ABOVE: Click the pic from "The Passion Of The Christ" to watch the brutality of Stations 9,10,11. What does this say to us? THIS WEEK: The Stations of The Cross
The Day They Stole God's Clothes EDITOR’S NOTE: While you may or may not be familiar with “The Stations of The Cross,” it might be the perfect timing to “walk” with Christ through his passions as many people are suffering and others have time on their hands during the Corona-crisis. The Stations divide Jesus' walk to Calvary into fourteen scenes or meditative "Stations." Stations 9, 10, 11 The ninth, tenth and eleventh stations have one thing in common for they deal with the most humbling thing possible: to leave yourself vulnerable to despicable men. Christ, however, goes through this humiliation so that he might humble himself before his Father. STATION 9: JESUS FALLS FOR THE THIRD TIME In Station 9, Jesus falls for the third time; sort of like “Three strikes and your out.” But wait! He gets up and faces his foes in an act of “forever.” Forever, the judgment that he faced by man is dealt with in a forever twist. On behalf of The Trinity, Jesus literally takes the knee…the most powerful upside-down act in a kingdom that raises the humble. STATION 10: JESUS IS STRIPPED OF HIS GARMENTS In Station 10, men strip God, steal his clothes and celebrate sacrilege. We look at this station in unbelief and yet the same thing happens most every day by a world that thinks it can pilfer anything from heaven. “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.”Psalm 2:4 (ESV) It is understood that The Christ must suffer. But to be stripped? In this station, we see man’s naked body symbolizing so many things: that the body will eventually be stripped of its dignity through death and decay, that the veneer of clothes that represents the covering of sin is removed and see the flesh exposed, that the pride of man is ripped away while at the same time the height of heaven’s love is revealed. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" Romans 11:33,34 (AMP) STATION 11: JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS In the previous stations, all manner of dignity is lost. But in Station 11, any semblance of control is taken away. Prisoners' hands and feet are immediately bound when captured by an enemy. But Jesus’ hands and feet are nailed as if to symbolize that He is forever bound to the forgiven. The marks of The Lamb will never go away. "Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” John 20:27 (NKJV) “…in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…You have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Revelation 5:6,9b (NKJV) PORTAL TO HEAVEN: No fiction writer could come up with a plot that would forever unveil the love that resounds in the halls of heaven. Comments: norepcom@gmail.com
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