Key Passage
They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means "The Place of the Skull.") At Golgotha the soldiers tried to give Jesus wine to drink. This wine was mixed with myrrh. But Jesus refused to drink it. The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then the soldiers divided Jesus' clothes among themselves. They gambled with dice to decide which clothes each soldier would get.
— Mark 15:22-24 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
The Cross was a Roman tool of torture, shame, and humiliation. The cross that awaited Jesus was on Skull Hill. Not only did the hill look somewhat like a skull, but it was also a place of death, mockery, and pain. In this instance, however, it was also a place of redemption, forgiveness, and hope because of Jesus. What begins here in horror and inhumanity, ends in victory and grace.
Prayer
Holy and loving God, please help me to be humbled and touched by the Cross of Christ. In addition, dear Father, help me to remember the grace, power, and victory that are mine because of that Cross. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
Jesus and the people with him were going to Jerusalem. Jesus was leading the people. Jesus' followers were amazed. But those people that followed behind them were afraid. Jesus gathered the twelve apostles again and talked with them alone. Jesus told them what would happen in Jerusalem. Jesus said, "We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be given to the leading priests and teachers of the law. The priests and the teachers of the law will say that the Son of Man must die. They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people. Those people will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and kill him. But on the third day after his death, he will rise to life again."
— Mark 10:32-34
"Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, 'Father save me from this time {of suffering}'? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. Father, do what will bring you glory!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have already brought glory to myself. I will do it again." The people standing there heard the voice. Those people said it was thunder. But other people said, "An angel spoke to Jesus!" Jesus said to the people, "That voice was for you and not for me. Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world (the devil) will be thrown out. I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will bring all people to me."
— John 12:27-32
Christ is the head of the body. (The body is the church.) Everything comes from him. And he is the Lord who was raised from death. So in all things Jesus is most important. God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. And through Christ, God was happy to bring all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace by using Christ's blood (death) on the cross. At one time you were separated from God. You were God's enemies in your minds, because the evil things you did were against God. But now Christ has made you God's friends again. Christ did this by his death while he was in his body. Christ did this so that he could bring you before God. He brings you before God as people who are holy, with no wrong in you, and with nothing that God can judge you guilty of. Christ will do this if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must continue strong and sure in your faith. You must not be moved away from the hope that Good News gave you. That same Good News has been told to all people in the world. I, Paul, help in telling that Good News.
— Colossians 1:18-23
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