The Cloth

This is the thirteenth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God!
He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 15:51-57

Peter then saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. (John 20:6,7)

During Jesus' time, there was one way a carpenter let a contractor know a job was finished. A signature if you will. When the final piece of a job had been completed, the carpenter would typically fold a towel neatly in half and set it on the finished work and walk away. Whoever would arrive later to inspect the work would see the towel and understand its simple message:

The work is finished.

On the first Easter, Peter crouched in to look into an empty tomb. He saw only the linens that Jesus had left behind.

Imagine that a smile crossed Peter's face as sorrow was replaced by hope. He saw the wrap that had covered Jesus' face; it had been folded in half, and left neatly on the floor of the tomb. The carpenter had left behind a simple message.


Paraphrased from
The Carpenter's Cloth
by Sigmund Brouwer

Jesus has risen, He's alive forevermore!

He rose victorious from the grave!

Death has no power over him!

The last enemy to be conquered is death... and Jesus has conquered it for us!

And as I stood in front of this station, I felt a surge of power and victory inside of me. I am not a victim, cause I've got the Victor living in me!

This was such a powerful experience, going through the stations of the Cross at the Walkway.

This is the season of springtime, and God has broken through for me again.

Confirming His call upon my life: Speak life to the downhearted! Spread the Good News that Resurrection is real. Death has no power over us, Jesus our Redeemer has already died in our place.

Now all we have to do is to accept His finished and completed work on Calvary, and this includes accepting and believing in the power of His Resurrection!

The Darkness

This is the twelfth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

This was the dark room which symbolized the death of Jesus.

A translucent black and white curtain,
going through it from the dark room and out into the sunlight
was such a lovely symbolism of rising from the grave...

Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Promise

This is the eleventh in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.







These were the words written on this station:

Two thieves hang on the cross on either side of Jesus.


One insults him:

You call yourself Messiah?
Well, then come down from that cross.
How are you going to save us if you can’t save yourself? (Luke 23:39)

The other one tosses up a confession with a desperate cry for forgiveness:

We are punished justly,
for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

How could two men see the same Jesus and one chooses to mock him while the other chooses to pray to him? We don’t know, but they did.


And when one prayed to him, Jesus loved him enough to save him.


And when the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him. He allowed him the choice.


He does the same for you.

Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Mother

This is the tenth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.




JESUS ENTRUSTS MARY TO JOHN

It is almost impossible to reflect on the events surrounding Jesus’ final hours with out thinking about Jesus’ mother, Mary. Tradition places Mary following Jesus as he trekked the road toward Calvary. And while most of Jesus’ friends had already abandoned him, we find the faithful mother at the foot of the cross until his death.

What memories flashed through Mary’s mind as she witnessed her beloved son’s torture? Did she replay Gabriel’s declaration of his birth, and that:

His kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:33)?

Did she think of the silent night in Bethlehem when her baby boy was finally born? What about the time, at age twelve, when Jesus traveled to the temple alone to talk about God? And who can forget Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana?

One thing is for sure: From Bethlehem to Calvary, Mary was there for her son. She loved Jesus. And Jesus, he loved her. He loved her so much that in the midst of his own suffering, he made sure to entrust her to the friend he loved.

My personal reflections:

I remember my own mother. She passed away before my second baby was born. How I would have loved to still have her around. She was a good model for me... she taught me how to do all things well. She never turned her back on hard work, and yet she always knew how to sing, and how to laugh.

I still miss my mother, Lord.

But now is a good time to thank You for having given me someone like her...to nurture me, to train me, to help me become what I am today. I owe much of what I am to her. She is a gift from you I will always cherish.

And today, I want to be a mother like Mary to my own children.

I will always treasure my children in my heart. Always pray for them. Always believe the best of them.

Dear Father, this is my constant prayer for my children: Give them a hunger and a thirst to know You more, the way You want to be known by them. Never allow their faith in You to waver, or to lose its power. Always lead them in the pathway of their destiny. Never let them settle for anything less than what You have dreamed for them.



Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Crucifixion

This is the ninth in a series of 14 entries, in commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

The Romans perfected execution by crucifixion to an art. It was reserved for the lowest of criminals and carried out to inflict the maximum amount of pain before death.

The Romans did not tie the convict to the cross. They used tapered square spikes about five-and-a-half inches long and drove them through the wrist and feet, causing excruciating and intolerable pain.

Ultimately, one died by suffocation. To breathe, the convict was forced to push himself up on his feet to allow for the lungs to expand. As the body weakened and pain in the feet and legs became unbearable, he would eventually trade breathing for pain and exhaustion until the lungs collapsed and the heart finally failed.

Why choose such a horrible death?

Why would God allow His only son to experience what is probably the most gruesome way to die in all of human
history?

The sacrifice on the cross reveals how repulsive sin really is. But it also shows us the awesome magnitude of God’s love. God put your sin on his Son and punished it there, so that you would be free.

Why?

For moral duty?

Heavenly obligation?

Paternal requirement?

No. God is required to do nothing.

John 3:16 reads that,

God so LOVED the world, that he gave his only son.

The motivation was love. The motivation was you.

Paraphrased from
He Chose the Nails
by Max Lucado

Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Two Simons

This is the eighth in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.




This was the eighth station in the Walkway.

There are fourteen stations in all, each one of them beautifully highlights a part in the journey of Christ, from His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane to the morning of His glorious resurrection.

Four of the stations touched my heart in a special way. One of them, Station 5, The Whip, just brought me to tears. My British friend Trudi and I couldn't hold back the tears as we knelt on the grass, pouring our hearts out to the Lord.

This station, "The Two Simons", also gripped my heart.

Two metal sculptures formed part of this exhibit, one man holding a rooster, the other holding a cross. A short distance away was a table with two glass jars and a lamp. At night, this lamp gave off a warm glow, as those going through the walkway took a prayer request from one of the jars, and prayed for a complete stranger. On the other jar they dropped their own personal request, for the next person to pick up, and pray for.

The whole exercise was so life giving, and again, tears came to my eyes as I reflected on what the two Simons had done in the life of Jesus.

Simon Peter denied Jesus, but he had the opportunity to affirm his love for his master three times. Jesus did not reject him, but welcomed him back with open arms. He died a martyr's death, having been crucified upside down.

Simon of Cyrene was a total stranger. But his compassion for Jesus moved him to offer to carry the heavy cross part of the way. This account moved me to tears too.

There was an unmistakable anointing upon the whole place. At each station, I felt a stirring in my heart. It was noonday when we went, so the sun was directly over us, which explains why there was such a glare in most of the pictures I took. It was very hot, and dry, although the water sprinklers watered the grass off and on throughout the day. But despite the discomfort, I felt a kind of holy quiet...I felt like I had to tiptoe going through the whole experience.

These were the beautiful words written about the two Simons on the boards at this station:

Simon Peter

And he went outside and wept bitterly. - Luke 22:62

Simon Peter fell from his high horse and flat on his face as he buckled under the 2eight of his guilt. In less than 24 hours, Peter went from declaring his loyalty to Jesus even unto death (Luke 22:33), to flat out denying that he knew the man.

He had just denied his Lord. Not once, but three times.

Peter could have well earned the title, “History’s Greatest Flake”, but his story doesn’t end there. Decades later, he finds himself hanging on a Roman cross.

Tradition tells us that he requested to be hung upside down, feeling unworthy to even die the same death as Christ.

The charge? Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel for those who need a second chance – the gospel for flakes.

Simon of Cyrene

When the torture has taken its toll and the cross has become too heavy to bear, Jesus looks back and finds not a friend, not a disciple, not anyone from his inner circle… Jesus finds the help of a stranger.

He could have been left anonymous; records could have kept him unnamed. But the gospel writers don’t merely gloss over the detail that a foreigner helped Jesus carry the cross. For this act, he is forever etched in history.

The stranger is from Cyrene. And his name is Simon.

Act

• Has there ever been a Simon in your life—someone who pulled through for you when you were in dire need and help was nowhere to be found? Thank God for that person.
• Now, here’s a chance to be a Simon to someone else. Think of someone who you believe may be in need of something. Pray for that person.

