The Cross Of Christ

Between Two Criminals

V21: Simon the Cyrene is forced to carry Jesus’ cross.

Criminals were forced to carry their own crosses (symbolic of the requirement to take up our own cross — we are rebellious criminals?!)

For Simon it was a hunk of wood, for us, a symbol rich in meaning. We bear the cross not because we love the sacrifice but because we love the Savior.

V22-23: Golgotha and wine mixed with myrrh.

Place of the skull, possibly because it was a common execution site.

Not much certainty about actual location, but the place of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the better possibility.

Mark is less concerned about the place and more concerned about its function: the place of Jesus’ death.

It would have been on a main thoroughfare as Romans used crucifixion as a deterrent against rebellion.

As He is placed on the cross, He’s offered wine mixed with myrrh.

Some suggest myrrh was a sedative.

Regardless, Jesus refuses the drink, choosing instead to suffer the full wrath of God in complete awareness.

V24-27

They crucified Him. Mark, as all the gospel writers do, simply states the fact. Roman readers would have understood the horror. Crucifixion was not a Roman invention, but they certainly preferred and perfected it. Writers of the day view crucifixion with horror:

“The cruelest and most hideous punishment possible.” — Cicero

“The most miserable of deaths.” — Josephus

The cast lots for His clothes. Clothing was a valuable commodity. Common practice for the executioners to take the clothing, similar to dividing the spoils of victory after war. However, casting lots provides further insight into Jesus’ identity (Ps.22:18).

The inscription…THE KING OF THE JEWS. Although Jesus rejected political overtones, He is executed as a political Messiah. Remember last weeks implication, though: we would do well to consider what it means for Jesus to be king. Is He your King?

Two criminals with Him. First, recalls the request of James and John — can we sit in the places of honor?

The person who would be close to Jesus must be willing to die, in the least, to His own desires.

“Glory” in the kingdom of God only comes through trial, suffering, and sacrifice. Be wary of a self-proclaimed ‘mature’ Christian who doesn’t walk with a limp.

V29-32

The trial scenes that concluded with Jesus being mocked now converge in a unified chorus of contempt.

Yelling insults. The term in the Greek is actually the word for blasphemy. In Mark’s ironic style, the passerbys are guilty of the very thing the religious leaders accused Jesus of!

Save yourself by coming down. Consider what the people ask, for if Jesus were to save Himself, He would not save mankind. Oh the depths of our depravity when we would prefer the Son of Man to save Himself rather than do the thing that is necessary to save us! This sharpens the focus of Romans 3:10-12. His role as Messiah is to bring salvation, and Jesus staying on the cross was the only way to bring this about.

See and believe. While the religious leaders are boasting in the accomplishment of their long-conceived plan, they mockingly as for a sign so that they may see and believe. The truth of the matter is that Jesus’ entire ministry has consisted of prophesied signs that the religious leaders have refused to believe. We would do well to remember that believing is not rooted in external proofs but in confidence is God’s Word and Son.

The taunt for Jesus to come down from the cross is in essence the same temptation that He faced in Gethsemane, that is, to avoid suffering’s cup. At Gethsemane Jesus made the costly decision, which He now fulfills, to do the will of God rather than His own will. In this haunting picture of Jesus, fastened to a cross and assailed in mockery, we see “proof of the amazing difference between God’s way and everything which men consider their goal or conceive of as God’s way. There is no self-defense from Jesus, no effort to get even or get in the final word, no attempt to preserve at least a modicum of dignity and pride. Jesus surrenders in total vulnerability to the malevolence and violence of the fallen world.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart —

His wounds have paid my ransom!

The Centurion’s Confession

Mark has alternated (beginning in Mk.14:61) between the confession of Jesus and human responses to it. Here at last Jesus gives a final word of testimony before His death, recalling the words of Ps.22, and the centurion provides a probing thought for us, a statement of Jesus’ true identity. Not to overemphasize symbolism, but I think it’s no accident that all of the previous statements and responses ended with hostile or negative responses, but when Jesus dies, the confession of the true and right and positive. It is only in the death of Jesus that we are awakened to see Him rightly and respond accordingly!

V33-34

Darkness came over the whole land. Make no mistake, this is divine activity as a natural phenomenon would not occur during this time.

It appears as an eschatological judgment similar to Amos 8:9.

There is also a Passover significance. In Ex.10:22-11:9, the ninth plague of Egypt is darkness in the land for three days. The tenth and final plague is the death angel, and the provision for salvation from the death angel was the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. Darkness settles on the land for three hours here before the final Lamb who takes away the sin of the world gives up His life.

My God, my God… If the reference to Ps.22:18 was missed by the casting of lots, Jesus states it outright here — everything is happening according to God’s will.

This is not an accident. It happens according to God’s foreordained plan.

And while yes, as He suffers, Jesus feels the full weight of abandonment because of sin’s dreadful penalty, quoting Ps.22 also lets us know that He was fully confident the Father would restore Him, as well.

Finally, Jesus makes this statement with a loud voice. This is both surprising and dramatic, a gut-level cry from Jesus. This type of forceful lament is not that of a man on death’s door from crucifixion, a point that will be furthered in vs.37.

