorrow
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Matthew 26:36-41
36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He said to the disciples, “Stay here while I go and pray over there.” 37 When he took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, he began to feel sad and anxious. 38 Then he said to them, “I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying. Stay here and keep alert with me.” 39 Then he went a short distance farther and fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it’s possible, take this cup of suffering away from me. However—not what I want but what you want.”
40 He came back to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you stay alert one hour with me? 41 Stay alert and pray so that you won’t give in to temptation. The spirit is eager, but the flesh is weak.”
Reflect: Here, at this first station, we see Jesus in his moment of deep sorrow and pain. As the disciples sleep, Jesus takes his extreme sadness to God in prayer. As you begin this journey to the cross with Jesus, reflect on a time when you have felt sad and alone. To whom could you turn for comfort? Were you able to bring your sorrow to God?
Pray: Ever present God, we ask you to wrap us in your loving embrace, that we may feel your presence beside us as we walk this way of sorrow. Amen
Image credit: Cranach, "The Garden of Gethsemane," 1518
Station 2: Betrayal
Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested
Mark 14:43-46
43 Suddenly, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came with a mob carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests, legal experts, and elders. 44 His betrayer had given them a sign: “Arrest the man I kiss, and take him away under guard.”
45 As soon as he got there, Judas said to Jesus, “Rabbi!” Then he kissed him. 46 Then they came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him.
Reflect: Jesus was betrayed, not by an enemy or a stranger, but by Judas, a friend and follower. And the sign of betrayal was not a distant pointing of a finger, but instead, took the intimate form of a gentle kiss. Betrayal by a friend or family member is especially difficult to accept and process. Have you ever been let down by someone you cared for? What was your response to that betrayal? Has there ever been a time when you used your own position of trust to betray someone close to you?
Pray: Faithful God, help us to know you as our touchstone of truth when all around us feels untrustworthy. Amen.
Image credit: Carravaggio, "The Taking of Christ" , 1602
Station 3: Condemnation
Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin
Luke 22:66-71
66 As morning came, the elders of the people, both chief priests and legal experts, came together, and Jesus was brought before their council.
67 They said, “If you are the Christ, tell us!”
He answered, “If I tell you, you won’t believe. 68 And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. 69 But from now on, the Human One[a] will be seated on the right side of the power of God.”[b]
70 They all said, “Are you God’s Son, then?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
71 Then they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We’ve heard it from his own lips.”
Reflect: After Jesus was arrested, he was taken to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. The people who brought him to Pilate said many cruel and untrue things about Jesus. Pilate asked Jesus if he was really the “Son of God,” and he said, “Yes, I am.” Then Pilate condemned Jesus to death. The people who passed false judgment were not people we would think of as “evil”. They were the religious leaders, the ones who knew the law. They were us. When have you been guilty of condemning or excluding someone based on what others have said? Have you ever hidden behind the your own religious beliefs in an attempt to justify your prejudice?
Pray: Source of All Wisdom, open our eyes to see that, like Jesus, we are all your beloved children. Open our hearts with love for one another. Amen.
Image Credit: Giotto, "Christ Before Caiaphas", 1305
Station 4: Denial
Jesus is Denied by Peter
Matthew 26:69-75
69 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant woman came and said to him, “You were also with Jesus the Galilean.”
70 But he denied it in front of all of them, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
71 When he went over to the gate, another woman saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.”
72 With a solemn pledge, he denied it again, saying, “I don’t know the man.”
73 A short time later those standing there came and said to Peter, “You must be one of them. The way you talk gives you away.”
74 Then he cursed and swore, “I don’t know the man!” At that very moment the rooster crowed. 75 Peter remembered Jesus’ words, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.”And Peter went out and cried uncontrollably.
Reflect: It is not always easy to be true to our religious convictions when external forces pressure us into denying the very things that give us life. Peter felt this outside in the courtyard, as he stood watching Jesus being led away to trial, knowing he had denied knowing Jesus 3 times. Only weeks before, Peter had been courageous enough to profess that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (MT 13:15) But now, when questioned, he’d denied ever knowing his friend and Savior. Has there ever been a time when you have denied your faith because it made you uncomfortable or you felt intimidated?
Pray: Holy One, grant us the courage we need not to deny our faith, but to live our lives boldly, as followers of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Image credit: Davezelenka, "Peter Denies Christ" 2018 Commons
Station 5: Judgement
Jesus is Judged by Pilate
Mark 15:1-5, 15
At daybreak, the chief priests—with the elders, legal experts, and the whole Sanhedrin—formed a plan. They bound Jesus, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus replied, “That’s what you say.” 3 The chief priests were accusing him of many things.
4 Pilate asked him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? What about all these accusations?” 5 But Jesus gave no more answers, so that Pilate marveled.
15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus whipped, then handed him over to be crucified.
Reflect: Imagine what it must have felt like for Jesus on the night he was arrested. He was not given anything to eat or allowed to sleep. The soldiers treated him roughly. The chief priests said untrue things about him. But, Jesus did not hate them for what they did. Instead, he loved them, much like God loves us even when we are unkind or disrespectful. What kind of actions might you take to focus more on loving others, rather than simply judging them for what they have done to you?
