14 Steps

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14 Steps – Walking With Jesus to the Cross by Michael J. Spoula

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It was a completely ordinary day. People in the town were buying and selling. People were marrying and being given in marriage. Food was being cooked and eaten. Children were getting under foot and being children. Babies were being born. Sacrifice was being undertaken in the temple. All through the town there was happiness because it was Passover. The triumph of the nation over the Egyptians was being celebrated. But in one part of the town, there was no happiness. There was a man, sad to look at; his back was torn from the lash, there was a woven crown of thorns on his head and beads of blood slowly flowed down his face. He waited patiently as his tormentors prepared the needed materials for his coming execution. He was tired, thirsty, hungry and longed to rest. But rest was denied him as his guards kept him standing. Then he was given his cross, a long roughly hewn board, about ninety pounds in weight which was placed on his aching shoulders. He and two other criminals were started forward, all taking the first step on the final walk of their lives. But let us go back to the beginning and take the entire trip with this Jesus of Nazareth. This is a retreat of fourteen steps based on the traditional Fourteen Stations of the Cross that one can follow on the Via de la Rosa. Walk now with your savior; carry your cross behind or beside him. Meditate on what each step cost Jesus and what it brought into your life.

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JESUS IS CONDENMED TO DEATH The illegal arrest took place in the dead of the night. There was no one there to plead his case. No friend accompanied Him into the court. His loneliness had its start the night before. When he was arrested in the garden all of his friends abandoned Him and his only friend was darkness. Judas came and planted the kiss of death upon Him and the soldiers took him into cruel custody. He made no protest; he offered no resistance but meekly followed the commands He was given. He was taken to house old Annas, a former high priest whose monetary exploits had been hurt when Jesus cast out the moneychangers from the temple. The old man came right up to Jesus and spat in his face. Then without a word he gestured that the man be taken from his sight. The party then went the short distance to the meeting place of the Sanhedrin. The august members had been roused from sleep and summoned in the dead of the night to a special meeting. The members, the most respected men of Israel sat in their seats, some still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. One could see that not every member had been brought in, just those that did not approve of this so called messiah named Jesus. But those that supported the man were few and far between anyway. The proud body waited for their dreaded leader to arrive, Caiaphas, the Chief Priest. It was almost an hour later when the esteemed one deigned to arrive and call the meeting together. He wasted no time; he demanded a death sentence be declared against the pious faker, Jesus of Nazareth. The members in chamber that night were no lovers of Jesus, yet a few of them were uneasy that this trial was taking place in the dead of night. Caiaphas assured them that any decisions taken before sunrise would need to be ratified after the sun rose in the sky and day came. Other members protested that there had been no witnesses. Caiaphas looked disgustedly at

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the protesting members. He told them that if witnesses were what the distinguished members wanted, witnesses were what they would have. Servants of the high priest were called and closely questioned. Yet not one of them agreed as to what the accused said or did. The night was passing. Caiaphas wanted this Jesus dead sooner rather than later, so he approached the Man, who so far had said nothing, and demanded to be told outright if Jesus was in fact the Messiah, the very Son of God. He did not expect an answer from Jesus. He was very close to having to release Him because of lack of evidence. He could not help but smiling into face of Jesus when the prisoner said in no uncertain terms that he was the messiah. The smile flashed so quickly that its birth and death were but almost the same moment in time. The high priest put on a look of holy outrage and ripping his garments shouted that no further witnesses were needed and that the prisoner had blasphemed in their presence. He demanded what judgment the Sanhedrin would now render. Almost with one voice they shouted one word: Death. Morning came and the illegally arrived at sentence was quickly ratified in the light of day and the prisoner was sent off to Pilate for the sentence to be confirmed. Pilate wanted no part of this religious bickering. He wanted to release Jesus because he believed in dividing and conquering and the Jesus was a great tool to divide the Jews against themselves. He tried to release the prisoner once but the rabble shouted for blood. Having heard that this man was from Nazareth, he had sent him to be judged by Herod. Herod sent his thanks back to Pilate and asked Rome to judge the case. Pilate had to admire Herod, for Herod was no fool. He would make no enemies over this case. Instead Pilate representing Rome would anger one faction or the other. Well, thought Pilate, if they want blood, let us give them some. He ordered the prisoner to be brought out. He sat on the throne that represented Rome and stated that he found no guilt against the man that would deserve death but was going to flog the man as a chastisement. Jesus was brought into the courtyard and tied to a stone pillar. The man in charge of discipline came with his flagellum, a whip of many tails that had bone sewn into the end. With great force he reached back and brought the whip down on the back of Jesus. Great stripes of red appeared on the strong

