Mark 15:33-41

Intro

We are coming to the climax of the book of Mark and truly this point in the story is the climax of all of the Gospels which is the death of Jesus Christ.

As we have been walking through the book of Mark we have been answering the question who is Jesus?

And specifically we have seen that Jesus calls us as disciples into a relationship with God.

Relationships can have their ups and downs though, if you have ever been in a relationship, or even think about the relationship you have with mom and dad.

There are times when you are happy and joyful and life couldn’t be better and there are times when you and your family are just butting heads and fighting.

Our relationship with God is no different.

Let me be clear here that God never changes and He never abandons us but at times we may “feel” distant from Him because our sinful world and the enemy has a way of making us “feel” distant from God even when He is standing right next to us.

In these times it’s important to recognize that your feelings are not an indicator of your relationship with God

God has offered salvation to the world and if you have recognized what Jesus has done in your life, regardless if you wake up and “feel” saved or you “feel” like you have a relationship with Christ you do.

So tonight as we dive into God’s word I want you to understand that your relationship with God isn’t dependent on your feelings, it’s not dependent on anything that YOU have done. You are saved and you are welcomed into the family of God solely on the saving work Jesus Christ did on the Cross and the faith you have placed in Him as your Lord and Savior.

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Mark 15:33–34 ESV

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Context

Sixth hour = 12pm

To the Nineth hour

Nineth hour = 3pm

12pm - 3pm usually is not when there is darkness.

Now some people will state that this was a solar eclipse that happened and its important to be clear that there is not scriptural evidence that there was a solar eclipse.

What is important is the times spoken of here regarding the the darkness in the land.

We know that there was darkness around noon and we know that this is significant but we don’t know why unless we gather more context as to why darkness fell at 12pm.

Amos 8:9–11 ESV

9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. 11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

God will make the sun go down at noon.

This verse is prophetically attached to this moment in history where God’s judgement is passed on sin and as it is darkness, both physically and spiritually falls upon Israel.

This darkness was not just a physical darkness but also represented a spiritual darkness as the Son of God, God’s one and only son, the savior of the world will be crucified by the people of God and while on the cross the sin of humanity placed upon Him.

In this period of darkness Jesus feels the relationship He has with the Father shift.

Mark 15:34 ESV

34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Something I read this week while studying summed up this moment perfectly

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (15:34)

Mark (and Matthew) recorded only this one of Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross. At the ninth hour (3 P.M.), Jesus cried … Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? Mark translated the saying into Greek for his readers, which in English means, My God, My God, why (lit., “for what [reason]”) have You forsaken (lit., “did You abandon”) Me?

This was more than the cry of a righteous Sufferer affirming His faith that God would cause Him to triumph. Nor did Jesus merely feel abandoned. Instead, Jesus’ cry combined (a) abandonment by God the Father in a judicial not relational sense, and (b) a genuine affirmation of Jesus’ relationship to God. Bearing the curse of sin and God’s judgment on sin He experienced the unfathomable horror of separation from God, who cannot look on sin. This answers Jesus’ question, “Why?” Dying for sinners, He experienced separation from God.

Also Jesus’ cry affirmed His abiding trust, reflected in the words, “My God, My God.” This is the only one of Jesus’ recorded prayers in which He did not use the address “Abba”. Far from renouncing Him, Jesus claimed the Father as His God. He died forsaken by God so that His people might claim God as their God and never be forsaken.

In Jesus darkest time He cries out to God.

He doesn’t abandon Him or curse His name, at Jesus darkest times He cries out to God for help.

Mark 15:35–36 ESV

35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

As Jesus cries out to God we see the wickedness and the evil of those looking on as Jesus hangs on the cross.

Verse 35 and 36 describe the Jews who were watching Jesus die begin to mock Him by saying maybe He is calling for Elijah.

Context

It was a Jewish belief that in times of trouble the spirit of Elijah would come to help people.

As Jesus is hanging on the cross the Jews are seeking yet another sign or another miracle to happen.

After all, there was no doubt that Jesus did incredible things.

Even at Jesus trial there were people that came forward and said that Jesus truly did cast out demons, but they stated that Jesus cast out demons by the power of demons.

So they stand there saying let us see whether or not Elijah will come and take Him down off the cross.

Once again we see the crowds gathered around Jesus waiting for another sign, another miracle, for Jesus to do something for them that they missed the point of what was happening on the cross.

I have said this many times during the book of Mark but salvation doesn’t come from physically seeing Jesus or audibly hearing Jesus

Salvation comes through faith that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.

The Jews that were there were so spiritually darkened that in the moment that sin was reconciled through Christ, they were standing around demanding another miracle when in fact the miracle of the reconciliation of the world back to God was happening right in front of their very eyes.

But even in this moment of spiritual darkness their is hope.

Yes people were mocking, yes Jesus was dying, yes darkness was over the earth because God was judging sin.

But at the same time God was making right what was ruined in the Garden, God was making a way for those who have faith to be reconciled back to Him.

In Amos Chapter 8 it talks about the judgement of Israel but in Amos chapter 9 It talks about its restoration as the true people of God.

Amos 9:11–15 ESV

11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this. 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.

As the Son of God dies for the sins of humanity God is making a way for the world to come back to Him

Mark 15:37–39 ESV

37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Here is the pinnacle of Mark, what everything else has been leading to.

Jesus uttered a loud cry, from the other gospels we know that Jesus says tetelestai (it is finished) and He breathes His last.

As Jesus does this Mark includes two very important scenes in His crucifixion narrative.

1. The curtain in the temple is torn in two from top to bottom.

2. A roman centurion exclaims Jesus deity.

The temple curtain was one of two possible curtains that were extremely thick curtains

1. Separated the Holy of Holies (where the presence of God dwelled) from the rest of the temple.

2. Separated the outer courts from the temple itself

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As Jesus dies this curtain is ripped from top to bottom.

Regardless of which curtain was torn it is clear that God tore the curtain showing that no longer would there be separation between Him and His people (those that place their faith in Jesus)

The relationship with God and His people that was once broken has been restored.

The Roman centurion exclaiming that Jesus was the Son of God does not necessarily mean that he placed His faith in Jesus. (After all Romans were a polytheistic people, meaning they worship multiple Gods)

The Bible is unclear about this fact but what we do know from this is that the Roman soldiers like this one have crucified hundreds if not thousands of criminals before.

This man would have watched many people die on the cross.

The Roman centurions proclamation tells us that this crucifixion is different than any that he had seen before

Jesus was not just some criminal that had been hung on the cross.

In fact this proclamation is the accumulation of the entire point that Mark is making in his book.

Mark 1:1 ESV

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Everything we have been talking about, every question we have asked these last few months has been answering the question who is Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God

And as the son of God He came to this earth

Lived the life we could not live

Died the death we were meant to die for OUR sins

And rose from the grave showing that He holds the power over sin and death

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

He made a way for us to be called children of God and have a relationship with the Holy and Righteous God.

On the cross Jesus not only died for the sins of the world but He changed the relationship that we had with God.

No longer did we need to go to the temple and sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus became that sacrifice

Access to God is now available through Jesus Christ and your faith in Him

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