Friday of Holy Week

Mark 14:53-15:47

They took Jesus to the high priest, & all the chief priests, elders & teachers of the law came together. Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards & warmed himself at the fire.

The chief priests & the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put Him to death, but they did not find any. Many testified falsely against Him, but their statements did not agree. Then some stood up & gave this false testimony against Him: "We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple & in three days will build another, not made by man.’" Yet even then their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them & asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" But Jesus remained silent & gave no answer. Again the high priest asked Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?"

"I am," said Jesus, "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One & coming on the clouds of heaven."

The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned Him as worthy of death. Then some began to spit at Him; they blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, & said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took Him & beat Him.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. But he denied it. "I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about," he said, & went out the entryway. When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near to Peter said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." He began to call down curses on himself, & he swore to them, "I don’t know this man you’re talking about."

Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown Me three times." And he broke down & wept.

Mark 15

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law & the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led Him away & handed Him over to Pilate. "Are You the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

The chief priests accused Him of many things. So again Pilate asked Him, "Aren’t You going to answer? See how many things they are accusing You of?" But Jesus made no reply, & Pilate was amazed.

Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up & asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

"Crucify him!" they shouted. "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify Him!" Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, & handed Him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) & called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on Him, then twisted together a crown of thorns & set it on Him. And they began to call out to Him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again & again they struck Him on the head with a staff & spit on Him. Falling to their knees, they paid homage to Him. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe & put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander & Rufus, was passing by on his way from the country, & they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. And they crucified Him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The written notice of the charge against Him read, THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right & one of His left. Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads & saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple & build it in three days, come down from the cross & save yourself!" In the same way the chief priests & the teachers of the law mocked Him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but He can’t save Himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see & believe. Those crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.

At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabach-thani?"—which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, He’s calling Elijah." One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put in on a stick, & offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave Him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down," he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard His cry & saw how He died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed Him & cared for His needs. Many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem were also there.

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate & asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body (think of what that must have entailed), wrapped it in the linen, & placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene & Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid.