Via Crucis :: Immersion

Sixth Station:  Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns (John 19: 1-3)

The Thorn Crown of the King

 ^1-3 So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.

The pain that Christ went through as the whip drug across his back, as the thorns dug into his flesh, as he was mocked and scorned and ridiculed. In The Passion of the Christ, this was the most brutally intense scene - the image of the whip, similar to a cat-o-nine-tails with barbs, ripping and rending the flesh from the back of Jesus still haunts me to this day. I cringed and closed my eyes, but not soon enough. Not soon enough. It is a miracle that you survived the scourging. Or is it? Because you did, you died instead upon a cross. Would your sacrifice have led to the redemption of the world had you died at the hands of a Roman whip?


Father God, for His pain I am able to be reconciled to You. Through His suffering I am made whole. By His blood I am white as snow in You. May I never forget his agony. May I always remember that it was for me and all as I, all of humanity, that He was made to suffer so.

Via Crucis :: Immersion

Lenten Daily Quotes

Day 33 - a quote about faith in __________

"Have faith in God; God has faith in you."
~ Edwin Louis Cole

Via Crucis :: Immersion

Fourth Station:  Jesus is Denied by Peter (Matthew 26: 69-75)

Denial in the Courtyard

 ⁶⁹ All this time, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard. One servant girl came up to him and said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean."

 ⁷⁰ In front of everybody there, he denied it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

 ⁷¹ As he moved over toward the gate, someone else said to the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene."

 ⁷² Again he denied it, salting his denial with an oath: "I swear, I never laid eyes on the man."

 ⁷³ Shortly after that, some bystanders approached Peter. "You've got to be one of them. Your accent gives you away."

 ^74-75 Then he got really nervous and swore. "I don't know the man!"

   Just then a rooster crowed. Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." He went out and cried and cried and cried.

How can it be that one of the inmost of disciples, one of those closest to Him, could deny him? Recognized by many and fearful for his own life, Peter denied that he even knew who Jesus was. And Jesus? He knew before that such would happen. Was he surprised when the cock crowed the third time and found that Peter had in fact denied him? Did he speak the words to Peter to give warning of the frail human character, hoping Peter would find a strength to affirm and not deny? Already wounded by the betrayal and the condemnation of the Sanhedrin, was this merely a scratch to the already festering woundedness or was it the knife in the back that trumped all other pain?


Father God, Christ himself states that the only unforgivable sin is the denial of the Holy Spirit. However that may be, keep me ever on guard that I may find strength enough, boldness and courage to never deny who Jesus Christ is to me, for me, and upon me.

Via Crucis :: Immersion

Third Station:  Jesus is Condemned by the Sanhedrin (Luke 22: 66-71)

^66-67 When it was morning, the religious leaders of the people and the high priests and scholars all got together and brought him before their High Council. They said, "Are you the Messiah?"

 ^67-69 He answered, "If I said yes, you wouldn't believe me. If I asked what you meant by your question, you wouldn't answer me. So here's what I have to say: From here on the Son of Man takes his place at God's right hand, the place of power."

 ⁷⁰ They all said, "So you admit your claim to be the Son of God?"

   "You're the ones who keep saying it," he said.

 ⁷¹ But they had made up their minds, "Why do we need any more evidence? We've all heard him as good as say it himself."

You weren't just condemned, Christ Jesus, were you? You were self-incriminating. You spoke no word in your defense, stood silent before those that would accuse, allowed yourself to be condemned. What is one to think of that? What am I to make of that. You willingly walked toward your demise. Am I, as a follower of you Christ Jesus, meant to do the same? If ever a situation were to arise where I am to stand before accusers, would I be able to be so restrained? 


John Ericson spoke of a tale: In a future Earth where to be (as in verb - action) Christian meant to be condemned to death a man was brought before the judges to be condemned. The prosecutor presented evidence of the crimes - the man attends church every Sunday, he reads the Holy Bible and not only reads it but marks it and highlights the book. The man stood before his accusers and waited on baited breath. The judges deliberated and found the man not guilty. The man was at first thrilled but then shocked. He was not condemned? How could this be? The judge spoke, "he does act as a Christian." 


Father God, when it is that I stand accused, may I be so condemned that I am to be put to death for the deeds that I have done.

Lenten Daily Quotes

Day 32 - a quote about something you'd sacrifice everything for


“Self-sacrifice is the real miracle out of which all the reported miracles grow”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Via Crucis :: Immersion

Second Station:  Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is Arrested (Mark 14: 43-46)

A Gang of Ruffians

 ^43-47 No sooner were the words out of his mouth when Judas, the one out of the Twelve, showed up, and with him a gang of ruffians, sent by the high priests, religion scholars, and leaders, brandishing swords and clubs. The betrayer had worked out a signal with them: "The one I kiss, that's the one—seize him. Make sure he doesn't get away." He went straight to Jesus and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. The others then grabbed him and roughed him up. One of the men standing there unsheathed his sword, swung, and came down on the Chief Priest's servant, lopping off the man's ear.

Betrayal ... that's a hard concept, a hard word - harsh. Betrayal denotes a back stab and it implies by a friend. Judas was one of the close, one of the twelve. The treasurer. Trusted. Did Jesus confide in him? Did Jesus seek his counsel? Traveling together for three years together, living together for three years. There must have been a closeness in their relationship. 


I remember watching Jesus Christ Superstar, which portrays Judas as almost the innocent scapegoat. We all, of course have a purpose in bringing the Kingdom of God. Because he was fulfilling a purpose does that make him blameless? And Jesus? Hurt not by the betrayal but by the affection offered prior to the arrest. Betrayed in a very intimate way. 


May I always be aware of my words and actions; may I never intentionally betray another.


Father God, guard my words and my deeds. Keep me ever mindful that what is said and what is done could cause irreparable harm to another.