Matthew 27:32-54

As the soldiers were going out of the city with Jesus, they forced a man from Cyrene, named Simon, to carry the cross for Jesus. They all came to the place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull. The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink. He tasted the wine but refused to drink it. When the soldiers had crucified him, they threw lots to decide who would get his clothes. The soldiers sat there and continued watching him. They put a sign above Jesus’ head with a charge against him. It said: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers were crucified beside Jesus, one on the right and the other on the left. People walked by and insulted Jesus and shook their heads, saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross if you are really the Son of God!” The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders were also making fun of Jesus. They said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He says he is the king of Israel! If he is the king, let him come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. He trusts in God, so let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” And in the same way, the robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also insulted him. At noon the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted for three hours. About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Some of the people standing there who heard this said, “He is calling Elijah.” Quickly one of them ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar and tied it to a stick and gave it to Jesus to drink. But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and died. Then the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks broke apart. The graves opened, and many of God’s people who had died were raised from the dead. They came out of the graves after Jesus was raised from the dead and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people. When the army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were very frightened and said, “He really was the Son of God!”