While we commemorate His sacrificial death, the Risen Lord is here in power to encourage, strengthen, forgive, and love you. To meet you at your point of need.
Before you begin we encourage you to:
Dedicate a block of time to this experience.
The Stations should be engaged slowly and uninterrupted. While some Stations may be a quicker read than others, we encourage you to follow the prompts and spend this special time with God.
Find a quiet place.
Provide yourself and/or your family an environment that is as free of distractions as possible and helps you connect with God.
Play some peaceful music.
Music is good for your mind, body, and soul. We’ve compiled a meaningful and meditative playlist to help you be open and focused throughout this experience.
Use a desk or laptop computer for the best experience.
For computer users we suggest playing the music in a separate app or playing the youtube video linked above in a separate tab of your internet browser.
For mobile users we suggest using Apple Music or Spotify, having the music play in a separate application. If neither music platform is available, you can play the youtube video linked above in a separate tab. Another option for uninterrupted background music is to play the music on a separate device.
Welcome
to this special remembrance.
Today is a time to slow down and focus on Jesus.
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
This clutter represents the noise and distractions of our lives. Sometimes, we’re so caught up with the busyness of life that we block God out. Even today you may have thoughts going through your mind.
Take a moment to acknowledge the clutter in your mind…close your eyes and shut out the piles and mess. Use stillness as a reminder to quiet your spirit before God.
Take a moment to be still and know that he is God.
Ask God to quiet your thoughts and put aside distractions so you can focus on Him and hear His voice through this journey.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Here is a pair of sandals, the kind that any ordinary man would wear. As you begin this journey, focus on what it means for the eternal God to become a man.
Think about what it means that Jesus once stood in sandals like these, just like any of us might. The God who created the world stepped into an ordinary human body.
Take time to meditate on the mystery, majesty, and humility of Jesus, the Son of God.
“Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected. ‘Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
Mary poured out expensive perfume onto Jesus’ feet as an act of worship.
Mary’s act of worship was pure, passionate, real, expensive, and extravagant - and it touched the heart of Jesus. Jesus knew He was headed to the cross, and Mary’s act of worship was a blessing to him. How can you extravagantly pour out your love to Jesus in a way that will spread the beautiful aroma of Jesus where you are? Think about it.
We are called to live every moment of our lives in fragrant worship of Jesus.
“Then one of the Twelve - the one called Judas Iscariot - went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”
Judas was one of Jesus' closest friends, one of the twelve disciples who had been with Him for three years. He agreed to betray Jesus for just thirty silver coins.
How could Judas betray Jesus for money? How do you think Judas felt when he looked at the coins in his hand and realized what he had traded for them? Is your own heart tempted to betray Jesus over temporary things?
Ask Jesus to help nothing be more important to you than Him.
“Jesus was troubled in spirit and said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.’ His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant…’ What you are about to do, do quickly,’ Jesus told him (Judas). As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.”
Think of the heartbreak Jesus must have been feeling at the betrayal of one of His own disciples.
Think of His sorrow at all Judas would lose by his betrayal. Can you imagine that Judas went ahead with his sinful choice, regardless of the warning from Jesus Himself?
Take a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to help you heed the warnings that come into your life.
“…So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’ ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘I am he,’ Jesus said. When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ ‘I told you that I am he,’ Jesus answered. ‘If you are looking for me, then let these men go.’”
Even though Jesus could have given the word and overpowered all the guards, He let himself be bound and led away.
He chose to submit to the difficult way of the cross with every step that He took. He was bound so that we could be free.
Thank Jesus for one freedom you currently experience because of what He has done in your life.
“Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. ”
Imagine yourself in Peter's place.
You are looking out over the courtyard where Jesus is being tried and mocked. You know that He is being unjustly accused. As you stand here, you see men telling lies about Him. You watch Him being beaten and mocked.
Here is the man you have followed for three years, the man in whom you had placed all your hope, being sentenced to death. In your heart you believed He is God, the promised Messiah.
Your whole world is crashing around you, and worst of all, you have denied you even know him. Look at the purple robe and the crown of thorns used by angry soldiers to wound and humiliate Jesus.
What makes it hard for you to honor Jesus?
Ask Him to help you have courage and quick obedience.
“When they crucified him, the Roman soldiers took His clothes and divided them up four ways, to each solider a fourth. But his robe was seamless, a single piece of weaving, so they said to each other, ‘Let’s not tear it up. Let’s throw dice to see who gets it.’”
Jesus asked the ultimate question about gambling. “What profit would it be for a man to win the whole world and lose his own soul?"
Jim Elliott, martyred missionary, echoed those same sentiments, saying, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Renew your commitment to pursue matters of eternity and your soul more than anything else.
“From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, ‘He’s calling Elijah.’ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.’”
Jesus became thirsty as a human being so that we could be satisfied by Him, the Living Water. He drank a bitter cup so that we could have fresh, new life. He came to bring us from darkness to light.
When Jesus died that day, so many people watching must have thought their hopes had died as well. Darkness came over all the land that day.
Spend a moment in the quiet today and remember the darkness and bitterness that the whole world - and heaven itself - must have felt that day.
Thank Him for the Living Water and the Light He is in your life.
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his Spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God!’”
The sin of all human beings took Jesus to the cross, not the Roman soldiers who arrested and beat him. His love for sinful human beings held him there. He could have answered the taunts by calling the angels of heaven to bring him down, but he didn't. He chose to stay.
Jesus was already dead because He decided when He would die. No one took His life from Him. When He knew that everything was completed which was necessary for our salvation, He said, "It is finished," and then willingly gave His Spirit back to His Father. His blood poured out for you and me.
Think about that: a willing gift.
“And he took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them saying, ‘This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way after the supper he took the cup saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”
Remember the cup and the bread as symbols of His sacrifice made for you.
Spend a few moments in reflection, loving him and letting him love you.
“When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive - right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross.”
Think of the sin in your life. Things you have done in the past or things you should have done, but did not. Attitudes that are disappointing to God.
If you have confessed your sins and accepted His sacrifice for you, your sin has been nailed to the cross and Jesus speaks the words: "It is finished" over you.
He bore the pain so you could be set free.
If you have accepted Jesus' free gift of forgiveness, redemption, and salvation - or if you are doing so today - use the next image to speak to God about your commitment and to let the world know your sins have been nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ and you are FREE!
Take a screenshot or save the following picture, fill in your name, and share your good news with your friends!
