STATION 4: JESUS MEETS HIS MOTHER

Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”
— Luke 2:34-35 (New Living Translation)

Station 4

Station 3 (Jesus Falls for the First Time) and station 4 are right next to each other. Did Mary witness her son falter and fall here as he carried his cross? Did she listen to the crowd laugh at his pain? Did she, helpless, watch the guards press him forward, forcing him to pick up the cross and move again toward the hill of his execution?

Did Mary think back to Simeon’s prophecy in the Temple, when he looked at the infant Jesus, and proclaimed that a sword would pierce her soul because of this child?

Let us pray.

Gracious God,

We pray for mothers and fathers whose souls are pierced by pain when their child is hurt. We pray for parents who are unable to give comfort, or to bring healing, or to keep their precious children from suffering.

We pray for our own mothers and fathers by name, lifting them up to you. We give you thanks for the way they nurtured and encouraged us. We pray that you would grant us forgiving and healing for the ways they did not.

We thank you for the example of Jesus’ mother Mary, and her devotion to you. We thank you for her willingness to bear this child, this Messiah, this Savior in her womb, and then to entrust him to your care. We thank you for her love for him, which followed him faithfully, all the way to the cross and beyond. We pray that you would help us to trust in your plan for our own children, and we pray that we would never be asked to endure what Mary endured on that Good Friday.

We pray for the protection of our children, that they would grow up safe and strong. But most of all we pray that they would grow in your love and that their faith in you would be strong.

We finish this station by praying in silence, that you would open our spirits to you this day.