The Death of Jesus (2)

The Death of Jesus

Mark 15:33-41

What we learn from this story is; the death of Jesus calls for a response. It calls for a deeper more personal relationship with God. It calls for a transformation of our heart and the surrender of our lives. (Mark 15:33-41)

33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.”

36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”

37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last.

38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

40 There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.

41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. (Pray)

Six hours is a long time. Think about how long six hours are. Imagine standing in one place at work for six straight hours. Imagine sitting in a waiting room, in the middle of the night, at the hospital for six hours. Think about a six-hour drive cramped up in a car or sitting on an airplane for six hours.

Now, imagine what it would be like to go through all of that having nails driven through your wrists and your heels and being attached to a wooden cross.

Jesus had already beaten, tortured, and paraded through the streets of Jerusalem carrying a two-hundred-pound cross, on His way to His execution.

Now, He hangs there for six hours. We learn from Vs. 25 He was crucified at 9 in the morning and when we come to our text today it begins at Noon, so, He has already been on the cross for 3 hours. And what we have in our text is the final three hours of the cross.

These final three hours will be the worst of what Jesus will go through. Because now beyond the physical suffering Jesus will endure the wrath of God as He bares the weight of the sin of the world.

In a way that is impossible for us to comprehend, for the first time in all of eternity, God the Son is separated from God the Father, forsaken, and abandoned.

When King David faced death He could say, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because you are with me.” But Jesus couldn’t say that. As He hung on the cross, He hung all alone, forsaken by man and forsaken by God.

The only individuals that can know and understand what Jesus was going through in this moment are those who are in hell suffering the wrath of God for eternity. Because they are the only ones who know what it means to be forsaken by God.

What is interesting to me is; in the story of the death of Jesus on the cross we don’t just see misery, but we see majesty. We see the fruit of the grace of God. We see a Roman Centurion who realizes “Jesus is the Son of God.”

For us today we understand that the greatest triumph of the cross is still yet to come, when in three days Jesus will rise from the dead in victory over Satan, sin, hell, and death.

What we learn from this story is the death of Jesus on the cross demands a response. It calls for a radical transformation of our heart and the surrender of our soul.

The first thing I want you to see in this story is The Sign, Vs 33-36. As Jesus is hanging on the cross the world is thrust into utter darkness. This is a sign of God’s judgment on sin. Vs 33 says, “When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

For the final three hours of the cross, God turned the lights out on the world. Something happened in the heavens, and this is the response from God, He throughs a blanket over the whole scene. Notice we are told it is “the sixth hour.” That means it is high noon, 12 o’clock, when the sun is at its peak, and yet there is nothing but darkness.

This is a supernatural darkness that causes silence. Notice there are no words spoken for three hours. Jesus doesn’t speak and neither do the mockers. Thirty-three years earlier, when He was born into the world, there was a bright light that appeared to shepherds in the field. There was a bright star in the sky that led the Magi to the manger. Now, as He dies, there is only darkness.

But what does this darkness mean? Throughout the Bible darkness represents sin and judgment. At the Exodus there was a plague of darkness spread over the land before the first Passover Lamb was slain, Before the Angel of death came, now before the death of the final Passover Lamb there is darkness again. Joel 2:1-2 says, “For the day of the Lord is coming, surely it is near. A day of darkness and gloom.”

Amos 8:9 says, “It will come about in that day declares the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down at noon and make the earth dark in broad daylight.”So, darkness has to do with God’s judgment, but it also represents sin 1 John 1:6 says, “If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

What is amazing about the darkness we see at the cross is; that when God shows up to judge, He doesn’t judge the ones we might expect. Jesus is innocent being tortured and murdered at the hands of wicked men. You would think the wrath of God would fall on those who deserve it, but instead it falls on the Son.

Notice Vs. 34 “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi Lama Sabachthani?” which is translated, My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” The phrase cried out here means that He shouted. This is the cry of abandonment. This what Jesus dreaded when He was in the garden. For three dark hours sin was being poured out on Christ’s soul until He became sin for us.

This is what the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He who knew no sin was made to be sin that we might become the righteousness of God.” This is what Peter was talking about in 1 Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”

That is what is taking place in this story. Sin is the only thing that would cause God to separate from Jesus and sin is the only thing that will cause God to separate from us. And since Jesus was perfect and sinless, it was not His own sin that cause God to abandon Him, but it was ours.

Abandonment by God is something you and I have never experienced. It is something that no lost sinner in this world has experienced. Complete abandonment by God is something only those who live and dwell in hell know about.

In Matthew 8:11-12 Jesus says, “I say to you that many will come from East and West, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the otter darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We cannot understand that, and I don’t ever want to understand that, but Jesus understands that, because in this moment, He was forsaken by God.

