AM April 8th Luke 23rd

April 8^th             Jesus crucified

26: And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. 27: And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28: But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29: For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30: Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31: For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 32: And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33: And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34: Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35: And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36: And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37: And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38: And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39: And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40: But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41: And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42: And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43: And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Jesus dies

44: And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45: And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. 47: Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. 48: And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. 49: And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Jesus buried

50: And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counseller; and he was a good man, and a just: 51: (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. 52: This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 53: And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. 54: And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55: And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56: And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Simon had a great honour, to carry the cross for Christ. Christ was too weak to carry the cross and the Romans didn’t want Christ to die on the road. A huge crowd of onlookers and mourners followed but Christ spoke to them and said don’t weep for me, weep for yourselves. He said that the days will come when they will say that those without children are blessed. And they will call on the mountains to fall on them. This is describing the Day of the Lord which in Gods programme was very near then but is not in abeyance. Christ was not crucified alone, two malefactors were crucified there one on each side of Christ. In total Christ spoke seven things from the Cross. The first thing he said was to ask the Father to forgive those who crucify him. The soldiers took Christ’s possessions. His raiment was divided into four by his coat was given whole to the soldier who won at lots. The people stood watching by the Religious leaders were not content with crucifixion they added insult to injury. They taunted him to come down from the cross. The superscription was written in the three languages which represent the whole of humanity. Greek was the language of culture, Latin was the language of political authority and Hebrew was the language of Israel. The subscription described the crime for which he was crucified. He was crucified because of who he was not because on anything he had done. Even the men crucified with him were divided. One mocked him but the other one revered him and rebuked his mockers. Then he asked to be remembered when he came into him kingdom. This wish was granted and he promised that he would be in paradise with him this very day. At 12 noon darkness descended over the whole land. Suddenly the heat of the day turned to the coldness of night. This lasted until 3pm when the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Luke says that Christ cried with a loud voice and then commended his spirit to his Father. And so he died. The centurion in charge of the crucifixion party glorified God saying that Christ was indeed a righteous man. The people who were watching beat their breasts in sorrow. All the disciples and the women who followed him stood afar off watching everything. Joseph of Arimathea who was also waiting for the Kingdom of God went to Pilate to ask for the body. He took the body of Christ down and laid it in his own new stone tomb nearby. The disciples followed to see where he was laid. The following day they rested as it was the High Sabbath the Passover.