Readers

Narrator
Readers 1-4 (Pre-Kindergarten class)
Readers 5-10 (Kindergarten class)
Readers 11-16 (1st-3rd Grade class)
Readers 17-28 (4th-5th Grade class)

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Narrator

When it rains in the desert, the flowers bloom. The seeds lay under the ground for months, for years sometimes, waiting for the water to come; but when it does, they leap from the ground in a glorious surge of life and color.

The season of Lent commemorates the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert, fasting and being tested. The desert is a place of hardship and privation; but it is also a place of clarity and vision. During this season, we also remember the journey of Jesus to the cross, and to the tomb; a journey through another kind of desert, the barren emptiness of human cruelty. The church has evolved a tradition to remember this journey; the Stations of the Cross. These stations mark the road that Jesus took, from his arrest and trial until being laid in the tomb.

Today, we will name these stations and reflect on their meaning.

We begin with the First Station.

Reader 1 (Pre-Kindergarten)

Jesus is put on trial.

Reader 2 (Pre-Kindergarten)

It's all lies, but Pilate says he has to die.

Narrator

The Second Station.

Reader 3 (Pre-Kindergarten)

Jesus has to carry his cross by himself.

Reader 4 (Pre-Kindergarten)

It's so heavy, but they make him pick it up.

Narrator

The Third Station.

Reader 5 (Kindergarten)

On the way, Jesus falls to the ground.

Reader 6 (Kindergarten)

The soldiers make him get up again.

Narrator

The Fourth Station.

Reader 7 (Kindergarten)

Jesus' mother, Mary, finds him on the road.

Reader 8 (Kindergarten)

Poor Mary; she had to watch the soldiers hurt her son.

Narrator

The Fifth Station.

Reader 9 (Kindergarten)

The soldiers make a stranger named Simon carry the cross for a while.

Reader 10 (Kindergarten)

Simon didn't really want to help, but Jesus was too weak to go on by himself.

Narrator

The Sixth Station.

Reader 11 (1st-3rd Grade)

A woman named Veronica wipes Jesus' face with a cloth. The picture of his face is printed on the cloth.

Reader 12 (1st-3rd Grade)

It was such a small act of kindness, but it made a mark that stayed forever.

Narrator

The Seventh Station.

Reader 13 (1st-3rd Grade)

Jesus' cross is so heavy, that he falls for the second time.

Reader 14 (1st-3rd Grade)

Jesus has been beaten and whipped so much that he can barely move; but they make him pick up the cross again anyway.

Narrator

The Eighth Station.

Reader 15 (1st-3rd Grade)

Some women of Jerusalem talk to Jesus; he tells them that soon, they will be crying for themselves instead of him.

Reader 16 (1st-3rd Grade)

What Jesus said was true. In about thirty years, the Temple would be torn down and Jerusalem would be nearly destroyed.

Narrator

The Ninth Station.

Reader 17 (4th-5th Grade)

Under the cruel weight of the cross, Jesus collapses for the third and last time. The soldiers drag him to his feet again; but they are almost there now. Almost to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull.

Reader 18 (4th-5th Grade)

It was probably a relief, for a moment, to arrive there. He wouldn't have to carry the cross any more. Just for a minute, perhaps, Jesus had a chance to rest and catch his breath, while the soldiers got things ready. But of course, it was just for a minute.

Narrator

The Tenth Station.

Reader 19 (4th-5th Grade)

Before they crucify him, the soldiers strip Jesus' clothes from him, and divide them between themselves; but his tunic is woven all in one piece, so rather than cut it apart, they roll dice to see which one of them will get to keep it.

Reader 20 (4th-5th Grade)

How much could a poor wandering teacher's clothes have been worth, especially after he had been tortured for hours? They were probably little better than rags by now; but the soldiers took them anyway. They were poor also; they were among those whom Jesus had called blessed.

Narrator

The Eleventh Station.

Reader 21 (4th-5th Grade)

Now the soldiers force Jesus onto the cross, and they drive nails through his wrists and his feet; the Son of God is crucified like a criminal. The soldiers fasten a sign above his head, saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," and then they leave him hanging there.

Reader 22 (4th-5th Grade)

The cross kills by taking your breath. As long as you can hold yourself up, as long as you can push back against the nails in your feet and arms, you can live. But when you get too tired, when you let yourself collapse, then your diaphragm is compressed and you can't breathe. Jesus had to fight for every breath he took on the cross.

Narrator

The Twelfth Station.

Reader 23 (4th-5th Grade)

Finally, it is finished. Everything that Jesus came to do in this life has been done; all the prophecies have been fulfilled, the teachings have been given, and the Word will live on. The time for suffering is over.

Reader 24 (4th-5th Grade)

The Gospels have different accounts of Jesus' final hours. In Mark and Matthew, Jesus cries out, asking, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In Luke, he asks God to forgive his tormentors, and he comforts the criminals who are crucified with him. In John, he says simply, "It is finished," and dies.

Narrator

The Thirteenth Station.

Reader 25 (4th-5th Grade)

They take his body down from the cross, and finally his mother and his friends are allowed to tend to him. Too late to save him; but they can bathe his poor body, and cover him, and prepare him for the tomb with what dignity they can.

Reader 26 (4th-5th Grade)

The women never abandoned him; Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene, and the others, stayed with him, as closely as they could, even when his own disciples ran away and pretended not to know him. They took what little comfort they could in knowing that it was all over; that he would never suffer again.

Narrator

The Fourteenth Station.

Reader 27 (4th-5th Grade)

One last thing remains to be done; they lay Jesus to rest in the tomb, anointed with funeral spices and wrapped in the grave-cloths.

Reader 28 (4th-5th Grade)

And in the tomb they left him, so they thought, forever; never to see him again, never to hear his voice.

Narrator

And there the stations of the cross leave us, standing with those who loved Jesus in front of the tomb. Jesus was not the first, nor the last, to be killed for speaking the truth; Mary was not the first or last mother to grieve. Her grief is our grief, her tears are our tears, as we stand before the tomb of our son, our teacher, our comforter, our friend.

It is still Lent; the fast is not yet broken, and we are still in the desert.

But remember the flowers. The seed of new and abundant life lies waiting in the ground.

And the rains are coming.