1st Station
The First Station – Jesus is Condemned to Death
Pilate
said to him: “So you are a king?” Jesus answered: “You say that I am a
king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to
bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my
voice.” Pilate said, in answer: “What is truth?” At this point the
Roman Procurator saw no need for further questions. He went to the Jews
and told them: “I find no crime in him.”
The
tragedy of Pilate is hidden in the question: what is truth? This was no
philosophical question about the nature of truth, but an existential
question about his own relationship with truth. It was an attempt to
escape from the voice of conscience, which was pressing him to
acknowledge the truth and follow it. When someone refuses to be guided
by truth, he is ultimately ready even to condemn an innocent person to
death.
The accusers sense this
weakness in Pilate and so do not yield. They relentlessly call for
death by crucifixion...When [he] brings Jesus, scourged and crowned
with thorns, before the crowd, he seems to be looking for words, which
he thinks might soften the intransigence of the mob. [Maybe if they see
Jesus as a man, they will relent in their obstinate insistence on
crucifixion.]
Pointing to Jesus he says, Ecce homo! Behold the man! But the answer comes back, “Crucify him!”
[Pilate] is increasingly convinced that the accused is innocent, but this is not enough for him to decide in his favor.
Thus
was Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Redeemer of the world,
condemned to death by crucifixion. Over the centuries, the denial of
truth has spawned suffering and death. It is the innocent who pay the
price of human hypocrisy. Half measures are never enough. Nor is it
enough to wash one's hands. Responsibility for the blood of the just
remains. This is why Christ prayed so fervently for his disciples in
every age: Father, “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
From John Paul II's Way of the Cross
Lord Jesus Christ,
you accepted an unjust judgment.
Grant to us
and to all the men and women of our time
the grace to remain faithful to the truth.
Do not allow the weight of responsibility
for the sufferings of the innocent
to fall upon us and upon those who come after us
To you, O Jesus, just Judge,
be honor and glory forever and ever.
Amen
We adore thee, O Christ, and praise thee;
Because by thy holy cross thou hast redeemed the world;
Lord Jesus, crucified!
Have mercy on us!
For the sake of your sorrowful passion,
have mercy on us, and on the whole world.
Jesus
is all alone. Far off now are the days when the words of the Man-God
brought light and hope to men's hears, those long processions of sick
people whom he healed, the triumphant acclaim of Jerusalem when the
Lord arrived, riding on a gentle donkey...Lord, where are your friends?
Your subjects, where are they? They have left you. This running away
has been going on for twenty centuries...We, all of us, flee from the
Cross, from your Holy Cross. Blood, anguish, loneliness, and an
insatiable hunger for souls...these are the courtiers around your royal
throne.
From The Way of the Cross, Josemaria Escriva
And
they will ask him: what are those wounds that you bear in your hands?
And he will reply: I received them in the house of those who love me. (Zach 13:6)