Mark 15 - Death of Jesus

Mark 15:25-41 Page 1453

THE DEATH OF JESUS

Opening Illustration

There is a story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble.

Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister, i’ll do it."

Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?'

Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He's thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save his sister.

Each of us, however, has a condition much more serious than Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His life.

Today, we celebrate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what is now celebrated as Palm Sunday.

As Jesus entered the city, people hailed Him as a king, spreading their cloaks and palm branches on the road before Him, shouting "Hosanna!" which means "Save, we pray!" in Hebrew.

This event is recorded in all four Gospels.

His entry into Jerusalem was significant because it fulfilled prophecies about the Messiah, particularly Zechariah 9:9, which describes the Messiah as a king who would come to Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Jesus knew that His entry into Jerusalem would set into motion the events that would lead to His crucifixion.

His primary purpose in coming to Jerusalem at that time was to fulfill God's plan and to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

Today, we are not studying what happened on Palm Sunday, but we are going to learn about what it led to, and that is the death of Jesus Christ.

We will be reading from Mark 15:25-41, which is found on page number 1453 In the Pew Bibles.

READ VERSES

PRAY

OPENING

For me, that section of scripture is arguably the most challenging part of the Bible to read.

Sure, there are some very obscure places in Leviticus and some very confusing spots in Revelations to read, but none of those impact me the way reading about Jesus’ death does.

It brings up many emotions and causes a deep sadness in my spirit every time I read it.

It never gets easier.

In fact, the more I mature in my walk with Christ, the deeper this section of verses impacts me when I read it,

I think it has to do with the fact that I have come to realize that Jesus died on the cross for me.

Yeah, He died for all of us, but He also died for each of us!

When your perspective changes on this and you realize that Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the universe, died on the cross for YOUR SINS.

You can't help but be drawn into a deeper relationship with Him,

And your faith and belief in Jesus Levels Up!

If you ask five people, “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” you’ll likely get a dozen different answers.

Some view Jesus' death as a sacrifice linked to human sin and God's wrath, mercy, and forgiveness. Others see it as a cosmic victory, defeating death itself. Some believe Jesus had to die, was sent by God to die, or that his death exemplifies the ultimate selflessness—a tangible display of his profound love for us.

Jesus’ crucifixion does not easily explain itself.

Today, I don't intend to tackle every single question surrounding Jesus' death, as that would require an extensive amount of time—possibly even days.

Instead, I aim to answer three specific questions from a biblical standpoint that arise when examining these Bible verses.

1 - Why did Jesus die on the cross?

2 - What does this mean for me?

3 - How does this apply to my life now?

So let's unpack these verses and better understand

I would like to start by showing you a video that does a fantastic job of explaining why Jesus had to die

Let's watch

Jesus Film- Why did Jesus have to die

So, as you can see from the video we watched, we have a problem

A very big problem

A sin problem, to be exact, and it affects every human ever born

This sin that we are all born into is what separates us from God.

God is a perfect, loving, and caring God.

He is the very definition of goodness.

He is so good, in fact, that He can't even look at sin.

Let’s take a look at how we know we are sinful.

I am sure we are all familiar with the Ten Commandments

Some of us in here have broken all ten!

The Ten Commandments are considered the Mosaic Law, (Moses’ Law)

This law was originally intended to set God’s people apart from the rest of the world.

Time and time again, God’s people (that's us ) have fallen short of following God’s Law.

In Jesus’ most famous sermon, “The Sermon on the Mount.”

Jesus seems to raise the bar of the law even higher

He says that if we even think about breaking the law, we might as well even done it

That is hard

And our minds are weak, and we will think about sin

As humans, we may keep trying to do good, but we can't do it on our own.

We fail every time.

That is why we need Jesus.

You see, Jesus lived a perfect life.

He never sinned and yet He took all our sins to the cross with him

BASEBALL ILLUSTRATION

Are there any baseball lovers in here?

I used to play baseball and watch it quite a bit

Imagine with me for a moment you are a professional baseball player

And you are having a horrible game

Every time you get up, you strike out and you’ve had error after error at your position.

Your coach would put in a substitute-player for you.

In life, we strike out again and again; every pitch we get, we miss or hit somewhere it's not intended to go.

We need a substitute, we need a savior.

We need Jesus to step in and live a perfect life and pay a debt for us on the cross.

We cant do anything to earn our salvation

We must put our faith and trust in Jesus

So, to answer our first question, Why did Jesus die on the cross?

He had to die to pay the penalty for our sins

That is the only way we can be brought back into relationship with God

Sin separated us from him, and Jesus brought us back

Story about walking through Ikea

Lula picked up this paper lying on a bookshelf in a living room setup.

