Via Dolorosa - Taking a walk.

Via Dolorosa - on Good Friday

Hey all, get your walking shoes on.  In honor of today we are going to take a walk following the Via Dolorosa.   This post is going to be showing the Stations of the Cross.  The stations are considered where important events happened on this day.  (Good Friday)

First an overview map of the route.  The bigger size (when you click on this one) is nearly 400k so give it a moment to load.  This is from a brochure we received.

It's a good way to see the route through Jerusalem.

Station 1

Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor.  - John 18:28

Here's our group under the Antonio Fortress at the Praetorium.

Station 2

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. - John 19:1
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. - John 19:16 

This is a picture from our brochure since we didn't actually stop here.
"This shows the Chapels of the Condemnation and flagellation.  The two chapels of the Fransiscans stand partially over the Lithostrotos where Jesus traditionally was condemned to death." - Quote from the brochure.

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. - Mark 15:16-17 

This image shows scratches on the floor which are part of the games the soldiers played.  This is in the Antonio Fortress and the marks are part of a game called the kings game.  It is believed that the game was played over Jesus.

Station 3

This is where Jesus fell the first time.   It must have been so hard carrying that heavy cross after being whipped and beaten.  The struggle had to have been incredible yet He continued on for our sakes.
I remember reading one time about how the angels must have been ready to come down and rescue Jesus and minister to him.  The only thing holding them back was God.  It was fiction but it must have been like that.  To see their King being treated as such.

This is a Polish chapel.  The high-relief above the entrance is by Thaddeus Zielinsky.

I took the exterior photo but we did not go into the church so the interior shot is from the brochure.

Station 4

Jesus meets his mother the first time.

Can you imagine being Mary and seeing your son in this condition?  Although she knew who Jesus was and why he had come to earth it still must have been heartbreaking to see Him in this condition.

At the same time, It had to have been both difficult for him to see her seeing him yet at the same time, like most of us, he likely took some strength from seeing his mother.  How often, when we are going through something, would we like to just have a big hug from Mom?

Station 5

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. - Mark 15:21

This station is marked by a Franciscan oratory.  At this point the Via Dolorosa becomes steep on it's way to Golgotha.

This is not a station but this stone is considered to be a stone that Jesus leaned on at this point on his trip up the Via Dolorosa.  This is not a station but it between station five and station six.  Jesus was of such importance, people did not displace a stone that is believed to have leaned on.

How important is He to you?  He went through this for you.

Station 6

This is where Veronica wiped Jesus' face.  There is a chapel there that is the convent of the Little Sisters of Jesus.   This is the traditional site of Veronica's house.

The name Veronica comes from the words vera and icon.  Vera means true and icon means image.   Veronica = true image.

God is amazing.  He has a woman assist Jesus and her name means true image.  Isn't that beautiful?

Station 7

This is the doors to a Franciscan chapel.  It marks the second place where Jesus fell just as He was leaving the city through the gate.    The Christian name for this site is "Judgement Gate".   Tradition states that Jesus' death notice was posted here.

I don't know if you notice the circle doohicky (that is a technical term) with the number seven in Roman numerals.  Each station has that showing the station.

It's quite a feeling walking along the route that Jesus took.

Station 8

Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. - Luke 23:28

I wasn't able to get a photo at station eight so this one again is from our brochure.

This is where Jesus is believed to have stopped to console the women of Jerusalem.  This is a Latin cross on the wall of a Greek monastery.

Station 9

This is where Jesus fell for the third time.  A Roman column marks this station.  In the picture to the left, you can see the Roman colum on the right of the right portion of the picture.  The cross leaning against the column is a reminder of what happened here.  This is the location of St. Helen Coptic Church.

In the left portion of the picture on the left you can see the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built over the place where it is traditionally believed that Jesus was buried.  That means that at this point, Jesus could see the location of where his crucifixion was.  Mind you, all the buildings you see were not there in Jesus' time so Golgotha was easily visible.

There is a lot of interesting information about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher but it will be in another post because this one is about the journey Jesus made on this day.

Station 10

Oops, I had my camera  angle just a tad high for this picture.  As you can see from the top, restoration work is going on.   This station is the little room you see sticking out.  From this station on, all are within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

This room sticking out has an external flight of stairs going to it.  This is considered the place where Jesus was stripped of this garments.

Believe it or not, this is called the Chapel of the Stripping of Jesus'  Garments.  They build a chapel for everything related to Jesus around here... well maybe not EVERYTHING.

Station 11

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. - John 19:17-18

This is another picture I was not able to get but here's one from the brochure.

This is a Latin shrine that, in 1938 was decorated with the mosaics you see.  This marks the place where Jesus was nailed to the Cross.

Station 12

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) - Matthew 27:46

Here is another image from the brochure.  When we were at the church it was packed with people.  I got the feeling I knew what a sardine felt like in the can.  I couldn't get any decent pictures.

Anyway, this i a Greek altar in the Eastern style.  It stands over the Rock of Calvary where the crosses of Jesus and the two thieves were erected.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split - Matthew 27:51
In the bedrock beneath this altar is a large crack caused by the earthquake on the day Jesus died.  Are you a non believer?  Well, don't you think this is interesting?  In Matthew's account, he tells of the rock splitting and there is a split rock.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Station 13

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. - Mark 15:42-43

The larger part of the picture is from the brochure and the inset if my photo.  You can see why I used the brochure picture.  The stone you see is believed to be the stone that Jesus' body was laid on after his death when they prepared him for burial.

While we were there, it was nearly impossible to see the stone let alone get near it.  It was surrounded by worshipers who were rubbing crosses, rosary beads and whatever else they had, on it. They were doing this to make those items holy.

Now (personal opinion here so skip this paragraph if you don't want to hear it.) although the stone is important to the historical account of what happened to Jesus', I don't believe that the stone itself is holy.  Jesus is holy, not objects.  We need to make sure that we are worshiping the Holy One and not something else.

Okay, personal opinion over, on to the final station.

Station 14
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. - Matthew 27:59-60

We have now arrived at the final station.  This is the location where it is believed that Jesus was buried.  This is where things went dark for the followers of Jesus.  King of the Jews?  But He's dead.  He was supposed to free the Jews from their bondage.  What happened?  He did all those miracles.  His teaching was so different.  It looked so good.  He was now dead.  Picture yourself a follower of Jesus.  You've been hanging on his every word for months.  You've yearned to be with Him every moment you can.

OR, maybe you are James, Jesus' brother.  You knew the man had a loose screw or two.  Here's proof.  Son of God.  But he's dead.  Hung on a cross.  Died.    What a way to start Shabbat.  How depressing.  You go back to your homes and just sit, wondering how life will go on.

In the photo, you see hundreds of people cued up to see the tomb.  They wait for hours to see a little bitty tomb (inset) where it is believed Jesus was buried.  To touch the area.  It would have been nice to see but egad, the wait and all.  Our group had other things to see so we were off on our excursion.

The Tomb is the focal point of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.  The chapel, which is the framing you see in the bigger picture, was erected by the Crusaders on  Byzantine foundations, dating back to Constantine the Great.

Now that we've ended this post on a low note, stay posted for the Easter post.  Yeah!!