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back and blood began to flow. Fifteen, twenty, thirty, finally thirty nine times the whip hit the back of Jesus. Blood flowed and flesh hung from his back. Pilate had ordered that the back not be washed, that the prisoner be brought out just as he was after the scourging was completed. The prisoner was brought out and displayed. The commoners in the crowd gasped in horror, but the detachment from the temple screamed; “Crucify him!” Pilate could not believe his ears. The prisoner was so pitiful that he thought that this would have satisfied the blood lust of the temple crowd. He shouted for silence and once again acquitted the prisoner. He saw that a riot would break out any minute. He shouted out that he could not understand why they would want to crucify their king. This was not a smart move on his part; he had played right into the hands of Caiaphas. In one voice the temple contingent shouted; “We have no king but Caesar.” Then they said that “If you pardon him, a pretender to the throne of the emperor you are not the friend of Caesar!” Pilate tasted the bile of defeat rising in his throat. He called for water and a bowl. In a gesture used in Greek justice he washed his hands with the water shouting that he was innocent of this innocent man’s blood. Almost with a lilt in their voice the temple group chanted; “His blood be on us and on our children.” Without another word to the crowd, he sentenced Jesus to death on the cross and retreated from the scene. Jesus was taken away. The Journey to Death and Life had truly begun.

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Jesus Takes Up His Cross The cross was now placed on the bleeding shoulders of Jesus. His back could almost not bear the weight. He was weak from loss of blood; his tongue was thick in his throat from lack of water. Yet he began the journey by placing one foot in front of the other. The sins of mankind added to weight of the crossbeam he carried. He walked always keeping his destination in sight. His love for man carried him forward. Step followed step, each of them a supreme act of courage and a supreme act of will which carried him forward to a date with death. His back was bruised, bloodied and bleeding. His body wracked with strength sapping pain. Yet without complaint, he took up this cross and walked forward, always forward in obedience to the will of the Father.

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Jesus Falls First Time His legs moved more slowly now. Although he was the Son of God, he also was human and subject to the weakness of his physical body. Utter exhaustion claimed place in every muscle. The rough hewn tree pressed against the torn flesh on his back. His head spun for want of water. He pressed on, willing himself with almost super human will to move forward, then his body failed, muscles protested and His legs buckled and the ground rose up to meet His face and the crushing burden of his tree pressed into his wounded shoulder and back. The key words here are “almost super human.” His will demanded that he go forward, but his all too human body was wasted with pain. The guards would allow him no rest, with whips, kicks and blows they pressed him to continue. He began to rise, fell back down and finally without a sound, He rose and continued his journey to Golgotha, to pain and death, and in answer to his Father’s call once again.

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Jesus Meets His Mother

His legs protesting painfully moved in response to His spirit’s command. He had to think of every move, of every step. The pain of the tree pressed deeply into him. He slowed and then he saw her. His heart was already broken because of the sins of men and it broke even more deeply as he saw the sadness etched on the face of Mary, His beloved mother. He wanted to reach out, to tell her that all would be well, that the Father was with him, but he could not. Their eyes met for but a brief moment, tears flowed from the Mother’s eyes and stained the pavement beneath her chin, her tears and his blood mingled and then the guards pushed him forward, heedless of the moment, uncaring about the love between these two people, to the guards they were just a couple of Jews. Forward, they commanded, and the loving Mother Mary, tears flowing as a sword began to pierce her heart faded into the background as the march to death and ultimate victory continued.

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Jesus is helped by Simon It was no act of kindness that the Romans performed for Jesus. It was evident to the guards that Jesus might not last long enough to be placed on the tree. Should he die on the way, they themselves would be in trouble. The Centurion selected a “volunteer” to assist Jesus. Simon took up the cross and for awhile carried it for Jesus. Simon had no idea who this criminal was and he was not happy at what he was being forced to do. Yet he did what the Romans commanded and stole brief glances at the bleeding man beside him. Simon thought that the man must be the King of Fools to have gotten himself into such a predicament. They walked together a little further. Color was starting to return to the face of Jesus. The guard motioned for Simon to hand the tree back to Jesus. Simon shook his head and walked fifty more feet before the guard called a halt and removed the tree from Simon and handed it to the Christ. Simon was pushed roughly away and Jesus’ body once again bent under the weight, but this time he seemed to have recovered some strength and he moved forward without too much urging. Simon, being left behind, shook his head and faded back into the crowd and went about his business.

