On their way out of the city, they met a man
from Cyrene. His name was Simon. They
forced him to carry the cross. They came to
a place called Golgotha. The word Golgotha
means The Place of the Skull. There they
mixed wine with bitter spices and gave it to
Jesus to drink. After tasting it, He refused
to drink it. When they had nailed Him to the
cross, they divided up His clothes by casting
lots. They sat down and kept watch over Him
there.
Above His head they placed the written
charge against Him. it read, THIS IS JESUS,
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Two robbers were crucified with Him. One
was on His right and the other was on His left.
Those who passed by shouted at Jesus and
made fun of Him. They shook their heads and
said, “So You are going to destroy the temple
and build it again in three days? Then save
yourself! Come down from the cross, if you
are the Son of God!”
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders made fun of Him.
“He saved others,” they said. “But He can’t
save Himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let Him
come down now from the cross! Then we
will believe in Him. He trusts in God. Let God
rescue Him now if He wants Him. He’s the one
who said, “I am the Son of God.” In the same
way the robbers who were being crucified
with Jesus also made fun of Him.
From noon until three o’clock, the whole land
was covered with darkness. About three
o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice. He
said, “Eloi Eloi, lama sabachtani?” This means
“My God, my God, why have You deserted
me?” Some of those standing there heard Jesus cry out. They said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”
Right away one of them rand and got a
sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar and put
it on a stick. He offered it to Jesus to drink.
The rest said, “Leave Him alone. Let’s see if
Elijah comes to save Him.”
After Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, He
died.
At that moment the temple curtain was torn
in two from top to bottom. The earth shook.
The rocks split. Tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were
raised to life. They came out of their tombs.
After Jesus was raised to life, they went into
the holy city. There they appeared to many
people.
The Roman commander and those guarding
Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had
happened. They were terrified. They exclaimed, “He was surely the Son of God!”
Not very far away, many women were watching. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to
take care of His needs. Mary Magdalene was
among them. Mary the mother of James and
Joses, was also there. So was the mother of
Zebedee’s sons.
As evening approached, a rich man came from
the town of Arimathea. His name was Joseph.
He had become a follower of Jesus. He went
to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the
body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He
placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut
out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front
of the entrance to the tomb. Then he went
away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
were sitting there across from the tomb.
The next day was the day after Preparation
Day. The chief priests and the Pharisees went
to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember
something that liar said while he was still alive.
He claimed, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
So give the order to make the tomb secure
until the third day. If you don’t, His disciples
might come and steal the body. Then they
will tell the people that Jesus has been raised
from the dead. This last lie will be worse than
the first.” “Take some guards with you,”
Pilate answered. “Go. Make the tomb as secure as you can.” So they went and made the
tomb secure. They put a seal on the stone and
placed some guards on duty.
The Sabbath day was now over. It was dawn
on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
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