Scripture readings:

Mark 15:16–32

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Psalm 22:1–18

To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, 
and by night, but I find no rest. 

Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 
In you our fathers trusted; 
they trusted, and you delivered them. 
To you they cried and were rescued; 
in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 

But I am a worm and not a man, 
scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 
All who see me mock me; 
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; 
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 

Yet you are he who took me from the womb; 
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 
On you was I cast from my birth, 
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 
Be not far from me, 
for trouble is near, 
and there is none to help. 

Many bulls encompass me; 
strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 
they open wide their mouths at me, 
like a ravening and roaring lion. 

I am poured out like water, 
and all my bones are out of joint; 
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast; 
my strength is dried up like a potsherd, 
and my tongue sticks to my jaws; 
you lay me in the dust of death. 

For dogs encompass me; 
a company of evildoers encircles me; 
they have pierced my hands and feet— 
I can count all my bones— 
they stare and gloat over me; 
they divide my garments among them, 
and for my clothing they cast lots.

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)