And I was round when Jesus Christ
Had His moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed His fate
"Sympathy for the Devil"
- The Rolling Stones
This is the first station in the Stations of the Cross and is one of my favorites. I will post some better photos at a later date, but these are some of the older ones I wanted to go ahead and show, then burn to disc.
Stepping around to the middle of the exhibit, the detail on the bronze of Jesus' face is the very definition of "resigned to one's fate".
I've tried to not be caught looking, but I find it interesting to watch some people's reactions at this station, especially after they've seen the pure essence of dejection from the above view. Quite a few of the folks step away with a sad face, then turn facing Pilate with Jesus, standing side-by-side, often with their hand on Jesus' shoulder. I've never seen it done with disrespect, no mugging for the camera; in fact, I never have seen anyone posing
with the statues...most of the photographing of people is done with the huge cross as the background.
A little closer view shows how the bronze has been shined by people touching or brushing up against it.
Both figures are fascinating to study; Pilate is interesting because he did nothing, "washed his hands" and I suppose I can relate to that more than I can being persecuted as was Jesus. Pilate was human, interested mainly in his own self-preservation.
We all have crossroads in life, decisions we make that turn out to be wrong, but which is the worse sin; making a mistake or doing nothing? Sometimes our fate hinges not on those things we do, but by the things we do NOT do.
It's also common to find several dollars worth of change in Pilate's hand washing bowl.
This is my favorite perspective of Pilate, and I've plans for this or similar photos. I altered this one with my IrfanView program several months ago and like the way it almost looks like an oil painting.
As I said, I will post more at a future date.
