And the priests and scribes said, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down from the cross, and we will believe in you!"
And one of the robbers who was on his own cross beside that of Jesus joined in the cry, and said, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us!"
But the other robber said to him, "Have you no fear of God, to speak thus, while you are suffering the same fate with this man? And we deserve to die, but this man has done nothing wrong."
Then this man said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
And Jesus answered him, as they were both hanging on their crosses:
"To-day you shall be with me in heaven."
Before the cross of Jesus his mother was standing, filled with sorrow for her son, and beside her was one of the disciples, John, the disciple whom he loved best. Other women besides his mother were there, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and a woman named Mary Magdalene, out of whom a year before Jesus had sent an evil spirit. Jesus wished to give his mother, now that he was leaving her, into the care of John, and he said to her, as he looked from her to John, "Woman, see your son."
And then to John he said, "Son, see your mother."
And on that day John took the mother of Jesus home to his own house, and cared for her as his own mother.
At about noon a sudden darkness came over the land, and lasted for three hours. And in the middle of the afternoon, when Jesus had been on the cross six hours of terrible pain, he cried out aloud words which meant:
"My Lord, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" words which are the beginning of the twenty-second Psalm, a psalm which long before had spoken of many of Christ's sufferings.
After this he spoke again, saying, "I thirst!"
And some one dipped a sponge into a cup of vinegar, and put it upon a reed, and gave him a drink of it. Then Jesus spoke his last words upon the cross:
"It is finished! Father, into thy hands I give my spirit!"
And then Jesus died. And at that moment the vail in the Temple between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was torn apart by unseen hands from the top to the bottom. And the Roman officer who had charge of the soldiers around the cross saw what had taken place, and how Jesus died, and he said, "Truly this was a righteous man; he was the Son of God."
After Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers, to be sure that he was no longer living, ran his spear into the side of his dead body; and out of the wound came pouring both water and blood.
There were even among the rulers of the Jews a few who were friends of Jesus, though they did not dare to follow Jesus openly. One of these was Nicodemus, the ruler who came to see Jesus at night, as we read in Story Seven. Another was a rich man who came from the town of Arimathea, and was named Joseph. Joseph of Arimathea went boldly in to Pilate, and asked that the body of Jesus might be given to him. Pilate wondered that he had died so soon, for often men lived on the cross two or three days. But when he found that Jesus was really dead, he gave his body to Joseph.
Then Joseph and his friends took down the body of Jesus from the cross, and wrapped it in fine linen. And Nicodemus brought some precious spices, myrrh and aloes, which they wrapped up with the body. Then they placed the body in Joseph's own new tomb, which was a cave dug out of the rock, in a garden near the place of the cross. And before the opening of the cave they rolled a great stone.
And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and some other women saw the tomb, and watched while they laid the body of Jesus in it. On the next morning, some of the rulers of the Jews came to Pilate, and said:
"Sir, we remember that that man Jesus of Nazareth, who deceived the people, said while he was yet alive, 'After three days I will rise again.' Give orders that the tomb shall be watched and made sure for three days; or else his disciples may steal his body, and then say, 'He is risen from the dead;' and thus even after his death he may do more harm than he did while he was alive."
Pilate said to them, "Set a watch, and make it as sure as you can."
Then they placed a seal upon the stone, so that no one might break it; and they set a watch of soldiers at the door.
And in the tomb the body of Jesus lay from the evening of Friday, the day when he died on the cross, to the dawn of Sunday, the first day of the week.
The Brightest Day of All the World
Matthew xxviii: 1 to 10; Mark xvi: 1 to 13; Luke xxiv: 1 to 49; John xx: 1 to 23.
On Sunday morning, two days after the death and burial of Jesus, some women went very early, as soon as it was light, to the tomb in the garden. One of these women was Mary Magdalene, another was also named Mary, and another was named Salome. They were bringing some more fragrant gums and spices to place in the wrappings upon the body of Jesus. And as they went they said to each other, "Who will roll away for us the great stone at the door of the cave?"
But when they came to the cave, they saw that the seal was broken, the stone was rolled away, and the soldiers who had been on guard were gone. There stood the tomb of Jesus all open! They did not know that before they came to the tomb there had been an earthquake; and that an angel had come down from heaven and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. When the soldiers on guard saw the angel, with his flashing face, and his dazzling garments, they fell to the ground as though they were dead, and as soon as they could rise up, they fled away from the spot in terror; so when the women came there was no man in sight.
THE GUARDS OF THE TOMB FALL TO THE EARTH
As soon as Mary Magdalene saw that the tomb was open, without stopping to look into it, she ran quickly to tell the disciples. A moment after she had gone, the other women looked into the tomb and they saw that the body of Jesus was not there. But they saw sitting at each end of the tomb a young man, clothed in a long white garment. Their faces shone like angels, and when the women saw they were filled with fear. One of the angels said to them:
"Do not be afraid; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is not here; he is risen, as he said that he would rise from the dead. Come, see the place where the Lord lay; and then go and tell his disciples, and tell Peter too, that Jesus will go before you into Galilee, and you shall see him there."
THE WOMEN SEE THE ANGEL AT THE TOMB OF JESUS
Then the women went away in mingled joy and fear. They ran in haste to bring this word of the angel to the disciples.
But while these women were looking into the tomb, and were listening to the angel, Mary Magdalene was seeking the disciples, to tell them that the tomb was open and the body of Jesus was not there; for she did not know that he had risen. She found Peter and John and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!"
Then Peter and John at once went as quickly as they could go to the tomb. John outran Peter and came first to the tomb perhaps because he was the youngest. But when he saw the open door, and the broken seal, and the stone lying at on side, he stood still for a moment. John stooped into the cave, and he could see the linen cloths that had been wrapped around the body of Jesus lying together. But when Peter came up he did not wait, but pressed at once into the tomb; and then John followed him, and he too walked into the cave. Now he could see not only the long strips of linen rolled up; but in another place, carefully folded, the napkin that had been tied over the face of Jesus.
Then suddenly it flashed upon the mind of John, "Jesus has risen from the dead!" For he had not seen the angel, nor heard his words. From that moment John believed that Jesus was once more living. Both Peter and John went away, to think of the strange things they had seen. And very soon Mary Magdalene came back to the tomb. No one was there, for both the women and the disciples had gone away. Mary Magdalene did not know that Jesus had risen, for she had not the angel’s message.