Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.  

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.' " Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."  

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says, "They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots." And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  

Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, "None of his bones shall be broken." And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."  

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

To think about:
When Jesus was crucified, I wonder how near the cross we would have stood? We often, during Lent, sing that grand old hymn, "Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross. . .There's a precious fountain," but how near the cross would we have been if we were there to witness Jesus' crucifixion?

I chose out of the reading today to write about the love Jesus had for his mother and for us. There were some people who stood near the cross. Four Roman soldiers were off duty, I suppose. Because they loved Jesus, the apostle John and four women were there, including Mary, Jesus' mother; Salome, his mother's sister; and Mary Magdalene.

Mary, Jesus' mother, witnessed the crucifixion from the foot of the cross. Can you imagine how she must have felt? Jesus turns to John and says, take care of her (Mary), and looks at his mother and says, let him stand in my place as your son.

It took great courage. Jesus is on the cross, bearing the weight of the sins of the world on his shoulders, yet he sees to it that his mother is taken care of after he is gone. As God, Jesus is dealing with eternal matters, but as a man, he is showing all of us today how important it is to take care and love our mothers.

You cannot be willfully wrong with your mother and be right with God. If your mother is still alive, regardless of your age and her age, there are seven ways I can think of to love her: verbally, like saying you love her in front of your children; physically, with gestures of affection; patiently; attentively; gratefully; generously; and honorably.

In 1 John 4:16b, John writes: "He who lives in love, lives in God, and God in him." God showed us how to love everyone, not just our mothers but our neighbor also. Although I never had a chance to love my mother in this life, I love others in her name when I go to visit the homebound people of our congregation.