Memory Text: Mark 10:45 CEV “The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.”

Sunday – Born to Die
Luke 2:25-35 God’s Word to the Nations “25 ¶ A man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. He lived an honorable and devout life. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel. The Holy Spirit was with Simeon 26 and had told him that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Messiah, whom the Lord would send. 27 Moved by the Spirit, Simeon went into the temple courtyard. Mary and Joseph were bringing the child Jesus into the courtyard at the same time. They brought him so that they could do for him what Moses’ Teachings required. 28 Then Simeon took the child in his arms and praised God by saying, 29 "Now, Lord, you are allowing your servant to leave in peace as you promised. 30 My eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people to see. 32 He is a light that will reveal salvation to the nations and bring glory to your people Israel." 33 Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child is the reason that many people in Israel will be condemned and many others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose 35 the thoughts of those who reject him. And a sword will pierce your heart."”
Matthew 16:21 NRSV “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Matthew 16:21 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Three sorts of persons, our Lord intimates, should be the cause of his death and passion: the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes. Pious Quesnel takes occasion to observe from this, that Christ is generally persecuted by these three descriptions of men: rich men, who have their portion in this life; ambitious and covetous ecclesiastics, who seek their portion in this life; and conceited scholars, who set up their wisdom against the wisdom of God, being more intent on criticising words than in providing for the salvation of their souls.
Matthew 26:52-54 NRSV “52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled, which say it must happen in this way?"”
Mark 10:45 NRSV “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."”
Luke 18:31-33 NRSV “31 ¶ Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again."”
John 3:14 NRSV “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,” Hebrews 9:25-28 NRSV “25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Monday – How It Happened
Matthew 27:27-31 NKJV “27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put [it] on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His [own] clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.”
Matthew 27:45-54 NKJV “45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard [that], said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled [it] with sour wine and put [it] on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." 50 ¶ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"”
Mark 15:21-32 CEV “21 Simon from Cyrene happened to be coming in0+ from a farm, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22 ¶ The soldiers took Jesus to Golgotha, which means "Place of a Skull." 23 There they gave him some wine mixed with a drug to ease the pain, but he refused to drink it. 24 They nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes. 25 It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross. 26 On it was a sign that told why he was nailed there. It read, "This is the King of the Jews." 27 The soldiers also nailed two criminals on crosses, one to the right of Jesus and the other to his left. 28 (SEE 15:27) 29 People who passed by said terrible things about Jesus. They shook their heads and shouted, "Ha! So you’re the one who claimed you could tear down the temple and build it again in three days. 30 Save yourself and come down from the cross!" 31 The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses also made fun of Jesus. They said to each other, "He saved others, but he can’t save himself. 32 If he is the Messiah, the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross! Then we will see and believe." The two criminals also said cruel things to Jesus.”
John 19:28-30 ESV “28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Tuesday – What It Accomplished
1 Corinthians 2:2 NIV “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:2 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Satisfied that the Gospel of God could alone make you wise unto salvation, I determined to cultivate no other knowledge, and to teach nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified, as the foundation of all true wisdom, piety, and happiness. No other doctrine shall I proclaim among you.
1 Corinthians 15:3 NIV “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,”
Galatians 6:14 NIV “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
Galatians 6:14 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The object of Paul here is evidently to place himself in contrast with the Judaizing teachers, and to show his determined purpose to glory in nothing else but the cross of Christ. Well they knew that he had as much occasion for glorying in the things pertaining to the flesh, or in the observance of external rites and customs, as any of them. He had been circumcised. He had had all the advantages of accurate training in the knowledge of the Jewish law. He had entered on life with uncommon advantages, tie had evinced a zeal that was not surpassed by any of them; and his life, so far as conformity to the religion in which he had been trained was concerned, was blameless.

Wednesday – What It Accomplished
Romans 5:10 Moffatt NT “If we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 Moffatt NT “18 It is all the doing of the God who has reconciled me to himself through Christ and has permitted me to be a minister of his reconciliation. 19 For in Christ God reconciled the world to himself instead of counting men’s trespasses against them; and he entrusted me with the message of his reconciliation. 20 So I am an envoy for Christ, God appealing by me, as it were—be reconciled to God, I entreat you on behalf of Christ. 21 For our sakes He made him to be sin who himself knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Ephesians 2:16 MKJV “and so that He might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in Himself.”
Colossians 1:20-22 MKJV “20 And through Him having made peace through the blood of His cross, it pleased the Father to reconcile all things to Himself through Him, whether the things on earth or the things in Heaven. 21 And you, who were once alienated and enemies in [your] mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blame, and without charge in His sight,”

Thursday – The Security of the University
Romans 3:10, 23 KJ21 “10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; 23 “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:10 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES That all men are under sin appears from the vices which have raged in all ages.
1 Corinthians 2:2 20th Century NT “For I had determined that, while with you, I would know nothing but Jesus Christ-and him crucified!”
1 Corinthians 15:3 20th Century NT “For at the very beginning of my teaching I gave you the account which I had myself received-that Christ died for our sins (as the Scriptures had foretold),”
Galatians 6:14 20th Century NT “But, for my part, may I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus Christ, our Master, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”