STATION 2: JESUS TAKES UP THE CROSS
The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.
— Mark 15:16-22 (New Living Translation)
Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!” They yelled, “Away with him. Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked, “What? Crucify your king?” The leading priests shouted back, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away.
— John 19:13-16 (New Living Translation)
Station 2
The cross is placed on his shoulders.
Rough. Heavy.
Not just wood—
but the weight of hatred, injustice, mockery, fear.
The burden of every sin he did not commit.
He has been betrayed, condemned, humiliated, beaten—
and still they expect more from him.
They expect him to carry the very thing they will use to kill him.
And he does.
No words.
No resistance.
Only the quiet strength of love.
It’s tempting to romanticize the moment,
to sanitize the pain into something noble or poetic.
But this cross was not symbolic.
It was splintered wood digging into torn flesh.
And still—
he carries it.
How many of us carry things we were never meant to bear?
And how often do we add weight to someone else’s load?
Jesus takes up the cross
not because he must,
but because he chooses to.
Because love always chooses to go where others won’t.
Let us pray.
Jesus, you accepted the weight of the cross, though it was never yours to carry. You bore the mockery and cruelty of the world, so we would know just how far love will go.
Forgive us when we pile burdens onto others — with our silence, our prejudice, our unwillingness to see.
We pray for all who carry heavy loads today: for the overwhelmed, the overworked, the overlooked.
Give strength to the weary, and courage to those who have been pushed down too long. Let your Spirit remind us that we do not walk alone — and neither does anyone else.
Teach us to help carry one another’s crosses not with pity, but with compassion, with hands that serve and hearts that care.
We take this next step with you, shoulder to shoulder. Help us walk the road with reverence and resolve.
Amen.