The first three Evangelists say that Simon carried the cross of Jesus, and John tells us that it was carried by the Lord Himself. Therefore, it must be admitted that there was both: at first Jesus Himself bore His cross, when no one wanted to bear it; and then on the way they found Simon and laid a cross on him. Consider this: Simon means obedience; therefore, whoever has obedience bears the cross of Christ. Cyrene, as the city of Pentapolis, signifies the five senses that must bear the cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means "the place of the skull," they gave Him vinegar mixed with gall to drink; and when he had tasted it, he would not drink. And those who crucified him divided his garments, casting lots; and they sat there to watch over him; and they put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt: "This is Jesus, King of the Jews."

The "skull" place was called so because, according to tradition, the fathers say, Adam was buried here. This means that just as in Adam we all died, so in Christ we must come to life. Further, do not be troubled by the fact that you hear different things from the Evangelists, that, according to this Matthew, they offered the Lord vinegar with gall, according to the story of Mark – wine with myrrh, and according to the testimony of John – vinegar with gall and hyssop. Different things were done, as usually happens in a disorderly crowd, where everyone does his own. Therefore, it is necessary to think that one brought wine, the other vinegar with bile. There are many kinds of death, but Christ dies on the cross in order to sanctify the tree, through which we were cursed, and to bless everything: the heavenly, signified by the upper part of the cross, and the subterranean, signified by the footstool, and the boundaries of the earth, both eastern and western, signified by the transverse parts of the cross; and at the same time, in order that, with outstretched hands, he might call and gather the scattered children of God. The soldiers divide His garments as a poor man who has nothing more. What the other Evangelist calls the title, Matthew calls "guilt," because the enemies, in their justification, wrote over Him why He was crucified, namely, that He was crucified as King of the Jews, that is, as a thief of the kingdom of Judah and a rebel. Thus, they wrote the word "king" for slander; but, in spite of this, this testimony is true, as the testimony presented by enemies. The Lord is indeed the King, Who came precisely for this very purpose, to save the Jews. And since the carnal Jews did not desire to have Him as king over them, He is made king of the spiritual Jews, that is, those who confess, for Jew means one who confesses.

Then two thieves were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And those who passed by cursed Him, shaking their heads, and saying, "He who destroys the temple, and builds in three days! save thyself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests, with the scribes, and the elders, and the Pharisees, mocking, said, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself; if He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and let us believe in Him; he trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he is pleasing to him. For He said, I am the Son of God. Likewise, the thieves who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

In order to slander Christ, two thieves are crucified with Him, so that He too may be recognized as a lawless man like them. But they were an image of two peoples, the Jewish and the Gentile, since both of these nations were equally lawless and together blasphemed Christ, just as the robbers at first both blasphemed Him. But then one of them came to know Him and confessed Him to be king, wherefore he said, Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom. In the same way, the pagan people confessed Christ. The other thief, the image of the Jewish people, continued to blaspheme. The devil compelled many to say: "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross" – in order to force Him to come down from the cross and to destroy the work of universal salvation by the cross. But Christ is the Son of God, and He did not heed the enemy, so that you also would know that you should not listen to the wiles of the devil, but should do good, even if people began to think ill of you.

And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: "Eli, Eli! Lama Savakhthani?" that is: "My God, My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?" Some of those who stood there, hearing this, said, "He is calling Elijah." And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. and others said, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him."

The darkness that was then did not occur in the natural order, as, for example, it happens as a result of a natural eclipse of the sun. On the fourteenth day of the moon there is never an eclipse, but there are usually eclipses at the birth of the moon; but at the time of Christ's crucifixion it was the fourteenth day of the moon, because then the Passover was celebrated; therefore, the darkness was not natural. Moreover, this darkness was all over the world, and not in one country, for example, in Egypt, so that it would be evident that the creation sympathized with the suffering of the Creator and that the light from the Jews had departed; And those Jews who demanded a sign from heaven, let them now see the sun darkened. Further, since man was created on the sixth day, and ate of the tree at the sixth hour (for this is the hour of eating), the Lord, recreating man and healing His fall, is nailed to the tree on the sixth day and at the sixth hour. The prophetic saying "Eli, Eli" is pronounced in the Hebrew language in order to show that He is not an opponent of the Old Testament scriptures. And "why hast Thou forsaken Me?" – He said to signify that He is a true man, and not illusory, for man, being a lover of life, naturally wants to live. Therefore, just as when He was grieving and grieving, He showed in Himself the fear of death that is natural to us, so now, when He says, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He reveals in Himself a natural love of life. For He was a true man and is like us in all things, except sin. However, some understood that the Saviour, taking upon Himself the face of the Jews, expresses here the following: Why hast Thou, Father, forsaken the Jewish people, that they should fall into such a grievous sin and be subjected to destruction? As descended from the Jews, Christ says: Why hast Thou forsaken Me, instead of – why hast Thou forsaken My kinsmen, My people, that they have done themselves such evil? Meanwhile, the people of the common people, being ignorant and unfamiliar with the prophecies, did not understand this proclamation and thought that Christ was calling Elijah (not all Jews knew the prophecies, just as not all Christians now know the Gospel). And they gave him vinegar to drink, that he might die sooner before Elijah came to save him. That is why some said: "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save Him," that is, do not hasten His death, let us find out if Elijah will help Him.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones were scattered; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected, and having come out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city, and appeared to many.

