Way of the Cross: Stations 9-10 (March 27, 2013)

…Opening To…

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you;
Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

…Listening In…

When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Skull Place, 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 drawing lots. (Matthew 27:33-35; context)

…Filling Up…

This Holy Week we are be meditating on the fourteen “Stations of the Cross.” The Opening and Sending sections of this week’s Devos, as well as the italicized verses at the end of each station come from the Episcopal “Way of the Cross” service found in the Book of Occasional Services. (If you’d like to hear the complete work before Friday, check out the music page.)

Station 9: Jesus falls the third time
By the waters of Babylon,
I hung my harp from the wall.
Darkness my only companion,
For the third time I see my Lord fall.
This strange land will hear no song of Zion,
This strange land that sees him crawl.
Remember, O Lord, my affliction:
The wormwood and the gall
The wormwood and the gall

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter:
And like a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he opened not his mouth.

Station 10: Jesus is stripped of his garments
The stench of decay is all around
When the bloody procession slows.
At Golgotha the only sound
Is the cawing of a thousand greedy crows.
They stop and strip his clothes to the ground
And offer him wine he loathes.
The soldiers are slapping their wagers down:
They gamble for his clothes,
And they gamble for his clothes.

They gave me gall to eat;
And when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.

…Praying For…

Dear God, your holy Son was stripped of his clothes and his humanity, and he was reduced to a discarded piece of flesh hung on the cross. Yet he did not lose his dignity, nor his power, nor his conviction. In my dark days, clothe me with Christ and help me cling to him, in whose name I pray. Amen.