Lectionary Calendar

Thursday, November 21st, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33

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Mark 15

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Verses 1-7

Intro:
1. Pray:
2. “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, all the kings horses & all the kings men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
  1. Why? Because this wasn’t a job for horses, nor for the kings soldiers, but only for the king Himself…King Jesus.
  2. And our King Jesus is still in the business of fixing broken vessels, broken or even scrambled lives.
  3. Unlike Humpty, you may not have a wall issue, but we all have a falling issue.
3. Title: He Took my Place
HE TOOK MY PLACE (1-1)
1. WHO WAS BARABBAS? Barabbas = son of the father.
2. He had made insurrection (open revolt against civil authority) against Rome.
  1. And in the rebellion had committed murder.
  2. In the eyes of the Emperor he would be considered a dangerous political prisoner. (a Terrorist)
3. Jesus was delivered. Barabbas was released.
  1. Jesus delivered bound, delivered unto death.
  2. Barabbas released unto freedom, released to life.
4. Barabbas should have died for his crime but Jesus occupied his cross.
  1. Let’s place ourselves in Barabbas’ cell that Thursday night.
    1. Contemplating death by torturous crucifixion.
  2. The light of Friday mornings sun rays beam into the prison cell.
    1. Then, the sounds of marching soldiers coming to take you away to that horrible, yet deserving death.
  3. Then the words of Pilate & then the soldier, “Barabbas…you’re free!”
    1. Free??? “Yes, another is to die in your place.”
5. Show Barabbas clip, from Passion of the Christ.
6. WHAT HAS BARABBAS DONE? [Adapted from Judah Smith’s message on Barabbas]
  1. He deserves this. He’s a bad man. He’s a thug. A terrorist. He should be on death row. He’s a rebel for wrong. He led a rebellion. He murdered people. He deserves this. He deserves the chains. He deserves crucifixion. He deserves death He deserves hell.
7. WHAT HAS JESUS DONE?
  1. He didn’t deserves this. He’s a good man. He heals. He restores. Delivers. Sets free. Opens blind eyes & deaf ears. Heals the lame & the leper.
8. WHO DO YOU CHOSE? Who do you want me to release? Barabbas or Jesus?
  1. They chose lawlessness over the law.
  2. They chose the law-breaker instead of Jesus.
  3. They chose war instead of peace.
  4. They chose the man of blood instead of the Prince of Peace.
  5. They chose hatred & violence instead of love.
9. BARABBAS & JESUS STAND FOR 2 DIFFERENT WAYS:
  1. Barabbas – stood for the heart of hate. The stab of the dagger. The taking up of the sword to accomplish his conquest.
    1. The chief priests wanted a leading Zealot, a political activist, a man of action who would even murder to reach his own ends.
  2. Jesus – stood for the way of love & thus conquered with only 1 weapon…His love.
    1. Jesus had disappointed them w/His inaction.
    2. They wanted revolution, not a King riding a donkey.
    3. Barabbas seemed much more logical.
10. BUT THIS ISN’T FAIR
  1. There seems to be no conscience w/Barabbas.
  2. We don’t see him turn to Jesus saying, “I owe you everything now, for you have set me free.”
11. (Jesus) It’s ok Father, let them have Barabbas.
  1. He knew the Father would have to treat Jesus like Barabbas so He could treat Barabbas like Jesus.
  2. Remember, this is all about Jesus going to the cross.
  3. (Jesus) Yes, let them have Barabbas, Take me!
  4. Jesus could have easily snapped those cords like Samson did to the Philistine ropes.
    1. But there were other cords that bound Him. The cables of covenant agreements, oaths, promises. The zip-tie bond of His love to you & I.
  5. What a picture of divine Grace this substitutionary death presents.
    1. Substitution = The just for the unjust.
    2. Vicarious – Taking the place of another. [Vicar/substitute]
    3. Barabbas could say, “He died for me.”
12. I’M SURE BARABBAS THOUGHT THE PEOPLE SET HIM FREE.
  1. The people didn’t set Barabbas free. Pilate didn’t set Barabbas free. It was ONLY the Love of the Father that set Barabbas free.
  2. (God the Father) I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
    1. (me) WHAT? but he’s bad man.
  3. (Father) But I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
    1. (me) But didn’t you know he probably never will acknowledge the free gift?
  4. (Father) Yeah, but I love him. Brian remember, For while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
    1. (me) So You are saying you sent Your Son Jesus, for Barabbas, even the one who would walk away from Jesus and His free gift & never come back.
  5. (Father) I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
13. WHO IS THIS BARABBAS REALLY?
  1. Barabbas is you...its me...its us. We are Barabbas.
  2. How many times have I stood on that platform w/Pilate & Jesus, and I’m Barabbas. And they started to take my chains off. And I say, No, No. I deserve this. I deserve the guilt. I deserve the shame. I deserve the consequence. I deserve it.
    1. And Jesus responds,No son. Let me have it. Let me have your sin. Let me have your pain.
    2. (me) No God, I did this to myself. I deserve this. I deserve divorce. I deserve poverty. I deserve sickness. NO!
    3. (me) But God I’m so ashamed. (Jesus) Give Me your shame. (me) But what if I do it again. (Jesus) I’ll still be here again. (me) God I don’t want to do this anymore. (Jesus) Give Me your sins son.
      1. This is all we got. It’s all I got. It’s all you got.
      2. It’s God alone.
14. MEET ME HALF WAY?
15. An ancient king enacted a law against a certain crime, & the punishment of anyone who committed the crime was that he should have both eyes put out. His own son committed the crime. The king, as a strict judge, said, “I cannot alter the law; I have said the loss of 2 eyes shall be the penalty. Take out 1 of mine & one of his.” So he strictly carried out the law. But at the same time, he was able to have mercy in part upon his son.
  1. But the case of Christ goes further than that. He did not say, “Exact half the penalty from Me, & half from the sinner.” He said, “Put both my eyes out. Nail me to the tree. Let me die. Let me take all the guilt away, & then the sinner may go free”
  2. Jesus doesn’t say, meet Me half way...You can’t even get part of the way by yourself...It’s Jesus all the way.
16. JESUS IS ENOUGH
  1. Your greatest challenge is not your discipline, you devotion, your focus.
  2. Your greatest challenge is believing the gospel.
  3. Could there be that there’s a God with a love so scandalous. So wide. So deep. So vast. So high. So expansive. So welcoming.
    1. Just give me your sin son. And I do.
      1. Then I see him walking now to the post to be whipped. While I stand a free man. He says go son, live your life. Be free. I’ll pay the price.
  4. What were we thinking? We couldn’t set ourselves free.
    1. It’s still Jesus. It will always be Jesus. It will never stop being the power of Jesus.
    2. His blood is sufficient for your salvation. His blood is sufficient to sustain you...through every challenge & every sin & every temptation.
      1. JESUS IS ENOUGH!

