A Mangled Messiah

Introduction

Premiere of The Empire Strikes Back (May 21, 1980)

Luke loses his hand and…roll credits!

We long for resolution

The story arc isn’t complete until it’s achieved

Situation

Conflict

Rising Conflict

Climax

Resolution

God’s quest to save humanity is the greatest saga ever written

Salvation is worked out through the lives of sinners

Adam was a rebel

Noah was a drunkard

Abraham was a liar

Moses was an egotist

David was an adulterer

Only the seed of the woman could prevail (Gen. 3:15)

In Christ, the perfect protagonist is found

Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Before our adoption into the family of God could be made complete, the very Son of God had to be forsaken at the cross.

As South Banks continues its study of the Apostle’s Creed, it must be understood that an affirmation of the actual death of Christ is the cornerstone upon which all of our faith stands or falls.

In the agony of Calvary, the true cost of redemption is fully displayed for all of us so that we might be reminded of what it took for us to be at peace with God once again and have more than we could have ever hoped for.

The Road to Redemption (vv. 21 - 32)

He was sentenced as any other criminal was (vv. 22 - 27)

His crucifixion was as if it was any other day under Roman imperial rule (vv. 22 - 25)

Jesus’ exceptional status in our owns eyes did not make him any different to the unbelieving world

Tacitus, Roman historian: “[Christ] suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”

Isaiah 53:2-3: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beaut that we should desire him…he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Jesus’ appearance wasn’t what made him special

Not an Übermensch

It’s what the Jews wanted

Jesus died as an everyman for everyday men

He was persecuted as a truly righteous man (vv. 23 - 24)

Two Psalms are referenced: Ps. 69:21 (wine with myrrh) and Ps. 22:18 (casting of lots for his clothing)

The nature of fulfillment in the Bible

It is not so much about the exactness as it is about the underlying theme

As both of the Psalmists did, Jesus too suffers without having done anything wrong

Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Example of Christ’s active obedience to the uttermost

He was an unwanted king (vv. 26-32)

Jesus came to prove what the kingdom of God actually was (Jn. 18:36)

God had always intended for this kind of king to come to his people (2 Samuel 7:12-16)

He’s not another Judas Maccabeus

The next David would be like the David the Lord first loved

They didn’t know what they were saying (vv. 29 - 32)

To consider Christ according to his flesh alone is the greatest mistake one could make

The Son of God didn’t become incarnate for cheap tricks alone (Lk. 5:15-16)

If all that was needed was miracles, a normal prophet would’ve gotten the job done just as well

Christ did not come to revel in his own glory; he only descended so that the will of the Father might be fulfilled.

The Roar of Redemption (vv. 33 - 41)

A son’s cry for relief (vv. 34-37)

Jesus appeals to God to make sense of his suffering in citing Psalm 22:1

R. C. Sproul: Jesus wasn’t in a “Bible-quoting mood” at this point

Christ experienced unimaginable pain in his full humanity and reached out for his Father in the only way he could

A man who knew his Hebrew Scriptures as well

Equivalent to someone calling out “momma” on their deathbed

There weren’t angels holding him up to make his panting breaths come more easily to him

Isaiah 53:8: “By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?”

Elijah had already come (vv. 35-36)

The Aramaic Jesus spoke in could’ve been misheard as crying out for Elijah instead of God since the two terms were similar to each other

This only intensifies the mockery of those who despise Jesus already

Elijah had only ever been an announcer; Jesus was a fulfiller (Matt. 11:12-14; 17:1-18)

Elijah himself had seen the king who would finally redeem Israel once and for all (1 Kings 19)

Jesus’ death wasn’t a practical joke (v. 37)

The heresy of Docetism

He was as broken as the rest of us

The glory of the Lord is left disfigured (vv. 38-39)

The glory of the Lord had departed from the temple long ago, never to return (Ez. 10:15-19)

Herod’s own construction projects didn’t earn God’s favor

In the death of Christ, the holiness of God is revealed for all to see, rendering sacrifices truly worthless once and for all (Rev. 21:22-23)

