Thursday, April 9, 2009

Good Friday, Christ's Passion As the World Darkens

"TWO OTHER MEN, BOTH CRIMINALS, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right and the other on his left.

"Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

"The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

"The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was a written notice above him that read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

"But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God?" he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

"Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

"Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.

JESUS DEATH

"It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When he had said this, he breathed his last.

"The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things."

---The Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verses 32 through 49




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