A Look at the Cross

TEXT: Mark 15:15-40

TOPIC: A Look at the Cross

Pastor Bobby Earls, Little Memorial Baptist Church, Gaffney, SC

(This message is one of my older sermons likely preached in my first full time pastorate at the Little Memorial Baptist Church in Gaffney, South Carolina. It could be even older. I cannot find a date or notes from its development. The idea for the sermon may have come from my pastor, The Reverend Marneese Hampton of Blacksburg, SC.)

Please take your bible and open to the 15th chapter of Mark’s Gospel.

Mark 15:15–40 (NKJV) 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. 16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. 21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. 25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS 27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” 29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. 33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. 38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” 40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,

What impact has the cross of Jesus Christ made in your life? When you look at the cross, what do you see? How does the cross influence the way you live your life? Finally, how do you respond to the cross of Christ?

Mark describes for us how the people of that time looked at the cross. He records for us the people who were there on Mount Calgary, the day Jesus was crucified.

They all saw the death of Christ. They all were very familiar with the Romans favorite means of executing criminals, death on a cross.

In that day, the cross was not only the most painful form of execution, but it was also the most humiliating with many crucified naked or nearly naked on a barren cross.

And certainly, the cross meant death for anyone nailed to a cross, a slow, agonizing death.

But again, how did those present that day actually look at the cross of Christ?

There were four distinct groups of people there that day as our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on that ole’ cross. First, there were the mockers.

I. THE MOCKERS, Mark 15:29-32

29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

In Mark 15:29, “Those who passed by…” represent the Worldly Lost. Many simply pass by Jesus without giving Him any thought at all. They live their lives very contently apart from Christ.

Many others are not content to ignore Christ and His cross. They openly deny His death as an act of God’s plan to reach the world apart from Him. They deny, reject, mock and jeer at the belief that Jesus died for the sins of the world.

They curse His name and all who would choose to believe that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was indeed God’s work of redemption, reconciling the world to Himself.

Mark 15:31-32 tell us about the Religious Lost. “The chief priests…the scribes…” are a strange mixture. They are the religious in the crowd but not of the crowd. The disdain in their voices exposes the hypocrisy of their lives. They mistakenly believed because they were religious they were better than others. Muttering under their breath, they were just as critical, just as doubting.

Don’t miss the third group of people who rejected Christ as they looked at His cross.

Mark 15:32 tells us, Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. These are the Condemned Lost. We all were a part of the Condemned Lost before Christ and the cross!

T/S—They were all mockers as they looked at the cross. Secondly,

II. THOSE WHO MISUNDERSTOOD, Mark 15:35-36

35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

Look first at verse 35, of Mark 15. Some of those who stood by,…... “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” And also verse 36, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

Those that stood by the side of the cross misunderstood WHAT Jesus said when He cried out,

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”

They thought He was calling out to the Prophet Elijah when He was actually crying out to God, “Eloi!”

They not only misunderstood what He said on the cross, but they also misunderstood WHY He was on the cross. He wasn’t there to be saved! He was there TO SAVE!!!

But most importantly, they misunderstood WHO He was. They saw Him as a common criminal like the two with which He was crucified. But while Christ died with criminals, He also died for criminals. He was the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, chosen to take away the sins of the world!

T/S—Next notice the saved under the cross.

III. THE SAVED UNDER THE CROSS, Mark 15:39

39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

Look at Mark 15:39, It was the centurion, the Roman soldier, an officer appointed over a hundred others who was the first to make a profession of faith, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

I believe this pagan officer was moved to trust in Christ when he looked at the cross. No doubt he had witnessed thousands of crosses and the deaths of countless others by crucifixion. Most of them he watched as they struggled against death, cursing to their last breath. But Jesus, this man, no this Son of God was different in the eyes of this Centurion.

T/S—Finally, let’s look at the saved away from the cross in Mark 15:40-43.

IV. THE SAVED AWAY FROM THE CROSS, Mark 15:40-43

40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, 41 who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. 42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Verse 40 mentions first the women who were looking on from afar. Then they are named.

Mary Magdalene

Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses

Salome

Many other women

The Bible always elevates the role of the woman. Many women played an important and prominent role in the life of our Lord when He walked this earth as a man.

Then a man named Joseph of Arimathea in mentioned. We are told he was a prominent member of the Jewish council. Like Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, Joseph of Arimathea were secret followers of Christ and believers.

Nicodemus was born-again and Joseph gained the courage to go before Pilate to ask for the body of Christ in order to give Him a proper burial. He even provided his own tomb or grave for Jesus to be buried.

That was okay because Jesus was only going to borrow it for a few days!

All of these women and prominent Jewish leaders stood by the cross but from a distance.

CONCLUSION:

Where do you stand today as you look to the cross?

Do you look at the cross in mockery?

Do you look at the cross with misunderstanding? Or,

Do you look at the cross and say, “Truly this is the Son of God!”

Perhaps you look at the cross believing, yet you stand at a distance.

Whatever your stance may be as you look at the cross of Christ may I say to you, “There’s Room at the Cross for You!”