The Seventh Station of the Cross: Bearing the Cross

Courtesy: Vatican Museum

"As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, 'Crucify! Crucify!' But Pilate answered, 'You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.' ... But they shouted, 'Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!' 'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked. 'We have no king but Caesar,' the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." John 19:6, 15-17 (NIV)

Jesus continues to suffer from a grave injustice. After being flogged 39 times by the Romans, he now is forced to carry his own cross to the place where they will crucify him.

Ponder that for a moment: Your back is cut, bruised and practically only sinew and bones after being whipped with the best (or worst) torture methods and whips the Romans had at their disposal. Then after all that, when most prisoners would have been released for their friends and loved ones to tend to their wounds, he is forced by the authorities, while half-fainting from the dramatic loss of blood, to carry a cross weighing about 110 pounds from the prison to Golgotha.

That is the price Jesus paid for our sins, even before being nailed up on the cross. Jesus knew the suffering was coming. But He also knew it was necessary. When Peter rebukes Him for saying He would be killed, Jesus replies,

"Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23 (NIV))

The next thing is critical for our part. In the celebration of the Stations of the Cross by Pope John Paul II in 1991, the minister prayed this prayer:

"Lord, grant us strength of purpose that we may faithfully bear our crosses each day."

Jesus said that we are to bear our own crosses each day and follow Him. What does that mean? He explained that we are to lose our lives for Him. While that doesn't necessarily mean we are to die, it does mean we are to devote ourselves completely to Him, living in a way that reflects our position as children of God. That means loving others, and telling others about Jesus and who He is.

That is what is meant by faithfully bearing our crosses each day.

(Editor's note: This is part of a series of the Stations of the Cross.)