Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹  he must deny ²  himself, take up his cross, ³  and follow me.

and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ¹  If you are God’s Son, come down ²  from the cross!”

Then ¹  Jesus ²  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ³  he must deny ⁴  himself, take up his cross, ⁵  and follow me.

Now standing beside Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ¹ 

and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, ¹  whether things on earth or things in heaven.

keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹ 

Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath ¹  (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), ²  the Jewish leaders ³  asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs ⁴  broken ⁵  and the bodies taken down. ⁶