The 9th station
Jesus falls a third time.
The 9th station: Jesus falls a third time.
The number “3” is quite significant in Christianity. Therefore, this third fall should spark our imagination.
The number “3” directs us first to the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Also, Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day. He hung on the cross for three hours. Jesus prays three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times” (Mark 14:72).
Jesus is a priest, prophet, and king which we participate in through baptism. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Jesus also repeats the question, “Do you love me?” three times to Peter at the end of the Gospel of John (John 21:25-17). Of course, there are more theological examples but we should turn our attention to the three-fold aspects of sin to understand this ninth station.
We see that sin seeks to destroy three relationships: with God, others, and oneself. The Bible also describes original sin under the rubric of three, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).
Sin also seeks to diminish truth, goodness, and beauty. It is often stated that most people follow a basic 3-phase trajectory of sin throughout life: young people tend to struggle with lust, middle-aged persons gravitate toward power, and the elderly can struggle with greed. In fact, Confucius is credited with this analysis 5,000 years before the birth of Jesus.
Of course, Christ stands up after He falls for the third time. Jesus cannot be pinned down to the ground.
Every step of Christ seeks to reverse the effects of original sin and to ultimately conquer death. The weight of the cross is the weight of sin and death. Each step, each drop of blood, and each moment of excruciating pain seeks to realign humanity with God, others, and oneself.
There may be someone reading this article who feels like the weight of sin is just too heavy to bear. Maybe it is a sin which can be categorized under pleasure, honor, power, or wealth. Maybe it is a sin that occurred only once or thousands of times. Maybe the sin has been a burden for a very long time or only recently has weighed one down.
I encourage all of us to ponder the following line from the prayer Adoro Te devote [I devoutly adore You].
St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Lord Jesus, clean me…with your blood, one drop of which can heal the entire world of all its sins.”
Jesus stands up yet again under the weight of sin and death. He is stronger than our greatest enemies.
“We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you; because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”
Fr. Ben Daghir
A very enlightening article. Thank you.