That is the sign, the next thing I want you to see in this story is The Surrender, Vs. 37-39. As Jesus surrenders Himself to death. Vs. 37 says, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.”

I call this the surrender because Jesus chooses the moment He would die. He died in complete control. The work was finished, the judgment was complete, all that was left was death.

John 19:30 tells us He said, “It is finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.”

Normally when People died of crucifixion there were no words. They died exhausted unable to breathe. But amazingly, Jesus is still full of strength when He dies.

Luke 23:46 records for us that He cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” He surrendered His Spirit and died, at the moment appointed for Him by the Father.

Now at Jesus death, we see two powerful testimonies. 1. We see the testimony of heaven. Vs. 38 says, “And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

No words are spoken, but God the Father expresses Himself in that moment. We know from the other gospels there was also an earthquake.

But, with the tearing apart the temple veil, God the Father is testifying; the way to the throne of heaven is open to all. Jesus has fulfilled all the requirements. We can now approach the throne of God boldly.

Everything promised by God has been fulfilled in Christ. We no longer need a sacrifice for our sin. We no longer need a priest. Jesus has become the Priest and the one-time sacrifice for the sin of the world. All of that is powerfully represented by the testimony of God, tearing the veil in two from top to bottom.

2. We see the testimony of a Gentile. Vs. 39 says, “When the Centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

This is one of the most unlikely converts in the Bible. This is the person, who has been in charge of the crucifixion, of the Son of God. Notice it says, “He saw the way He breathed His last.”

There was something about the strength of Jesus and the way He surrendered His Spirit that spoke to this man’s heart. There is no doubt he had crucified many people in the past, but he never seen anyone die like Jesus.

This man has been a witness to six hours of Jesus hanging on the cross. He has seen the way Jesus responded to the mocking. He heard the conversation with the thief, and something began to change inside him.

Imagine this man was in charge of the beating that took place when Jesus was being scourged. This man has led the execution squad through the streets of Jerusalem. He is the overseer of the crucifixion and now, he is confessing his faith in Jesus Christ.

That means there is hope for all of us. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. It doesn’t matter how far you are from God. Jesus has the power to save. He even had the power to save those who were putting Him to death.

What an amazing grace. But it is important that we understand, there were many people who were there who heard and saw the same things the Centurion did, but they did not have a change of heart and confess their faith, and that same thing is true today. There are many people who reject this amazing grace of God. But don’t let that be you. The death of Jesus calls for the surrender of our lives.

The next thing I want you to see in this story is The Servants, Vs. 40-41. As Jesus gave His life on the cross for the sin of the world there were some faithful followers who refused to abandon Him. Notice Vs. 40, “There were also some women looking on from a distance.”

I have no doubt these women loved Jesus, and as they watched what was taking place the more difficult it became to see. So, they moved a distance away.

Earlier we know they were at the foot of the cross because we are told in John 19 how Jesus said to His mother “woman behold your son.” And to the Apostle John, “Behold your mother.” But now, they are watching from a distance, probably unable to bear the agony of watching Him die.

Notice what Mark says about these women in Vs. 41, “When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him.” Isn’t that amazing, these women ministered to the Son of God.

And now, while His disciples have scattered and hid, these women come boldly to the cross unashamed, and unafraid. They don’t care what anyone thinks, they love Jesus, and they are going to express that.

They follow Him and minister to Him in life and in death. They have not only learned from Him, but they gave themselves to Him.

In the gospel of Mark there are only two groups of people that ever ministered to Christ: The angels of heaven and these women from Galilee.

These women were never empowered to preach, and they never performed any miracles. Yet they were faithful, loyal disciples of Christ who never abandoned Him.

And in three days their loyalty would be rewarded. They would be the first to discover the empty tomb and the resurrection of Jesus. The Bible honors faithful women who are Godly and here we have an example of that.

So, in this passage we have seen the sign, the surrender, and the servants. And what we learn is the death of Jesus calls for a response.

It calls for the transformation of our heart and the surrender of our soul. Jesus is an example for us not only in His life but in His death. We are to forgive the unforgivable. And love the unlovable.

Because Jesus died and gave Himself fully for us, it calls for us to give ourselves full to Him. The fact that God would not spare His own Son should be a wake up call for each one of us. It means that no matter where we are, or who we are with, we should demonstrate that Christ is the Lord of our lives.

Jesus dying on the cross is the greatest act of sacrifice the world has ever known, and it calls for us to offer ourselves to God sacrificially. Jesus said, “If any man would be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Are you following Him today? Because the death of Jesus calls us to surrender our lives.