Jesus in Mark: Wk 19

The inscription is usually taken to be a mocking depiction of a Christian in the act of worship. At the time, pagans derided Christians for worshipping a man who had been crucified.[23] The donkey's head and crucifixion would both have been considered insulting depictions by contemporary Roman society. Crucifixion continued to be used as an execution method for the worst criminals until its abolition by the emperor Constantine in the 4th century, and the impact of seeing a figure on a cross is comparable to the impact today of portraying a man with a hangman's noose around his neck or seated in an electric chair.

In the second century the pagan Marcus Cornelius Fronto, an orator and the tutor of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, reported, “I hear that they adore the head of an [donkey], that basest of creatures, consecrated by I know not what silly persuasion…[He] who explains their ceremonies by reference to a man punished by extreme suffering for his wickedness, and to the deadly wood of the cross, appropriates fitting altars for reprobate and wicked men, that they may worship what they deserve.”

Fronto ridiculed a sacred focal point of the nascent faith: Christ’s cross. To pagans the cross represented humiliation heaped on criminals, and anyone who worshiped a man hanging on this torture-and-death device deserved to be mocked. Why would anyone adore defeat?

Essentially in those days, the culture looked at Christians who were worshipping a guy who was a criminal, humiliated and defeated on a cross and said y’all are dumb! Today it would be like if everyone was obsessed with a criminal who had be sentenced to death by lethal injection and walked around holding up syringes in worship and celebration. We would be like ok what? That is really weird, please stop.

Yet, this is what we do. We look back at an ancient symbol of punishment, humiliation, and death sentences and we hold it up as the core, the pinnacle, the main focus of our faith! TO the ancient roman world, we worship a criminal who was killed on a cross. And Here’s the thing, that’s true!

The cross, that was meant for humiliation, defeat, and death- has become our symbol of victory, freedom, and life! Because:

At the cross: Jesus faced death so that we could find life.

Turn to Mark 15 with me tonight.

We have almost gone through every single chapter of the Gospel of Mark. We are now at the moment that everything has been leading up to. I know that it can be hard to track from week to week, and especially over the past few months. But if you sit down and read the Gospel of Mark in one sitting- WHICH YOU ALL SHOULD DO! It’s awesome, you notice the tension building and everything pointing to this moment we are getting into right here!

Mark 1-10 cover about 3 years time of Jesus Ministry. It is fast paced and doesn’t focus on details as much as overall momentum.

But then chapters 11-16 slow way down to covering about 1 week of time.

Mark is getting the readers’ attention so we will slow down with him and see what everything has been leading up to!

Last week we saw Jesus get arrested and go to a shady midnight trial where he was accused of many things with zero evidence against him.

We said: Jesus is faithful even when we aren’t. He was betrayed by Judas and denied by Peter but yet he was faithful to carry out his mission- he claimed to be the messiah and it meant certain death for him.

And this is where we find ourselves in chapter 15 tonight. Jesus has been taken by the Jewish leaders to a Roman governor named Pilate- Pontious Pilate. The jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus but were not allowed to issue the death sentence. So, they took him to the Roman governor Pilate to have him sentence Jesus to death.

So, first Pilate asked Jesus- “ Are you the King of the Jews?” This was the claim that the Sanhedrin had brought Jesus to the romans under.

The Jews rejected Jesus as Messiah- which the messiah was ultimately the savior and king who brought about God’s kingdom.

And, this would be a problem with the Romans because there was not to be any king other than Caesar!

So, Pilate Asked him, are you the king of the Jews?

Jesus answered: You Say so.

Jesus is not explicitly affirming or denying Pilate’s claim. He is basically like- you could say that, I am not a king like you think but you can call me king.

Remember, he is not shying away form claiming to be the messiah anymore- but he is not a king like they are saying- he is SO MUCH MORE!

