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.  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 nine on Friday morning.  He suffocated on the cross to death on the cross, dying at about three in the afternoon.

   But why three?  Numbers had much more meaning in ancient times than we attribute to them today.  One possible reason we contemplate three is because three may simply indicate more than two.  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 reflections on the matter.  So I am offering only my thoughts about it after prayer and contemplation.

   Perhaps the three times Jesus fell speaks to the times humanity has failed Him.  Maybe the first time He fell was 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 Israelites and made them His own people.  He loved them, watched over them, and protected them.  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 One 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 scripture or other sources with which to support these thoughts.  My prayer is that I have given a respectful hypothesis which I hope may add to our contemplation of the Passion of our Lord.