"Bedtime Bible Stories"

From the Book of Mark,
Chapter 27, Verses 31 -66

One of the punishments people who were going to be crucified had to go through was to carry their own cross to the place of execution. Jesus was too weak to carry his cross, so the guards grabbed a man named Simon from Cyrene to carry it.

They marched Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem to a place called Skull Hill. It was there that they nailed him to the cross and planted it in the ground. They put a sign above his head that read "King of the Jews"

As Jesus suffered there, the guards rolled dice to see who got to keep Jesus' clothes. Two robbers had also been sentenced to die by crucifixion that day. The soldiers set their crosses on either side of Jesus. As they suffered, people insulted Jesus.

Some of them said, "If you're the Messiah, then come down from the cross and we'll believe in you!" Others said, "Look at him! He could save others, but he can't even save himself!"

For many hours they suffered. Then, a strange darkness covered the sky, even though it was only early afternoon. About that time, Jesus cried out, "My God, why have You forgotten about me?"

One of the robbers tried to speak to Jesus, but the other one told him not to. "We deserve to die here," he said, "but this man has not done anything."

Jesus lifted his head and looked at the two criminals. "I tell you this," he gasped, "before this day is over, the two of you will be with me in heaven." Jesus looked at the people making fun of him. He said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing."

Finally, Jesus cried out one last time. He said, "Father! I give my spirit to you!" And then he died. Suddenly, earthquakes shook the ground! A curtain in the Temple tore in two! Tombs opened up and many good people who had died came back to life. They left the graveyard and were seen by many people in Jerusalem. The soldiers were nervous about all the strange things that had happened when Jesus died. "Surely this was the Son of God," they said.

One of the soldiers took his spear and cut Jesus' on the ribs to make sure he was dead.

A rich merchant named Joseph ofArimathea was a follower of Jesus. He came to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate released the body of Jesus to him. Joseph wrapped it in linen and placed it in a tomb carved out of solid rock.

Mary Magdalene, the woman whom Jesus saved from seven demons, and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, watched as the body was placed in the tomb. The next day, Caiaphas the High Priest went to Pilate and said, "This man Jesus claimed he was going to come back from the dead after three days. I'm afraid his followers are going to steal his body and later claim he did come back from the dead. If they do that, the people will believe in him more than they did before."

Pilate didn't want any more trouble about Jesus. He ordered the tomb sealed with a huge stone. He told Caiaphas to post guards from the Temple next to the tomb so no one could break in.

As far as Pilate and Caiaphas were concerned, it was the end of Jesus. They were wrong.