Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid. We began our devotions on the Passion of our Lord by noticing the dramatic note on which Mark begins his story, comparing it to the classic scary-story opening: “It was a dark and stormy night….” On this end of the...

When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate...

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to...

Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” What are we to make of this centurion? Some see him as a foreshadowing of the “mission to the Gentiles” that will take place in earnest with the ministry...

Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark’s description is again brief, even terse. But I suppose most deaths are like that – a last word, or prayer, or goodbye, or cry, and then a final breath. That’s it. So...