Travis Reese

Friends,

Today’s reading, Mark 15:33-39, is about the death of Jesus. It is told in all four gospels with different details highlighted, but all are similar about the last moments of the crucifixion.

It is quite the task to add words or context to this story, but we as humans have tried through all forms of communication to do just that, from written commentaries to feature films.

While I do not know what I can add to this story, I’ll just say before you read it think about what happens next.

How does it change the story for you/us?

This is from the Revised Standard Version, but I’m certain it is just as powerful in any translation you choose to read.

The Death of Jesus

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “E′lo-i, E′lo-i, la′ma sabach-tha′ni?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Eli′jah.”

36 And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Eli′jah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.

38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus[b] breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

In Christ,

—Travis