Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. ² Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “It is as you say.”  Mark 15:1
 
This is the Scala Sancta.  According to an ancient Christian tradition, these 28 steps of the Holy Stairs are precisely the same ones that Jesus climbed several times on the day of his death sentence in the palace of Pontius Pilate. In 326, the Holy Stairs were transported from Jerusalem to Rome by the praetorium of Pilate at the behest of Empress Saint Helena, mother of Constantine.  (excerpt taken from https://www.turismoroma.it/)
 
Scala means stairs, Sancta means Holy.  They are covered with wood to protect the marble underneath.  You can climb them, but there’s a catch.  You must do it on your knees. 
 
I’ve never climbed a flight of stairs on my knees, so I had my reservations. There were ladies already on the stairs praying silently as they made their way to the top and, before we knew it, Marea made her way to the first step.  We (Bailey, Caden, and I) were committed.  We started up the stairs.
 
Lee Strobel talks about the agony and torture of the cross in The Case for Christ.  I’ve studied the anguish of the crucifixion, but I hadn’t thought about what led up to it.  Mentally, emotionally, physically, Jesus was at the point of exhaustion as He took step after step to hear the fate He already knew.  He was going to be crucified.
 
The first few steps are adjusting to the pain.  You put your weight on one knee as you lift the other to make the next step.  I felt like I should be praying, so I started with the Lord’s Prayer… a couple of lines and another stair.  That morphed into Psalm 23 with the same idea.
 
As we continued, I noticed the indentations on the wood in the form of knees.  The wood was smooth from continual wear.  Every Friday of Lent, it is customary for many to make this pilgrimage.  As you near the top Jesus comes into view.  He is hanging on a cross.
 
I couldn’t remember the middle part of Psalm 23.  So, I started praying for my family, naming them silently as I continued to ascend.  Tears came as I continued.  The pain was increasing, but this was a holy moment.  I was overcome.
 
As I finished the flight of stairs I struggled to stand up.  I was looking at Jesus and thought, “the cross was not the end for Him.”  Whatever pain you are going through today is not the end.  Our struggles will not end in defeat because there is a One who has already claimed victory over the grave. 
 
His name is Jesus.  He came that we might have life more abundant.  Live.
 
We are Central… and we’re in this TOGETHER!  
SOLI DEO GLORIA 
-F