Archive | March 2026

Reading the Gospels in 2026: 3/4) Mark 16:1-8

Mar4

A 5-day per week study.

March 4 – Reading Mark 16:1-8

Read and believe in Jesus.

“He is risen.  He is not here.”  Mark 16:6b

The Gospel according to Mark 16:1-8

Jesus has been crucified and buried (not by His close disciples, but by two members of the elite Sanhedrin). What irony!

It was a cruel death for our Savior and a devastating shock for the disciples.

But it was a victory for the religious leaders.  They had finally (they thought) stopped an imposter and a blasphemer, a real thorn in their side, and a deep prick to the conscience.   For a few days, they did all they could to keep Jesus in the tomb, including setting a Roman guard, bribery, and circulating a slew of false rumors. But….

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Vss. 1-4.

Remember the women who watched the crucifixion from afar, saw the two men take down Jesus’s body and carry Him away.  They had followed them to Joseph’s tomb, watched them lay Jesus inside, then rolled the great stone over the opening.

NOW, early on Sunday (the first day of the week), as they walked to the tomb, carrying the necessary burial spices, Mary Magdalene, Mary, James’ mother, and Salome wondered who would roll the stone back for them.  Would there be a gardener there, other mourners?

But, miracle of miracles, when they arrived, they saw that the stone had already been rolled back!

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Vss 5-8.

Maybe they thought Joseph had returned to further anoint Jesus’ body. Anyway, they were not afraid to walk right into the tomb.  Once inside, they were totally alarmed, for sitting there on the right side of the slab where Jesus had been laid, was a young man dressed in a white robe.  WHO???

Seeing their alarm, he quickly spoke. “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell His disciples – AND PETER – that He is going before you to Galilee.  There you will see Him, just as He told you.”

And the women went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing (NOTHING??) to anyone, for they were afraid.

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And that’s where Mark left off his narrative.

Since the Gospel of Mark was later referred to as “the memoirs of Peter,” and Mark was known as “the disciple and interpreter of Peter,”  perhaps it was Peter who ended the narration of his story there. Citcumstances… Time constraints…  We don’t know.

But it seems that either Mark or someone else picked up the pen and “finished” the story, or, at least, made some notes about what happened later.  Verses 9-20 are not included in many Bibles, but they do appear in my English Standard Bible with that caveat.  So… I decided to write one more post in The Gospel of Mark, as a “bonus” study.  I’ll publish it shortly after this one goes live.

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (3/3) Mark 15:33-47

Mar3

A 5-day per week study.

March 3 – Reading Mark 15:33-47

Read and believe in Jesus.

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Mark 15:34

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The Gospel according to Mark 15:33-47

Jesus has been taken to Golgotha (place of the skull), stripped of His clothes, and nailed to a Roman cross between a pair of thieves. A sign over His head states His crime, “King of the Jews,” and a crown of thorns emphasises it, with diabolical cruelty.  All around, men mock and taunt Him.  He is silent, until…

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Vss. 33-34.

Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9:00 in the morning.

At noon, darkness came over the whole land, lasting three hours. Was God, the Father, cloaking the shame and agony of His Beloved Son in mercy?  Or was it that God Almighty could not look on the SIN His son was bearing for each person who would eventually believe in Him?

Why didn’t bystanders comment on the phenomenon?  Were their hearts already too darkened?

At 3:00 in this dark afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Imagine the dark horror of this moment when Jesus is covered with the sin of the world, to experience something that has NEVER happened in all eternity!  Separation from the Father.  This, perhaps, rather than the excruciating pain and humiliation, was the “cup” that Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane had so dreaded to drink.  He had said, “I and my Father are one.”  But now?  To feel forsaken, alone in sin and shame?

Oh, my God, this is how ALL humanity must feel without Your salvation when they die!  Alone, forsaken, in sin and shame … forever!

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(NOTE:  The other Gospels record six more things that Jesus says, including requesting forgiveness for his tormentors, assurance for the one thief, the care of His mother into John’s hands, and His thirst to be quenched so He could say those final triumphant words, “it is finished!”   But Mark records just this one.  Jesus was forsaken by God.  Remember that Mark is probably recording this history of Jesus from Peter’s remembrances.  And what did the disciple remember most?  His denial, his forsaking, of Jesus.)

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Vss 35-36.

Some of the bystanders, getting excited, said, “Hey!  He’s calling for Elijah.  Let’s see if Elijah will come and take Him down!”  They run to get a sponge soaked in vinegar to help clear Jesus’s dried-out tongue and lips.  Will He speak again?

Eligha?  Seriously?  What prophecy would make them think of this?

What they should have remembered was David’s calling out the same thing in his moments of despair in Psalm 22:1.  (While you are at Psalm 22, be sure to read verses 6-8 and 12-18, which describe other aspects of the crucified One.)

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Vss. 37-39.

With His tongue moistened with the sour vinegar, Jesus “uttered a loud cry.” (Probably, “It is finished!”) and “breathed His last” breath.   Remember that Jesus decided WHEN He would die. When everything was accomplished. He had told His disciples that HE laid down His life, that NO ONE took it from Him.  His choice. His time. His authority.  (see John 10:17-18)

And then that amazing, jaw-dropping statement!  At the moment of Jesus’ death, the curtain in the temple – the veil that separated the priests from the Most Holy Place, where God dwelled above the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant – this 15 foot tall, thick as the palm of your hand curtain … ripped down the center from the top to the bottom, opening and exposing once and for all the way to God… through the death of the ultimate Lamb of God, His Son, Jesus.

