One More For JC

It was nine in the morning when they crucified him…And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,  ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’  (which means  ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ).  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah.’  Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.  ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. (Mark 15:25, 15:34-37) Growing up, I must have said the following words from the Apostles’ Creed thousands of times: “ For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.”  I said it so often the sting of the final few words got lost on me after awhile.  But last year, in reading the gospel of Mark, the above verses really hit home: “It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.  And at three in the afternoon…Jesus breathed his la