Mark 15:24-37

The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get what. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross. There was a sign with the charge against him written on it. It said, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” They also nailed two criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left. People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. They shook their heads and said, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross!” The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus the same as the other people did. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! If he is really the Messiah, the king of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. When we see this, then we will believe in him.” The criminals on the crosses beside Jesus also said bad things to him. At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness continued until three o’clock. At three o’clock Jesus cried out loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?” Some of the people standing there heard this. They said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” One man there ran and got a sponge. He filled the sponge with sour wine and tied it to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to get a drink from it. The man said, “We should wait now and see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross.” Then Jesus cried out loudly and died.