Creating
a Station of the Cross
Imagine yourself overhearing a conversation between a
husband and his wife. The wife has been
disturbed in a dream. She interrupts her
husband's work to give him a message, "Do not judge that man who has done
nothing wrong. I have suffered greatly
because of him." The Stations of
the Cross are scenes that depict Jesus on his way to the crucifixion. The process of creating one station involves one
or more people, who choose a story from scripture and pray the scripture, do a word study, imagine living in the
story; then listen for an invitation, and produce a visual scene
.
Praying the
scripture is conversation with God asking him to reveal the scripture. Praying the scripture also includes reading
the story in different versions, listening, and writing or thinking about the
story in our own words. While reading
the scripture in different versions, the varieties of words are helpful to
enlarge the imagination. Read the
passage in a room alone. Even better,
where two or more people are taking turns reading in different versions while
the others listen. Practice telling the
story to children or friends, and pay attention to each word and the feelings
behind the words. Tell the story to
yourself or better yet write it out in your own words.
The story of Matthew 27:11-26 is the beginning of the path
on our walk with Jesus to his death. In
this scene, Jesus is standing before the governor, Pilate. Pilate is questioning Jesus. "Are you the King of the
Jews?" Pilate was impressed because
Jesus stood silent and did not defend himself. Pilate's wife had been disturbed in a
dream. She interrupted her husband at
work to give him a message, "Do not judge that man who has done nothing
wrong. I have suffered greatly because
of him."
It was the beginning of a celebration feast, and it was
the custom to give a prisoner his freedom.
Two prisoners stood facing a rioting crowd. Jesus, the King of the Jews, was innocent and
Jesus Barabbas guilty of horrible deeds.
Pilate had been thinking about the dream that his wife had, and said to
the crowd, "Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus
who is called Christ?"
Many sneaky, envious priests called Pharisees persuaded
the crowd to release Barabbas and kill Jesus.
Perhaps Pilate had envisioned the crowd choosing Notorious Barabbas. Maybe Pilate had chosen Barabbas thinking the
crowd would surely choose the innocent to go free. How surprised Pilate must have been to hear
the crowd shout, "Release Barabbas" Pilate continued to manipulate
the crowd and asked, "What should we do with Jesus?" The people shouted repeatedly, "Crucify
him!"
"And Pilate said, "Why, what
evil has he done?" They shouted louder,
"Let him be crucified!" So
when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a
riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before
the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood, see to it yourselves." All the people answered, “His blood is on us
and on our children!"
A word study is a word or phrase that comes to the
mind after the story has been listened to a number of times. In Matthew 27, the word water jumped from the
text. How is water important to
people? Water is important in cleaning,
drinking, and it makes flowers grow. Water
is in our bodies as Perspiration and sweat.
Had Pilate sweated in front of the crowd remembering his wife's dream? Words describing water spill out within the
imagination like; washing, clean, baptism, purify, refreshes, thirst. The symbolic vision of Pilate washing his
hands was like a baptism of himself. How
could Pilate wash away his own sins?
Only God can clean us, purify, and refresh our souls. A word study is helpful to begin imagining
the scene
Imagine living in the story allows questions while contemplating
the scripture. Where am I standing? What am I feeling? What do I see? How is the scene of Pilot washing his hands
coming to life? Imagine standing in the
crowd shouting, "Crucify him", or hiding and pretending not to know
the innocent Jesus. Pretend to be Pilate
and work hard to free the innocent Jesus and please the crowd at the same time. Think about the surrounding and the smells, noises,
and look around to see, this creates a place brought to life for others.
The visual of standing
in Pilate's shoes could be a reminder of avoiding conflict to please
others. This is the invitation that has been
reveal from the experience in praying the scripture, studying the word, water; and
then imagining being Pilate in the story. "Pilate Washes His Hands" is the
title of Station 1.
In Station 1, a bowl of water was set on a pedestal the
height of a bathroom counter with inviting a guest to imagine being Pilot. The guest may step up to the pedestal and then
imagine washing their hands. On the
pedestal is a towel with a red hand imprint.
Red and purple fabrics drape over a clear, threefold wall. One section of the wall is like a window and
through the window; painted fists are view along with the words "Crucify
Him". Pretend to stand as Pilate
washing your hands. The rioting people
are demanding the freedom of Barabbas. A
woman tells of a disturbing dream and urges have anything to do with innocent
Jesus. The hand that swipes the sweat
from your brow is your own.
The Journey of choosing and praying scripture, studying
words, imaging you in the story, and creating the station reveals the need for
Jesus. This Journey of Imagination has
drawn me to experience a deeper love of Jesus encased with suffering and the
Joy of seeing the Lord is near to the broken hearted.
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