No Greater Love…

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine mixed with bile to drink; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink it.

And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among themselves by casting lots.  And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.  And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

At that time two rebels were being crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.  And those passing by were [w]speaking abusively to Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”  In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself! He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.  He has trusted in God; let God rescue Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  And the rebels who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him in the same way.

Now from the ]sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lema sabaktanei?” that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling for Elijah.”  And immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.  But the rest of them said, “Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.  Also the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.  Now as for the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

And many women were there watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while caring for Him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Now when it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea came, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.  And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. ~ Matthew 27:33-61

Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.  And they *crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man would take.  Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him.  The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

And they crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.  Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”  In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself!  Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!”  Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.  At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!”  And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”  But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died.  And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.  Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.  And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.  Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid. ~ Mark 15:22-47

And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.  But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves.  And the people stood by, watching.  And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”  The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”  Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”  But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!”  And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour, because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died.  Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This man was in fact innocent.”  And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home beating their chests.  And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God ~ this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.  It was a preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to begin.  Now the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid.  And then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.

And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. ~ Luke 23:33-56

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in [Hebrew is called, Golgotha.  There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.  Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.  It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”  Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek.  So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”  Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts: a part to each soldier, and the tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.  So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.”  This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They divided My garments among themselves, and they cast lots for My clothing.”  Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”  Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”  And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.  Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”  And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Now then, since it was the day of preparation, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away.  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was crucified with Him; but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.  Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.  And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.  For these things took place so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.”  And again another Scripture says, “They will look at Him whom they pierced.”

Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission.  So he came and took away His body.  Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras weight.  So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.  Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.  Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. ~ John 19:17-42

(Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.
~ John 15:13)

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