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Jesus Meets Veronica A tender kindness in a time of need is a blessing indeed. The crown of thorns pressed into the forehead of Jesus caused blood to drip down his head and into his eyes, stinging and making it hard for him to see the road ahead. A young lady, filled with pity for the bleeding Jesus, pushed her way through the crowd and with her veil wiped his face. The procession moved on but on the veil was left the imprint of the face of Jesus, a gift for a kindness delivered when it was most needed.

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Jesus Falls the Second Time Again the body failed the commands of the will. Jesus stumbled and fell again. The cross was a heavy timber indeed as it was weighed down by the sins of all mankind which caused him to fall to the ground again. His body, now shivering with pain urged him to lie down and rise no more, to accept the sweet fading feeling of death and thus ending this horrible intolerable suffering. But to die now would be to play the devils game. Only total obedience to the Father would do. Total obedience of the Son would negate the total disobedience of Adam; anything else would mean that the evil one would have won the battle. He struggled back to his feet and then slowly he moved his left foot in front of his right and then his right in front of his left. Inch by inch, he proved his love for the Father as he walked toward Calvary.

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Jesus Speaks to the Women The cross was heavy, his body weak, but the spirit burning within him was strong. Along the road were a group of pious women, who looked at him and driven by the deepest emotions of pity, cried at the site of the Good Shepherd on his final walk. He slowed briefly but did not stop in his journey as he told them to weep not for him but for themselves and for their children. The women could not understand. They saw a man who was wrapped with sorrow piled on top of more sorrow, a man acquainted with pain and suffering who told them not to pity him. The good women did not understand the prophetic words uttered by Christ. Neither could these good women see what the future would bring. But what Jesus meant was if this is how men treated God when he was present among them, what would happen in years to come when the memory of his appearance faded? No, the good women did not understand. They simply looked at the back of the condemned man at he moved down the road.

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Jesus Falls a Third Time Beaten, bloody, bruised, and bludgeoned, the body fails again as the ground reaches up and seemingly pulls Jesus down into it. The devil laughs at the spectacle of Jesus on his way to death. Air escapes the lungs of Jesus and a groan escapes his lips. The guards entertain no thoughts of rest or respite, they are almost at the place of execution and they want to get this bloody business done. Blows land and he struggles to rise, and he finally makes it to his feet and once again continues the journey that he came into the world to make. The Father calls and he obeys.

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JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS Insult follows injury as the clothing of Jesus is stripped from his torn body. All of the hurts, all of the injuries, all of the bruises and tears are now exposed for all to see. The chief priests nod their head thinking that now this pious faker is getting what he deserves. The common folk passing by shield the eyes of their children as they pass by on their way to Temple. Shame covers Jesus and one of the people from the temple yell out an insult, the others in the party laugh and taunt Him. Jesus moves his lips in prayer. More insults ring out, more laughter, the crowd presses in. The Roman guards drive them back.

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Jesus is nailed to the cross The journey to this moment is over. Jesus is placed on the cross. The executioner grabs his arm and with four heavy blows drives a nail through the right hand, then the left then the feet. The pain causes Jesus to scream in agony, but unlike others in his position, he did not try to move the hands away from the executioners blow. He held them there steady. He was now on the Cross from which on this small mountain He would teach us just how much God really loves us.

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Jesus Dies

Father Forgive Them, They Know Not What They Do. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? I Thirst…

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.

Jesus gave up His Spirit

It is finished; Jesus has answered the call of His Father. He has gone to the Cross to redeem you and me. God has always taught from the mountain. From the burning bush to the sacrifice of Abraham to the, to Sinai and the Ten Commandments, to the Sermon on the Mount, God’s wisdom came from above. Now, stretched between heaven and earth Jesus teaches what true love is and how much God loves us. His body sags on the Cross and later the Centurion would pierce the Savior’s body and there would come forth blood and water, a final lesson from the Master who gave everything He had to give.

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Jesus is taken down from the cross She held him as a baby. She comforted him when he cried. She supported his mission from the day she said Let it be done unto me. The promised sword has pierced her heart as she cradles her lifeless son in her arms. Tears again flow freely from her as the coldness of his body floods through her like as a spear of pure clear ice. Her friends try to pull the corpse away for it is getting late, yet for a moment she resists them and looks for a final time into the face of her son, the true High Priest of the Father. Then she opens her arms and the body is taken to a borrowed tomb for burial. She follows her son as she has done all of her life.

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Jesus is buried.

Where you there when they sealed him in the tomb…sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. We wait for the Third Day………….