DAY THREE:  The Skull

Please carefully read Mark 15:20–28 and answer the following questions.

1.  Mark omitted much of what took place on the way to Jesus’ death.  (You can read a more complete account in Luke 23:26–32.)  What happened during the procession of Jesus to the place of His crucifixion (vv. 20, 21)?

NOTE: A condemned prisoner would carry the crossbeam of his cross, weighing about 100 pounds.  The one who had the blessed privilege of carrying this for Jesus, too weakened to carry it Himself, was Simon of Cyrene; Mark alone mentions his sons Alexander and Rufus, probably believers known to the church in Rome that Mark wrote to (see Romans 16:13).  Golgotha is a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning The Place of the Skull. The word Calvary comes from the Latin Calvaria, a variation of calva, a skull. Golgotha was a rounded, rocky knoll (not a hill or mountain) resembling the shape of a human skull. Its exact location is uncertain, but of course a church has been built on one possible site.[v]

2.  What else happened at the time of His crucifixion (vv. 23–26)?

For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.

They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:16–18, nkjv). 

3.  When He was arrested, Jesus had asked the band taking Him, “Have you come out, as against a robber?” (Mark 14:48)  Ironically, who were His companions in death as prophesied in Isaiah 53:12 (vv. 27, 28)?

Scripture Memory:  Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.

He canceled the ____________________ that contained the __________________ against us. He _________________ it and destroyed it by _____________________ it to ____________________ cross. (Colossians 2:14, nlt)