The Power of the Cross: A Turning Point-Mark 15:39-46

As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to Mark chapter 15. This morning we will be looking at verse 39-46 and we will read those verses shortly, so please have them marked and ready for that time.

Last Sunday morning in a message entitled From The End to The Beginning, we looked at verse 34-38 of Mark chapter 15. We considered the The Cry That Broke the Darkness, as Jesus shattered the 3 hours of darkness with the cry; “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” A cry that brought more ridicule from a crowd that was firmly in the grip of the Devil himself. In looking at the cry, it was pointed out that this was the only instance in the Gospels where Jesus didn’t address God as His Father, which was likely due to the truth that this was the only time from eternity past that Jesus was experiencing the agony of separation from God, that the believer would, in turn, never face that separation. Additionally, we discussed the potential meaning behind the repeated address of “My God, My God”, comparing it to other times in Scripture where in addressing someone with a repeated noun or pronoun gave the picture of a time of great emotion. Then, we looked at the last 3 statements Jesus made from the cross; “I thirst.”; “It is finished” and “Father, into Your Hands I commit My Spirit”. Which proceeded The Final Breath That Brought Eternal Life, at which point in time the veil that separates the Holy place from the Holy of Holies was Torn in Two, from top to bottom granting the believer Full Access to the very throne of God. It is no longer necessary to go through a priest or religious leader, we can go directly to God at any time.

With that as an introduction, let’s go before the Lord in prayer.

Heavenly Father,

What a joy it is for us to come to You this morning as Jehovah Sabaoth, and how grateful we are that as a result of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross of Calvary, because of His blood shed for us, with the veil in the temple being torn in 2 from top to bottom, we can come directly to You.

We joyfully approach Your throne this morning. We come to You as “the redeemed washed by” Your “blood”. We worship You “the King, all glorious above”. We sing of Your “wonderful love”. You, our “shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days”. “You alone are our matchless King, To You alone be all majesty. Your glories and wonders what tongue can recite”. We stand in Your strength this morning as “An army whose battle cry is love, Reaching out to those in darkness”. Our weapon of war is Your “sword that makes the wounded whole”. We can come to You because we have been to “the cross, where love and mercy meet”. And because of that love and mercy, the day will come “When we stand with Christ in glory”.

Father, “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing” and because You so freely give Your blessing to us, we say “Jesus, We just want to thank You”. “With hearts and hands and voices”. “Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise”.

Now, O Lord of Hosts, Who “saves not by sword and spear”, but by the crimson blood that flowed from Calvary’s Cross. We ask You to speak to us this morning from the powerful, life changing truths of Your Word. And these things we pray,

In Jesus Name, Amen

Now, would you please stand, in honor of the reading of God’s Word?

Mark 15:39–46 ESV

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!” 40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they followed Him and ministered to Him, and there were also many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. 42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that He should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that He was dead, he granted the Corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

In our verses this morning, we observe the profound moments following the crucifixion of Jesus. The first of which we see in verse 39 in the;

1. Centurion's Confession Revealed. Mark 15:39

We read in Mark 15:39

Mark 15:39 ESV

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!”

Luke adds that he “praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent’”, and Matthew points out that it wasn’t just the centurion, but also “those who were with him” adding “they were filled with awe”. The Greek word the ESV translates as “awe”, is a particularly powerful word, it can also be translated “to put to flight by terrifying (to scare away)…to be struck with fear”.

To really understand the magnitude of what is taking place here, we need to look into the type of men that were placed by the Roman Empire in the role of a Centurion. A Roman Centurion was a commander of 100 men, and the office of a centurion was generally the highest position an ordinary soldier could reach. And they rose through the ranks of the soldiers because of their experience and knowledge. To become a centurion, a soldier had to serve 12-20 years and once they were promoted they were paid well.

