This is Holy Week, when we tell the story of what happened when Jesus went to Jerusalem for the last time. It was Passover, and the city was full of people from many different countries. They thought Jesus was coming to be king, but they weren’t paying attention. He wasn’t riding on a great white stallion when he came into the city, and he wasn’t being carried by soldiers. He was riding on a female donkey, and it wasn’t even his. He had borrowed it. Still, the Sunday when Jesus came into Jerusalem, people waved palm branches, which was something they did for kings.
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Jesus went into the temple to teach. The religious leaders were angry with Jesus and afraid that he would take away their power. They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus and have him killed. On Thursday, the temple guards couldn’t find him. Jesus and his disciples went through the dark and narrow streets to a house with an upper room, and there they shared the Passover meal, the last supper. Then they went to the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed. While he was there, the guards arrested him and took him away.
In the two thousand years since Jesus died and rose again, Christians have traveled to the holy city of Jerusalem, stopping at special places, called stations, where Jesus passed by, carrying his cross. Today, Good Friday, this sanctuary will be our Jerusalem, and we will walk the Way of the Cross as a way of showing our love for Jesus and remembering Jesus’s love for us.
We call Good Friday good because we are an Easter people. We tell the story of what happened that day because it’s important, it’s necessary: Jesus was afraid, he suffered, he died…and God turned Jesus’s fear, suffering and dying into hope, wholeness, and new life. We tell our story, our Christian story, over and over again because it tells us the truth: not that there is no fear, suffering, or death in the world, but that nothing - even death itself - can keep us from the love of God.
Remembering this gives us comfort and makes us bold; it helps us encourage others and find goodness in even the most difficult of days. We are an Easter people because like the women who stayed with him till the end, we walk with Jesus to his cross and the grave. We believe the promise that God makes to us in Jesus: God’s power and grace can transform anything, even an instrument of torture like the cross, into the source of salvation and life. Swords into plowshares; implements of violence into nourishment for the whole world.
As you listen to this audio, follow along with the attached images, or walk the stations of the cross at St. Andrew’s. Each station is numbered and corresponds with a section of this audio. Travel to the next station while the songs play between each station.
A note about the stations of the cross at St. Andrew’s: these fifteen images were created by a devoted St. Andrew’s parishioner, Jeanne Richter, in 1999. Working with sculpture clay and then finishing with copper and patina, Jeanne created these treasures that hang within red oak box frames made by her husband, Walter. Jeanne says this about the project: With much prayer, and care, and God’s help, these Stations are the result. Place yourself in the pictures. Be there, the day they crucified our Lord.
Station 1: Jesus Prays at Gethsemane
Jesus had shared his last meal with his disciples and followers. He had promised them that no matter what happened, he would always be with them. He told them other mysterious things: he took the bread and said, this is my body. He took the cup of wine and said, this is my blood.
After this special meal, Jesus and the disciples went to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved; please, stay awake with me while I pray.” Jesus went on a little further and fell prostrate in prayer, and said “Abba God, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. But not what I want - what you want.”
Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them asleep. This happened three times - Jesus went away to pray, and the disciples couldn’t keep their eyes open.
Where do you go to be alone? Who do you ask to stay with you while you grieve?
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 2: Judas Betrays Jesus
While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived - accompanied by a great crowd with swords and clubs. They had been sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Judas gave them the signal - he kissed Jesus on the cheek. That’s what told the crowd that Jesus was the one to arrest, so they did.
When Peter, Jesus’s disciple, saw that the crowd was going to take Jesus away, he started to draw a sword to defend Jesus. But Jesus said, “Put your sword back where it belongs.” Jesus knew that violence was not God’s way.
Jesus’s life and death showed us the truth that the world has yet to learn: non-violence is the way of God. Violence answered with more violence does not make peace. How can you practice non-violence today?
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 3: Jesus is Condemned to Death
The religious leaders took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They accused Jesus of terrible things, but Pilate could find nothing that Jesus had done wrong. Still, the people shouted, “Crucify him!” Pilate took water and washed his hands before the crowd of people. He said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. See to it yourselves.” All the people answered, “Crucify him!”
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Staton 4: Jesus is Stripped of His Clothes
The governor’s soldiers took Jesus inside the governor’s house. They stripped off his clothes and wrapped him in a scarlet military cloak. Weaving a crown of thorns, they pressed it onto his head and stuck a reed in his right hand. Then they began to mock Jesus by dropping to their knees, saying, “All hail, King of the Jews!” After they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the cloak, and led him off to be crucified.
The world did not understand the kind of king that Jesus was. He was a king unlike any ruler they had ever seen. He did not come to conquer and take power; he came to give of himself in service and love.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 5: Jesus is Whipped
Pilate handed Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified. He had him whipped, a punishment that many others endured at the time. Jesus’s body was hurt. He felt the pain that all people whose bodies are harmed by torture and violence feel. Jesus understands the suffering of those who are harmed at the hands of another person.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 6: Jesus Takes Up The Cross
The soldiers placed a very big, very heavy wooden cross on Jesus’s back. They led him into the streets, and made him carry it all the way to the place where he would be killed. It was so heavy on his body, and his heart must have been so heavy with sorrow and fear. Jesus struggled and fell down. They forced him up, and made him keep waking.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 7: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
The burden of carrying his own cross must have been very great for Jesus. The soldiers grabbed a man named Simon from the crowd to help Jesus carry the cross.
