Jesus' Final Visit to JerusalemIhe Atụ

The Crucifixion

Then they led Jesus away to be crucified.42 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). Along the way, as they led Jesus away, a passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside just then. They came across Simon, and the soldiers seized him and put the cross on him, and forced him to carry it behind Jesus. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child, and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ 43 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

And they brought Jesus to Golgotha. Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall—drugged with myrrh—but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. And the two criminals—revolutionaries—were also crucified, one on his right and one on his left, with Jesus between them. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Pilate posted a sign on the cross, fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him with these words: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek so that many people could read it.

Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

After the soldiers had nailed him to the cross, they divided his clothes and gambled for his clothes by throwing dice to decide who among the four of them would get each piece. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” 44 So that is what they did. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.

The crowd watched, and the people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One. So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross right now so we can see it, and we will believe in him! He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him in the same way. The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 45

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. Then at about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 46

Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were there, watching from a distance. Among them, standing near the cross, were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), Mary Magdalene, Salome, and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.47 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” 48 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then Jesus uttered another loud cry, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” 49 And with those words, he bowed his head and breathed his last.50

And suddenly, at that moment, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two down the middle, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened.

The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

When the Roman officer overseeing the execution—who stood facing him—saw how he had died, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.” The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” And when all the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in deep sorrow. But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.

This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 51 and “They will look on the one they pierced.” 52

Footnotes:

42 The precise order of certain aspects of the Crucifixion account is uncertain, as the four Gospels focus on different details. The order presented here, which is based on several chronological ties provided by the Gospel writers, reflects a likely order of events but should not be considered an absolute ordering of events.

43 Hos 10:8.

44 Ps 22:18.

45 Luke provides more detail than the other Gospels on the criminals’ posture toward Jesus and indicates that one of them actually defended Jesus.

46 Ps 22:1.

47 The identity of some of these women may overlap, but certainty is lacking. Thus a combined list as provided by the four Gospels has been presented.

48 See Pss 22:15; 69:21.

49 Ps 31:5.

50 Matthew reads released his spirit. John reads gave up his spirit.

51 Exod 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20.

52 Zech 12:10.