And this is what it was

📷

This is a great illustration of what was paid for on the cross.

If you notice the scripture down at the bottom of this paper

Romans 6:23 says

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The penalty of Sin is Death

There is no way around that

Jesus stepped in and took that death for us and paid the price for the sin we were born into.

What a relief that Jesus paid the price for our sins

I don't know about you but I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me knowing that I don't have to die for the sin I was born into.

So what does this mean for us now?

Great question

Let's look at verses 37 and 38 from our text

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

This moment is really important in Christian belief because it stands for a few key ideas:

Access to God:

The curtain in the temple separated regular people from the special place where they thought God lived.

When it tore, it meant that because of what Jesus did, anyone can talk to God directly and doesn't need a priest to do it for them.

End of the Old Covenant:

When the curtain tore, it meant that the old way of following rules and making sacrifices to please God was over.

Now, it's about having faith in Jesus and being in a close relationship with God, not just following a set of laws.

Inclusivity:

The tearing of the curtain signifies that access to God is now available to all people, not just the Jewish high priests or select individuals.

It represents the inclusivity of the Christian message, welcoming all who believe in Jesus.

Overall, the tearing of the curtain symbolizes the profound changes brought about by Jesus's death, including the opening of direct access to God for all believers and the establishment of a new covenant based on grace and faith.

To live under grace means to live with the understanding that our relationship with God is based on His unconditional love and forgiveness rather than our own efforts to earn His favor.

It means recognizing that we are forgiven and accepted by God because of Jesus Christ, not because of anything we have done or can do.

Living under grace also involves extending that same grace and forgiveness to others, understanding that we are all imperfect and in need of God's mercy.

So, how does this apply to my life now?

Back to what I said at the beginning about realizing that Jesus died for YOU

That means that Jesus chose you

Now you get to decide if you choose Him.

God gives all of us a choice in life

We can choose to follow God and His plan for us

Or we can walk in the way of the world and choose sin.

I have walked both paths before in my life, and I will tell you right now that the way of the world only ends in destruction and death.

Choosing Jesus and accepting his free gift of salvation means that our lives are changed forever.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Part of being a new creation is walking a new life

Creating new rhythms that set us apart from the world

And keep us grounded and growing in Jesus Christ

Some of the rhythms and behaviors I have intentionally worked to develop in my life to grow my relationship with Jesus are;

To read the Bible every day - and to do what it says

Do not just be a hearer of the word but also a doer.

Pray everyday

Prayer is our language to God.

Prayer is a way that we communicate our needs and struggles to God.

Its hard to have a relationship with someone you never speak to.

God already knows what's going on inside your heart and mind, so just open up and talk to him.

And finally, one of the most important things for me has been to believe in the promises of God.

God is who He says He is

He will do what He says He will do

God is for us

God Loves Us

He will provide for us and protect us

He gave us a way out of death by sending His only son to die for us

Now His grace covers us and wipes away all our sins

And it is only through His death that we are able to have a relationship with God.

What a great comfort it is knowing that the creator of the heavens and the earth is on our side.

RECAP

Today, we set out to answer some specific questions surrounding the death of Jesus.

And here are the key takeaways from those questions:

1 - Why did Jesus die on the cross?

Because He Loves us

To bring us back into relationship with God

2 - What does this mean for me?

The veil was torn, and we now have direct access to God

He wants a personal relationship with each and every one of us

3 - How does this apply to my life now?

He chose you. Now you get to decide if you chose Him.

This is just the beginning.

Now, you need to take this information and this understanding and apply it to your life.

Put it into action

Dive deeper into God's word

This is just the tip of the iceberg

LEFT OFF HERE

Not sure if i will include this story

CLOSING

Story about Mother, Older Brother, and Younger sister and the BEE.

There was a mother walking in a garden with her son and daughter

When i bee flew up and landed on the brother and stung him in the arm.

The bee fell off the brother and the sister immediately screamed and ran from the bee

The mother calmly picked up the harmless bee from the ground and showed it to the little girl

The mother explained that the bee had lost its stinger

She showed the girl the stinger still hanging out of her big brothers arm

The mother said to the girl.

“You have nothing to fear now, the bee has lost its sting”

“It cannot hurt you anymore”

We have a big brother, and his name is Jesus.

He took the sting of death for us upon the cross, and we now have nothing to fear from death.

That is why 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 Says:

““Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.”

Go into this week with confidence, knowing that Jesus Christ has paid your debt.

Sin and death no longer have a hold on you

Believe with me that you are free from the bondage you were born into

And now you are alive in Christ Jesus.

LET'S PRAY