The Cross

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” — Luke 23:34

The soldiers led Jesus away to be crucified. He had been up all night, and He had been beaten and whipped. As they went, the soldiers grabbed a man called Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and made him carry the heavy wooden cross behind Jesus.

They came to a hill outside the city called the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha. And there the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, and lifted it up.

Two criminals were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Even while they were hurting Him, Jesus prayed for the people who were doing it.

Pilate had a sign put on the cross above Jesus’ head. It said: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. It was written in three languages, so that everyone could read it.

The soldiers sat down at the foot of the cross and gambled to see who would get Jesus’ clothes.

People walking past laughed at Jesus and shouted insults. “He saved other people,” the religious leaders sneered. “Let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ!” The soldiers made fun of Him too.

One of the criminals hanging beside Jesus joined in. “Aren’t You the Christ? Save Yourself, and us!”

But the other criminal told him off. “Don’t you fear God?” he said. “We deserve to be punished for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

That man had done terrible things. He couldn’t go to church, or be baptised, or do anything good to make up for what he had done. He was dying. All he could do was turn to Jesus and trust Him. And that was enough. Jesus promised that he would be with Him in paradise that very day.

Near the cross stood Jesus’ mother, Mary, and some other women, and the disciple John. Jesus saw His mother there. “Woman, here is your son,” He said to her, about John. And to John He said, “Here is your mother.” Even on the cross, Jesus made sure His mother would be looked after. From that day, John took Mary into his home.

The people who said “Save Yourself!” didn’t understand. Jesus could have saved Himself. But if He saved Himself, He couldn’t save us.

The promise kept: John tells us that when the soldiers gambled for Jesus’ clothes, it kept the words of Psalm 22, written a thousand years before: “They divided My garments among them, and cast lots for My clothing” (John 19:24).

Read it in your Bible: Luke 23:26–43; John 19:17–27

Dear Jesus, thank you that you stayed on the cross to save us, and that you forgave the people who hurt you. Jesus, remember me. Amen.