They compelled a passerby,
who was coming in from the country,
to carry his cross; it was Simon of
Cyrene, the father of Alexander and
Rufus. 22 Then they brought Jesus to
the place called Golgotha (which means
the place of a skull).
23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but
he did not take it. 24 And they crucified
him, and divided his clothes among
them, casting lots to decide what each
should take.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning
when they crucified him.
26 The inscription of the charge against him read,
“The King of the Jews.” 27 And with
him they crucified two bandits, one on
his right and one on his left. 29 Those
who passed by derided him, shaking
their heads and saying,
“Aha! You who would
destroy the temple and
build it in three days, 30
save yourself, and come
down from the cross!” 31
In the same way the chief
priests, along with the
scribes, were also mocking him among
themselves and saying, “He
saved others; he cannot save himself. 32
Let the Messiah, the King of Israel,
come down from the cross now, so that
we may see and believe.” Those who
were crucified with him also taunted
him.
33 When it was noon, darkness came
over the whole land until three in the
afternoon. 34 At three o’clock Jesus
cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi,
lema sabachthani?” which means, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” 35 When some of the bystanders
heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling
for Elijah.” 36 And someone ran, filled
a sponge with sour wine, put it on a
stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying,
“Wait, let us see whether Elijah will
come to take him down.” 37 Then Jesus
gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38
And the curtain of the temple was torn
in two, from top to bottom. 39 Now
when the centurion, who stood facing
him, saw that in this way he breathed his
last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s
Son!”
40 There were also women looking on
from a distance; among them were Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James the younger and of Joses, and
Salome. 41 These used to follow him
and provided for him when he was in
Galilee; and there were many other
women who had come up with him to
Jerusalem.
42 When evening had come, and since
it was the day of Preparation, that is, the
day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of
Arimathea, a respected
member of the council,
who was also himself
waiting expectantly for
the kingdom of God,
went boldly to Pilate and
asked for the body of
Jesus. 44 Then Pilate
wondered if he were already dead;
and summoning the centurion, he asked him
whether he had been dead for some
time. 45 When he learned from the
centurion that he was dead, he granted
the body to Joseph. 46 Then Joseph
bought a linen cloth, and taking down
the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth,
and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn
out of the rock. He then rolled a stone
against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of
Joses saw where the body was laid.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
There is a core similarity between the
four accounts of the death of Jesus in
the New Testament. However, they
differ in sequence and in details,
allowing various understandings of the
cross to unfold. Because the death of
Jesus was and is such a deeply
mysterious and indeed perplexing event,
different dimensions are explored and
laid bare by different New Testament
writers. None is more stark than
Mark’s Gospel: all who knew Jesus
have failed him; his only “helper” is a
complete outsider, Simon, the unknown passer-by.
The only acknowledgement comes from the unnamed
Gentile soldier, accidentally present.
