At the cross

Imaginative prayer helps us to engage with God by interacting with Jesus in a Gospel story using our God-given gift of imagination. It is a way to encounter Jesus in and through the story as we “enter” into the scene fully using our five senses—imagining what we see, hear, smell, feel, and perhaps even taste. The idea is to become a participant or observer in the story. This is not going beyond the text of the Gospel but actually bringing the scripture alive for us, enabling us to experience Jesus—not just read about him.

Christians have been practicing this form of scripture meditation and prayer for centuries. Saint Ignatius, who lived in the sixteenth century, realized that God can speak to us through our imagination just as through our thoughts and memories. He taught a way of praying with scripture using the imagination that that draws us closer to God through personal experience.

“At the Cross” is an imaginative prayer exercise I wrote a few years ago and have used with various church groups and individuals during Holy Week (though it may be used at any time). It is intended to lead us in being present with Jesus in his final hours of suffering.

When someone we love deeply is suffering, we just want to be with them, to be present to them even when we have no words and are powerless to end their suffering. I invite you to offer the same gift to Jesus—your compassionate presence. Just as you wouldn’t resist being near someone you love in their final hours, let your love for Jesus help you to press into these difficult scenes. Offering our loving presence to Jesus in his suffering can deepen not only our intimacy with him but also our awareness of his loving presence with us in our own times of suffering.

Here are a few instructions for entering into this imaginative prayer exercise:

1. Take a few slow, deep breaths to center yourself and become aware of God’s presence. Ask God to sanctify or set apart your imagination, and trust that the Holy Spirit will be leading your imagination.
   
2. Read each scripture segment through slowly two times. The first time, take in the story. The second time, listen for the details of the story. Then read the questions and prompts that follow the scripture, allowing them to guide you in a time of silent imagining or reflection.
3. Find yourself in the scene. You may be a participant in the scene or an observer. Utilize all your senses, if possible. What do you see, hear, smell, feel, or even taste? Pay particular attention to Jesus, noticing his expression, tone of voice, and countenance toward you and others in the story. What thoughts and emotions arise in you as you participate in or witness the scene? (If at any time a scene becomes too much for you, simply return your focus to your breathing until you are able to re-enter the scene.)
4. Don’t worry if you have trouble picturing the scene. You might feel the story or reflect on the images and action of the story (similar to daydreaming) more than you picture it, and that’s perfectly fine. We use our imaginations differently according to how God has designed us.
5. Don’t analyze what’s happening during the exercise, wondering, “Is this God or is this me?” Remember that you have asked the Holy Spirit to guide this time. After you have completed the entire exercise, you can engage in a time of reflection and discernment using the following questions:

• Was there anything in my experience that was incongruent with the character of Christ in the Gospels?
• How did my imagination lead me—closer to God or farther away?
  

AT THE CROSS

(All of the scripture readings are from the accounts of John and Luke in the New Living Translation.)
 
Scripture Segment 1: John 19:1-4 and Luke 23:23-25
 
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. 2 The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. 3 “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face. 4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.”
 
23 …The mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

• A criminal is released while an innocent man—a teacher and healer who was recognized by many as the Messiah—is beaten and then condemned to death. Where are you in this scene? Can you hear the shouts of the mob? Can you hear the cries of Jesus’ grief-stricken followers? Is there arguing among those in the mob?
• Do you feel pushing or shoving around you? What are you experiencing and feeling in the midst of this chaos?

 
Scripture Segment 2: Luke 23:26-27
 
26 As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women…

• Many of the crowd follow behind Jesus as he is led away by the soldiers. Are you among the crowd, or do you step to the side of the road and watch as they pass by? Perhaps you’re one of the soldiers, or the stranger Simon who is forced to carry the cross.
• Wherever you are in the scene, notice Jesus, wounded and bleeding from the flogging, stumbling along the road. What is his countenance toward Simon? Toward the grief-stricken women? Toward you?

 
Scripture Segment 3: Luke 23:32
 
32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross…

• What do you notice as this procession is climbing the hill to the place of execution, The Skull, or Golgotha?
  • Can you smell the sweat and perhaps blood?
  • Do you feel the dirt on your sandals and feet from walking on the dusty road?
  • Can you hear the sound of the nails as they drive them into the wrists of Jesus and the two criminals?
• What does it mean for you to be present to Jesus in this excruciating moment?

 
Scripture Segment 4: Luke 23:33-38
 
33…The criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
 
35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”

• How does the irreverence of this scene strike you, and where are you in it?
  • Are you in the midst of scoffers, perhaps nodding in agreement out of fear?
  • Are you hanging back from the crowd, standing on the edges of the scene?
  • Are you near the cross, near to Jesus?
• Listen to the sound of the dice, the shouts of the soldiers, the scoffing and insults of the religious leaders. What do you observe of Jesus in this scene, and what arises in you?

 
Scripture Segment 5: Luke 23:39-43
 
39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”
 
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
 
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

• Can you relate to either of the criminals in this scene?
• What is Jesus’ expression and tone of voice as he responds?
• If you’re an observer, are you moved or offended by what you hear?
• How does this powerful moment move you?

 
Scripture Segment 6: John 19:25-27
 
25 Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

• Do you relate to one of the characters in this tender scene, or are you an observer?
• What do you notice in Jesus’ tone of voice and expression?
• What stands out to you about Mary and John?
• What moves your heart in this touching moment?

 
Scripture Segment 7: Luke 23:44-49
 
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
 
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” 48 And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. 49 But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

• Notice the sky becoming dark in the middle of the day. Are you shocked, frightened, in awe?
• As Jesus shouts his final words, what do you notice?
• Do you connect or communicate with Jesus in any way before he takes his last breath?
• What is your posture? Are you standing, kneeling, praying, crying? Linger in these final moments at the cross.

 
A Time of Response
 
Jesus, you humbled yourself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. You endured the cross, disregarding its shame so that you might overcome sin and death and make us alive in you. Lord, thank you for enduring the cross. Thank you for being so present to me today as I have been present to you in your suffering.

• Conclude your time of prayer by expressing your love to Jesus.