The Third Station - Falling

Reprinted with Permission by Christian Peacemaker Teams

Jesus Falls the First Time Under the Weight of His Cross
By Jean Fallon

We see Jesus falling the first time beneath the weight of the cross... the full weight of the Roman Empire! It is someone crushed and un-recognizable, beaten down by soldiers of the Occupying Roman Forces and the unseen power behind Jesus' condemnation. Let us continue the meditation, Jesus in Palestine now. We see scenes of several years ago in the Beq'qa Valley, Hebron. Standing with the Christian Peacemakers Teams we are like the crowd, forced to stand by as helpless witnesses.

August 1998: members of two Palestinian families sit dazed and crying before their fallen homes, now utterly crushed and unrecognizable! For one family, this is the second time! The remains of their houses, built with such hope on their own land, now represents a bleak future for themselves and their children, and all that is left of their life savings. The Israeli Occupation Forces, enforcers for the Occupiers, (the State of Israel), had come, guns at ready, just before sunrise, driving the families outside... with them come bulldozers, demolishing the houses in a total of five minutes. Left are heaps of rubble and the families, sitting in the cold, with nothing but the heavy weight of their lost homes.

These Palestinian families have held the land for generations, but above them on the top of a hill are ‘Settlements’, the unseen power demanding this action to clear this area of ‘Arabs’ in order to take over this whole area.