As we continue our Lenten journey through the stations of the cross, today’s two stations emphasize the humanity of Jesus.

The third station: Jesus falls the first time

Jesus is a young man of about 33 years old. To hear that He falls as he carries the cross seems a surprise, especially knowing that His full humanity contains an equal amount of His full divinity. How can God fall? And from the name of the station, it didn’t happen only once. After being beaten and crowned with thorns by the soldiers, who excelled at pain and torture, Jesus’ body was weak. And yet He gets up and continues on. His destiny is not to die on the road, but on the cross at Calvary. 

There have been heresies over the centuries that denied the humanity of Jesus, but this station underscores just how human He really was. Jesus understands our human nature because He has lived it. He knows, not just from a divine understanding, which penetrates much deeper that even we can understand ourselves, and brings that wisdom in practice. How many times do we use our fallen humanity as an excuse to do what we want to do, as we try to act as a god ourselves? We argue with God that He doesn’t understand our circumstances, but these defenses fall flat with Jesus’ first fall carrying the cross. He does understand how easy it is to fall under the weight the world puts on us. While Jesus can sympathize with our plight, can we understand the love He has for us to accept the cross and all it brought with it? Love is not just a nice feeling, but a choice that requires sacrifice. Do we die to our wants in order to choose a relationship with Jesus?

The fourth station: Jesus meets His mother

If you try to imagine a scourged and bleeding Jesus, carrying a cross on the way to His death, meeting up with His mother, the woman who has trusted God in all circumstances of life, the encounter is nothing short of painful. Jesus wants to comfort His mother, but words are hard and time is short. Mary wants to comfort and aid Jesus, but she can only pray that God’s will be done through all of this. He is her baby boy, but she also knows He has a mission too. She has to let Him go amidst the pain and suffering she feels. She lets Him go, but never too far away; she will be at the foot of the cross as He takes His last breath. 

This station reminds us of the great miracle of the incarnation of our Lord. He didn’t just pop into existence, but with the consent of Mary, started His life like we all do, in the womb of His mother. The bond between mother and child lasts far beyond the umbilical cord and early childhood dependence. While on the cross, Jesus will speak to Mary and give her motherly protection to John and the Church. Through our baptism we become adopted children of God and we receive Mary as our mother, to help support us and point us in the direction of her Son. She has experienced both true miracles and the worst of horrors during her earthly life. Now, in heaven, she seeks the well-being of all her children throughout the world and across the millennia. When we fail, let us never be afraid to seek her guidance and protection to help steer us back to the path God has for us. 

Jesus shared our humanity, and therefore is a part of our human family. As Christians we partake in His divine family, and are able to call God our Father and Mary our mother.