Pilate's Soldiers Tease Jesus (Mk. 15:16-20; Jn. 19:2-3)

²⁷Then Pilate's soldiers brought Jesus into the governor's palace. All the soldiers gathered around Jesus. ²⁸The soldiers took off Jesus' clothes and put a red robe on him. ²⁹Then the soldiers used thorny branches to make a crown. They put this crown of thorns on Jesus' head, and they put a stick in his right hand. Then the soldiers bowed before Jesus and teased him. They said, "Hello, king of the Jews!" ³⁰The soldiers spit on Jesus. Then they took his stick and hit him on the head many times. ³¹After they finished teasing Jesus, the soldiers took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led Jesus away to be killed on a cross.

Jesus Is Killed on a Cross (Mk. 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn. 19:17-27)

³²The soldiers were going out of the city with Jesus. The soldiers forced another man there to carry the cross for Jesus. This man's name was Simon from Cyrene. ³³They came to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means "The Place of the Skull.") ³⁴At Golgotha, the soldiers gave Jesus wine to drink. This wine was mixed with gall.* Jesus tasted the wine but refused to drink it. ³⁵The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then the soldiers gambled with dice to decide who would get Jesus' clothes. ³⁶The soldiers sat there and continued watching Jesus. ³⁷The soldiers put a sign above Jesus' head with the charge against him written on it. The sign said: "THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS." ³⁸Two robbers were nailed to crosses beside Jesus. One robber was put beside Jesus on the right and the other was put on the left. ³⁹People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. People shook their heads ⁴⁰and said, "You said you could destroy the temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross, if you are really the Son of God!" ⁴¹The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders were also there. These men teased Jesus the same as the other people. ⁴²They said, "He saved other people. But he can't save himself! People say he is the king of Israel (the Jews). If he is the king, then he should come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. ⁴³He trusted God. So let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, 'I am the Son of God.'" ⁴⁴And in the same way, the robbers that were being killed on crosses beside Jesus also said bad things to him.

Jesus Dies (Mk. 15:33-41; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn. 19:28-30)

⁴⁵At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness continued for three hours. ⁴⁶At about three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" This means, "My God, my God, why have you left me alone?"* ⁴⁷Some of the people standing there heard this. The people said, "He is calling Elijah."* ⁴⁸Quickly one of the people ran and got a sponge. That person filled the sponge with vinegar and tied the sponge to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to drink from it. ⁴⁹But the other people said, "Don't bother him (Jesus). We want to see if Elijah will come to save him." ⁵⁰Again Jesus cried with a loud voice. Then he died.* ⁵¹When Jesus died, the curtain in the temple* was torn into two pieces. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks were broken. ⁵²All the graves opened, and many of God's people that had died were raised from death. ⁵³Those people came out of the graves. After Jesus was raised from death, those people went into the holy city (Jerusalem), and many people saw them. ⁵⁴The army officer* and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything that happened. They were very afraid and said, "He really was the Son of God!" ⁵⁵Many women were standing away from the cross, watching. These were the women that followed Jesus from Galilee to care for him. ⁵⁶Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John* were there.

gall Probably a drink of wine mixed with drugs to relieve pain. "My God ... alone" Quote from Ps. 22:1. "He is calling Elijah" The word for "My God" ({(Eli)} in Hebrew or {(Eloi)} in Aramaic) sounded to the people like the name of Elijah, a famous man that spoke for God about 850 B.C. died Literally, "let his spirit leave." curtain in the temple A curtain divided the "most holy place" from the other part of the temple, the special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. army officer A centurion, a Roman army officer that had authority over 100 soldiers. James and John Literally, "the sons of Zebedee."