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Verses 1-7

Intro:
1. Pray:
2. “Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, all the kings horses & all the kings men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
  1. Why? Because this wasn’t a job for horses, nor for the kings soldiers, but only for the king Himself…King Jesus.
  2. And our King Jesus is still in the business of fixing broken vessels, broken or even scrambled lives.
  3. Unlike Humpty, you may not have a wall issue, but we all have a falling issue.
3. Title: He Took my Place
HE TOOK MY PLACE (1-1)
1. WHO WAS BARABBAS? Barabbas = son of the father.
2. He had made insurrection (open revolt against civil authority) against Rome.
  1. And in the rebellion had committed murder.
  2. In the eyes of the Emperor he would be considered a dangerous political prisoner. (a Terrorist)
3. Jesus was delivered. Barabbas was released.
  1. Jesus delivered bound, delivered unto death.
  2. Barabbas released unto freedom, released to life.
4. Barabbas should have died for his crime but Jesus occupied his cross.
  1. Let’s place ourselves in Barabbas’ cell that Thursday night.
    1. Contemplating death by torturous crucifixion.
  2. The light of Friday mornings sun rays beam into the prison cell.
    1. Then, the sounds of marching soldiers coming to take you away to that horrible, yet deserving death.
  3. Then the words of Pilate & then the soldier, “Barabbas…you’re free!”
    1. Free??? “Yes, another is to die in your place.”
5. Show Barabbas clip, from Passion of the Christ.
6. WHAT HAS BARABBAS DONE? [Adapted from Judah Smith’s message on Barabbas]
  1. He deserves this. He’s a bad man. He’s a thug. A terrorist. He should be on death row. He’s a rebel for wrong. He led a rebellion. He murdered people. He deserves this. He deserves the chains. He deserves crucifixion. He deserves death He deserves hell.
7. WHAT HAS JESUS DONE?
  1. He didn’t deserves this. He’s a good man. He heals. He restores. Delivers. Sets free. Opens blind eyes & deaf ears. Heals the lame & the leper.
8. WHO DO YOU CHOSE? Who do you want me to release? Barabbas or Jesus?
  1. They chose lawlessness over the law.
  2. They chose the law-breaker instead of Jesus.
  3. They chose war instead of peace.
  4. They chose the man of blood instead of the Prince of Peace.
  5. They chose hatred & violence instead of love.
9. BARABBAS & JESUS STAND FOR 2 DIFFERENT WAYS:
  1. Barabbas – stood for the heart of hate. The stab of the dagger. The taking up of the sword to accomplish his conquest.
    1. The chief priests wanted a leading Zealot, a political activist, a man of action who would even murder to reach his own ends.
  2. Jesus – stood for the way of love & thus conquered with only 1 weapon…His love.
    1. Jesus had disappointed them w/His inaction.
    2. They wanted revolution, not a King riding a donkey.
    3. Barabbas seemed much more logical.
10. BUT THIS ISN’T FAIR
  1. There seems to be no conscience w/Barabbas.
  2. We don’t see him turn to Jesus saying, “I owe you everything now, for you have set me free.”
11. (Jesus) It’s ok Father, let them have Barabbas.
  1. He knew the Father would have to treat Jesus like Barabbas so He could treat Barabbas like Jesus.
  2. Remember, this is all about Jesus going to the cross.
  3. (Jesus) Yes, let them have Barabbas, Take me!
  4. Jesus could have easily snapped those cords like Samson did to the Philistine ropes.
    1. But there were other cords that bound Him. The cables of covenant agreements, oaths, promises. The zip-tie bond of His love to you & I.
  5. What a picture of divine Grace this substitutionary death presents.
    1. Substitution = The just for the unjust.
    2. Vicarious – Taking the place of another. [Vicar/substitute]
    3. Barabbas could say, “He died for me.”
12. I’M SURE BARABBAS THOUGHT THE PEOPLE SET HIM FREE.
  1. The people didn’t set Barabbas free. Pilate didn’t set Barabbas free. It was ONLY the Love of the Father that set Barabbas free.
  2. (God the Father) I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
    1. (me) WHAT? but he’s bad man.
  3. (Father) But I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
    1. (me) But didn’t you know he probably never will acknowledge the free gift?
  4. (Father) Yeah, but I love him. Brian remember, For while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
    1. (me) So You are saying you sent Your Son Jesus, for Barabbas, even the one who would walk away from Jesus and His free gift & never come back.
  5. (Father) I Love Barabbas. I wanted him to go free.
13. WHO IS THIS BARABBAS REALLY?
  1. Barabbas is you...its me...its us. We are Barabbas.
  2. How many times have I stood on that platform w/Pilate & Jesus, and I’m Barabbas. And they started to take my chains off. And I say, No, No. I deserve this. I deserve the guilt. I deserve the shame. I deserve the consequence. I deserve it.
    1. And Jesus responds,No son. Let me have it. Let me have your sin. Let me have your pain.
    2. (me) No God, I did this to myself. I deserve this. I deserve divorce. I deserve poverty. I deserve sickness. NO!
    3. (me) But God I’m so ashamed. (Jesus) Give Me your shame. (me) But what if I do it again. (Jesus) I’ll still be here again. (me) God I don’t want to do this anymore. (Jesus) Give Me your sins son.
      1. This is all we got. It’s all I got. It’s all you got.
      2. It’s God alone.
14. MEET ME HALF WAY?
15. An ancient king enacted a law against a certain crime, & the punishment of anyone who committed the crime was that he should have both eyes put out. His own son committed the crime. The king, as a strict judge, said, “I cannot alter the law; I have said the loss of 2 eyes shall be the penalty. Take out 1 of mine & one of his.” So he strictly carried out the law. But at the same time, he was able to have mercy in part upon his son.
  1. But the case of Christ goes further than that. He did not say, “Exact half the penalty from Me, & half from the sinner.” He said, “Put both my eyes out. Nail me to the tree. Let me die. Let me take all the guilt away, & then the sinner may go free”
  2. Jesus doesn’t say, meet Me half way...You can’t even get part of the way by yourself...It’s Jesus all the way.
16. JESUS IS ENOUGH
  1. Your greatest challenge is not your discipline, you devotion, your focus.
  2. Your greatest challenge is believing the gospel.
  3. Could there be that there’s a God with a love so scandalous. So wide. So deep. So vast. So high. So expansive. So welcoming.
    1. Just give me your sin son. And I do.
      1. Then I see him walking now to the post to be whipped. While I stand a free man. He says go son, live your life. Be free. I’ll pay the price.
  4. What were we thinking? We couldn’t set ourselves free.
    1. It’s still Jesus. It will always be Jesus. It will never stop being the power of Jesus.
    2. His blood is sufficient for your salvation. His blood is sufficient to sustain you...through every challenge & every sin & every temptation.
      1. JESUS IS ENOUGH!

