Station III: Jesus falls the first time.

This is part three of a series of posts on the Stations of the Cross. Here are Stations I and II. Image source.

Station III: Jesus Falls the First Time

“The worn-out body of Jesus staggers now beneath the huge cross. His most loving heart can barely summon up another breath of life for his poor wounded limbs.” ~St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way of the Cross

Failure. The weight of physical pain and suffering and a simply physical incapacity to take one more step—these directly lead us to a psychological sense of moral failure and weakness as well. Christ knows he is to accomplish his mission at the top of the hill, but here at the beginning he feels the full weight of failure (“I am not even strong enough to drag this cross a few feet.”)

The fall is also a part of his work of salvation. When he falls, the Fall of Man receives its fatal blow. In Christ’s moments of failure, he triumphs over all my failures—real and imagined.

“Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.” ~Isaiah 53