STATION 5

(participant reads)
A summary of Jesus’ death:
The news about Jesus is spreading.  The crowds are getting very excited about what Jesus is going to do next, but the religious leaders do not like Jesus one little bit!  They decide He has to be stopped. 
A plan is made to capture Jesus, to accuse Him of things He has never done and then have Him sentenced to death. 
Jesus is arrested, beaten and spat on.  He is forced to carry a huge, heavy wooden cross up a hillside. He is hung on that cross.  
It is the middle of the day, but the sky turns black. 
Jesus cries out in a loud voice, “It is finished.” 
Then, He bows His head and gives up His spirit.  At this moment, the earth shakes.  
Jesus’ body is lifted down from the cross and buried in a tomb. 
A heavy boulder is placed across the doorway of the tomb.  
 
(guide reads)
Jesus makes a way for me to know healing.  Perhaps not in the way I wish it might happen, but his willingness to lay his life down opens the way for my own healing and renewal.
Ultimately, it wasn’t just the choice of Jewish religious leaders, or Roman soldiers that caused Jesus to die.  Jesus chose the cross for himself.  
His love for me compelled him to choose the way of the cross - my rejection of God’s loving rule and my way of selfishness leaves me in desperate need for rescue. 
 
He could have called all the spiritual powers to bring Him down off the cross, but He chose to stay. He chose me.  He chose you.
 
God desires to completely cleanse and heal my mind and heart so that I will have true freedom.
 
When Jesus died on the cross, he died for ALL of my sin and ALL of my shame.
 
Near you are pieces of paper and pens. Think of something specific that you wish to put to death. It may be a terrible act from your past, feelings of guilt, shame, pain, unforgiveness or possibly an attitude that is disappointing to God.  It may even be something that has happened to you that always seems to impact how you think and feel about yourself.
Write it down on a piece of paper. No one else will read it, but you can write it in code if you want to.
Fold the paper in half. Pick up a hammer and a nail. Nail it to the cross of Jesus. As you nail it, consider how the death of Jesus has put your sin and shame to death. 
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With each stroke, remember Jesus’ words: “It is finished.”