There Stood by the Cross

There Stood by The Cross

For Women by Women

By Jo Mock

October 2, 2026

John 19:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother….

Except for John, many of His disciples, had scattered. Peter said he was ready to go with him, both into prison, and to death. However, Peter denied Him three times. Later, Jesus passed by and looked at Peter with divine love. Then Peter went out and wept bitterly. Jesus’ love for Peter never failed even though Peter’s devotion had for a moment.

The crucifixion is always my last lesson of each VBS week. Every page in the Bible is about this moment, this One, Who said, “To this end was I born.”

I use many visuals while teaching the children what Jesus suffered to pay for the sin of the entire world. Isaiah says that His soul was made an offering for sin. I tell how they spit upon Him and mocked Him, while plucking out His beard. I drape a tattered scarlet robe around me, holding a rod, while lifting up a large crown of sharp thorns to visualize how they made fun of Him as a King. I show a whip with nine tails, describing the brutal beating of thirty-nine stripes He took without a word.

I have large Roman spikes that I strike together to hear the nails being driven into His hands and His feet, reminding them that all His bones came out of joint. I cannot remember ever telling this without every child stopping, and listening intently, with their eyes glued on the visuals and the flannel graph pictures of the cross with Jesus on it.

I never tell it without being moved again for what He did for me also. I then read the above verse to the children and tell them how I wrote my name there… “Now there stood by the cross, Ms. Jo.”

I pray I always will…

Reflection—He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.