"Bystanders and Scoffers"

Our scriptures today are from Mark, chapter 15 verses 29-32 and John, chapter 19 verses 19-22 from the Common English Bible.

Mark 15: 29-32

29 People walking by insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, "Ha! So you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, were you? 30 Save yourself and come down from that cross!" 31 In the same way, the chief priests were making fun of him among themselves, together with the legal experts. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross. Then we'll see and believe." Even those who had been crucified with Jesus insulted him. 

John 19: 19-22

19 Pilate had a public notice written and posted on the cross. It read "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews." 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21 Therefore, the Jewish chief priests complained to Pilate, "Don't write, ‘The king of the Jews' but ‘This man said, 'I am the king of the Jews.''" 22 Pilate answered, "What I've written, I've written." 

Leader: This is the word of God for a people of God.

All: Thanks be to God.