The Death of the King - Mark 15:21-39
Notes
Transcript
There is a religious ritual practice that has been observed in history in different forms by different cultures over the centuries performed by someone called a sin-eater.
A sin-eater is someone who consumes a ritual meal with the intent to take on the sins of another person who has died so the soul could depart in peace.
The origins of this practice are not fully known, but it was most common in Scotland, Ireland, and particularly wales.
When I was a child my mother read aloud a book to us children about a welsh colony in the Appalachian mountains. In this fictional story based on the welsh culture and folklore, a sin eater would be chosen by lot from the community. They would essentially become a hermit and an outcast who must live alone in the mountains as a man who was forever unclean because he bore the guilt of all who were to die from that point forward. Whenever someone from the community died, the sin eater would come that evening to perform his duty as the sin eater. A meal would be prepared and set on the body of the dead, the entire town would gather with their backs turned so as not to look upon the sin-eater, for that would bring a curse, and the sin eater would approach, eat the meal, and utter some phrase something along the lines of this:
“I give easement and rest now to thee, dear man, that ye walk not down the lanes or in our meadows. And for thy peace I pawn my own soul. Amen”
It was believed that the sins of the dead would then be transferred to the sin eater who was then to return to the mountains to live alone, languishing in the guilt that was upon him.
Again, the history of this practice is unclear. It seems to have a mix of understandings about the day of atonement in the Old Testament, where a scapegoat would symbolically carry the sins of the people into the wilderness, but then they exchanged the goat with a human. In that way it seems that there are threads of Gospel truth as this sin-eater was substitutionary sacrifice of sorts. A man selected by lot from the community to bear the sins of everyone else so they wouldn’t have to.
And yet, a practice that has pagan roots as much as Christian. A syncretistic blend of welsh paganism, mixed with roman catholic ritualism, and seasoned with a dash of Old Testament scapegoat-ism, if I could coin a term.
This practice gradually died out and it is believed that the last sin eater died in the early 1900s.
When we think about the concept however, there is so much there that is so close to the truth. A man sacrificially taking on the sins of others so that they might have life. A man, dying to self, to everyone, to everything around him that he held dear, giving it all up to be the cursed scapegoat.
In so many ways its so tragic because its so close to the truth and yet generations of people across hundreds of years were led astray by this teaching, but if they just understood the message of the Gospel, if only they had someone tell them that the last sin-eater had already come and gone! Everything had been accomplished by Jesus Christ! No more sacrifices are needed!
And it is in our text today that we find the final sacrifice. The death to end death. The sacrifice to end sacrifices.
Let’s read our text. Mark 15:21-39
Remember that Jesus ha just been condemned to death and mocked and beaten by the soldiers and led away to be crucified.
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 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?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 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.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 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!”
One of the most striking things about this narrative is that it is presented in a very matter of fact manner. Mark’s account is so brief. So direct. So matter of fact. This is what happened. He doesn’t add commentary, dramatic flourishes, or things like that. He just lays it out.
Allow me to set the stage a little.
Crucifixion was intended to be a public form of execution to bring the most amount of pain for the longest amount of time as possible. Hangings and beheadings were too easy a death and too fast. The Romans wanted something that would really strike fear into the hearts of other would-be criminals to serve as a deterrent.
First, the criminal was to carry his own cross to the execution site. This served the purpose of being a sort of humiliating parade through the city. The condemned wouldn’t carry the entire cross like we sometimes see in popular culture. The vertical portion of the cross would have likely been fixed in the ground. But the condemned was to carry the horizontal portion.
This is where Jesus’ gets the phrase “if anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me”
Picking up one’s cross was a sign that you were on the road to death. In discipleship terms, the one on that road must have surrendered himself to his fate, as Jesus did, and be willing to die to self that he might live for the Lord.
Jesus was unable, however, to carry the cross piece the entire way himself because of the beatings he endured, so Simon of Cyrene was conscripted to carry it for him.
Second, the crucifixion site was at Golgotha, the place of a skull. This was an elevated location outside the city but right by the main road. It was a public location so that passers by would see the fate of all such criminals caught and prosecuted by the Romans. Again, this is intended to be a deterrent against future crime.
