Bible Materials

Mark 15:16-47 (2009)

by Paul Choi   08/21/2009   Mark 15:16~47

Message


THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS

Mark 15:16-47

Key Verse: 15:34 “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” –which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

  Last week we studied that Jesus was tried in our place. In the life-threatening trial before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, Jesus did not defend himself to save his life. Instead he became silent in order to defend us and to free us from eternal condemnation.  Some may defend good and nice persons. However, it is not easy to defend our enemies who sinned against us. But, Christ Jesus was tried before men in order to defend us while we were still sinners. Praise Jesus!

  Finally Jesus went up to the hill and was crucified. In today’s passage we will study about the meaning of his death on the cross and his burial. Especially we will learn his eternal forgiving love and healing power for all wounded souls and hearts. Amen.

Look at verse 16. “The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.” After the trial before Pilate, the Roman governor, Jesus was led into Praetorium, the tent of the Roman army commander.  As soon as he arrived there, the soldiers put a purple robe on him. Then  they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on the head of Jesus. Here a purple robe and a crown symbolize the kingship. The soldiers looked like treating Jesus as the king of the Jews, but in reality they were mocking Jesus who was condemned with the charge, ‘the King of the Jews”. They began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” (18) Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. (19-20)

  Striking a person’s head or spitting on a person’s face will provoke anyone to anger. It is because they are acts of contempt and humiliation. Jesus endured such contempt and humiliation in order to take up all our iniquities and sins in his body.  It reminds us of Isaiah 53:4, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.”  Praise Jesus who took our infirmities and sins and endured contempt and affliction for our sake.  Amen.

  Look at verse 21. “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.” Simon from Cyrene was one of the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover. The moment being picked up to carry the cross of Jesus, he might have thought that he was the most unlucky person in the whole universe. However, while carrying the cross together with Jesus, he saw the image of God in him. God moved his heart to understand the passion of Christ. Simon saw the beauty and attraction of the Messiah in his suffering. Later, Simon became the source of blessing to all his family members through faith in Jesus.(Ac 13:1, Ro 16:13)

  Finally, they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). The procedure of the crucifixion of Jesus is as follow: They offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, which was used for pain reliever. But, Jesus did not take it. Jesus did not take the pain reliever in order to participate in all our sorrows and pains as our High Priest. Jesus did not take it in order to obey God’s will thoroughly. Jesus refused to drink the wine mixed with myrrh in order to fulfill God’s divine purpose. Praise Jesus!

  Look at verse 24. “And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.” Crucifixion is one of the most cruel and dreadful executions which human beings have ever made. The condemned were generally bounded by ropes and nailed to the cross and left hang until they die slowly and painfully. When nails crush their bones and flesh and penetrate their hands and feet, they are overwhelmed by extreme pain.  Most of those who were crucified died of loss of blood, dehydration and suffocation.  The Roman soldiers stretched Jesus upon the cross and began to nail his hands and feet with hammers. The moment the nails pierced into his hands and feet, Jesus cried out from extreme pain. The crimson like blood of Jesus began to gush out like a stream. His heart turned to wax and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.(Ps 22:14,15)  After nailing Jesus to the cross, the soldiers raised it upright and set it in its socket. Jesus cried in a loud voice again when the weight of his body tore his hands and feet.  

  The women who were watching the moment began to weep and cry. What were the soldiers doing while Jesus was going through the extreme pain? They were gambling in order to get Jesus’ clothes. They were doing their own business beneath the cross. They didn’t care how much Jesus suffered on the cross. They were cruel, ignorant and indifferent.  In the same way, if we do not appreciate his death on the cross, we have no part with Jesus. We are not much different from the soldiers.

  It was around 9:00 am when they crucified Jesus. (25) The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. (26) The chief priests and the teachers of the law condemned Jesus as a guilty of blasphemy. Then, they fabricated the charge, trying to make Jesus a political criminal opposing the Emperor of the Roman Empire. The Roman soldiers put the written notice of the charge on the top of the cross. “THE KING OF THE JEWS”.  The soldiers crucified two robbers with him in order to humiliate Jesus by making him equal with two robbers. The religious leaders and the Roman soldiers did their best to crush Jesus and to humiliate him to the lowest level. Nevertheless, from God’s point of view they were just tools of Satan who are used to fulfill God’s will for world salvation. Indeed, Jesus is the King of the Jews, who indicates the Promised Messiah. Even though humanly he was born as the descendant of King David, he is the Son of God and the Savior King who came to save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21). No matter how Satan might try to do his best to destroy God’s Son, God works for his good purpose in all circumstances (Ro 8:28).  The devil tried to humiliate Jesus with the charge, but God used the charge to proclaim that Jesus is the King of the Jews, the Promised Messiah, the Savior of the world. Realizing this divine knowledge of God Peter delivered the victorious message before his enemies saying, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of the wicked men, put him to death by nailing him on the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Ac 2:23,24)

   Look at verses 29-32. “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!” Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.” When Jesus was in the anguish of soul on the cross, people around him insulted him. Their tempting request to Jesus was to come down from the cross and to save himself if he were the Christ. Of course, Jesus had power to build the temple in three days. Jesus had power to bring his angels from four corners and destroy all the enemies (Mt 26:53). But Jesus did not save himself in order to save us from our sins. Jesus did not use his power to save himself. Rather he endured the cross and hung on the tree to the end in order to save us.

  In American idioms, there are the words, “Save your skin.” It does not necessarily mean that you must save your skin from Sun damage or cancer, but to escape from danger especially from death at any cost. People generally do their best to save their skins.  Some don’t care others if only they save themselves. But, Jesus did not save himself in order to save others. He did not come down from the cross to save himself. Rather, he endured the cross to the end until he completed his obedience to God’s will.

  What happened when Jesus was crucified? Look at verse 33. “At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.” The sixth hour is noon in modern time. From noon to three o’clock the sun lost its light. Even the sun could not endure sorrow over the Messiah’s death and stopped working. Look at verse 34. “And the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’—which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Up until then Jesus suffered everything that life could bring him. He had endured the failures of his disciples, the hatred of foes, and the malice of enemies. He had endured even the most horrible pain that life could offer when his hands and feet were nailed to the cross. He could bear any kind of sufferings thus far. However, when he thought about his separation from God, even though it was temporal, he could not endure any more. When he felt that he was abandoned by God the Father, he could not endure sorrow and pain from the broken relationship with the Father God. Of course we don’t doubt about the love and trust relationship with God the Father and Jesus the Son. Still, to Jesus separation from God was irresistible pain and suffering.

  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” (35) They thought that Jesus was calling the Prophet Elijah to rescue him. But, it is not true. Thinking that Jesus cried out of extreme pain, one man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, and put it on a stick. Then, he offered it to Jesus to drink. After this with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. (37)

  The moment when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (38) What is the relation between Jesus and the curtain in the temple? The curtain of the temple indicates his body. (Heb 10:19) By his death, Jesus destroyed the wall between God and sinners and opened the way for sinners to come to God directly. Since Adam’s fall, sin separated us from God. Sin blocked the way for us to come to God. The curtain in the temple divided the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. As thick as the curtain, so much so the wall between God and men remained thick because of our sin. But, God let Jesus die for our sins. God himself destroyed the wall between him and us by sacrificing his Son Jesus. By his death, Jesus abolished all the requirements of the law and established new and living way for sinners to come to God. (Heb 10:19)  Ephesians 2:14 says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the diving wall of hostility.”

  Look at verse 39. “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard this cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” The centurion was the commander of 100 Roman soldiers. He must be the most cruel, merciless and heartless executer in the world. Nevertheless, when he saw Jesus on the cross, his heart was moved to confess that Jesus was truly the Son of God. No matter how hard and cold heart a person may have, the moment he or she looks at Jesus on the cross and hear his prayer, their hearts cannot but be moved by the love of the Messiah.

  Around the cross, there were some women who were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. These women remained beneath the cross to the end while all disciples of Jesus ran away to save their lives. The true beauty of woman is not from outward appearance, but from inside, which are the faithfulness and loyalty to God.

In verses 42-47, the author Mark describes the burial of Jesus. The tomb of Jesus was provided by a righteous man whose name was Joseph of Arimathea. (43) He came to Pilate boldly and asked for Jesus’ body. After confirming his death, Pilate handed over the body of Jesus to Joseph. After wrapping the body of Jesus in the linen, Joseph placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. This procedure of the burial of Jesus is clear evidence of his complete death. His death and burial became the prelude of his glorious resurrection.

  Today we studied about the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Why did Jesus suffer and die in such way? The Prophet Isaiah clearly answers in Isaiah 53:5 which says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”  Jesus died for our sins. Jesus suffered and was crucified in our place. We are the ones who should be condemned and crucified because of our sins. But Jesus took up all our infirmities and bore our sins in his body on the cross.  Through the punishment he brought peace upon us. By his wounds we are healed.

  In this world there are many those whose hearts are broken and wounded. Some are very sick wounded by the poison of Satan. They suffer from fear, sorrow, depression, hatred and anger. They need healing. There is a healing stream in the cross of Jesus. Jesus was wounded and died in our place. Those who receive Jesus as the Lord and Savior can be healed. Amen. May God heal us from sin-sickness and heal this country. Amen.  


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