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Posts tagged with: Stations of the Cross

A marble crucifix in shadow

Giving All You Are to God

As we face such uncertain times, as we continue to face challenges that feel overwhelming, we are encouraged to echo the words of Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

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The thief asks Jesus to remember him. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

Jesus Remembers You

One of the criminals crucified with Jesus cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

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A large white wooden crucifix

Unexpected King. Unexpected Salvation.

As Jesus was being crucified, a sign placed above his head proclaimed, “The King of the Jews.”

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Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to Carry the Cross. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

Carrying the Cross

Simon of Cyrene was watching Jesus carry his cross to Calvary when, all of a sudden, he was pressed into service by the Roman soldiers.

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Taking Responsibility for Jesus’s Death

Christians believe that, in a real sense, we bear such responsibility because of our sin.

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The stone was rolled away.

The Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Placed in the Tomb

In most human societies appropriate burial of dead bodies is a sacred tradition. It matters profoundly that we ensure the proper resting place for those who have died. Yet, after burials happen, we don’t generally mention them specifically.

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Jesus entrusts his spirit into God's hands.

The Thirteenth Station: Jesus Dies on the Cross

At first glance, Luke’s version of the centurion’s response to Jesus’s death seems like a glaring understatement. “Certainly this man was innocent,” rightly identifies Jesus’s lack of guilt. It makes clear once again the fact that he didn’t deserve to be crucified for sedition against Rome. He was no ordinary revolutionary, no guerrilla warrior, no terrorist. So, yes, “this man was innocent.” But couldn’t Luke have done better than this in his telling of the story?

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Jesus requesting his disciple take care of his mother.

The Twelfth Station: Jesus on the Cross, His Mother, and His Disciple

The basic meaning of Jesus’s statement is clear. He was entrusting care of his mother to one of his most intimate friends and followers. He was making sure that she would be loved and cared for after Jesus’s death. Jesus knew he could trust his beloved follower with such an important responsibility.

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The thief asks Jesus to remember him. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Eleventh Station: Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good Thief

Three men being crucified, suffering excruciating pain, literally. (The word “excruciating” comes from the Latin cruciare, “to crucify.”) One man begins taunting Jesus, sarcastically calling out for salvation he believes Jesus can’t deliver. The other, sensing something that he has never felt before, defends Jesus as an innocent victim. Then, in desperate hope, he cries out: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” In response Jesus says a most astounding thing, a most encouraging thing, a most curious thing: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

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Jesus crucified. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Tenth Station: Jesus is Crucified

“They crucified Jesus.” “They,” in this case, refers to the Roman soldiers. Rome alone had the authority and the audacity to crucify people, one of the cruelest forms of execution ever devised. Crucifixion was so disgusting that Roman authors rarely referred to it. It was better left unmentioned.

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The woman weeping for Jesus. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Ninth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem

Luke 23:27 notes that “a great number of people followed [Jesus]” as he walked to Golgotha. Luke gives no indication that they were crying out for Jesus’s death. In fact, by mentioning the women weeping for Jesus, Luke implies that at least many among the “great number of the people” were upset by what was happening to Jesus.

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Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to Carry the Cross. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Eighth Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross

Christians from all over the world come to Jerusalem to walk along the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering, the way of the cross. This path through the streets and alleys of Jerusalem is believed to be the path Jesus actually walked on the way to his crucifixion.

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Jesus carrying the cross. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Seventh Station: Jesus Takes Up His Cross

Jesus had said this would happen. For quite some time he had predicted his suffering and death.

In the final events of his life, Jesus seemed to be orchestrating events that might otherwise have been out of his control.

So, though the crucifixion of Jesus is horrendous from one point of view, it is also wondrous from another perspective.

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Jesus Crowned with Thorns. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Sixth Station: Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

What cruel irony! Jesus finally received the words he deserved: “Hail, King of the Jews!” For once he wore a crown upon his head. Yet it was not the golden crown of sovereignty or the olive crown of victory, but the thorny crown of suffering.

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Pilate washing his hands of Jesus. Painting © Linda E.S. Roberts, 2007. For permission to use this picture, contact Mark D. Roberts.

The Fifth Station: Jesus is Judged by Pilate

There has been a tendency in the Christian telling of the Passion story to exonerate Pilate, or at least to make him an unwilling pawn of the Jewish leaders and crowds. Pilate, it is claimed, was a truth-seeking man who was caught between a rock and a hard place. Were it not for the pressure he received from the Sanhedrin and their supporters, he wouldn’t have crucified Jesus. This view of the noble Pilate seems at first to fit the facts of the New Testament Gospels. But, upon closer scrutiny, it falls short in a number of crucial ways.

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