Joseph Of Arimathea: A Cowardish And Blessed Man

The story of Jesus’ death and burial that we will discuss today is recorded in all four Gospels. This shows the significance of this event. Let’s read Mark 15:33-47.

Verse 33 – “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” Jesus was crucified at nine in the morning. Three hours later the sky suddenly became dark for three hours, or from twelve to three in the afternoon. Luke tells us that the sun became dark (Luke 23:45). What happened? Was it a coincidence? Or, as those who do not believe the Bible’s testimony allege, a myth to dramatize the story of Jesus’ death?

It turns out that the darkening event is mentioned in the historical record. Origen and Eusebius quote Phlegon (a Roman historian) who mentioned a great solar eclipse and earthquake around the time of the crucifixion: “In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the sun; at the sixth hour the day was turned into darkness, so that the stars of heaven were visible; and there was an earthquake.”

The event was extraordinary because during the full moon – which is always celebrated on Easter – a natural solar eclipse is impossible. So, it was an extraordinary miracle in the sky. Darkness fell over the land: The extraordinary darkness signified the suffering of creation itself in the suffering of the Creator.

Verse 34 – “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” (which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) Why did Jesus say this? This is a quote from Psalm 22. Jesus states that He fulfilled that passage, both in His suffering and in His victory. Jesus had experienced great pain and suffering (both physical and emotional) in His life but had never experienced separation from His Father. Now He did. There is a significant sense in which Jesus felt truly abandoned by God the Father at this moment.

This happened in the sense that God “made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus endured not only the Father's withdrawal of fellowship, but also the actual outpouring of the Father's wrath upon Him as a substitute for sinful humanity. Although terrible, this fulfilled God's good and loving plan of redemption. Therefore, Isaiah could say, “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,” (Isaiah 53:10). But through Jesus’s sacrifice, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19 – “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.”

Verses 35 – 36. Malachi 4:5 says, "See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." Based on this prophesy, Jewish tradition always taught Elijah would be there when the Messiah arrived. Remember, he didn’t die; He went to heaven in a chariot. So, tradition said that Elijah returns in times of crisis to protect and rescue the righteous. Perhaps because of that, they thought Jesus was calling Elijah.

In His life and ministry, Jesus was often misunderstood. He was misunderstood by the Jewish religious leaders and now at the end of His earthly ministry, He was also misunderstood on the cross. Sour wine was not only a soldier’s ration, but also an everyday use. Sour wine is mentioned in the Old Testament as a refreshing drink (Numbers 6:3; Ruth 2:14), and in Greek and Roman literature it was also a common drink favored by laborers and soldiers because it was more effective in quenching thirst than water and was inexpensive.” (Lane)

Verse 37. In His extreme weakness and pain, Jesus was able to speak and cry out. John 19:30 tells us what He said when He cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished!” or “Tetelestai” in ancient Greek, which means “It is paid in full.” This was the cry of a conqueror because Jesus had paid our debt for sin and had completed the eternal purpose of the cross.

Verse 38. Before He cried out that it was finished, an extraordinary spiritual transaction took place. God the Father has placed upon Jesus all the guilt and wrath that we deserve for our sin, and Jesus bore it in himself perfectly, fully satisfying God’s wrath against us.

The statement “The curtain of the temple was torn” signifies that humans now have free access to the throne of grace through the cross and that no one should ever think again that God dwells in temples made with hands.

Jesus’ death on the cross was and is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for all mankind (Romans 5:8). It is the power of God for salvation, though it seems foolish to those who reject it (1 Corinthians 1:18). On the cross, Jesus brought the record of our sin and rebellion against God, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). If Jesus did not endure the cross, it could be said that there was a limit to God's love, that there was something God could do but was unwilling to do to demonstrate His love for humans.