V35-36

Calling for Elijah.

The bystanders likely misheard Jesus’ use of “Eloi,” interpreting it instead as Elijah.

Elijah was regarded as a rescuer, and it was believed that he would one day return to help those in need.

The crowds are oblivious to the fact that Elijah has already come — John the Baptist, and the way had already been made for Jesus to assume His role of Messiah. Again, Markan irony!

The bystanders offer cheap wine, likely an allusion to Ps.69:21, and sit back to see if Jesus would be rescued, still not aware that indeed they were the ones in need of rescue. Be wary of thinking we know the best for others when we may be the ones in most need!

V37-39

Loud cry and breathed His last. Jesus is in full control of when He dies. A person who perished from crucifixion did not die with enough vigor to cry out, yet Jesus does. Crucifixion killed you slowly, gradually, and quietly. Jesus died suddenly and violently. Underscores the fact that no one takes Jesus’ life — He lays it down freely. What a demonstration of love.

The curtain…torn in two.

Climax of the anti-temple motif in Mark.

Opens a way to God’s presence.

Should note the veil isn’t removed, but replaced — Jesus’ flesh is the new curtain.

Truly…the Son of God! Like before, this confession comes from an unusual place. Unlike before, it is made in full cognition of what is being said!

Son of God is used in the full Christian sense, not a mis-statement.

This centurion would have seen the full gamut of events leading to Jesus’ death, flogging to breathing His last. And this Roman, who’d probably seen more crucifixions than he wanted to, notices something different in the death of Jesus.

It leads to a confession of the divinity of Jesus and serves as a climax to Mark’s theology. Remember, this is the reaffirmation of what was first stated in Mark 1:1 by Mark himself, proclaimed to be by God the Father in Mk.1:11, again named Son of God on the mount of transfiguration in Mk.9:7, was recognized as such by the demons in Mk.3:11 and Mk.5:7, was implied to be the Son of God in parable — Mk.12:6, and in riddle — Mk.12:37 and, unknowingly confessed by the high priest in Mark 14:61, and finally verified by this centurion.

Wrestle with the weight of this: Jesus’ messianic identity was confessed by Peter speaking for the disciples. Yet, they have consistently been blind to Jesus as the Suffering Servant. It’s finally the pagan soldier who sees His divine sonship and messianic identity, and he realizes it because of Jesus’ suffering, not His conquest. And, it’s not the religious elite or the intimate disciples that confess it…it’s a pagan Gentile. The gospel is sufficient for Jew and Gentile alike!

V40-41

Mary…Mary…Salome. This may seem like an odd addition, but it becomes quite pertinent in the long run. These three women watched Jesus from a distance, taking in the horror of His crucifixion and the reality of His death.

The male disciples had all made grand predictions about their faithfulness to Jesus, but it was the women who were there at the cross and eventually the tomb. Two things I’ll note about this, because I don’t want to force something on the text:

Women were heavily involved following and ministering to Jesus, and this was quite uncommon in Jesus’ day. So no, contrary to popular cultural belief, Christianity is not some patriarchal belief system that oppresses women.

Second, it is to the men’s shame that they abandoned Jesus and to the women’s praise they did not. Why bring this up? While Jesus uses men and women in the church, there are things that He intends the men to do that quite frankly aren’t being done — chief among them is to lead and set an example of faithfulness. When are the men going to MAN UP?!

They appear in the burial narrative as well, so more on them in a moment.

The Burial’s Corroboration

V42-43

Joseph…member of the Sanhedrin.

There are some divine elements in this account. Joseph was honorable, reputable, and powerful as a “prominent” member of the Sanhedrin. We may ask, “was he there when the council voted to have Jesus put to death?” and the only answer we might get this side of heaven is, “We’re not sure.” What we do know is that it was God’s will to crush Jesus for the sins of the world. So even if he objected, the inevitable was still the future.

He was “looking forward to the kingdom of God.” When people ask how were Jews saved before Jesus, this answers it — by looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. How are we saved? By looking back to the Messiah. The point was always Jesus!

He risks it all to secure the body of Jesus.

Uncommon practice — some scholars note that Romans would leave the bodies to decay as a deterrent.

He risks being exposed if he isn’t already — clearly aligns himself with Jesus. This begs the question: are we ready and willing to endure ridicule by openly associating with Jesus?

Pilate could have him executed.

Cannot discount the possibility that Mark intends the reader to see the confession of the centurion and actions of Joseph together — one is a confession of the mouth (“confess Jesus as Lord”), the other a confession of the heart (“and believe in your heart...”).

V.44-47

Joseph secures the body of Jesus.

After taking necessary burial procedural steps, Jesus is laid in a tomb.

Notice who is there: Mary…and Mary. Why do you I mention this? When they return to the tomb in a few days, one of the refutations of Jesus’ resurrection is that the disciples got the tomb wrong. Here are the same two Marys that witnessed the death of Christ, present when His body is laid in the tomb.

Given the already mentioned lower status of women in 1st century culture, you wouldn’t make this part up. Yet, they become key in the death, burial, and resurrection narratives, unifying the message and lending eye-witness credibility to the account.

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