Unaware of the fate of the veil in the temple, the Centurian in charge of the crucifixions, heard Jesus’ triumphant cry (not usual for a man being crucified) and Jesus’ choosing the moment of his death (and the earthquake that Matthew mentions), and he whispered in awe, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

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Vss 40-41.

Mark mentions the women who followed Jesus, ministered to Him on his journeys, and came up with Him to Jerusalem.  They had watched this horrible spectacle from a distance.  He mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of the other James, and Salome.  These were waiting to see what was done with Jesus’ body, so they could prepare it for proper burial.

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Vss. 42-47.

And now Mark introduces us to a new character, a respected member of the Sanhedrin, who was also “looking for the kingdom of God.”  No, this was not the shy, curious Nicodemas, who came with questions to Jesus at night!  This was a wealthy man from Arimathea (the birthplace of Samuel in the O.T.), Joseph by name.

(This is not written, but it strikes me as interesting that it was a Joseph that helped the baby Jesus into the world, and a Joseph that closed His life out in burial at the (temporary) end of Jesus’ life.)  

Unlike Nicodemus, who had not yet openly claimed to be a believer, Joseph boldly went to Governor Pilate and asked to bury Jesus’ body.  Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead. (It had only been 6 hours, and sometimes criminals lasted days on the cross.)  Pilate called for the Centurion in charge to verify if it was true.  The Centurion, who had recognized Jesus as “the Son of God,” said that indeed He WAS dead.

And so, Pilate gave Joseph permission to take down Jesus’ body and bury Him.

Joseph brought a shroud and went to that bloody cross. Tenderly as possible, he unfastened the body of Jesus and lowered Him into the shroud. Did the Centurion help?  Was the cross lowered flat to the ground?  And was Nicodemas there?

Joseph wrapped Jesus in the shroud and tenderly carried Him a short way to his new family tomb, which he had recently had carved out.  The other Gospels tell us that he and Nicodemus put burial spices in the linen shroud.  Then Joseph (with help?) rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.

Done. Jesus, the Hope of Israel, was dead and buried.

Joseph and Nicodemas were now “ceremonially unclean” from touching His dead body.  According to Jewish law, they would not be allowed to enjoy the coming Sabbath or the rest of the Feast of Unleavened Bread without undergoing the ceremonial washing and waiting.

Mark notes that two of the women saw where the men had buried Jesus. They planned to come later, after the Sabbath, to wash and properly wrap Jesus’ body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the Gospels in 2026: (3/2) Mark 15:21-32

Mar2

A 5-day per week study.

March 2 – Reading Mark 15:21-32

Read and believe in Jesus.

“And they led Him out to crucify Him.”  Mark 15:20b

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The Gospel according to Mark 15:21-32

  • The Jewish leaders said, “He deserves death!”
  • The crowd said, “Crucify Him!”
  • Pilate said, “Ok, then. “Scourge and crucify Him.”

The verdict is agreed upon. A horrendous death is to be done to the precious, sinless Son of God.

Little did they all know that this event had been planned by the Trinity before the world was created. For US!  For our salvation.

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Vss. 16-20.

Jesus is humiliated, mocked, and scourged by the hardened soldiers of Governor Pilate.  His back is torn to shreds, dripping blood. They force the heavy crossbeam of the executional “tree” onto His back.  He staggers and takes the first step on the Via Dolorosa (Way of suffering).

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Vs. 21.

Jesus falls under the beam’s weight, and the soldiers grab and force the nearest man, one Simon from Cyrene, to pick up the beam and carry it. Jesus follows.

(NOTE:  Mark mentions that this Simon, a Jew from North Africa, in the Holy City for Passover, is the father of Alexander and Rufus.  Why is this noted?  Later, at the end of his letter to Rome, Paul sends greetings to Rufus and his mother.  He calls Rufus “brother,” who was evidently saved after his father’s contact with Jesus. Paul also says that Rufus’ mom, Simon’s wife, had cared for the apostle at some point. Mark later ministered with Paul in Rome, and could also have known this family.)

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Vss 22-28.

Mark is very succinct in his account of the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s almost as if he can barely stand to write about it at all.  He might have been there in person as a teenager, or, again, this might have been from Peter’s point of view, who, after his denials of Jesus only hours before, was standing way far off on Golgotha’s hill.

  1. The soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh (a narcotic-type mix that would have deadened the pain).
  2. Jesus refused the drink.
  3. They crucified Him.
  4. They nailed His hands to the crossbeam and nailed his feet to the post. Then it was raised and set into a dug hole.
  5. The soldiers divided his clothes among themselves and cast lots for his robe.
  6. It was 9:00 in the morning.
  7. The inscription of the charge against Jesus was, “The King of the Jews.”
  8. They crucified two robbers with Him; one on the right, the other on the left.

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Vss 29-32.

Those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha!  You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross.“

So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked Him to one another, saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”

Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.

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(But… we know “WHO” it really was that was taunting Jesus to come down from the cross. It was that unholy one, the devil, speaking through these oh, so self-righteous men.   Satan knew that Jesus’ death was a mere “bite on the heel” by the serpent.  But Jesus, dying on that cross, and then His glorious rising from the dead, would be the heel crushing of the serpent’s head.  (Genesis 3:15)

Jesus HAD to stay on the cross. He HAD to be accursed of God, experience the wrath of God for sin, and make the payment for our sin – death.  But in the resurrection, God, His Father, showed His pleasure with the accomplished work of Jesus, and raised Him back to life. Sorry, Satan. You have only limited power for a limited time.)