A pagan has a better understanding of who Jesus is than God’s own people (v. 39)

Unbelievers are more perceptive than they’re willing to admit (Esther 6:13)

Anyone who looked upon him as he was could find no fault in him

Even the man who gave him his sentence thought he was innocent (Lk. 23:4)

Christ’s crucifixion is to the shame of all of Israel

Women counted among the most dedicated of all of Christ’s followers (v. 41)

We do an injustice to the church when we disregard the importance of women’s ministry within the church

Without them, Christ would have been lacking (“ministered to him”)

Mark wasn’t interested in name-dropping for the sake of it; he wanted us to know who remained faithful to the end as the gospel was brought into the world

The Rest of Redemption (vv. 42 - 47)

An expectation for the kingdom leads to an act of righteousness (vv. 42-46)

Even a member of the Sanhedrin like Joseph could see everything was not as it seemed in the death of Christ

Nicodemus was also involved (Jn. 19:39)

One must have the eyes to see and the ears to hear (Lk. 2:25-38; Simeon and Anna)

This was nevertheless done at night, as when Nicodemus first came to Jesus (John 3)

No bit of Jesus’ spirit remained in his brutalized body (v. 45)

The word used for “corpse” is speaking of a carcass

We so often sanitize the death of Christ by refusing to contemplate how mangled our Messiah was by his crucifixion

The pietá

Murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi in 1955

Mamie Till on why she wanted an open casket funeral for her son: “I wanted the world to see what they did to my baby.”

The love we have for our Lord should enrage us that he should have had to even die as he did in the first place.

Flannery O’ Connor: there is the “sweat and stink of the cross” to consider

The women were witnesses to the putting away of the crucified flesh (v. 47)

Because Jesus had died as a criminal, no formal mourning was allowed.

They did what they could to honor him in death.

Conclusion

Above all else, there is one thing that Mark would have us know: this actually happened just as he said

Jesus spoke of his impending, necessary death despite the disbelief of his disciples

The specificity of the who, where, when, and how of the crucifixion meant it could be asked of anyone who was there to prove its veracity (the role of Simon of Cyrene)

The historicity of salvation must be maintained to emphasize the fact that redemptive history is history

Christ’s coming was a result of cosmic chance; it was the fulfillment of all that had been prophesied and longed for by God’s people in the past

Knowing the Bible only makes sense when we know what it’s about in the first place, and that means trusting in the fact that it is entirely true and authoritative

Without believing in the inspiration of Scripture, the story of Jesus is only nice, not necessary

A neglect of the Word is a neglect of the final Word himself

We were the ones who put him there

The Passion of the Christ would’ve been dishonest if it hadn’t been graphic

James Dobson: “In any other context, I could not in good conscience recommend a movie containing this degree of violent content. However, in this case, the violence is intended…to emphasize the reality of the unspeakable suffering that our Savior endured.”

The cross of Christ should only make you even more certain of your sinfulness and need for grace

The resurrection cannot be understood apart from the cross

Example: Ed McMahon on the other side of Golgotha: “Heeeere’s Jesus!”

We would’ve doubted right alongside Thomas if we had been in his shoes

Don’t rush ahead to Easter without first stopping at Holy Saturday

Death is still a pervasive reality in our fallen world

The pandemic has reminded us of the frailty of life

The church must be above the politicization that the rest of our society falls victim to

If you’ve lost a loved one to a freak accident, a terminal illness, or even suicide, remember that Christ himself tasted the end of our own mortality

We will not escape our mortality until all is made new, so we must expectantly await the arrival of our triumphant King so that only tears of joy will be shed

“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” by Gerard Moultrie

King of kings, yet born of Mary, As of old on earth he stood, Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood; He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food.

In the stillness of the tomb, the work of everlasting salvation had been finally achieved.

The day of eternal rest was coming (v. 42)

A garden was where he was laid, after all (Jn. 19:41)

Our mangled Messiah’s giving of himself should cause us to take pause and count the cost of what he has done for us, for we could never find salvation apart from the obscenity of the cross.