Stations of the Cross First station Jesus

Stations of the Cross

First station Jesus is condemned to death

Pilate said to the people, “Here is your king!” They shouted back, “Kill him! Crucify him!”

Pilate asked the crowd, “Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you? ” “Barabbas!” they answered. “What, then, shall I do with Jesus called the Messiah? ” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they all answered.

When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!” The whole crowd answered, “Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and our children!”

Second Station Jesus receives the cross

The soldiers put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head. Then they began to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!” (Mk 15: 16 -20)

Jesus went out, carrying his cross and came to “The Place of the Skull”, as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha”. ) There the soldiers crucified him. Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”, is what he wrote.

Jesus endured abandonment, tortures, mocking, to be shoved about by others and finally going into his own suffering.

Third Station Jesus falls the first time

Jesus has never abandoned his cross although he suffers both spiritually and physically. He is willing to endure all these in order to save people from their sins.

The uproar of the people, the coarse soldiers and the angers of the crowd splashed their fury upon Jesus.

Fourth Station Jesus meets His Mother

Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, Mary. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son. ” Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother. ” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

When Jesus was going to the execution ground, Mary looked at him without hatred and wailing. From Bethlehem to Calvary, Mary’s heart magnified God.

Fifth Station Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus’ cross

On the way they met a man named Simon, who was coming into the city from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. (Mk 15: 21)

Sixth Station Veronica wipes Jesus’ face with her veil

Through Jesus’ tears, blood and death, people is granted to meet the Almighty God face to face.

Seventh Station Jesus falls the second time

Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, Herod and Pilate scourged him, his beloved people insulted him, his broken heart and the wearily body made him fell down again.

Eighth Station Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem

Some women who were weeping and wailing for him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Women of Jerusalem! Don't cry for me, but for yourselves and your children.

Ninth Station Jesus falls the third time

Jesus fell down again and again, there is nobody who would give a helping hand, only a cruel whip came down on him mercilessly. “We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received…”

Tenth Station Jesus is stripped of His garments

After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. The soldiers said to one another, “Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it. ” This happened in order to make the scripture come true: “They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe. ”

They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown out of thorny branches, and put it on his head. 18 Then they began to salute him: “Long live the King of the Jews!” 19 They beat him over the head with a stick, spat on him, fell on their knees, and bowed down to him. 20 When they had finished mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Eleventh Station Crucifixion-Jesus is nailed to the cross

Above his head they put the written notice of the accusation against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. ” Then they crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left. People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: “You were going to tear down the Temple and build it up again in three days! Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders jeered at him: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Isn't he the king of Israel? If he comes down off the cross now, we will believe in him! He trusts in God and claims to be God's Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!” Even the bandits who had been crucified with him insulted him in the same way.

Jesus was crucified with nothing, he abandoned his dignity and rights, he endured all the insults nakedly.

Twelfth Station Jesus dies on the cross

At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me? ”

Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty. ” A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!”

It was about twelve o'clock when the sun stopped shining and darkness covered the whole country until three o'clock; and the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this and died. The army officer saw what had happened, and he praised God, saying, “Certainly he was a good man!”

Thirteenth Station Jesus’ body is removed from the cross

“Not one of his bones will be broken. ” The Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. When the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs.

One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out.

Fourteenth Station Jesus is laid in the tomb

After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus' body. Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away. (John 19: 38)

The two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus' body there. (John 19: 40 -42)