Next, we see a scene we have discussed before. Jesus and Barabbas in front of the crowd. This is an incredible moment that is deeply symbolic of the event that was about to take place. You have Pilate offering to release one of these two prisoners. Barabbas was a rebel leader against Rome who had been arrested for MURDER. On the other hand you have Jesus, the Jewish Rabbi who was the only human in history to never do a single thing wrong.

Pilate says which one of these prisoners would you like me to set free? Seems like an obvious answer. Yet, the Jewish leaders stirred up the crowds and got them to chant Barabbas ovre and over again. and They shout crucify Jesus. And in that moment, the guilty man Barabbas goes free and the perfect, sinless Jesus will go to the cross and die. That is a preview of what is about to happen on a much bigger, spiritual level. Jesus, the perfect, sinless God-Man will go to the cross and die, so that humanity, sinful at it’s core can be set free and given life.

Jesus faced death, so we could find life.

Let’s read the story of Jesus going to the cross together. Mark 15, starting in verse 16 together:

Mark 15:16–39 CSB

The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called the whole company together. They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” They were hitting him on the head with a stick and spitting on him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying him homage. After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. They led him out to crucify him. They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’s cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull). They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge written against him was: The King of the Jews. They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross!” In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him. When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “See, he’s calling for Elijah.” Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last. Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

I admit, it is hard to really read this story and see what took place to Jesus. It should be hard, it is the story of a man, actually God come to us, being tortured, mocked and killed. So, whyis this the story that we, as Christians celebrate most and point to constantly?

Because, if this story never happened, none of us would be here. If Jesus never went to the cross, no one could be saved.

This is the story of our salvation!

Theologians define salvation this way:

A Theology for the Church (Chapter 12: The Work of God: Salvation (Kenneth Keathley))

Salvation is the work of God that delivers us from sin and its penalty, restores us to a right relationship with Him, and imparts to us eternal life.

Three main parts you can see there: deliverance from sin and it’s penalty (death). Fixes our relationship with God, that was broken by our sin. And the gift of eternal life, now and forever in God’s Kingdom.

So, let’s walk back through this text and see how each of those come from what Jesus did on the cross.

Verses 16-20 we see the soldiers brought in, this was a company of roman soldiers- meaning 600 of them!

They dress him up like a king- purple robe, crown of thorns and then begin to pretend to salute and bow down to him.

This is ironic because while they mock him as a fake king, Jesus is about to be enthroned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords for eternity!

Jesus as king is important, he is king of the Kingdom of God, which means he has authority to give life in his kingdom to whomever he chooses. Jesus gains this authority and status not from the guards mocking him, but from his death on the cross. Jesus was becoming king, the ultimate exaltation by sacrificing his life.

Remember, he has taught his disciples multiple times- anyone who tries to hold onto his life will lose it, but anyone who is willing to lose his life for the sake of the Kingdom will gain it. Whoever wants to be great in the kingdom must become least among us here. Jesus is sacrificing his life and will gain the kingdom because of it!

From there, they beat him more, strip him down and begin his journey to where he will be hung on the cross.

Yet, he is so tired and beaten up he cannot carry his own cross bar, so they stop and force a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry it for him. This was likely an African man who was coming into town for the festival day that weekend. Simon joins Jesus in this moment of suffering and most scholars say it is safe to assume that he became a follower of Jesus after this moment. Rufus, his son mentioned here is mentioned in the letter Paul writes to the Romans as a well known member of that church. So this moment of suffering with jesus and following him to the cross led Simon and his family to following Jesus in new life after the cross.

From there we see Jesus is placed up on the cross, nailed to these pieces of wood as a criminal, and left to die a slow, painful death.

Now, it’s interesting, Mark, along with the other gospel writers, doesn’t include all the gory details of this process. Most preachers and movies about the cross get into everys ingle gory detail of this moment. But thats not the point. It’s not about what exactly Jesus went through, but why. Jesus died, so we could live.

On the cross Jesus is continually mocked. There is a sign above him with his charges, “The King of the Jews”.

