The Death of Jesus - the Full Gospel Story

Greg's message yesterday (click here) explored one statement that Jesus uttered while hanging on the cross: "My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?"

This week as we examine our pastor’s thoughts on the death of Jesus through the lens of this one statement, I thought we would begin by simply becoming familiar with how all four Gospel writers recorded the account. But, rather than seeing them separately, we will look at them in one harmonized narrative. For those wishing to see which statements below come from which Gospel writer, send an email to omegaman.pb@gmail.com.

The texts are:    Mark 15:42-47       Matthew 27:45-56        Luke 23:50-56        John 19:38-42

“It was about noon, and the whole land became dark and the darkness lasted for three hours, because the sun did not shine. About three o’clock Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

“When some of the people standing there heard this, they said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, “I am thirsty.” There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth <for him> to drink.  But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.” When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he cried out again in a loud voice and said, “It is finished; Father, I give you my life.” Then he bowed his head and died.

“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 who was standing in front of the cross and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were very frightened and praised God, saying, “Surely this was a good man! He really was the Son of God!”

“When all the people who had gathered there to watch saw what happened, they returned home, beating their chests because they were so sad. But those who were close friends of Jesus, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and watched. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph (James was her youngest son), and the mother of James and John. These women had followed Jesus in Galilee and helped him. Many other women were also there who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem.

“This day was Preparation Day, and the next day was a special Sabbath day. Since the religious leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken and the bodies be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus. But when the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water came out. (The one who saw this happen is the one who told us this, and whatever he says is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, and he tells it so that you might believe.) These things happened to make the Scripture come true: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”  And another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they stabbed.”

Please join me in prayer: Heavenly Father, when Greg spoke about the darkness that fell over the land when my Saviour died on the cross, it reminded me of the darkness that existed before Jesus brought Your light into this dark world. As He was bearing my sins in His body, there was literally no light in the land. Thank You for showing me the power of Your light by giving me a glimpse of a world without it. Lord, guide my path and help me to walk in Your light each day.