Jesus has died like no other man for in his final hours he has borne the full brunt of God’s curse in death and overcome it. Now he has breathed out his last breath and is gently removed, covered and
Forsaken? No!
Psalm 22 sings with the voice of a king of Israel cut off from God and mocked by others, who clings on and comes through to glorious hope. Jesus takes that Psalm onto his lips as he approaches death. It
The pattern of three
Jesus told his disciples repeatedly that in Jerusalem he would suffer and be rejected, die and then rise again. Now those three steps are being played out before their eyes. Driving home the lesson, the number three echoes through Mark’s
Carry that cross
Pilate’s soldiers now have Jesus in their hands and so it’s time for cruel fun with this “king of the Jews” who’s been rejected by his own. The scene of their tormenting him is an ugly one which captures how
Motives for murder
Pilate tries to free Jesus by getting the crowd to ask for his release. But it goes horribly wrong and Pilate has Jesus killed to save himself trouble. How does it go wrong? Jerusalem’s leaders stir the crowd to turn