Mark 15:21-39

As they came out of the city, they stopped an African man named Simon, a native of Libya. He was passing by, just coming in from the countryside with his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, and the soldiers forced him to carry the heavy crossbeam for Jesus. They brought Jesus to the execution site called Golgotha, which means “Skull Hill.” There they offered him a mild painkiller, a drink of wine mixed with gall, but he refused to drink it. They nailed his hands and feet to the cross. The soldiers divided his clothing among themselves by rolling dice to see who would win them. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they finally crucified him. Above his head they placed a sign with the inscription of the charge against him, which read, “This is the King of the Jews.” Two criminals were also crucified with Jesus, one on each side of him. This fulfilled the Scripture that says: He was considered to be a criminal. Those who passed by shook their heads and spitefully ridiculed him, saying, “Aha! You boasted that you could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Why don’t you save yourself now? Just come down from the cross!” Even the ruling priests and the religious scholars joined in the mockery and kept laughing among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but he can’t even save himself! Israel’s king, is he? Let the ‘Messiah,’ the ‘king of Israel,’ pull out the nails and come down from the cross right now. We’ll believe it when we see it!” Even the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus began to taunt him, hurling insults on him. For three hours, beginning at noon, darkness came over the earth. About three o’clock, Jesus shouted with a mighty voice in Aramaic, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”—that is, “My God, My God, why have you turned your back on me?” Some who were standing near the cross misunderstood and said, “Listen! He’s calling for Elijah.” One bystander ran and got a sponge, soaked it with sour wine, then put it on a stick and held it up for Jesus to drink. But the rest said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah comes to rescue him.” Just then Jesus passionately cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the veil in the Holy of Holies was torn in two from the top to the bottom. When the Roman military officer who was standing right in front of Jesus saw how he died, he said, “There is no doubt this man was the Son of God!”