Their duties, when it came to crucifixion, were significant. The centurion would have taken command over all of the brutality that went with the crucifixion. All along the centurion watched the events as they unfolded before him. By nature of his position he would have watched everything closely. He had likely seen hundreds, even thousands of crucifixions, but what he saw in Jesus was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. And not just in Jesus, also what he saw in Pilate.

We are not certain when the centurion would have taken charge of the crucifixion, but it is clear it would have been there pretty early on. It would have been Roman soldiers, under his control that twisted a crown of thorns and thrust it upon His Head, that mockingly put a purple robe on Him, hailed Him as “King of the Jews” and Struck Him.

He heard the shouts “Crucify Him”. He would have watched as Pilate, speaking to Jesus said “Do You not know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?” And probably marveled when Jesus responded, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above”.

He would have also understood that Pilate was convinced of Jesus’ innocence. Would have witnessed Pilate sitting in the judgement seat in the place called “The Pavement” where he took a bowl of water, washed his hands and said “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.” But in spite of Pilate’s believing Jesus was innocent, the centurion would have been the one overseeing the scourging. Which was incredibly brutal. Perhaps he was included in the soldiers that mockingly bowed before Him and worshipped Him, that spat upon Him, struck Him on His head. He watched it all, and participated in much of it. He oversaw Jesus being nailed to the cross, watched as the cross was lifted up and dropped into the hole dug for it. What He saw, or should I say, heard next was difficult for him to understand. From the cross Jesus spoke, while Scripture doesn’t give us specifics on this, I picture Jesus lifting his Head to heaven before saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” I wonder to myself, could this have been when the centurion’s heart began to soften. Again, he had witnessed too many crucifixions to count, and this was the only instance where he saw forgiveness granted from the cross. I would imagine that, coupled with what he saw in Pilate, would have had an impact.

By virtue of his position as a centurion, he would have stood by during the 3 hours of darkness and silence, would have heard the cry that broke the silence. Heard Jesus last cries, felt the earthquake. All of this moved him deeply, and not just him but his soldiers, which is when they, in great fear “glorified God saying ‘Truly this Man was the Son of God…Certainly this was a righteous Man.” They weren’t the only ones moved, in Lukes account we read “And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.”

Something else to note regarding the centurion, in the Gospel of Mark, he was the 1st human to confess Jesus as the Son of God. Demons had done so on a few occasions, but never a man, in Marks account, he was the first.

Looking back over the crucifixion, from Jesus being nailed to the cross until His death and what immediately followed, and in keeping with the title of this mornings message, as I see it, there have now been 3 powerful turning points in the crucifixion.

a. The Thief on The Cross.

The first was the turning point in the heart of one of the men crucified alongside Jesus. From mocking to a plea for grace and forgiveness.

The second was;

b. The Centurion and his fellow soldiers.

The third;

c. The Rest of the crowd.

Regarding the change of heart in the crowd, John MacArthur writes;

“The fickle crowds who came together for this spectacle represent the convicted. They had run the gamut of emotions that fateful week, ranging from delirious joy … during the triumphal entry at the prospect that Jesus was the Messiah they so eagerly longed for, to the opposite extreme of anger, hatred, and animosity at His trial before Pilate. There they asked for the murdering insurrectionist Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus, shouted loudly for Jesus to be crucified, and even willingly assumed responsibility for His death, crying out, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” (Matt. 27:25). After the dramatic events of the crucifixion, especially the darkness and the earthquake, the crowds had one last manifestation of emotion. When they observed what had happened, they began to return to Jerusalem, beating their breasts in a sign of grief, guilt, and fear (cf. 18:13). The event was not so funny anymore as they became terrified at the signs of God’s wrath and judgment they had experienced. Fear of God’s person and judgment because of guilt and rejection of Jesus Christ is a necessary response. The crowd’s reaction no doubt prepared the hearts of many who were later converted on the Day of Pentecost and in the events of the early chapters of Acts.”

That is the power of the Cross. The power of the cross should prompt us to see Jesus clearly and respond in faith. The change in the criminal who hung alongside Jesus, the centurion’s declaration, and the change in the fickle crowd are all an invitation for us to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God in our own lives.