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Verses 16-32

Intro:
1. Title: The Messy Side of Gods Love
2. Outline: The Pavement That Preaches; The Baby Shower Gift That Now Makes Sense; The Magi’s Title Now Used.
THE PAVEMENT THAT PREACHES (16-20)
1. This is where it all got messy. This is the bloody Pavement in The Passion of the Christ where Jesus was wiped almost to death.
2. The Roman ritual of condemnation went like this.
  1. The judge would say Illum duci ad crucem placet [this man should be taken to a cross]
  2. Then, he turned to the guard & said, I miles expedi crucem [Go soldier, prepare the cross] (William Barclay, pg.358,359.)
    1. It was when the cross was being prepared that Jesus was in the hands of the soldiers.
3. Praetorium – The governor’s headquarters. In the courtyard.
  1. NW corner of the Temple area, at the Tower of Antonia, on the east side of the city. They discovered in excavations a large pavement area.
    1. Jn.19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
    2. When you visit, you can even see a game chipped into one of the Paving stones.
  2. Here they play the Comic King [A game of cat & mouse]
    1. Remember He had already went through the scourging before this horse-play began.
    2. To them Jesus was only another man for a cross, & they carried their barrack-room pantomime of royalty & worship, not w/any malice, but as a coarse jest.
      1. No, the malice comes later…from His own. :(
      2. The Crown - preaches a message...Here stands Jesus wearing the consequences of Adam’s sin (Adam’s fall brought the thorns).
    3. All in a days work for the soldiers – But not every day did they have one that claimed to be King – So to relieve some boredom, a few minutes entertainment at Jesus’ expense.
  3. Struck him on the head - most likely to drive the sharp thorns onto His brow.
    1. Show thorns from Israel.
    2. The crown of thorns a cruel caricature of the wreath worn by the emperor.
      1. The physical sufferings of Christ have always been, and will remain, a window through which we see…the heart of God.
4. Our Lord quietly suffered & never fought back.
  1. A lesson Mark’s readers would need to learn as they faced official persecution.
5. This place, this Pavement still preaches:
  1. Our Jewish Tour guide - I never heard that it wasn’t the Jews fault or the soldiers, but that we EACH put Jesus on the cross. WE are to blame.
  2. I had asked Greg G What struck you? The cost; the value of me. [It’s the messy side of God’s love]
  3. I had asked Zach, What struck you? It sunk in, not only where we were but what He did.
THE BABY SHOWER GIFT THAT NOW MAKES SENSE (21-23)
1. According to law, the guilty victim had to carry his cross, or at least the cross beam, to the place of execution, & Jesus was no exception.
  1. He left Pilate’s hall bearing His cross.
2. Here we have the long walk down the Via Dolorosa, i.e. road of sorrows.
  1. Chrysostom saw prophetic fulfillment in this, seeing it as parallel to Isaac’s bearing the wood for his own sacrifice to Mt. Moriah.
    1. Gen.22:6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
  2. And so, Jesus is off to Jerusalem's killing fields.
3. (21) Simon of Cyrene - [Cyrene = N. Africa, between Carthage & Egypt]
  1. Simon came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover; and ended up meeting the Passover…Lamb.
  2. The next time your plans are interrupted & you have to carry another’s cross, remember what Simon did for Jesus and what Jesus did for Simon.
4. (23) Wine mingled w/Myrrh (resin/powder)
  1. To drug w/Myrrh. In accordance w/Jewish customs based on Prov 31:6, this was given to dull the senses. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
    1. It was an acceptable anesthetic to deaden physical pain, or deep emotional bitterness.
  2. The Babylonian Talmud says that “respected women appointed themselves to provide condemned victims w/a narcotic, pain-reducing drink before execution.” But Jesus refused it…
  3. He would not have His senses dulled.
  4. He wanted to be in full possession of His faculties as He did the Fathers will.
  5. He would accomplish the work of Redemption.
  6. He would enter fully into His sufferings, on our behalf.
  7. He would take no shortcuts.
  8. He refused the cup of sympathy so that He might better drink the cup of iniquity.
5. At Christmas time we’re reminded of the gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh [king/priest/prophet]
  1. Myrrh was received at His birth, denied at His death. [simply pointed to His death]
    1. Finally, that strange baby shower gift makes sense.
THE MAGIS TITLE NOW USED (24-32)
1. The King of the Jews (26)
  1. The Jews repeatedly asked Pilate to change the sign (Jn.19:21,22). Finally Pilate stands for something & says, “What I have written I have written” or “what I have written will always remain written.”
    1. Oh, an eternal truth Mr. Pilate…for He is a King.
    2. During Jesus’ infancy the Magi came from the East heralding Him as King.
    3. Now, His royal title is fixed to His cross.
      1. And 1 day when He returns it will be emblazoned on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
    4. A King - (1) at His crib (2) on His cross (3) definitely on that day of His coronation.
2. 9am…and they crucified Him. (25)
  1. So brief - Mark’s readers knew what a crucifixion entailed…they saw them all the time. (no reason to explain)
3. Lewis Bayly’s 17th century devotional handbook, Practice of Piety. (ends w/a dialogue in which Christ explains to a soul the meaning of the cross) [I modernized it]
  1. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be taken, when You might have escaped Your enemies?
  2. Christ: So your enemies wouldn’t take you, & cast you into the prison of utter darkness.
  3. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be bound?
  4. Christ: So that I might loose the chains of your iniquities.
  5. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be lifted up on a cross?
  6. Christ: So that I might lift you up with Me to heaven.
  7. Soul: Lord, why were Your hands nailed to the cross?
  8. Christ: To enlarge your hands to do works of righteousness.
  9. Soul: Lord, why were Your feet nailed to the cross?
  10. Christ: To set your feet free to walk in the ways of peace.
  11. Soul: Lord, why were Your arms nailed stretched out wide?
  12. Christ: That I might embrace you more lovingly, My sweet soul.
  13. Soul: Lord, why were Your side opened with a spear?
  14. Christ: That you might might have a way to come near to My heart.
4. (27,28) Numbered w/the transgressors - This was a symbol of His whole life, even in His death He still companied Himself w/sinners. :)
5. (29) Thomas Carlyle called ridicule...the language of the devil. Here, it was so true.
  1. They mocked Him as Prophet(29); as Savior(31); as King(32).
6. (30) Save Yourself - And be careful of the worlds whispers:
  1. The devil told Jesus, serve Yourself (Mt.4:3,4)
  2. Peter said, pity Yourself (Mt.16:21-23)
  3. His unsaved relatives said, show Yourself (Jn.7:4)
  4. The world said, defend Yourself but Jesus was silent (1-5).
  5. The world said, pamper Yourself but Jesus refused the drug (23).
  6. The crowd at Calvary said, save Yourself but Jesus remained on the cross & finished the work the Father gave him to do (v.30). Adapted from Warren Wiersbe pg.664,665
    1. Jesus was deaf to all those appeals & gave Himself.
    2. Starting as a baby...He gave Himself. Continuing w/a perfect life...He gave Himself. Culminating on His cross...He gave Himself. Today, as our mediator & interceder...He still gives Himself.
7. (31) He saved others; Himself He could not save –
  1. It is precisely because He did not save Himself, that He was able to save others.
  2. It is possible that their sarcastic He saved others, may have encouraged the one thief to trust Him.
8. (32) One last challenge, Come down from the cross & we will believe in You.
  1. General Booth said long ago, It is because Jesus did not come down from the Cross that we believe in him.
9. While man was doing his worse…God was doing His best.
10. 1st see Jesus as Sufferer (observe His great love for you).
  2nd see Jesus as Sovereign (behold the King & His demands. Repent & Believe).
  3rd see Jesus as your Substitute (ask Jesus to take your sins for you).
  1. 1 Pet.2:24 He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
11. The Pavement: The Messy Side of Gods Love.
12. Communion:
  1. Philip Yancey said, “No cell, lies more than a hair’s breath, from a blood capillary.”
    1. Therefore, your blood is quick to cleanse any & every cell.
    2. Christ’s blood is even quicker to cleanse and drive out any and every sin.

