Luke 23:26-55

The soldiers led Jesus away. At that time, there was a man coming into the city from the fields. His name was Simon, and he was from the city of Cyrene. The soldiers forced Simon to carry Jesus’ cross and walk behind him. A large crowd of people was following Jesus. Some of the women were sad and crying. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too! The time is coming when people will say, ‘Happy are the women who cannot have children! Happy are the women who have no babies to nurse.’ Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ If they act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?” There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be killed. Jesus and the two criminals were taken to a place called the Skull. There the soldiers nailed Jesus to his cross. They also nailed the criminals to their crosses, one beside Jesus on the right and the other beside Jesus on the left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” The soldiers threw lots to decide who would get his clothes. The people stood there watching. The leaders made fun of Jesus. They said, “If he is God’s Chosen One, the Christ, then let him save himself. He saved other people, didn’t he?” Even the soldiers made fun of him. They came to Jesus and offered him some vinegar. They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” (At the top of the cross these words were written: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”) One of the criminals began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Christ? Then save yourself! And save us too!” But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment as he is. We are punished justly; we should die. But this man has done nothing wrong!” Then this criminal said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” Then Jesus said to him, “Listen! What I say is true: Today you will be with me in paradise!” It was about noon, and the whole land became dark until three o’clock in the afternoon. There was no sun! The curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, I give you my life.” After Jesus said this, he died. The army officer there saw what happened. He praised God, saying, “I know this was a good man!” Many people had gathered there to watch this thing. When they saw what happened, they returned home. They beat their chests because they were so sad. Those who were close friends of Jesus were there. Some were women who had followed Jesus from Galilee. They all stood far away from the cross and watched. A man from the Jewish town of Arimathea was there, too. His name was Joseph. He was a good, religious man. He wanted the kingdom of God to come. Joseph was a member of the Jewish council, but he had not agreed when the other leaders decided to kill Jesus. Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. So Joseph took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in cloth. Then he put Jesus’ body in a tomb that was cut in a wall of rock. This tomb had never been used before. This was late on Preparation Day. When the sun went down, the Sabbath day would begin. The women who had come from Galilee with Jesus followed Joseph. They saw the tomb and saw inside where the body of Jesus was laid.