R. Kent Hughes states it beautifully in his commentary;

“We who know the Lord see so much more than the soldier, for we see the depths Jesus went to in order to redeem us. We see Him writhing under our sins as they are poured onto Him. We see that He became a curse for us, that we might become righteous. We see Him totally alone, undergoing the trauma of separation from the Father in darkness and silence.”

From these 3 turning points, we move to the;

2. Faithful Followers Finish Strong. Mark 15:40-41

While in Mark and Matthews accounts of the crucifixion, we only see women mentioned, Luke adds that there were others besides women. Based on what we see in the Gospel of John, John would have also been present at least earlier, when Jesus spoke to he and Mary, Jesus’ mother from the cross. Perhaps after Jesus spoke to John, he immediately took Mary away from the cross, protecting her from those last excruciating hours. The Gospel of John seems to indicate so in John 19:27b, where we read “And from that hour the disciple took her to his home.” Based on Lukes writing “all of His acquaintances and the women” there were others as well.

There is something to note when it comes to His followers, and that is the change of their position. In John 19:25-27 we see His followers standing by the cross. But here in Mark, Matthew and Luke, we see these individuals following at a distance. This leads us to wonder why they had moved? And truthfully, we are not told why. But it is likely that all that had taken place during those 6 hours that Friday had a powerful affect on them. I would guess that they had moved to the point that they were unable to bear being so close, seeing what was happening to One Whom they had loved so deeply, and Who had shown even greater love for them. While they may not have fully understood the depths of his love yet, the magnitude of His love would begin to dawn on them, at dawn on Sunday morning, but that is for another Sunday. For now, they watched from a distance, shocked, overcome with unbearable grief, trying to somehow make sense of all that had taken place. Despite all this, they remained steadfast, loyal to the bitter end, despite their great sorrow.

In many ways, isn’t this the call of the disciple? The faithful follower finishes strong! Note I said Finishes strong! Based on what is clearly seen in Scripture, the only disciple that was present at the crucifixion was John. Of Course Judas, the betrayer, wasn’t there, but what about the other 10, where were they? We don’t see them until Sunday morning, it appears that they had been so overcome with fear that they came no where near the cross, all but John that is. But based on what we see in the Book of Acts, and in the laurels of church history, every last one of them, all 11, willingly put their life on the line for the risen Savior. They finished strong. That is the challenge for us as well. That we remain steadfast and faithful followers and finish strong. That we remain faithful to Jesus, even in times of grief and uncertainty, as we consider the profound love shown at the cross.

And if, as you look at your life right now and you see anything but faithfulness, follow the lead of the Apostles, fix your eyes on the resurrected Savior and finish Strong.

The next thing we see;

3. Joseph's Courage Act. Mark 15:42-43

In considering Joseph of Arimathea, we need to look more deeply at who he was. The truth is, we know very little about him. We know he was from Amimathea, but we don’t even know where that is, except it must have been in Judea. All we know is that he was a member of the Jewish Council, as in the Sanhedrin, the very council that forced Pilate, against his will, to crucify Jesus. We find out in Luke’s account of the events leading up to the crucifixion that Joseph was “a righteous man…who had not consented to their (the Sanhedrin’s) decision and action”. Matthew and John tell us he was a disciple of Jesus, letting us know he was, indeed a true follower. In other words, requesting the body of Jesus would have taken a great deal of boldness, really on 2 fronts.

a. Boldness in light of the Jewish leaders.

He had already gone against them in refusing to be a part of the council when condemning Jesus to death. This, most certainly didn’t sit well with them. Now, here he is requesting the body of Jesus, that He might be buried with the dignity Jesus deserved. Before now, his loyalty towards Jesus was not known to them, now it would be impossible to hide.

Next, I would imagine it would have taken a great deal of;

b. Boldness before Pilate.

Again, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council that forced Pilate, against his will, to crucify Someone Pilate knew to be innocent.

But there is something else at play in the burial of Jesus.