Pray: Merciful and Mighty God, we ask you to strengthen us and empower us to trade our judgmental ways for compassion, empathy and love toward others. Amen.
Image credit: Limoges "Stations of the Cross"
Station 6: Crowning
Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns
John 19:1-3
Then Pilate had Jesus taken and whipped. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple robe. 3 Over and over they went up to him and said, “Greetings, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
Reflect: It is here that we see agents of the state forcing Jesus to wear a crown of thorns and a purple robe to mock him as “King of the Jews”. The phrase “the Jews” is used several times in John’s account of the Passion, and Christians have used these passages to justify anti-Semitic words and actions. Some bible scholars believe that a more accurate translation from the Greek word, “loudaioi” would be “Judeans”, thus referring to a region, rather than “Jews”, which refers to an entire religion. Perhaps even more important for our understanding of this scripture—this isn’t about Judaism as a religion, so much as it is about the inclination of religious people to use labels to place blame on others. In other words, this isn’t about Jews so much as it is about US! When it comes to religion and how we treat one another, words, and labels do matter. How have you used words and labels to do violence to others?
Pray: All Seeing God, we pray for Christ-like vision so that we may see past the divisions and prejudices of the world and work for the establishment of your kingdom on earth. Amen.
Image credit: Myfri9694, CC BY-SA 3.0
Station 7: Bearing
Jesus Bears the Cross
John 19:6, 15-17)
6 When the chief priests and their deputies saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify, crucify!”
Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I don’t find any grounds for a charge against him.”
15 The Jewish leaders cried out, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
Pilate responded, “What? Do you want me to crucify your king?”
“We have no king except the emperor,” the chief priests answered. 16 Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.
The soldiers took Jesus prisoner. 17 Carrying his cross by himself, he went out to a place called Skull Place (in Aramaic, Golgotha).
Reflect: In verse 17 of this scripture passage, John depicts a solitary Jesus, “carrying his cross by himself”. It is his burden to bear alone. It is a selfless act of love that changed the course of history and had eternal consequences for all of humanity. How does Jesus’ acceptance of this burden inspire you to engage in acts of selfless love for others?
Pray: Giver of Life, you sent your Son into this world to show us what selfless love looks like. Empty us of the distractions that occupy too much space in our hearts so that we may be filled with abundant love to be generously shared with others. Amen.
Image Credit: Andreani & Casolani, "Christ Carrying the Cross," 1592
Station 8: Helping
Jesus is Helped by Simon the Cyrenian to Carry the Cross
Mark 15:21
21 Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus’ father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross.
Reflect: Jesus was very weak when the soldiers forced him to carry his cross through the streets on the way to the place where he would die. It is at this point in Jesus’ journey to the cross, that we encounter Simon of Cyrene. The soldiers made Simon help Jesus carry the cross the rest of the way. Put yourself there on the side of the road at that moment, suddenly pulled from the crowd of onlookers, and then feeling the heavy weight of the cross on your own shoulders. Suddenly, you are helping Jesus in an unexpected way. How might it change the way you offer help to others, if every time you extend a helping hand to someone, you imagined that they were Jesus?
Pray: Sustainer God. You are with us on every step of our journey through life, ever present and always available to shoulder a part of our burden when it becomes too heavy for us. Help us to follow your example as we seek to lighten the burdens of others. Amen.
Station 9: Blessing
Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Luke 23:27-31
27 A huge crowd of people followed Jesus, including women, who were mourning and wailing for him. 28 Jesus turned to the women and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Rather, cry for yourselves and your children. 29 The time will come when they will say, ‘Happy are those who are unable to become pregnant, the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never nursed a child.’ 30 Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’[a] 31 If they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Reflect: Luke writes that when Jesus encounters the women of Jerusalem, he tells them not to cry for him, but for themselves and their children and for the difficult times that are ahead for them. This seems out of place in the telling of this story when our focus is on the suffering Christ walking toward his own violent death. And yet, it is another example of Jesus showing concern and compassion for others. Jesus was more concerned for what lay ahead for them than what lay ahead for him. Jesus models a level of care for others – for loving his neighbor – far beyond anything we can imagine. How might you turn your own experience of pain or suffering into a source of blessing for others?
Pray: Source of All Blessings, we ask you to show us places where we might be a blessing to others, placing concern and compassion for them before our own need for comfort. Amen.
Image Credit: Tiepolo,"Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem Who Weep," 1745.
Station 10: Crucifixion
Jesus is Crucified
Luke 23:33-34
33 When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” They drew lots as a way of dividing up his clothing.
Reflect: Often, we prefer to avert our eyes when we see depictions of Jesus hanging on the cross. We look away from the horror of hands and feet violently nailed into its wooden beams. For Jesus's first followers, the cross was a state instrument of torture and death. But, as author/theologian, Debie Thomas points out, “Jesus willingly took the violence, the contempt, the apathy, and the arrogance of this world, and absorbed them all into his body. He resisted the powers — terrifying as they were — and in doing so, declared solidarity for all time with those who are abandoned, colonized, oppressed, accused, imprisoned, beaten, mocked, and murdered. He took an instrument of torture and turned it into a vehicle of hospitality and communion for all people, everywhere. He loved and he loved and he loved — all the way to the end.” Can you imagine a time when you might use the image of the cross as a sign of protest again oppression?
