And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS

With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

- Mark 15:22-32

Yesterday, we read that Pilate answered and said to the crowd again, after he had offered to set Christ free due to occasion of the feast, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?"  So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!"  Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?"  But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!"  So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.  Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.  And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.  Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.

 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.  And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.  Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.  And the inscription of His accusation was written above:  THE KING OF THE JEWS.  My study bible tells us that what was intended as an accusation and a mockery became instead a triumphant symbol.  The act of Pilate is prophetic, showing that the people have risen against their own King, and that the cross was the means by which Christ established His Kingdom.  The third hour is nine o'clock in the morning.

 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.  So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."  And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha!  You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."  Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.  My study bible says that Christ being crucified between two robbers not only fulfills the Scripture (Isaiah 53:12), but shows that He is completely identifying with sinful humanity.

What a scene is depicted here.  How much more can it be clear that Jesus is in a place where there is no mercy for Him?  It's interesting that in contrast to the horror we imagine of crucifixion, the Gospel has none of it:  not the gory details, nor any explicit mention of His suffering.  As in the ancient plays, it's all left to our understanding of what He goes through.  But the details give us a particular picture of this place where Jesus is brought to, and it's a place of no mercy at all.  It's Golgotha, the Place of a Skull.  Actually, in the Greek, it's suggestive of the phrase "The Skull Place."  That alone tells us something, this is the place of death, where death reigns.  Death is another image of evil itself, even the "evil one" and the impact of evil in the world, in so many forms of death on various levels. Jesus refuses the wine mixed with myrrh, the one analgesic available to Him.  There is nothing that is going to blunt the reality of what He goes through.  And there is nothing at all left for Him of a worldly life of any kindness or comfort:  the soldiers cast lots for His clothing.  "The King of the Jews" is crucified with two robbers at either side, standing in for the men of honor who would be at a king's right and left.  And then there are the ridiculers, the ones who continue to misrepresent His teaching about the temple, the ones who would insist He use His power to save Himself (echoing the temptation of Satan).  There's no respite here, no let up, nothing to save, with grace.  And that's really the key in a big way.  Jesus is in the agony of what life like without any grace at all.  The One who comes to the world to bring us grace is finally put in a place to die where grace does not exist for Him.  Even the ones crucified with Him revile Him.  At this point, He's cursed by all.  Where are the followers, the disciples?  In this scene, there's no room for them, no comfort.  No, the real grace in this picture is the reality of Who He is, what is going on, that this is a voluntary sacrifice, and that we know that His love and the love of God have put Him in a place where He knows what a merciless world is like, a world without His presence in it to counter death itself and the effects of evil.  This picture is what life is like without Him.  Truth is twisted, honor and true greatness are mocked and ridiculed, holy power and healing turned to refuse and death and rejection in the mouths of these so-called men of faith who curse Him and put God to the test.  Whatever we know and understand, our King knows what it is to be in a place without grace and without mercy, without love nor kindness nor respite from evil.  He goes before us, He knows all about the ugliness of the world, its brutishness, its failure to have values worth anything.  This is the place of the Skull, where He's left with nothing.  And yet, it is Christ who has everything, and in this act of being on the Cross, is in fact giving us all that there is:  grace and truth and beauty and life itself.  Nothing in this scene is the truth about Christ and His mission:  but the power of the Cross is the ultimate power over death and evil, and no one will take that away.  Not one of them.  His sacrifice for us all transcends all of it.