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Verses 16-32

Intro:
1. Title: The Messy Side of Gods Love
2. Outline: The Pavement That Preaches; The Baby Shower Gift That Now Makes Sense; The Magi’s Title Now Used.
THE PAVEMENT THAT PREACHES (16-20)
1. This is where it all got messy. This is the bloody Pavement in The Passion of the Christ where Jesus was wiped almost to death.
2. The Roman ritual of condemnation went like this.
  1. The judge would say Illum duci ad crucem placet [this man should be taken to a cross]
  2. Then, he turned to the guard & said, I miles expedi crucem [Go soldier, prepare the cross] (William Barclay, pg.358,359.)
    1. It was when the cross was being prepared that Jesus was in the hands of the soldiers.
3. Praetorium – The governor’s headquarters. In the courtyard.
  1. NW corner of the Temple area, at the Tower of Antonia, on the east side of the city. They discovered in excavations a large pavement area.
    1. Jn.19:13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
    2. When you visit, you can even see a game chipped into one of the Paving stones.
  2. Here they play the Comic King [A game of cat & mouse]
    1. Remember He had already went through the scourging before this horse-play began.
    2. To them Jesus was only another man for a cross, & they carried their barrack-room pantomime of royalty & worship, not w/any malice, but as a coarse jest.
      1. No, the malice comes later…from His own. :(
      2. The Crown - preaches a message...Here stands Jesus wearing the consequences of Adam’s sin (Adam’s fall brought the thorns).
    3. All in a days work for the soldiers – But not every day did they have one that claimed to be King – So to relieve some boredom, a few minutes entertainment at Jesus’ expense.
  3. Struck him on the head - most likely to drive the sharp thorns onto His brow.
    1. Show thorns from Israel.
    2. The crown of thorns a cruel caricature of the wreath worn by the emperor.
      1. The physical sufferings of Christ have always been, and will remain, a window through which we see…the heart of God.
4. Our Lord quietly suffered & never fought back.
  1. A lesson Mark’s readers would need to learn as they faced official persecution.
5. This place, this Pavement still preaches:
  1. Our Jewish Tour guide - I never heard that it wasn’t the Jews fault or the soldiers, but that we EACH put Jesus on the cross. WE are to blame.
  2. I had asked Greg G What struck you? The cost; the value of me. [It’s the messy side of God’s love]
  3. I had asked Zach, What struck you? It sunk in, not only where we were but what He did.
THE BABY SHOWER GIFT THAT NOW MAKES SENSE (21-23)
1. According to law, the guilty victim had to carry his cross, or at least the cross beam, to the place of execution, & Jesus was no exception.
  1. He left Pilate’s hall bearing His cross.
2. Here we have the long walk down the Via Dolorosa, i.e. road of sorrows.
  1. Chrysostom saw prophetic fulfillment in this, seeing it as parallel to Isaac’s bearing the wood for his own sacrifice to Mt. Moriah.
    1. Gen.22:6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
  2. And so, Jesus is off to Jerusalem's killing fields.
3. (21) Simon of Cyrene - [Cyrene = N. Africa, between Carthage & Egypt]
  1. Simon came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover; and ended up meeting the Passover…Lamb.
  2. The next time your plans are interrupted & you have to carry another’s cross, remember what Simon did for Jesus and what Jesus did for Simon.
4. (23) Wine mingled w/Myrrh (resin/powder)
  1. To drug w/Myrrh. In accordance w/Jewish customs based on Prov 31:6, this was given to dull the senses. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
    1. It was an acceptable anesthetic to deaden physical pain, or deep emotional bitterness.
  2. The Babylonian Talmud says that “respected women appointed themselves to provide condemned victims w/a narcotic, pain-reducing drink before execution.” But Jesus refused it…
  3. He would not have His senses dulled.
  4. He wanted to be in full possession of His faculties as He did the Fathers will.
  5. He would accomplish the work of Redemption.
  6. He would enter fully into His sufferings, on our behalf.
  7. He would take no shortcuts.
  8. He refused the cup of sympathy so that He might better drink the cup of iniquity.