Father,

I thank You for the many Simons in my life. Just like Simon of Cyrene, they were there to pull through for me when I needed help. People who believed in me, people who encouraged me and lifted me up, someone who had a kind word for me just when I needed it. A kindness that I neither expected or deserved.

Thank you...thank you. I may not be able to thank them enough...but many of them I have met as I was ministering Your healing to others, and many of them have become my friends today.

I thank You too for my blog friends, especially those who have taken the extra effort to bring our blog friendship to the next level. They, too, did what Simon of Cyrene did for you...an encouraging word, a prayer, an email just to let me know I'm appreciated...

But they all started out as strangers...loving me, accepting me into their hearts...

And today I thank You for sending them all into my life. Please touch their hearts today in a special way. You know who they are.


Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Cross

This is the seventh in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.










As I stood in front of this station, I thought of what it means to take up the cross of Jesus in my daily life.

I thanked Him that I did not have to carry a literal cross.

But, His words clearly say

And he said to all,
"If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me."

- Luke 9:23

The road to being a true follower of Jesus, a true disciple is really the road of self denial.

The world has wrongly taught ascetism or austere self-discipline as the path to true spirituality. And I am aware that there are correct, as well as wrong ways of doing this.

But it is true that the enemy of our souls has succeeded in propagating the religion of self-indulgence.

Today I just want to renew my commitment to my God and King, to live a lifestyle of simplicity, of joy, contentment and Christlikeness.

Jesus, help me to know what it truly means to take up my cross daily and follow You.


Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Curse (Crown of Thorns)

This is the sixth in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.










For me, thorns represent the wrong and sinful choices I have made in my life.

The predisposition to self-focus. Self-centeredness. Careless words I have uttered and which have hurt others. Impulsive decisions I have made, instead of praying through and asking God for wisdom. Things I have regretted saying, or doing. Unkind and impure thoughts that have crossed my mind.

Failures and shortcomings. Inadequacies. Inconsistencies.

There are so many ways by which sin bears fruit in my life...

And how often have I felt so helpless to undo the wrong choices I have made in the past, the consequences of which I now have to face and live with!

What a relief to know that Jesus carried and bore the curse of sin upon Himself.

Every step of His way to the cross, Jesus endured, to buy back my freedom from the effects of sin.



Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Whip

This is the fifth in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

For many of us, the bloody events surrounding the death of our Lord Jesus are better just read in books and historical accounts.


The truth is, no one can accurately describe what happened.


And again, most of us would rather not hear them, much less, see them elaborated upon.


How the Bible says it is enough for us.

This is how I have always felt, even though I live in a nation that goes through the Passion of Christ every year in graphic and elaborate portrayals of the long uphill climb to Calvary that Jesus endured.

I never went to see the movie The Passion.

I can imagine the pain, the agony of Jesus...but I'd rather not see it with my own eyes.

When I came upon this fifth station, I wanted to run away. But something inside of me told me I needed to go through this.


At 57 years of age, I must admit that this was my first real encounter with the whip that tore the flesh of Jesus to shreds.

A replica of the stone pillar where Jesus was tied before the scourging

A real whip, probably the kind that was used on Jesus,

put together by someone who researched extensively on it.

I stood there unable to hold back my tears.


The words of Isaiah 53:5, one of my most favorite passages in the Bible, kept rising in my heart. This time, as I repeated it, with a real whip hanging right in front of me, I had a clearer picture of what the words really mean.

But He was wounded for our transgressions
He was bruised for our iniquities
The chastisement for our peace
was upon Him
And by His stripes we are healed.



Dearest Jesus,

I have no words at this point.

All I can say is thank you for the healing and the restoration in my life -- all made possible because of what You went through...for me.

I can never thank You enough. But that's all I can say for now. Thank you.


Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal
Walkway Reflections 3: The Trial
Walkway Reflections 4: The Verdict
Walkway Reflections 5: The Whip
Walkway Reflections 6: The Curse
Walkway Reflections 7: The Cross
Walkway Reflections 8: The Two Simons
Walkway Reflections 9: The Crucifixion
Walkway Reflections 10: The Mother
Walkway Reflections 11: The Promise
Walkway Reflections 12: The Darkness
Walkway Reflections 13: The Cloth
Walkway Reflections 14: The Table

The Trial

This is the third in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

Many bible scholars who have studied the trial of Jesus consider it an "illegal trial" for a host of reasons. Here are a few:

- Jesus was subjected to a secret preliminary examination at night. The law only permitted daytime hearings.

- The Sanhedrin by law could not originate charges. In this case the accusers were the judges.

- An advocate was required to speak on behalf of the defendant because the accused could not be convicted by his own testimony. Jesus had no one.

- The verdict could not be given the same day as the trial. Jesus' trial was completed in less than nine hours, his execution within twenty-four.


The trial system of the Sanhedrin was one that took pride in how they erred on the side of mercy. However, all the principles of justice they affirmed and implemented were scrapped. They breached all their standards to condemn the one innocent man who ever lived.

(Taken from The Walkway interactive stations of the cross at Bonifacio High Street)

Dear Jesus,

I never knew and understood what kind of trial you were given. It was not only a most unfair one, it was a mock trial in every sense of the word.

And yet it was the trial that sent you to the cross.

And as I reflect on this at this very moment...I do not even have any right to judge the Sanhedrin for what they have done to you.

I am guilty of doing the very same things. Judging others at face value...judging when I do not have all the facts...passing judgment when I am offended or when they do not live up to my expectations...accusing others when I have not heard their side of the story...

And I can do all this judging right inside my heart, without anyone hearing what I am saying to myself.

Right this very moment I repent, as I see how it poisons me, and how it poisons relationships, and how it "kills" others, just the way the Sanhedrin killed You.

Forgive me, Lord. I never want to judge with unrighteous judgment again!

Help me to be humble in the way I look at others, even presidents, rulers of government, the people who sit in authority.

Cleanse my heart now of every defilement to my thoughts and emotions and perceptions that my wrong judgments have brought to me.

Enable me dear Jesus to always look at others with a pure heart, from Your eyes of love.

Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden
Walkway Reflections 2: The Betrayal

The Betrayal

This is the second in a series of 14 entries, in preparation for Holy Week, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

In economics, the value of an object is determined by how much an individual is willing to pay for it.

To Judas,Jesus was worth thirty pieces of silver: the equivalent of three months' wages of the common laborer. You can say that he sold Jesus out for cheap.

Jesus, on the other hand, lets us know how much God values man--yes, even those who betray him:

He compares God to a woman who frantically stops at nothing till she finds her lost coin; Luke 15:8-10

He calls himself the Good Shepherd, the one who abandons ninety-nine sheep in search of the one that has wandered off; Luke 15:1-7

He likens God to a lovesick father who waits earnestly for his prodigal child to come home. Luke 15:11-32

If you still doubt how much you are worth to God, Jesus' sacrifice settles the questions once and for all.

My heart's response:

My Jesus,

Judas sold you out for a mere thirty pieces of silver. Really cheap.

But You, the Son of God, gave up Your life ... that's how much you value me.

How easy it is for me to be like Judas, forgetting just how much You are worth. And this morning as I reflect on that act of betrayal that was done to you, I ask your forgiveness.

Forgive me because it is easy for me to believe that the unfortunate circumstances of my past determine how much I'm worth.

But your death on the cross makes it clear once and for all. I am worth dying for. I am precious in your sight.

Forgive me because I often forget. And I often take You for granted. And I often put many other things ahead of You...because it is easy to rationalize that You will understand...and You will forgive.

But today I really want to honor You, and value You, and treasure You, and cherish You.

You are worth everything I could offer You, and still it would fall far short in comparison to what You have given Me.

But it's all You ask for.

Today dear Jesus, I want to tell You... Thank You for what You've done.

You're all I want...You're all I ever needed.



Walkway Reflections: Introduction
Walkway Reflections 1: The Garden

The Garden

In preparation for Holy Week, I am sharing a series of 14 entries, one for each station of the cross, taken from my 2010 devotional journal, entitled Walkway Reflections.

Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives
as He was accustomed, and His disciples
also followed Him.

...And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw,
and He knelt down and prayed, saying,
"Father if it is Your will,
take this cup away from Me,
nevertheless not My will,
but Yours be done."

Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven,
strengthening Him.

And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.
Then His sweat became like great drops of blood
falling down to the ground.

Luke 22:39-44

The Garden.

This was the first station of the cross in the walkway.

As I stood in front of the big black board between two large mirrors, these were the words I read:

Jesus is afraid.

It's dark. He knows the soldiers are coming. And His friends are asleep. It will be the last time He sees them before they abandon Him. He knows their betrayal is only minutes away.

But He doesn't accuse. He doesn't lecture. Instead, He chooses to pray. He prays for His sleeping friends, and for everyone who would believe in Him from that point on.

We also know that He begged for an exit. "Father, if You are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from Me. Yet, I want Your will, not Mine." Luke 22:42

If He could have, He would have turned His head back on the whole mess. But He didn't.

He didn't because He saw you. Right there in the middle of a world that isn't fair. He say you betrayed by those you love--in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends. He saw you, and He didn't want you to be alone.

He had made His decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.

Paraphrased from He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado.

Immediately so many thoughts came to my mind.

Often I forget that Jesus came to earth as a man, capable of the same emotions that I go through. And here he was in the garden, battling fear.

Gethsemane has come to be such a beautiful word for me. It means olive press. A huge stone used to crush olives to let the oil flow out.

It was a heavy stone, and this is what it must have been like for Jesus... He must have felt like being under a "gethsemane."

I thought of the first garden where a similar battle had taken place. Adam and Eve were being offered life, but they chose death.



In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fought another battle. He knew what was ahead. He wanted to give up.

Garden of Gethsemane

Jesus knew He would be betrayed. And then literally tortured to death.

Nevertheless not My will, but Yours be done.

His words of humble submission. One of the important steps He took to redeem the choice made at the first garden thousands of years ago. This time the choice of Jesus brings life, not death.

He could have given up, but He didn't.

Why didn't He?

The words on the board strike my heart:

He didn't because He saw you.

Right there in the middle of a world that isn't fair.

He saw you betrayed by those you love - in your own garden of gnarled trees and sleeping friends.

He saw you and He didn't want you to be alone.

What a crushing weight it must have been! I will never know what it was like for Jesus to have the weight of the whole world placed upon Him.

Sadly I must admit that I have often taken this for granted. But that morning, on April 1, I had an opportunity to remember what it was like.

The instruction was to look at one of the large mirrors beside the first station in the Walkway.



I looked at myself as I stood in front of the mirror.

There was a time when that person standing in front of me was younger. Full of dreams and aspirations. Many years have gone by.

Many of my dreams have not come to pass.

I tried to look back at the wrong things loved ones have done to me.

Unkind words.

Negative attitudes.

False judgments.

Promises that have been made by close family members, and still remain unfulfilled to this day.

I remembered some of the wounds that these loved ones have inflicted upon my heart, and even upon the heart of my husband who is now resting in peace...


Most of these wounds have healed and forgiveness released, so in remembering them, there was only a little numb ache...

Nevertheless, as I looked back, some pain, and fear... came back to the surface.

There was no anger, only a little sadness. Tears came to my eyes.

And it just felt so comforting to know that Someone knows exactly how I felt!

I looked at myself, in the present tense...

"Father, this is who I am, and who I have become.

Many of the things that have happened in my life story are not what I dreamed of. But You are the One who created me... and re-creating me.

Turning the ashes of my life into a crown of beauty, pouring the oil of gladness upon my heart, giving me a garment of praise to replace the spirit of despair...

Always giving hope, always giving life..."

As I knelt on the grass beside the mirrors, I thanked Jesus for going through it all, for me. I thanked Him for what I have become.

The rest of my life story is being written by Him!

And my heart was filled anew with hope. I will go forward into the future. Much of it is unknown, but I already have an idea of what it will be like.

It will be glorious, and it will be beautiful.




Walkway Reflections: Introduction

Woundedness: Life Out of Death

Gethsemane