Holy Friday

Near Station 9, the scene appears to be outside the walls and therefore approaching Golgotha, the place of the skull

“And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).  They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.”  Mark 15: 22-23

Station 11

‘The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days.  Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”  The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself!  Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.’  At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.  Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  Mark 15:29-34

Station 12, 13

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,  and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.  They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.  The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”  And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus,  went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him.  Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth.  He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.  Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.  Matt 27:50-61