5. At Christmas time we’re reminded of the gifts of gold, frankincense, myrrh [king/priest/prophet]
  1. Myrrh was received at His birth, denied at His death. [simply pointed to His death]
    1. Finally, that strange baby shower gift makes sense.
THE MAGIS TITLE NOW USED (24-32)
1. The King of the Jews (26)
  1. The Jews repeatedly asked Pilate to change the sign (Jn.19:21,22). Finally Pilate stands for something & says, “What I have written I have written” or “what I have written will always remain written.”
    1. Oh, an eternal truth Mr. Pilate…for He is a King.
    2. During Jesus’ infancy the Magi came from the East heralding Him as King.
    3. Now, His royal title is fixed to His cross.
      1. And 1 day when He returns it will be emblazoned on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
    4. A King - (1) at His crib (2) on His cross (3) definitely on that day of His coronation.
2. 9am…and they crucified Him. (25)
  1. So brief - Mark’s readers knew what a crucifixion entailed…they saw them all the time. (no reason to explain)
3. Lewis Bayly’s 17th century devotional handbook, Practice of Piety. (ends w/a dialogue in which Christ explains to a soul the meaning of the cross) [I modernized it]
  1. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be taken, when You might have escaped Your enemies?
  2. Christ: So your enemies wouldn’t take you, & cast you into the prison of utter darkness.
  3. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be bound?
  4. Christ: So that I might loose the chains of your iniquities.
  5. Soul: Lord, why did you allow Yourself to be lifted up on a cross?
  6. Christ: So that I might lift you up with Me to heaven.
  7. Soul: Lord, why were Your hands nailed to the cross?
  8. Christ: To enlarge your hands to do works of righteousness.
  9. Soul: Lord, why were Your feet nailed to the cross?
  10. Christ: To set your feet free to walk in the ways of peace.
  11. Soul: Lord, why were Your arms nailed stretched out wide?
  12. Christ: That I might embrace you more lovingly, My sweet soul.
  13. Soul: Lord, why were Your side opened with a spear?
  14. Christ: That you might might have a way to come near to My heart.
4. (27,28) Numbered w/the transgressors - This was a symbol of His whole life, even in His death He still companied Himself w/sinners. :)
5. (29) Thomas Carlyle called ridicule...the language of the devil. Here, it was so true.
  1. They mocked Him as Prophet(29); as Savior(31); as King(32).
6. (30) Save Yourself - And be careful of the worlds whispers:
  1. The devil told Jesus, serve Yourself (Mt.4:3,4)
  2. Peter said, pity Yourself (Mt.16:21-23)
  3. His unsaved relatives said, show Yourself (Jn.7:4)
  4. The world said, defend Yourself but Jesus was silent (1-5).
  5. The world said, pamper Yourself but Jesus refused the drug (23).
  6. The crowd at Calvary said, save Yourself but Jesus remained on the cross & finished the work the Father gave him to do (v.30). Adapted from Warren Wiersbe pg.664,665
    1. Jesus was deaf to all those appeals & gave Himself.
    2. Starting as a baby...He gave Himself. Continuing w/a perfect life...He gave Himself. Culminating on His cross...He gave Himself. Today, as our mediator & interceder...He still gives Himself.
7. (31) He saved others; Himself He could not save –
  1. It is precisely because He did not save Himself, that He was able to save others.
  2. It is possible that their sarcastic He saved others, may have encouraged the one thief to trust Him.
8. (32) One last challenge, Come down from the cross & we will believe in You.
  1. General Booth said long ago, It is because Jesus did not come down from the Cross that we believe in him.
9. While man was doing his worse…God was doing His best.
10. 1st see Jesus as Sufferer (observe His great love for you).
  2nd see Jesus as Sovereign (behold the King & His demands. Repent & Believe).
  3rd see Jesus as your Substitute (ask Jesus to take your sins for you).
  1. 1 Pet.2:24 He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
11. The Pavement: The Messy Side of Gods Love.
12. Communion:
  1. Philip Yancey said, “No cell, lies more than a hair’s breath, from a blood capillary.”
    1. Therefore, your blood is quick to cleanse any & every cell.
    2. Christ’s blood is even quicker to cleanse and drive out any and every sin.

