And [just] like Moses lifted up the snake [on the pole] in the wilderness [Num. 21:9], so the Son of man must be lifted up [on the cross]

Jesus answered, "Have these people recline [on the ground]." Now there was a lot of grass in that place. So, the men, numbering about five thousand, reclined [on the grass].

And if I am lifted up from the earth [i.e., on the cross], I will draw [i.e., attract] all people to me."

Now He said this to indicate the kind of death He was about to experience [i.e., of being lifted up on a cross].

So, they took Jesus [away] and He went out [of the city] carrying the cross by Himself to a place called "The Place of the Skull," [also] called "Golgotha" in the Hebrew language [and "Calvary" in Latin].

Then Pilate had an inscription written and placed on the cross [i.e., on the upright portion, above His head]. It read, "Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

Now standing near Jesus' cross were His mother; His mother's sister [i.e., Salome, the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. See Matt. 27:55; Mark 15:40]; Mary the wife of Clopas [i.e., the mother of James and Joseph. See Matt. 27:55]; and Mary, from Magdala.

Now it was the Day of Preparation [Note: This was the day before the Passover Festival began, and fell on a Friday that year], and the Jews did not permit bodies to remain on a cross over the Sabbath day. (Besides, that Sabbath day was a special day [i.e., since it was both the Passover and the regular weekly Sabbath, as well]). So, they asked Pilate to have Jesus' and the criminals' legs broken [i.e., to speed up their deaths] and then have their bodies taken away.

After this happened, one of Jesus' disciples (but secretly, for fear of the Jews), named Joseph from Arimathaea, asked Pilate if he could remove Jesus' body [from the cross]. Pilate granted him permission, so he went and removed the body from the cross.