Jesus cries out with a loud voice: "Let us understand that when He said, "Lay down My soul," He was speaking the truth. Here He really gives His soul with authority. What kind of proclamation was it? Such as: "Father, in Thy hands I commend My spirit," because He gave up His spirit not under compulsion, but voluntarily, as the word "I commend" shows. This word also means that He will again receive His soul, since that which is given for a time usually returns. Thanks be to the Lord, that from the time of His death and the commission of His spirit into the hands of the Father, the souls of the saints, as a result, have been given over into the hands of God, and not into the prisons of hell, as before; so that the death of Christ became sanctification for us. It is for this reason that death is invoked by a loud voice; otherwise, if she had not been called, she could not have approached. The church curtain was a linen hung in the middle of the church and separating the inner from the outer, like a wall. And that it is being torn asunder, God has thereby shown that the temple, hitherto inaccessible to the people and unseen by them, whose interior was covered by a veil, will be in such humiliation and contempt that anyone can enter it and examine it. Others present other reasons for this. Thus, it is said that the torn veil signified the abolition of the letter of the law, and that all that is lawful must be revealed, which was formerly covered by the letter as by a veil, and all that was formerly obscure and mysterious must now be explained, having been fulfilled in Christ. It can also be said that just as the Jews had the custom of tearing their garments in case of blasphemy, so now the temple of God, as if grieving over the death of God, tore its garment, that is, the veil. Other explanations could be presented, but there are enough of them. Further, the elements were then shaken, both as a testimony that the sufferer is the Creator, and as a sign that there is a change in deeds, for in the Scriptures an earthquake usually indicates a change in deeds. Thus was the transfer of God's providence from the Jews to the Gentiles. Then also the stones, that is, the stony hearts of the Gentiles, were torn asunder, and received the seed of truth, the word of Christ, and those who were put to death by sins arose and entered into the holy city, into the highest Jerusalem, and appeared to many walking the broad path, and became for them an image of good life and conversion, for when anyone sees that a certain man was first killed by the passions, and then turned and entered into the holy heavenly city, he himself usually imitates him and converts him. However, this interpretation is too refined. And you should know this: the resurrection of the dead, which took place at the Lord's death on the cross, made known the liberation of those souls who were in hell; the resurrected then appeared to many, so that this event would not seem like a dream; but they were resurrected for the sake of a sign, and it is evident that they died again. However, some think that they were resurrected after the resurrection of Christ, and another time they did not die. But I don't know if it should be accepted.

And the centurion, and those who were with him, when they saw the earthquake and all that had happened, were greatly afraid, and said, Truly he was the Son of God. There were also and looked from afar many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to serve Him; among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The centurion, although he was a pagan, nevertheless, seeing the signs, believed together with those who were with him; on the contrary, the Jews who heard the law and the prophets remain unfaithful. Such is wickedness! The said centurion later even accepted a martyr's death for Christ. As for the wives, the spectators of the incident, this condemned and most compassionate sex enjoys the contemplation of good things above all. And the disciples fled, and the women stood looking at the suffering Lord. The Evangelist calls Mary, the mother of James and Josiah, the Mother of God, since James and Josiah were Joseph's children from his first wife. And since the Mother of God was called Joseph's wife, she was rightly called the mother, that is, the stepmother of his children. The mother of the sons of Zebedee was called Salome, who is said to have been the daughter of Joseph.

And when evening came, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had also studied with Jesus; he came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate gave orders to give up the body; And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean shroud, and laid it in his new sepulchre, which he had hewn out of the rock. and having rolled a large stone to the door of the tomb, he departed. And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, who were sitting opposite the tomb.

Formerly Joseph was in hiding, but now he dares to do a great deed, having decided to lay down his life for the body of the Teacher and to enter into battle with all the Jews, taking the body of Jesus. Pilate gives him a body as a great gift; for the body of Christ, who was killed as a rebel, was to be cast away without burial. However, Joseph, as a rich man, may have given money to Pilate. Having thus received the body, he buries it with honor, lays it in a new coffin, in which no one has ever been laid. And this was according to God's special dispensation, so that after the resurrection of the Lord it would not be said that in His place another dead man had risen, who had been buried there before Him. That is why there was a new coffin. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, that is, the Mother of God, the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee, all three sat opposite the tomb, waiting for the moment when the fury of the enemies would subside, so that they could go to embrace the body and anoint it with myrrh. Of these women Isaiah says: "Women will come and burn them. For they are a foolish people" (27:11). The prophet evidently calls the Jewish people, who crucified the Lord, "foolish" people, and calls on women to leave this senseless people, follow the apostles and bring them the joyful news of the Resurrection.

On the next day, which follows Friday, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate and said, "Lord! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: "After three days I will rise." Therefore, command that the tomb be guarded until the third day, so that His disciples will not come by night and steal Him and say to the people, "He has risen from the dead"; and the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; Go and guard as you know. They went, and set a guard at the tomb, and put a seal on the stone.