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Verses 33-47

Intro:
1. Title: The Dark Side of the Christmas Story [opps not that picture (Darth Vader w/Xmas sweater)]
2. The German artist Beate Heinen (Bay-ah-tay High-nen) painted the Manger and Cross.
  1. In the foreground one sees a rock cave with the newborn Child Jesus.
  2. He lies in a feeding trough, looking like a coffin.
3. The path is leading from the Manger to the Cross.
  1. From the manger a path starts through a blooming garden, but along the way the trees become more and more bare, and the colors more gloomy.
  2. At the rear edge of the image a hill w/3 crosses. The way is winding upwards, it’s steep
  3. Nothing is growing there any more. There is no green, only grey.
  4. It is not a place of life, but of death. We know the name of the hill: Golgotha.
  5. Jesus had to go this way. It was the way of His life.
4. The Cross and the Manger belong together.
  1. It is not possible to accept only a part of the life of Jesus; for everything is connected, everything woven together.
5. Oh that’s what was meant by a body you have prepared for me. Heb.10:5 baby body/man body
6. Oh that’s what was meant by For this cause I was born, & for this cause I have come into the world. Jn.18:37
  1. The cradle involves the cross, the cross illuminates the cradle.
  2. It started in the stable...He was Born to Die.
  3. Bethlehem to Calvary. Galilee to Golgotha.
  4. Manger & Cross. Cradle & Cross. Creche & Cross.
    1. The Cradle & cross are inseparable.
  5. This is The dark side of the Christmas Story.
7. We continue this week to contrast the Cradle & the Cross.
8. Changeless Responses Mat.2:1-12
9. Reactions to Jesus Christ have timelessly remained the same in every epoch of man's response to the good news.
  1. The faces we see around the cradle are also the faces we see around the cross.
  2. There is a startling sameness of man's reaction to the Christ in contrasting His first week and His last week, His cradle and His cross. [people wanted him dead at both events]
  3. The cradle and the cross represent the two points of His greatest weakness, His manifest impotence.
    1. In the cradle, weak, frail, dependent...like any baby.
    2. On the cross, weak, frail, resigned, compliant, passive, submissive...like only our Savior.
10. The Light & Darkness
11. At both events there were 2 profound cosmic disruptions: He lives and there is light; He died and there is darkness.
  1. At His birth, there occurred a singular phenomenon in the sky, His star, a new light.
  2. At His crucifixion, there occurred a striking disjunction of the heavens - darkness in the midst of the day.
12. Jesus was put on the cross at 9am (the 3rd hour, vs.25). Now, it’s High Noon (the 6^th hour, vs.33)
13. Our Lord’s 7 statements: 3 before noon. 4 at 3pm*. 0 from noon to 3pm.
  1. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
  2. Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.
  3. Woman, behold your son" "Behold your mother" (Jn.19:26.27)
    1. When Darkness fell at noon, there was silence on the cross, for it was then that He was made sin for us. Then at 3pm…
  4. *My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (vs.34)
  5. I thirst (Jn.19:28)
  6. *It is finished (Jn.19:30)
  7. *Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. (Lk.23:46)
14. Remember it was Passover. Passover required them to remember back to the 1st Passover. (Passover had to do w/the 10th plague)
  1. Do you remember the 9th plague? (Ex.10:21-29) Darkness, that was even felt.
  2. How long? For 3 days.
  3. Do you remember the 10th plague? (Ex.12:29,30) Death of 1st born.
    1. The shed Lamb’s blood meant the saving of life for some & the surety of death for others.
15. Now, this Passover:
  1. We have darkness for 3 hours. The death of a 1st born (God’s own). His blood shed, saving some & damning others.
  2. These 3 hours of darkness seemed to symbolize, “The cross being draped w/the mourning sackcloth of darkness” as Kent Hughes said.
    1. Story: I remember 3 these hours well as a 5 yr old: As a 5 yr old Catholic back in 1966 we weren’t supposed to talk from noon to 3pm. Mom said it was a time to be somber/ mournful. I remember my neighbor Marilynn Lacy asking me to play. With teeth clenched I said, “I can’t talk”. Why not? “I can’t tell you right now”.
  3. But this darkness over the land was nothing compared to the darkness that settled over Jesus’ spirit.
  4. It was God’s will that His Son should, taste death for everyone. Heb.2:9
16. The Cosmic Disruption [veil/earthquake]
17. In His cradle and on His cross, both events were marked by 2 profound cosmic disruptions.
  1. In each case, there was a disruption on the earth and a disjunction in the heavens.
  2. At His conception, there occurred the mysterious moving of the Holy Spirit over the womb of Mary. A quite physical miracle.
  3. At His crucifixion, there was a quaking of the earth Mt.27:51-54.
18. The renting of the Veil.
  1. If there was a sign hanging above the veil it would have originally read, “No Entry! Keep Out! Danger! No Trespassing!”
  2. Now it would read, “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
  3. Ripped top to bottom...i.e. something God did...not man. And, speaks of the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice (not torn ½ way).
19. The Gentile Phenomenon
  1. Among the first to come to Him at His birth were Gentile Magi, drawn by the light of the star.
  2. Among the first to respond to the cross was the Gentile centurion, drawn by the shaking of the earth.
    1. How sovereign God is. When His own people will not respond, He can shake the earth or move the stars to draw men to Christ.
  3. Story: Before his salvation C.S.Lewis thought, We can’t know God anymore than Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet could know Shakespeare.
    1. We can’t know God, any more than any character in a play can know its author.
    2. Then it occurred to him...Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet could know their creator...IF Shakespeare wrote himself into the Play.
    3. Then he realized...this is the phenomena of the bible...God wrote Himself into the play, so man could know who God is.
      1. This Centurion just witnessed the Greatest Scene/Act in History. This Centurion just witnessed God wrote Himself into the play! And he had front row seats.
  4. Look how quick we see fulfilled the statement, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.
    1. His confession seems to be the climax of the whole of Mark’s Gospel. Which would be significant for Mark’s 1st readers, being Romans.
20. Human Reaction Centurion/Pilate/Herod & all Jerusalem - Herod & all Jerusalem.
21. Around His cradle, Herod and all Jerusalem with Him were troubled. (Mat.2:3)
  1. What a paradox that a raging tyrant shakes at an impotent infant.
  2. And at the last, another Herod & all Jerusalem were also shaken by the crucified Christ.
  3. What a paradox that a Man nailed to a tree and bleeding away His life should terrify a city and trouble its rulers.
22. In the cradle of Christ and at the cross of Christ, there is a twofold reaction, acceptance and homage, or rejection and persecution.
  1. Blue-Collar Fisherman believe while kings and priests reject.
  2. Those who are near were really far off. Those who were far off were really near.
  3. The great reversal of God, see it in the cradle...see it in the cross.
23. The Divine Intervention
  1. From the cradle, Jesus is taken away to another land, but returns.
  2. In the crucifixion, Jesus dies but is brought back to life, through the resurrection.
24. Stone Cold Earth
  1. In His cradle, Jesus was laid in a stone feeding trough.
  2. After the crucifixion, Jesus was laid in Joseph unused stone tomb.
25. Behold, the Manger and the Cross are one, only transformed.
  1. Behold the cradle where He lays subject to all the laws of nature...naked, cold, hungry, in poverty.
  2. Behold the cross where He hangs subject to all the laws of nature...naked, cold, hungry, in poverty.
26. The ultimate consequence of Bethlehem is Golgotha. The ultimate consequence of the Love of God is our Redemption.
27. I’m going to read an excerpt from, When God Weeps, by Joni Eareckson Tada/Steven Estes.
28. “On your back with you!” One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier’s heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner’s wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier’s life minute by minute, for no man has the power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do “all things hold together”. The victim wills that the soldier live on – he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.
  