Golgotha was so named because the location resembled a skull and was associated with death. The Latin translation here is “Calvary”. Skull place.
This is where Jesus was crucified.
There are many details in this text that serve a variety of purposes. For example, Mark is the only Gospel writer who mentions that Simon of Cyrene is the father of Alexander and Rufus. This specificity is almost certainly because Alexander and Rufus would have been personally known by Mark’s original audience and is considered evidence of the historical authenticity of Mark’s account.
For the sake of time I’m not going to be able to get into every detail. I’m going to make one more note on the text that is not central to the message, but it’s worth pointing out, and then I’d like to really focus our time on what I believe is the primary thrust of the passage.
First,
If you were paying attention to verse numbers as we read through this you may note that vs 28 is either absent from your bible, put in a foot note, or placed in brackets.
I’m now going to go deeply into this issue right now, not because I’m avoiding a challenging subject, but because there is a larger textual issue to discuss in chapter 16, and I’m planning on doing a mini series on how we got our Bibles in the month of July where we’ll get more deeply into these kinds of issues.
For now, all I’ll say about Mark 15:28 is not that there is overwhelming evidence that v28 was a scribal addition later on and was not original to Mark. Three primary reasons for this: there is evidence it was influenced by familiarity with Luke’s account, it’s absent from what are widely considered the oldest and best manuscripts, and it doesn’t fit Mark’s style. Thus, every modern translations that makes use of a wider manuscript base is going to note something about that verse to indicate it was likely not original to Mark.
If this raises questions in your mind about textual transmission, historical reliability, translation philosophy and such, just know we are going to dive more deeply into that in the weeks ahead. For now, I’m going to treat vs 28 like the ESV does, and move on like it was never there.
Let’s focus the rest of our time on the main thrust of Mark’s Crucifixion account.
First, the Mistreatment of the King.
The Mistreatment of the King
The Mistreatment of the King
Mark has emphasized the kingship of Jesus in this chapter. In verse 2 Pilate asked Jesus if he was the King of the Jews, and his response was yes, but not how you think. I’m not an insurrectionist come to lead a revolution.
When Pilate was before the crowd seeking to release Jesus he twice called him the King of the Jews, once in vs 9 and another in vs 12.
When the soldiers were beating and mocking him they mockingly knelt before him and said “Hail, King of the Jews” in vs 18.
And now, as they hang Jesus on the cross, they put the charge that was against him as “the King of the Jews” in vs 25, and the mockers say “Let the Christ, the King of Isreal, come down” in vs 32.
But Jesus was not being treated as anything but a king. The identification of Jesus as a king was always by those who rejected his kingship. Not once is he acknowledged as King by anyone with faith.
He was crucified with robbers, two men who were likely genuine insurrectionists like Barabbas, so he did not have royal company.
Jesus, the King of kings, treated like the worst of criminals.
But it had to be this way. Jesus has taught throughout this entire Gospel that the way of the Messiah is not through conquest and domination, but self-sacrifice, surrender, suffering, and death.
After Peter’s confession Jesus began to teach them
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.
In chapter nine he reminds them again
for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”
And it is right after that they were arguing about who would be the greatest and Jesus teaches them: you want to be the greatest? Be the last of all and servant of all.
In chapter ten, Jesus reiterates what is ahead for him
saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.
And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
And right after that James and John ask to sit at his right and left hand in His glory. And so Jesus teaches them again. Whoever wished to be great must be the servant and slave of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus has made it clear that this is what the path of greatness looks like and He is the one who is to lead the way. He is the King, but at this time he comes not to conquer but suffer willingly.
Those who observed, however, could not see it. They mocked.
There are three groups of people who mock him.
First are the passers by. vs 29.
Mark 15:29–30 “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!””
Then the scribes and chief priests similarly mock:
Mark 15:31–32 “So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”
And those crucified with him “also reviled him.”
There is great irony in these words. Jesus taught us in chapter eight
Mark 8:35 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
The mockers call out for Jesus to save himself, but if he does that he would be lost. It is only by submitting himself to the Father’s will and fully going through with what He was there to do could His life, not to mention the lives of others, could be saved.