And many around him kept yelling at him and they had a similar message: Mark 15:29-32

Mark 15:29–32 CSB

Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross!” In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.

They demand him to save himself. If he is the Messiah, the king, then surely he can save himself. And why not? He has done everything as this point right? He’s been through enough. And he did have the authority to call down angels to rescue himself. Yet, he did not. Why?

Jesus didn’t come to save himself, He came to save us.

If he saved himself, he wouldn’t save us.

Jesus had to die because there needed to be an aultimate sacrifice for our sins. THat is how we could be back in a relationship with God.

That’s why reading the old testament is so important. Right now we are in Leviticus as a church, Matt and I were just talking about that this morning in our grow group.

We see all the ways God made it possible for his people to still be in relationship with Him despite their sinfulness. Sacrifices were the manner in which they could pay for their sins and be right with God again. But God always promised to send a savior who would ultimately fix their sin problem and bring them Back to God forever. He promised that all the way in the Garden of Eden. He said one would come who would crush the head of the serpent. It would bite his heel, but he would crush its head.

This is talking about our spiritual enemy the devil. On the cross, yes Jesus was killed, but this was just a strike on the heel as he will raise from the dead three days later.

But in his death on the cross, Jesus, the perfect, spotless lamb of God was the final, perfect, sacrifice for humanity’s sin once and for all. He crushed the devil and sin forever! Making a way for humanity to be right with God forever!

He paid for our sin with His life! He took the penalty on himself!

This is why we hear him exclaim: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

This phrase has two significant meanings.

In this moment Jesus was bearing all the sin of humanity and experiencing the full judgement of God for it! So, he felt totally abandoned. Remember Sin creates a separation between humanity and God, and now Jesus is dying with all of our sin on his shoulders.

But, that’s not all, Jesus is quoting Psalm 22:1 “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning?” This Psalm is not a psalm of defeat, but a declaration of God’s victory and never failing presence.

Jesus knew God had NOT abandoned him, yet at this moment this declaration was the most accurate thing he could say!

It says darkness fell on the land at this moment. It’s the middle of the afternoon and the whole land goes dark.

This is a sign of God’s judgement. remember Egypt? The 9th plague was darkness on the land and what came next? What was the tenth plague?… The death of the firstborn.

So, next, we see Jesus fully aware and in control even in the midst of this suffering, cry out, as John tells us: “It is finished” and breathed his last breath.

This happened in just a matter of hours since he had been hung up there, it always took days for crucifixions to kill people, but not for Jesus- he wasn’t killed, he let himself die.

At this moment Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son, God come to us, died.

And the curtain temple tore in half from top to bottom. THis curtain was what separated the holy of holies in the temple from everyone else. No one was allowed to enter that curtain because that’s where God’s presence was said to be. Yet, now Jesus’ death tore that curtain down.

Symbolically showing us that anyone can have access to God, a personal relationship, through the cross! One centurion standing by watched this all happen and declared: Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Now, we don’t know if he truly understood what he was saying, but regardless he was exactly right.

The Son of God, Jesus, came, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to save us.

Jesus faced death, so we could find life in Him!

Bow your heads with me.

What do we do with this story?

1 John 5:12 CSB

The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Christians: WE must not save this story for Easter every year. This should be our every day reflection! Jesus died so we could live! Jesus paid for our sin, Jesus gives us a personal relationship with God and Jesus gives us eternal life- all through the cross! Reflect on this daily, praise and thank Jesus for it daily, and walk in the new life Jesus died to give you DAILY!

DO NO turn back tot the sin that Jesus died to set you free from. Stop it. If you need to ask for help then ask for help! But you are wasting the life Jesus died for when you turn back to your sin. So, if there is sin in your life right now as a follower of Jesus confess it, turn to the cross, and walk in new life- but let other Crhsitians help or you wont’ be able to!

2. Non- Christians: Have you been saved by JEsus’ work on the cross?

Gospel invitation.

Pray

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