Stations of the Cross
January 11 - February 10, 1996
The Stations of the Cross
is an ancient practice first conducted by Christian pilgrims
to Jerusalem who desired to visit the places of Christ's
redemptive suffering. Representations of the stations
are on permanent display in many churches, and form an
important part of Good Friday services. The stations memorialize
the journey of Jesus from his trial to the cross and to
the grave.
Commissioned for St. David's Anglican Church,
Vancouver BC
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STATION
1: Christ is Brought Before Pilate
Luke 23: 13-24
Pilate then called together the chief priests, the leaders,
and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this
man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined
him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any
of your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent
him back to us. Indeed, he has done nothing to deserve death.
I will therefore have him flogged and release him." Then
they all shouted out together, "Away with this fellow!
Release Barabbas for us!" (This was a man who had been
put in prison for an insurrection that had taken place in the
city, and for murder.) Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed
them again; but they kept shouting, "Crucify, crucify him!"
A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?
I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will
therefore have him flogged and then release him." But they
kept urgently demanding with loud shouts that he should be crucified;
and their voices prevailed. So Pilate gave his verdict that
their demand should be granted. [NRSV]
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STATION
2: Christ Takes Up His Cross
John 19: 1-6, 16-17
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers
wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed
him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying,
"Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the
face. Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look,
I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no
case against him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Here
is the man!" When the chief priests and the police saw
him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate
said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him; I
find no case against him." Then he handed him over to
them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the
cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place
of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. [NRSV] |
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STATION
3: Christ Falls
Hebrews 4: 14 & 15
Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens, let us hold fast to our
faith. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has
been tested as we are, yet without sin. [NRSV]
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STATION
4: Christ Meets His Mother
Luke 2: 33-35
And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being
said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother
Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising
of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so
that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword
will pierce your own soul too." [NRSV]
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STATION
5: Simon Helps Christ Carry His Cross
Luke 23: 26
As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who
was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him,
and made him carry it behind Jesus. [NRSV]
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STATION
6: Veronica Wipes Christ's Face
Isaiah 53: 2 &
3
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root
out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should
look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire
him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering
and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide
their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
[NRSV]
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STATION
7: Christ Falls a Second Time
Matthew 16: 24 & 25
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross
and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose
it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
[NRSV]
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STATION
8: Christ Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Luke 23: 27-31
A great number of the people followed him, and among them were
women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But
Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem,
do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
For the days are surely coming when they will say, 'Blessed
are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts
that never nursed.' Then they will begin to say to the mountains,
'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do this
when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
[NRSV]
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STATION
9: Christ Falls a Third Time
John 12: 23-25
Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of
Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain
of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single
grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their
life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will
keep it for eternal life. [NRSV]
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STATION
10: Christ is Stripped of His Clothes
John 19: 23 & 24
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes
and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They
also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one
piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us
not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it."
[NRSV]
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STATION
11: Christ is Nailed to the Cross
Luke 23: 33 & 34
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified
Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on
his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they
do not know what they are doing." [NRSV]
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STATION
12: Christ Dies on the Cross
Luke 23: 44-46 & 49
It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land
until three in the afternoon, while the sun's light failed;
and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying
with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend
my spirit." Having said this, he breathed his last... All
his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him
from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. [NRSV]
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STATION
13: Christ is Taken Down from the Cross
Mark 15: 42-46
When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation,
that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a
respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting
expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and
asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were
already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether
he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion
that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph
bought a linen cloth, and took Jesus down from the cross. [NRSV] |
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STATION
14: Christ is Laid in the Tomb
Mathew 27: 62-66
The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief
priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir,
we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive,
'After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the
tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples
may go and steal him away, and tell the people, 'He has been
raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse
than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a
guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So
they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing
the stone. [NRSV]
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