The mockers acknowledge that Jesus saved others, but cannot save himself.
I’m going to read an extended quote on this point from a commentator because I really appreciate how he put it.
“Indeed, Jesus has saved others. Mark’s entire Gospel is about the saving work of Jesus. He has healed and rescued he has forgiven sins, given new life, restored hope, and rebuilt lives; he has taken hopeless victims and sent them home as missionaries proclaiming God’s mercy. He has saved others in much more profound ways than the religious leaders will ever acknowledge. No, he cannot save himself, not if he is to stay on the road to obedience. God has willed for him to drink this cup, to be baptized with this baptism, and Jesus has chosen to submit to his Father. He cannot come down! Ultimately he can save others only because he does not save himself. If he would save himself by fleeing God’s plan, there could be no salvation for others.”
This is our King. Willingly dying for us.
A second major theme of this section is the fulfillment of Psalm 22.
The Fulfillment of Prophecy
The Fulfillment of Prophecy
Mark does not say in this section “this fulfilled xyz prophecy” but so many details are clearly that.
Allow me to read Psalm 22:1-18 and listen for the parallels.
Psalm 22:1–18 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
Psalm 22:14–18 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
Can you hear it? Why have you forsaken me. They cast lots for my clothing. I am surrounded by bulls and dogs. They wag their heads at me. I am mocked and despised.
Mark clearly heavily alludes to Psalm 22.
This reminds us yet again that this was the plan of God. This was not a surprise. Jesus knew this was the road to walk when he came to earth. Jesus fully submitted himself to the predetermined plan of God.
finally, there is the Weight of the death itself.
The Weight of Death
The Weight of Death
The cry. Vs 34. Mark 15:34 “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?””
The pain that Jesus was experiencing on that cross as he bore the wrath of God for us was so great, that Jesus felt at though the Father had abandoned Him. The eternal Son who has enjoyed fellowship with the Father for eternity past at this moment feels the weight of sin and the wrath that should be yours and mine.
Jesus quote Psalm 22 here directly in Aramaic. The context of that Psalm is such that the David recognizes that God has not, in fact, forsaken him, but the thrust of the Psalm is that it sure feels like He has. And Jesus feels that as well.
The words of the Song Jerusalem echoed in my mind as I was studying this this passage.
See him there upon the cross
Now no longer breathing
Dust that formed the watching crowds
Takes the blood of Jesus
Feel the earth is shaking now
See the veil is split in two
And he stood before the wrath of God
Shielding sinners with his blood
This is the worst moment in human history. There have been many moments in human history that we look back on as tragedies. 9/11. WWI, WWII. The holocaust. Genghis Khan’s campaigns.
This moment is the worst of them all.
human hands taking the life of Jesus.
And so verse Mark 15:37 “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.”
Medically, Jesus’ lungs would have been filling with fluid and it would be harder and harder to breathe as time passed. Eventually the strain of breathing and hold himself up on the cross would have put such a significant strain up the heart that it would literally burst.
And here Jesus utters a loud cry. And dies. The worst moment in human history has ended.
2. This was the worst moment in human history. But this was also the best moment in human history.
Look at verse 38
Mark 15:38 “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”
The veil of the temple separated the most holy place from the rest of the temple. It was the portion of the temple that could only be entered into once a year and then only after an elaborate cleansing ritual. The veil was made of a very heavy and thick fabric that could not easily by torn or cut. This was not the work of human hands, but a divine and heavily symbolic miracle of God.
The veil, that which kept sinful humanity away from the glorious presence of God, that which symbolized our separation from him, that which made it clear that God is holy and we are very much not. That veil was torn in two.
God has now broken down the dividing line. He has removed the barrier of of our sin. He has made the way open to all.
We no longer have to go to a priest for cleansing. We no longer must have our prayers mediated by a mere man. We no longer must offer sacrifices continually. It is finished! He has done it!
The worst moment in human history is the best moment in human history. The worst crime ever commited is
Truly, This man was the Son of God
Truly, This man was the Son of God
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 15:39 (ESV)
“Truly this man was the Son of God!”