Pray: God of Justice, who transforms an instrument of torture into a symbol of Divine love, strengthen us so that we might stand with, and show love for, the oppressed and marginalized among us. Amen.
Image Credit: Tintoretto, "The Crucifixion of Christ," 1568
Station 11: Promise
Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief
Luke 23:39-43
39 One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40 Responding, the other criminal spoke harshly to him, “Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die? 41 We are rightly condemned, for we are receiving the appropriate sentence for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus replied, “I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.”
Reflect: The message of Station 11 is that, for those who place their trust in Jesus, paradise begins right here and right now. It may not look like the kind of paradise we have imagined. It may seem hidden away like the beauty of spring lying dormant in the frozen earth. But it is there, waiting to be renewed and reborn. This is all part of the life of paradise. The promise of Jesus to the criminal beside him, and to each of us, is that today Jesus is already with us. How might it change the way you practice your Christian faith to believe that we do not have to wait until we die in order to live with Jesus in the Kingdom of God?
Pray: Author of Life, we ask you to help us find our place in paradise beside you and to discover the role we play in your great story. Amen.
Image Credit: Nikolai Ge, "Christ and the Thief," 1893
Station 12: Care
Jesus Speaks to His Mother and the Disciples
John 19:25-27
25 Jesus’ mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood near the cross. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Reflect: Even in his last moments of life, the dying Jesus shows concern for the suffering of his mother and one of his best friends who were there at the foot of the cross. He knows that with his death, Mary will be relegated to the lowest rungs of society with no one to look after her. He asks John, the beloved disciple to care for her as his own mother. Then he asks Mary to look after John as if he were her own son. He asked them to think of what constitutes a family in a new and different way. He asks them to forge a new family of faith that cares for one another at all costs. How might your relationships with people in your congregation or community change if you thought of them as family?
Pray: Abba Father, we look to you as the One who loves and cares for all of your children throughout all time. Help us to recognize each other as siblings, loving and caring for one another as you have created us to do. Amen.
Image Credit: Theophones the Cretan, "The Crucifixion," 1550.
Station 13: Darkness
Jesus Dies on the Cross
Luke 23:44-46
44 It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole earth until about three o’clock, 45 while the sun stopped shining. Then the curtain in the sanctuary tore down the middle. 46 Crying out in a loud voice, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my life.”[a] After he said this, he breathed for the last time.
Reflect: At the end of Luke’s gospel, all hope that God’s sunrise will appear seems to be lost. Darkness has come over the land and the sun’s light fails. But then, an amazing event happens in the midst of the darkness. The veil in the temple is torn in two. The wall that had been erected between God and humanity comes crashing down at the death of Jesus. The tearing of the temple veil reveals to us the light that God has always intended for creation. When have you felt that you were sitting in darkness praying for the curtain to rip open to let God’s light break through?
Pray: Light of All Creation, tear through our self-constructed curtains of separation, and illuminate the world to show us places where we may help shine your life-giving light.
Image Credit: Rubens, "The Three Crosses," 1620.
Station 14: Burial
Jesus is Placed in the Tomb
Matthew 27:57-60
57 That evening a man named Joseph came. He was a rich man from Arimathea who had become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He came to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission to take it. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. After he rolled a large stone at the door of the tomb, he went away.
Reflect: In this last Station, we meet Joseph of Arimathea, a person of great wealth and merciful compassion. Mary was the widow of a poor carpenter and Jesus was an itinerant rabbi. In the eyes of many, they were just poor peasants. In the eyes of the state, Jesus was a criminal unworthy of a proper burial. But to Joseph, a secret follower of Jesus, Jesus was the very image of God! Joseph gently took the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a clean cloth and lovingly laid it in the tomb that had been created for his own body. He rolled the stone in front of the tomb’s opening. The journey to the cross was over, but the story has not ended here. As you pause at Station 14, consider how your own life has been gently touched by taking this journey, by walking the Way of the Cross with Jesus. Consider how you might offer your gifts like Joseph to bring healing where violence has shattered lives, that you too might live a self-emptying life like Jesus exemplified in this journey.
Pray: God in your tender mercy, as we walk the way of the cross on this Holy Day, we ask for you to guide us to live in nonviolent ways. Keep us from violence of tongue, fist, and heart. Be with all those who suffer at the hands of violence this day. For those in Ukraine, Columbia, Chad, Syria, Haiti, suffering in civil wars, takeovers, drug and gang wars, for those in homes where violence rules, for the victims of gun violence across our country and here in Albuquerque, for those working to de-escalate violence in schools and across the nation, bring healing to the. world. Restore unto us the call and commitment to peace so that we may serve you and care for the world and all peoples. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
Prayer from the Norbertine Community, inspired by Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester
Image credit: Limoges "Stations of the Cross"