Take a moment to think about all the friends and family who may be around to help carry your burdens. Give thanks for the people who provide support and help to you, and the way in which you are able to support others.
Whenever we help each other, we know that Jesus is always with us.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 8: Jesus Falls
Jesus fell down several times. He was weak and exhausted. Even with help, he fell down. Each time he fell, he had to get up and continue walking up towards the hill where he would die. The crowds watched him fall under the weight of the cross he was carrying.
Take a moment to think about what it is like to be vulnerable yourself. What is it like to see others in moments of vulnerability or weakness? What is it like to think about Jesus being physically weak?
When we are weak and exhausted and vulnerable, we know that Jesus is always with us.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 9: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
The soldiers hammered large nails into his hands and feet. Everyone stood and looked at Jesus. The people who loved Jesus felt anguish. The people who didn’t love him were unhappy too because they had done something very wrong. Jesus knew he was going to die, but even while he was suffering, he prayed, “Abba God, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”
Even in his pain and sorrow, Jesus held love and understanding in his heart for the whole world. When we offer forgiveness to others, we participate in the life of Christ.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 10: They Cast Lots for His Clothing
While he was on the cross, they gave Jesus wine mixed with vinegar to drink. But after tasting it, he didn’t want to drink it. After they crucified him, they divided up his clothes among them by casting lots.
All throughout his death, people mocked Jesus. They did not respect the sanctity of every human life. They refused to see that every life is sacred and important. What lives does our society treat as more valuable, or more sacred, than others?
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 11: Jesus is Hung on the Cross with Two Criminals
There were two other criminals to be executed with Jesus. One hung on his right, and one on his left. One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus insulted him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” The other criminal spoke harshly to him, “Don’t you fear God, seeing that you’ve also been sentenced to die? This man, Jesus, has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “I assure you that today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus, you forgave the people who hurt you. You revealed the ugly truth of the world: that even “good” people get hurt. You showed us the truth: violence against any life is a sin.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 12: The Women are at the Cross
As Jesus suffered, he was not alone. Many women were there - they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Jesus was not alone in his suffering and in his death. Even though some of his disciples betrayed and denied him, some of his disciples were there through this most painful story. Throughout human history, birth and death have been the work of women; and in Jesus’s gruesome death it was the women who stayed by his side.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 13: Jesus Dies on the Cross
Jesus cried with a loud voice, and then took his last breath. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. Though it was mid-afternoon, the sky became very dark. Jesus’s arms were stretched out wide; like a mother hen who longs to gather her chicks under her wing, Jesus’s arms were stretched out in love for the whole world.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 14: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross and Buried
After Jesus died, a friend of Jesus from Arimathea, named Joseph, came. Joseph took down Jesus’s body from the cross and wrapped it lovingly in a linen sheet. He laid Jesus’s body in the grave that he had made for his own death, a cave cut into the rock in a garden. Joseph then rolled a large stone over the opening of the tomb to seal it shut. It was the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, and there was no time to prepare Jesus’s body for burial. Slowly and sadly, the people who loved Jesus left the tomb.
Jesus, our Savior, on this day you gave up your life for us. Save us and help us, O Lord.
Station 15: Empty Crosses
And now we gaze upon the three empty crosses, as the story comes to an end. This would have been the end for those who loved Jesus; like us, they grieved his death as the end of their relationship with him, the end of the life they knew together.
We know, however, that the story is far from over. But today and tomorrow, linger a little while longer in the grief, the uncertainty, the confusion that Jesus’s followers felt. Remember that it was only because she stayed and wept at Jesus’s empty tomb, rather than running away in fear from her pain, that Mary Magdalene was the first to encounter the risen Christ.
What grief is pressing on your heart today? Who do you know that is grieving? Can you reach out to them today? If you are grieving, can you reach out and ask someone close to you to listen for a while?
Gather your little ones to you, O God, as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.
Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you;
you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment.
You comfort us in our sorrow and bind up our wounds,
in sickness you nurse us and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life;
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness,
through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead.
Your touch heals us of our sins.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy, heal us;
in your love and tenderness, remake us.
In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness,
for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.
Gather your little ones to you, O God, as a hen gathers her brood to protect them.
Thank you to everyone who contributed their voices to the recordings:
Mother Mary Lynn Coulson
Catherine Beamer
Johnny Miller
Elodie Robinson
Rebecca Johnson
Timi Shields
Carter Ruibal
Rowan Albers
Daniel McMillan
Carolyn Shields
David Tremaine
Mackenzie Stidham
Helen Davies
Bill Hardin
Shandy Carlson
Kari Robinson
