The Crucifixion Mark 15:16-39

In the last hours of His life, people respond to Jesus in all kinds of ways, but we are called to believe in Him

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Assurance Is Not Presumption

“The doctrine of assurance … seems to me what is missing in so much of what passes for Christianity. We do not have the confidence of the early church because we are inhibited by this wretched traditional Catholic injunction against presumption. Yet the promises are there to be claimed by faith.… One accepts with the top of one’s head but dare not rejoice. Forgiven, yes, but free from the power of sin and the fear of death? Wow! There is still a long way to go.… I want to soak up the doctrine of assurance until it is fully mine.”

SOURCE: Stuart Manson, FRCS, in a letter to JRWS (May 7, 1964).

I. Some People Mock Jesus vv. 16-20

When we pick up the passage here, things are barreling towards a terrible conclusion.

The soldiers lead Jesus away from Pilate’s headquarters and they begin to mock Him

They dress Jesus in garb intended to invoke kingship: a purple robe and a crown of thorns

They call Him the King of the Jews and pretend to engage in acts of worship and adoration

The whole series of actions is designed to belittle and enrage Jesus

I’m sure from their perspective the whole thing was quite hilarious:

This peasant from Galilee, without power, position, or possessions seems to think that He is in some way greater than they are

In their mocking and physical abuse, they attempt to demonstrate their authority over Him

It’s an interesting dilemma

They have met the Lord

They have recognized His Lordship

They have committed to rebel against Him in the severest ways possible

II. Some are Compelled to Serve Jesus v. 21

Next, we see Jesus headed out to Golgotha, the place where Jesus was to be crucified.

Most likely, the upright portion of the cross was already in place and Jesus was carrying the crosspiece on His shoulders

Weakened by the physical abuse, Jesus was unable to continue. The soldiers compel a man to carry the cross

This man is called Simon of Cyrene

Interestingly, he is a foreigner, from North Africa.

He is likely a Jew who has come to Jerusalem for the Passover

Can you imagine what must have gone through Simon’s mind?

He most likely just wanted to be left alone!

This would have been physically exhausting, emotionally draining, shockingly inconvenient, and disturbingly shameful

However, I feel certain that it eventually became the great honor of Simon’s life

We do not know much about Simon moving forward from here.

However, we get glimpses of a future faith

It is clear that his sons, Rufus and Alexander are known to the church

We must not live in fear of the hard things God throws into our paths; they may be our salvation!

In Elmer Bendiner’s book, THE FALL OF FORTRESSES, he describes one bombing run over the German city of Kassel:

Our B-17 (The Tondelayo) was barraged by flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. That was not unusual, but on this particular occasion our gas tanks were hit. Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a twenty-millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot, Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple.

On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck. The crew chief told Bohn that not just one shell but eleven had been found in the gas tanks—eleven unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the sea had been parted for us. Even after thirty-five years, so awesome an event leaves me shaken, especially after I heard the rest of the story from Bohn.

He was told that the shells had been sent to the armorers to be defused. The armorers told him that Intelligence had picked them up. They could not say why at the time, but Bohn eventually sought out the answer. Apparently when the armorers opened each of those shells, they found no explosive charge. They were clean as a whistle and just as harmless. Empty? Not all of them.

One contained a carefully rolled piece of paper. On it was a scrawl in Czech. The Intelligence people scoured our base for a man who could read Czech. Eventually, they found one to decipher the note. It set us marveling. Translated, the note read: “This is all we can do for you now.”

III. Some Revile Jesus vv. 22-32

The events continue on and Jesus is suffering

They offer Him wine mixed with myrrh to numb the pain, but He refuses it

He endures the fullness of suffering for us

He endures the fullness of suffering with us

They gamble for His garments

They place Him between two thieves and He will die amongst criminals

However, the worst of this comes in the form of some specific accusations:

They call Him out for being unable to save Himself

They claim that if He were to come down they would see and believe

It seems that they do not understand Him at all

He is more than able to save Himself, but He is not interested in saving Himself; He cares about saving them

He is on the Cross in no small part because they do not believe in Him; If He were to come down, believing would not do them much good!

IV. Some Observe Jesus vv. 33-37

As the time of His death drew near, Jesus cried out from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

This is a painful and tragic moment

Jesus quotes Psalm 22, which strikes two different notes:

It is a reminder of the suffering that Jesus is enduring in this moment and His feeling of being forsaken

It looks forward to an ultimate victory and the fulfillment of Christ’s sacrificial purpose; this is a victory, in the end

However, the people do not understand what is taking place

They think that He is calling for the prophet Elijah, rather than crying out to God

In fact, they believe it so strongly that they wait to see whether or not Elijah might actually come

They fail to understand that the tragedy and the victory go hand-in-hand

I’m afraid that this is the place many of us find ourselves:

We are interested observers

We would like to wait and see what happens to Jesus before we trust Him

V. One Believes Jesus vv. 38-39

Mark makes one final observation: The veil in the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom

This is a supernatural act, filled with important symbolism

The dividing wall between a holy God and sinful men has been torn in two

We will no longer enter the presence of God through a curtain, but through Jesus Himself

This is ours, if we believe it

For all of the people that we see in this account, the centurion demonstrates the greatest understanding of all

This man is the Son of God!

Hebrews 10:19–23

[19] Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (ESV)

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Three Types of Belief

[We] use [the] word “believe” loosely to convey several shades of meaning, for example:

(i) I believe in ghosts, fairies, God = Belief in Fact

(ii) I believe in aspirins, communism, Christianity = Belief in Value

Both [of the above are] intellectual.

(iii) I believe in Dr. Jones = such a belief in his existence (fact) and competence (value) that [makes one] ready to trust him.