  As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm – the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless – the nerves perform exquisitely. “Up you go!” They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.
  
  But these pains are a mere warm-up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being – the living excrement from our souls. The apple of his Father’s eye turns brown with rot.
  
  His Father! He must face his Father like this!
  
  From Heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seem the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognise these eyes.
  
  “Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped – murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten – fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk – you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp – buying pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves – relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe this things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?”
  
  Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
  
  The Father watches as his heart’s treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah’s stored rage against humankind for every century explodes in a single direction.
  
  “Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!”
  
  But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
  
  The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
29. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, and one day He’s coming, Oh glorious day!

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Verses 33-47

Intro:
1. Title: The Dark Side of the Christmas Story [opps not that picture (Darth Vader w/Xmas sweater)]
2. The German artist Beate Heinen (Bay-ah-tay High-nen) painted the Manger and Cross.
  1. In the foreground one sees a rock cave with the newborn Child Jesus.
  2. He lies in a feeding trough, looking like a coffin.
3. The path is leading from the Manger to the Cross.
  1. From the manger a path starts through a blooming garden, but along the way the trees become more and more bare, and the colors more gloomy.
  2. At the rear edge of the image a hill w/3 crosses. The way is winding upwards, it’s steep
  3. Nothing is growing there any more. There is no green, only grey.
  4. It is not a place of life, but of death. We know the name of the hill: Golgotha.
  5. Jesus had to go this way. It was the way of His life.
4. The Cross and the Manger belong together.
  1. It is not possible to accept only a part of the life of Jesus; for everything is connected, everything woven together.
5. Oh that’s what was meant by a body you have prepared for me. Heb.10:5 baby body/man body
6. Oh that’s what was meant by For this cause I was born, & for this cause I have come into the world. Jn.18:37
  1. The cradle involves the cross, the cross illuminates the cradle.
  2. It started in the stable...He was Born to Die.
  3. Bethlehem to Calvary. Galilee to Golgotha.
  4. Manger & Cross. Cradle & Cross. Creche & Cross.
    1. The Cradle & cross are inseparable.
  5. This is The dark side of the Christmas Story.
7. We continue this week to contrast the Cradle & the Cross.
8. Changeless Responses Mat.2:1-12
9. Reactions to Jesus Christ have timelessly remained the same in every epoch of man's response to the good news.
  1. The faces we see around the cradle are also the faces we see around the cross.
  2. There is a startling sameness of man's reaction to the Christ in contrasting His first week and His last week, His cradle and His cross. [people wanted him dead at both events]
  3. The cradle and the cross represent the two points of His greatest weakness, His manifest impotence.
    1. In the cradle, weak, frail, dependent...like any baby.
    2. On the cross, weak, frail, resigned, compliant, passive, submissive...like only our Savior.
10. The Light & Darkness
11. At both events there were 2 profound cosmic disruptions: He lives and there is light; He died and there is darkness.
  1. At His birth, there occurred a singular phenomenon in the sky, His star, a new light.
  2. At His crucifixion, there occurred a striking disjunction of the heavens - darkness in the midst of the day.
12. Jesus was put on the cross at 9am (the 3rd hour, vs.25). Now, it’s High Noon (the 6^th hour, vs.33)
13. Our Lord’s 7 statements: 3 before noon. 4 at 3pm*. 0 from noon to 3pm.
  1. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
  2. Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.
  3. Woman, behold your son" "Behold your mother" (Jn.19:26.27)
    1. When Darkness fell at noon, there was silence on the cross, for it was then that He was made sin for us. Then at 3pm…
  4. *My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (vs.34)
  5. I thirst (Jn.19:28)
  6. *It is finished (Jn.19:30)
  7. *Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. (Lk.23:46)
14. Remember it was Passover. Passover required them to remember back to the 1st Passover. (Passover had to do w/the 10th plague)
  1. Do you remember the 9th plague? (Ex.10:21-29) Darkness, that was even felt.
  2. How long? For 3 days.
  3. Do you remember the 10th plague? (Ex.12:29,30) Death of 1st born.
    1. The shed Lamb’s blood meant the saving of life for some & the surety of death for others.
15. Now, this Passover:
  1. We have darkness for 3 hours. The death of a 1st born (God’s own). His blood shed, saving some & damning others.
  2. These 3 hours of darkness seemed to symbolize, “The cross being draped w/the mourning sackcloth of darkness” as Kent Hughes said.
    1. Story: I remember 3 these hours well as a 5 yr old: As a 5 yr old Catholic back in 1966 we weren’t supposed to talk from noon to 3pm. Mom said it was a time to be somber/ mournful. I remember my neighbor Marilynn Lacy asking me to play. With teeth clenched I said, “I can’t talk”. Why not? “I can’t tell you right now”.
  3. But this darkness over the land was nothing compared to the darkness that settled over Jesus’ spirit.
  4. It was God’s will that His Son should, taste death for everyone. Heb.2:9
