#129. 9 o’clock in the morning
Most people start work at 9 o’clock in the morning and how much that day counts is probably quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things. In this morning’s reading the Lord Jesus was to be crucified at 9 o’clock and it was going to change the destiny of you and me — that’s quite a work!
Mark 15:21–32
A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.) And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). They offered Him wine drugged with myrrh, but He refused it.
Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross. They divided His clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified Him. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, “The King of the Jews.” Two revolutionaries were crucified with Him, one on his right and one on his left.
The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. “Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at Him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross, so we can see it and believe Him!” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.
These words are very moving and they remind us of what Jesus had to go through for your sin and mine. As one writer puts it -
For the severity of sin—nothing less than the torture and murder of God’s own divine Son—exposes the seriousness of our intellectual, moral, and emotional sickness and the depth of our human rebellion against God.
Sometimes we can forget that our sin put the Lord Jesus there on that piece of wood with those nails pierced into His skin. We can sometimes look at His death for others but this morning personalise Jesus’ death for you. Once you have pondered this and consider how grave your sin is respond in thankfulness that he was willing to do it for YOU!
much love
Tim
#130. Forsaken
Have you ever been forsaken? The dictionary says to be forsaken is to be abandoned or deserted. Today, Mark moves from the physical torment to the spiritual torment.
Mark 15:33-41 NIV
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave Him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take Him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how He died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, 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.
Have you ever wondered why Mark adds the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke interspersed with the English? Here’s a helpful explanation -
The words are an Aramaic-tinged quotation from Psalm 22, and although Matthew and Mark both offer a translation for the benefit of Gentile readers, they clearly want us to hear the exact words that Jesus spoke. At his lowest ebb, His mind instinctively breathes the Psalter, and from it he borrows the words that express the anguish, not now of his body, but of his soul. *1
It has been said that Jesus didn’t feel forsaken but that He was forsaken. The ultimate knowledge that the perfect relationship that He had with His Father was now cut off.
Again a theologian puts it like this -
It is not that Abba is not there, but that He is there, as the Judge of all the earth who could condone nothing and could not spare even his own Son (Romans 8:32). 2
This morning know your freedom has come at the greatest cost.
Jesus was abandoned so that you never will be. Your Heavenly Father is always with you because of the Son and his Holy Spirit is working in you and through you to give you peace and comfort as you continue in relationship with him.
You will NEVER be forsake - https://youtu.be/djCpJPnBy6E
Much love
Tim
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*1 Donald Macleod - The Person of Christ