March 3 – Reading Mark 15:33-47

Read and believe in Jesus.

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

.

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…

.

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!

.

(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.)

.

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.)

.

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.”

.

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.

.

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.