Jesus is Tempted
VERSE
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” - Matthew 26:38
MEDITATION
• Jesus is compelled to desperate prayer.
• Think of Jesus’ complete honesty in prayer.
• Jesus calls together his friends in his most desperate time of prayer.
• What drives you to such a desperate time of prayer?
Jesus is Betrayed
VERSE
“Friend, do what you came here to do.” - Matthew 26:50
“The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him and after three days he will rise.” - Mark 9:31
MEDITATION
• The son of God was betrayed by a friend.
• The son of God was betrayed by his creation.
Jesus is Condemned
VERSE
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but caesar,” the chief priests answered. - John 19:15
“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” - John 19:11
“But this is your hour - when darkness reigns.” - Luke 22:53
MEDITATION
• Jesus submits quietly and peacefully.
• Jesus is condemned by religious leaders.
• What was their fear?
Jesus is Mocked
VERSE
“But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” - John 18:23
“The son of man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him and after three days he will rise.” - Mark 9:31
MEDITATION
• What brings on our mockery?
• These soldiers brutalize Jesus. Imagine the Son of God being brutalized by men.
Jesus is Given His Cross
VERSE
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” - John 3:14-15
MEDITATION
• The cross was a public murder device for criminals. This is how Jesus was killed.
• Imagine carrying the wood of the cross…up the hill to your eventual slow and public death.
Jesus Falls
VERSE
“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” - John 12:24
MEDITATION
• This station, although not found in scripture, is traditionally in three stations. It symbolizes his humanity and his ever decreasing strength as he moves towards his public death.
• Imagine Jesus experiencing weakness and distress in a public setting with no where to hide.
• Imagine the exhaustion of the last 24 hours.
Simon Carries Jesus’ Cross
VERSE
Simon the Cyrene carries His cross - Luke 23:26
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” - Matthew 16:24
MEDITATION
• Imagine being pulled from the crowd and carrying this man’s device of death.
• What is it like to walk alongside Jesus in this?
Jesus is Stripped
VERSE
“For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” - Luke 23:31
“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. - Luke 23:34
MEDITATION
• Romans crucified criminals naked.
• Reflect on the shame of nakedness in the Garden of Eden. And the shame of nakedness in this moment.
Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
VERSE
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man then you will know that I math one I claim to be…” - John 8:28
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all mankind to myself.” - John 12:32
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” - Matthew 27:46
MEDITATION
• The long physical pain of crucifixion was excruciating. In fact, the word excruciating is derived from crucifixion.
Jesus Dies
VERSE
“Greater love has no one that this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” - John 15:13
“It is finished.” - John 19:30
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” - Luke 23:46
MEDITATION
• Jesus died. He died. Our greatest fear is death. And He was not insulated from that fear.
• His physical body stopped working.
• His friends watched Him die.
Jesus is Buried
VERSE
“When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.” - Matthew 26:12
Luke 23:50-56
MEDITATION
• His friends buried Him.
• Have you ever buried a loved one? Imagine doing that with the one you believed was going to change the world and bring ultimate justice and healing.
Jesus Rises
VERSE
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep.” - John 10:11
“Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the son of man has been raised from the dead.” - Matthew 17:9
“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” - Revelation 1:17-18
Matthew 20:18-19
Matthew 11:28
1 Peter 2:24-25
MEDITATION
• Consider the other side of our greatest fear.
• Jesus shows us that there is something beyond death.