16. The Cosmic Disruption [veil/earthquake]
17. In His cradle and on His cross, both events were marked by 2 profound cosmic disruptions.
  1. In each case, there was a disruption on the earth and a disjunction in the heavens.
  2. At His conception, there occurred the mysterious moving of the Holy Spirit over the womb of Mary. A quite physical miracle.
  3. At His crucifixion, there was a quaking of the earth Mt.27:51-54.
18. The renting of the Veil.
  1. If there was a sign hanging above the veil it would have originally read, “No Entry! Keep Out! Danger! No Trespassing!”
  2. Now it would read, “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
  3. Ripped top to bottom...i.e. something God did...not man. And, speaks of the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice (not torn ½ way).
19. The Gentile Phenomenon
  1. Among the first to come to Him at His birth were Gentile Magi, drawn by the light of the star.
  2. Among the first to respond to the cross was the Gentile centurion, drawn by the shaking of the earth.
    1. How sovereign God is. When His own people will not respond, He can shake the earth or move the stars to draw men to Christ.
  3. Story: Before his salvation C.S.Lewis thought, We can’t know God anymore than Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet could know Shakespeare.
    1. We can’t know God, any more than any character in a play can know its author.
    2. Then it occurred to him...Hamlet or Romeo & Juliet could know their creator...IF Shakespeare wrote himself into the Play.
    3. Then he realized...this is the phenomena of the bible...God wrote Himself into the play, so man could know who God is.
      1. This Centurion just witnessed the Greatest Scene/Act in History. This Centurion just witnessed God wrote Himself into the play! And he had front row seats.
  4. Look how quick we see fulfilled the statement, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.
    1. His confession seems to be the climax of the whole of Mark’s Gospel. Which would be significant for Mark’s 1st readers, being Romans.
20. Human Reaction Centurion/Pilate/Herod & all Jerusalem - Herod & all Jerusalem.
21. Around His cradle, Herod and all Jerusalem with Him were troubled. (Mat.2:3)
  1. What a paradox that a raging tyrant shakes at an impotent infant.
  2. And at the last, another Herod & all Jerusalem were also shaken by the crucified Christ.
  3. What a paradox that a Man nailed to a tree and bleeding away His life should terrify a city and trouble its rulers.
22. In the cradle of Christ and at the cross of Christ, there is a twofold reaction, acceptance and homage, or rejection and persecution.
  1. Blue-Collar Fisherman believe while kings and priests reject.
  2. Those who are near were really far off. Those who were far off were really near.
  3. The great reversal of God, see it in the cradle...see it in the cross.
23. The Divine Intervention
  1. From the cradle, Jesus is taken away to another land, but returns.
  2. In the crucifixion, Jesus dies but is brought back to life, through the resurrection.
24. Stone Cold Earth
  1. In His cradle, Jesus was laid in a stone feeding trough.
  2. After the crucifixion, Jesus was laid in Joseph unused stone tomb.
25. Behold, the Manger and the Cross are one, only transformed.
  1. Behold the cradle where He lays subject to all the laws of nature...naked, cold, hungry, in poverty.
  2. Behold the cross where He hangs subject to all the laws of nature...naked, cold, hungry, in poverty.
26. The ultimate consequence of Bethlehem is Golgotha. The ultimate consequence of the Love of God is our Redemption.
27. I’m going to read an excerpt from, When God Weeps, by Joni Eareckson Tada/Steven Estes.
28. “On your back with you!” One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier’s heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner’s wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier’s life minute by minute, for no man has the power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do “all things hold together”. The victim wills that the soldier live on – he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.
  
  As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm – the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless – the nerves perform exquisitely. “Up you go!” They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.
  
  But these pains are a mere warm-up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being – the living excrement from our souls. The apple of his Father’s eye turns brown with rot.
  
  His Father! He must face his Father like this!
  
  From Heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seem the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognise these eyes.
  
  “Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped – murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten – fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk – you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp – buying pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves – relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe this things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?”
  
  Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
  
  The Father watches as his heart’s treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah’s stored rage against humankind for every century explodes in a single direction.
  
  “Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!”
  
  But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
  
  The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
29. Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, and one day He’s coming, Oh glorious day!

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Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Mark 15". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/mark-15.html. 2017.

Bible CommentariesMark 15

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-7

Verses 1-7

Verses 16-32

Verses 16-32

Verses 33-47

Verses 33-47

Bible Commentaries
Mark 15