Station 3 – Jesus falls for the first time

"Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." -Isaiah 53:4-6

Jesus sets out to Calvary, although the journey started long before. It is a short walk, geographically, but it is the slow, final steps of his lifetime of service on earth. His body is exhausted from the tumultuous agony in the garden and the torture of the guards. The weight of the cross pushes him to the ground.

It had been a short but grueling life. How emotionally exhausting to see us humans try and fail, or not even try, to see us turn from God who loves us so profoundly. He knows us, he knows our sin, yet he continues in this pain and abasement out of love.