Together now we walk again the Stations of the Cross. Imagine yourself now at the third fall of Jesus—beaten, downtrodden, harassed in spirit—complicated by the fact that He is now one with God and man—yet not. Due to choice He begins a most horrible time in His life of love. Love fades and withers as He falls. He has not the strength to move a muscle. He is again beaten, whipped to the point of despair, afraid if He moves He will be flogged again. Understanding that if He doesn't, the flogging He will receive will be as nothing compared to the loss of grace and salvation He affords mankind. He must go on. But how? He is anointed again in the Holy Spirit to go on. He is given the grace.
Imagine the scene: You are there with the Lord, but can't reach Him. You see only despair and longing in the eyes of your Beloved. You see the Crown—now pressed down even deeper in His scalp due to the flogging. Blood flows freely in His eyes. His Heart is ever pierced deeper and deeper by the sins of the world, by the sins of those around Him, by the hate—pierced through and through to the point of destruction. He is laden with the burdens of the world. You cannot help. You can only pray to God that He will lighten the burden and help your Beloved. You see Him fall. No, God! No! Please help! Oh, God, have mercy on my Beloved! Have mercy! You cry and fall to your knees in despair—but you are not noticed, for the crowds eyes are fixed on your Beloved in pain—now inflicting more pain on Him, more insult, more humiliation. You are hurt in spirit to the point of death. You are one, but for a brief moment. You are His mother—affording Him the only consolation of the heart that God will allow. It is the grace to continue on—only that and no more—for as He suffers, He earns the grace for mankind's redemption. He is pleasing to the Father, for He has followed in obedience, each step.
“Oh, Jesus, my Beloved Son, I love You!”—but He does not hear. He is helped to His feet only after flogging Him again, only after spitting upon His person in blasphemy, only after pressing down the thorns in the Crown once again, only after humiliating Him—all to the point of death. He is seen as one beaten and afflicted, but no one offers help. “Oh, Jesus, my Son, I am here!”—but He does not hear me now. The crowd jeers. It is loud in its condemnation and demand for His death. They know now the Cross is near. He will make it, for them to give Him the ultimate insult, disgrace, and humiliation. They are beyond reproach. All this is done upon your Lord, and more.
If you were to know all that happened to your Lord that day, you could not bear it. The day will come, when you will know, you will live it. In disgrace and mortification you will see His pain, feel His pain, live His pain. You will do all of this for the love of your Lord.
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Stations: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 R