Monday, the Fourth Week of Lent

Ninth Station of the Cross – Jesus falls the third time

   I’ve wondered why we contemplate Jesus falling three times on His path to Calvary.  Of course He was beaten, bloody and weak from His ordeal.  I question if perhaps He didn’t fall more than three times, maybe many more.  His ordeal had begun before midnight on Thursday night and culminated with His crucifixion at Golgotha around noon on Friday leading to His death at about three in the afternoon.

   During that fifteen hours Jesus was driven from Gethsemane to the High Priest's home; from there to Pilate’s home; from there to Herod’s palace, then back to Pilate's home.  He was given His cross and driven from Pilate’s home to Golgotha.  During that period he had no food, no water, and no rest.  He was beaten mercilessly, tormented and forced marched from place to place.  Is it any wonder He fell at least three times on the way to Calvary?

   But why three?  Numbers had meaning in Hebrew and Aramaic.  One possible reason we contemplate three is because three may simply mean more than two.  In other words it is a way of saying several times.

   Still, why three?  There is no scriptural indication of how many times Jesus fell or even if He fell.  However, from the earliest days of the devotion we have contemplated Jesus falling three times.

   What follows is simply my thoughts on the matter.  There is no biblical or theological teaching that I am aware of that explains why we see Jesus falling three times.  So I am offering only my thoughts about it after prayer and contemplation.

   Perhaps the three times Jesus fell speaks to the times humans have failed.  Maybe the first time He fell is because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Given all they could possibly need, they succumbed to temptation and pride.  Could the weight of their betrayal have caused Him to fall the first time?

   God chose the Jewish people and made them His own people.  He watched over them and protected them when needed.  He disciplined them in their failings as would any good parent.  Finally He sent Jesus as their Messiah.  Rather than welcome Him they chose to reject Him and kill Him.  Maybe the weight of God’s own people rejecting Him caused Jesus to fall the second time.

   What of the third time?  We are the pagan branches grafted on to the Jewish vine of God’s people Israel.  As Christians, we have many times failed to honor, praise and worship the God who created us, the Savior who died for us and the Spirit who will guide us if we only allow.  Perhaps the weight of our continuing failings caused Jesus to fall the third time.

I have no facts with which to support these thoughts.  My prayer is that I have given a respectful theory which I hope may add to our contemplations on the Passion of our Lord.