After a crucifixion, the body of the crucified was handled in one of two ways. The first way was the family members could request the body. The second way was they would discard the body, tossing the body in a hastily made grave or even in a dump outside the city limits. As far as we can tell, the Apostle John had taken Mary, the mother of Jesus to his home, and we know that none of Jesus brothers were followers of his before the resurrection. The only other individuals who were close to Jesus that were near the cross were the women and acquaintances that were now watching the crucifixion from a distance.

I could be wrong, as there is nothing in Scripture to indicate this, but I would imagine that those “acquaintances” were considering getting access to the body of their beloved Jesus. But there is a problem with this, had this been the case, and had they been given the body of Jesus, this would have completely derailed the divine plan of God, and when I say completely derailed the divine plan, I am not exaggerating even slightly.

Here is the problem, 700 years before the crucifixion, Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 53:9

New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 53

His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth

None of Jesus known followers were wealthy, which meant that even had they been given access to the body, it wouldn’t have fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, which stated “He was with a rich man in His death”. This is where, in my eyes, it is hard not to see the incredible sovereignty of God over all things. God moves the heart of Joseph of Arimathea, who up to this point in time had been a secret follower of Jesus, and who, could easily be seen as putting his career, if not his life on the line, to step from behind the curtain of secrecy, and request the Body of Jesus. Thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy from 700 years earlier. God left no stone unturned to fulfill every single prophetic word concerning His Son.

This should be hugely encouraging to you and me. You see that same God is at work in the life of the believer as well. For the individual yielded to Him, we can know, based on the promises of God in Scripture, that He has a perfect plan for us, and like He did in making sure every prophecy concerning His Son was fulfilled, He will make sure that nothing stops His perfect plan in our life from coming to fruition.

4. Honorable Burial Bestowed. Mark 15:44-46

In verses 44-46, we see Joseph go to great lengths to make sure Jesus was buried in an honorable way.

Mark 15:44–46 ESV

Pilate was surprised to hear that He should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that He was dead, he granted the Corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen shroud and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Just a couple things to note as we look at these verses. First, the reason Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus had already died was because it usually took several days for the crucified to die. We see in John’s account of the crucifixion, that the Jewish leaders, not wanting the bodies to hang on the cross on the Sabbath, approached Pilate to have the legs of the crucified broken. That way they could no longer use their legs to push up and take a breath, thus they would die quickly of asphyxiation. But when they got to Jesus, He was already dead. This fulfilled 2 other prophecies.

a. No bones were broken. Ps. 34:20; Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12

In Psalm 34:20, King David prophecies that not one of the Messiah’s bones will be broken. Had Jesus not already died, this prophecy would have gone unfulfilled. By the way, one of the things that makes the fulfillment of this prophecy so important is what we see in Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12. Both address the condition of the Passover Lamb, who was to be unblemished, which included no broken bones. This would also apply to Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb.

b. They “pierced” His side with a spear. Zechariah 12:10

In order to verify that Jesus was indeed dead, the Roman soldiers took a spear and pierced His side. Unwittingly they were fulfilling yet another prophecy from Zechariah 12:10. Where we read;

Zechariah 12:10

Zechariah 12:10 ESV

….they look … on him Whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

The end of this verse is fulfilled in what we read in Luke 23:48, where we read “And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.”

Clearly, in looking at this morning’s passage, all that was accomplished at the crucifixion of Jesus was multifaceted. Of course from our viewpoint, the greatest thing accomplished was our redemption. This should produce in us a heart of thanksgiving that stretches well beyond the Holiday we are approaching this Thursday. It should be reflected in thankfulness each and every day.

But beyond our redemption, we should marvel at the lengths our great God has gone to in an effort to make sure every single prophecy is fulfilled. In His sovereignty, He left no stone unturned to fulfill every prophetic promise concerning His Son. We can rest assure that He will do the same to fulfill the promises He has made in Scripture regarding we who have put our faith and trust in Him.

Let’s close our time this morning in prayer.