"He learned truth and light and love from Him, He was the one whom Jesus loved. Now he would take one last walk with Him and witness every blasphemy and cruelty imposed on Him... and do nothing." A book dedicated to John the Beloved, who took me on a walk that changed my life forever.

Published by Life In Christ.
Third Printing, 2005

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Book Sample

The Tenth Station of the Cross

Jesus is stripped of His clothes.

From "Through the Eyes of Love" by Ronnie Cano

Jesus is at the top of Golgotha, having been dragged there by the soldier. I see new soldiers positioned there, soldiers who really look like Roman soldiers. They have on expensive uniforms, neatly matched and embroidered, with a brass border at the bottom of their skirts and a brass chest plate. Some are wearing helmets.

The soldiers, who carried the Cross up the hill, have put it down where it is supposed to go. They place it near three holes that have been dug into the ground. Jesus is standing at the head of the Cross as it lies on the ground.

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Magdalene, and I, cannot get close to Jesus. There is a circle of guards each standing approximately three feet apart, shoulder to shoulder facing the excited crowd. We can only see between them. The crowd behind us is very angry and agitated. Both the men and the women are yelling and screaming, and pushing and shoving. They seem to have lost all resemblance to normal people of order and decency. Many are yelling obscenities at Jesus and His mother. Some words I hear are: "You are an outcast and you are the mother of an outcast. You are certainly not the Mother of God! Look at Him! You are the mother of a criminal!"

Mary has fallen to her knees on seeing the crosses, the holes in the ground, and the finality of it all. She has lost all of her strength for the moment. I am standing over her, shielding her body from the rocks and debris people are now throwing at us. It is mostly women who are throwing things; the men are focused on the crucifixion about to take place.

The Magdalene gets angry and screams boldly at the people closest to us to "leave us alone." She starts shoving and pushing people away from us in order to clear a circle around Mary. She wants room for the mother who needs to mourn for her Son. There are a few people here on behalf of the two other condemned men, but they are being ignored by the angry crowd.

I am covering my Lord's mother as much as I can, and my heart is pounding like it will come out of my chest. I have never seen a crucifixion before. I have only heard about them. Now, to know that it is my Jesus who is going to be crucified and that I will be here to witness it... and His poor mother! My mind simply cannot bear it.

A soldier has come over and orders Jesus and the two prisoners to take off their clothes. The way I am positioned I can only see the feet of the Magdalene, as I am still covering Mary's body with mine. Mary slowly stands back up. I know Mary is watching what is going on. I see her legs begin to tremble and she begins to fall to the ground after barely making it to her feet.

She wanted to find a way to get the attention of her Son and help Him in the only way she could. She wanted to just once more hold Him. She wanted to look into His eyes and see the beauty of the world and the heavens in the depths of His glance. A wail escapes her, as she falls to the ground, one I've never heard before in my life. It is the scream of a person that is terrified, and I react by trying to catch her before she falls completely. She stays on her knees and brings her hands up to her face and starts to cry in a voice that breaks my heart. And I then lift up my head to see...

Jesus has just straightened Himself up from neatly laying His clothes in a pile at His feet.

His body! His body! I do not see an inch of His body that is not wounded, bruised, or blackened! It is horrible! His legs are black and blue, with large blood blisters at the knees where He has fallen so hard on them. I see large gashes and deep cuts all over His body. They have started to bleed again from the effort of taking off His clothes. The sweat and blood had dried His clothes to His body, and when He removed them, the cloth ripped off parts of His skin. The bone of His shoulder shows through His flesh from the weight and the rubbing of the Cross. The bones on His knees are exposed! He is bleeding from every part of His body!

He looks so wounded! My God, what did they do to Him? What happened inside those walls?

Jesus' face looks so lost... so void of all emotion... so distant!

Now a soldier is telling Him He must take off the last of His clothes, a loincloth.

At this, Mary looks up again and almost falls back into my arms from the shock of what she sees. I hear her gasp. She covers her mouth and I hold her in my arms so she does not fall again. Shock has overcome her. She can't believe what she is seeing!

Never in all my dreams would have I thought this would happen to Jesus!

The soldier and the other two prisoners are also looking at Jesus in disbelief, wondering how He made it up here with all those wounds and all the damage that has been inflicted to His body? How is He still alive? Jesus' hands have turned black and blue, they are so bruised. It looks to me like every blood vessel in His hands has been broken. Everywhere on the surface of His body there is a wound, or a scab that has opened again.

Now Jesus must take off His loincloth and He fumbles to obey the order.

The pain is too much for human endurance. Oh! His humility! The humility of Jesus! Oh Jesus!

Mary has not said a word and I notice she is not even crying anymore. I think it must be the shock of seeing this.

Mary lifts herself up and takes off the white veil from underneath her dark blue mantle. She hands it to a soldier closest to her, to give to her Son. The soldier does not question it, but hands it to Jesus and allows Jesus His dignity. Jesus takes the veil from His mother and with His back towards the crowd and us, carefully, without uttering a word, wraps it around His waist.

I believe the soldier would wish to see all His body covered. His body is just too awful for the human eye to look at. The results of human brutality are too horrible to acknowledge. How did He even walk? How did He live? How did He breathe? No one could survive that beating and stand!

Jesus looks so thin. He must have lost at least twenty pounds today. I see His body shaking all over and it looks like a muscle spasm... or is it fever... or is it fear? I hear the sound of thunder in the distance and I notice black clouds are forming. It seems to be so appropriate!

The people are outraged by the soldiers who have allowed Jesus to wear His mother's veil, and they complain and scream. They verbally abuse the soldiers. Have they gone mad? They would prefer He not have the comfort and dignity of her veil!

The crown of thorns has fallen down over Jesus' eyes and His hair is filling with blood. There is blood coming down one corner of His eye. On His back there are small chunks of skin coming out all over and so it is with His chest and His poor, poor legs. Mary has come back and knelt down, with her head in her hands.

I hear her words, "Dear God have mercy, dear God of mercy, see my Son, see Your Son, and help us all!" She doesn't look up for awhile.

The soldiers tell the other two to lie on their crosses.

Both of the condemned men begin to kick and scream, and try to get away. They are not going to give up without a fight!

The soldiers physically hold them down and force them onto the crosses. They are both tied with ropes while they curse and yell, and twist and kick.

Knowing the next words will be directed at Jesus to lie on His Cross is more than I can bear.

I can't stand it anymore. I don't want to be here. Dear God, give me strength.