No greater love

Photo by Ian and Wendy Sewell
http://www.ianandwendy.com/Israel

By modern standards, Jesus and his disciples didn't travel far. Jerusalem was just a couple of miles from the Bethany home of  Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The group from Galilee seem often to have stayed there on their way to the city. 

The route that Jesus walked from Jerusalem to Golgotha was even shorter. Pilgrims still travel along the six hundred metres of the Via Dolorosa. The route is marked by the stations of the cross. Four of the nine stations describe Jesus engaging with individuals that he meets along the way. Two of those encounters are mentioned in the gospels while the others have their roots in church tradition.

The Stations of the Cross represent a spiritual journey for both Jesus and for the latter day pilgrims who follow his path. The journey is a very human one. The encounters with Simon of Cyrene, Mary, Veronica, and the women of Jerusalem are a reminder of all that drove Jesus throughout his life. Even as he walked to his death, Jesus reached out to those he met with compassion and love.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13