As they led Him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene … and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. –Luke 23:26
The first ten Stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa probably preserve no authentic first century remains. But Station Five—“Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross”—does exhibit one arresting stone artifact.
Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). –John 19:13
At this point in our story, the trail of stones that Jesus actually saw and touched begins to grow cold, buried beneath twenty centuries of urban development.
When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” –John 19:5
The Ecce Homo Arch marks the beginning of Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa.
The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews. Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” –John 19:21-2
You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. –Psalm 88:6
The night Jesus was arrested He was taken to Caiphas, the high priest, where He was tried summarily and beaten.
Having finished praying, Jesus left with His disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. –John 18:1
Here is where this book began, at this ancient Roman stairway known as the Holy Steps. Standing beside these steps on a hot Jerusalem afternoon, it suddenly struck me: Jesus walked here.
He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed. –Luke 22:41
If this book were about the trees of the Bible, rather than the rocks, we would now be at the heartwood of our story: the Garden of Gethsemane, home to an ancient grove of olive trees, some of which may be two thousand years old.
See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. –Mt 21:5
When I first heard about the “Stele of Bethphage,” I laughed.
I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. –Luke 19:40
What is more inert, more inanimate, more incapable of voice than a stone?
Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down. –Mark 13:2
Jesus could be such a killjoy. One of His band of Galilean rustics, agog with wonder at the sights of the big city, exclaims, “What magnificent buildings!”