SERMON BODY:
(1). The Place (vs 22-24).
(2). The Question (vs 33-39)
(3). The Tomb (vs 42-47).
SERMON OUTLINE:
ill:
About an hour away from where I used to live in Coventry (England):
• There is a little village called Bredwardine
• It is in the county of Herefordshire.
• A lady who attended the Anglican Church in that village died;
• And in her will she left some money for the Church.
• As well as the money she left some instructions on how to spend it;
• She asked that the old battered and dishevelled cross;
• That sat on the altar be sent to a jewellers to be cleaned and restored.
• So the cross was sent off to a jewellers and when it was returned;
• They discovered this old tarnished cross was actually made of solid silver,
• They also discovered that upright and the cross-piece were studded with emeralds,
• The cross no longer stands on the altar:
• It is kept in a safe, and is only brought out when a service is about to take place.
• Transition:
• What many thought to be a worthless object;
• Was actually a very valuable and precious item!
This morning we are looking at the death of Jesus on the cross:
• To many it was a shameful and tragic act;
• The waste of a good man’s life.
• But to Christians it is the most important event in history!
• Because the death of Jesus was not a tragedy but a triumph;
• As Jesus himself said (John chapter 10 verse 18):
“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
• And again Jesus could say (Mark chapter 10 verse 45):
• “He gave his life as a ransom for many”.
The cross is a curious paradox because it is:
• A picture of violence;
• Yet it is the key to peace.
• It was a picture of suffering;
• Yet the key to healing.
• It was a picture of utter weakness;
• Yet the key to power.
• It was a picture of capital punishment;
• Yet the key to mercy & forgiveness.
• It was a picture of death;
• Yet the key to life.
• It was a picture of hatred;
• Yet the key to love.
• It was a picture of supreme shame;
• Yet it is the Christian’s supreme boast!
Ill:
• North of Cardiff (Wales) is the district of Llandaff;
• Llandaff has a Cathedral that contains a figure of Jesus by artist Joseph Epstein.
• It is an aluminium figure of Christ in Majesty
• What makes this figure unique is that all the marks of crucifixion have been removed.
• The figure may be majestic and beautiful and compassionate,
• But sadly Joseph Epstein has totally missed the point!
• The scars of Jesus are the reason for his coming into the world;
• They are the reason for his earthly existence!
• Because without those scars,
• Without his suffering and death, there is no salvation!
• Note: There are five things Jesus took back to heaven that were not there before!
• They are the wounds in his hands, feet and side!
Ill:
• In contrast to Joseph Epstien the deaf have a sign for Jesus.
• The middle finger of each hand is placed into the palm of the other.
• Jesus, the one with wounded hands.
• Someone has said;
• “When the deaf touch the place, they hear the name in their own flesh”.
• This morning each one of us should ‘hear the name in their own flesh’.
• Because whether you realise it or not the cross of Jesus Christ involves you!
• Because on the cross “He bore the sin of the world” including yours & mine!
We have reached the place in our studies in Mark’s gospel:
• When Jesus has been sentenced to be crucified.
• The soldiers have mocked him by placing a crown of thorns on his head;
• They have viciously punched him with their fists,
• He had been cruelly flogged him to the point of death.
• He was a mass of bleeding, raw and opened flesh.
• Now it is time to leave Praetorium (the palace);
• And make their way to the place of execution.
• Now it was the custom for a condemned man;
• To carry their own crossbeam to the place of execution.
• The cross beam, was called in Latin "patabulum".
• And it weighed about 100 pounds and it was carried across the shoulders.
• Jesus had carried his to the city gate;
• But then became too weak.
• Then verse 21 says:
• The soldiers escorting Him picked someone from the crowd of spectators
• They forced a man called Simon:
• Who was visiting Jerusalem from Cyrene to carry the crossbeam for him.
• Cyrene was a city of Libya in North Africa.
Now I want to divide the story under a number of headings:
(1). The Place (vs 22-24).
“They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.”
• No-one can be certain why it was called ‘Golgotha’ (which means The Place of the Skull).
• Some people believe the hill actually looked like a skull.
• i.e. Photo of Gordon’s Calvary.
• When Jerome translated the New Testament into Latin;
• The Latin Vulgate was the very first Bible brought by missionaries to this country.
• We forget that it was also the Bible of the Church for 1,000 years.
• In his translation he used the Latin word for skull, ‘calvaria’,
• From this word we get our English word "Calvary".
• ill: Many of the older hymns use the word ‘Calvary’;
• ill: And many of the older members of our congregation use this term.
‘Golgotha’ is the biblical name for the place where Jesus was crucified:
• It was a small hill just outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem.
• Forget the line of hymn ‘There is a green hill far away outside a city wall’.
• That may be good poetry but it is not accurate.
• The Romans worked on an ‘in your face’ policy;
• Their victims were crucified on major public roadways low down to the ground.
• The idea is that as many people as possible would have to walk by the crucified victim;
• And this was their effective deterrent to others.
• Mess with us and you too will end up like this!
Such was the horror of crucifixion in the ancient world:
• None of the gospel writers actually describe it in detail.
• Notice Mark simply says: “And they crucified him”.
There are some forms of crucifixion that are designed to:
• Take a person’s life but still allow that person to retain some dignity,
• Crucifixion took away not only a person’s life, but every vestige of dignity.
• It was deliberately designed to do that.
• It was the most hated and despised form of execution ever invented.
Quote: The Jewish historian klausener says:
"Crucifixion is a most terrible and cruel death,
Which man has ever devised for taking vengeance on his fellow country man".
Quote: The Roman philosopher Cicero called it:
"The most cruel and the most horrible torture".
Ill:
• In fact our English word ‘excruciating’ meaning: "exceedingly painful",
• Comes from the word ‘crucifixion’.
Crucifixion represented:
• The greatest heights of pain and the greatest depths of shame.
• That could be known by any man;
• It was a lingering death with intense agony.
• And although the Romans perfected it and practiced it throughout their empire;
• Such was the shame and humiliation of this punishment;
• That no Roman citizen was ever allowed to be crucified (they were beheaded by sword).
• If you want the gory details of what happened during a Roman Crucifixion;
• Then you can on the internet and read about it;
• I think that if any of us could go back in time to see the Crucifixion:
• We would be physically sick, it was so horrific.
(2). The question (vs 33-39)
“At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
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?
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, Listen, he’s calling Elijah.
36 One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down, he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, Surely this man was the Son of God!”
I want us to focus in on the question of Jesus from the cross:
• “‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’
• “Which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
• This is the only time in the gospels;
• Where Jesus refers to God the Father as ‘My God’;
• All the other times Jesus mentions this relationship;
• He uses the expression ‘Father’.
Question: Why?
Answer:
• A supernatural transaction was taking place.
• The just one was being punished for the unjust.
• The perfect Son of God was giving his life on behalf of sinful people.
In verse 23 we read about darkness falling over the whole land.
• Symbolically that was true – this was the darkest moment in world history.
• But more than that.
• It’s as if God was saying this event was so terrible;
• That human beings were not allowed to peer into it.
• “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us”.
• (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21)
Ill:
• The death of another person can affect us immensely.
• Question: Why are politicians & world leaders assassinated?
• Answer: Because there death affects the course of history, it affects their nations!
• Or suppose my dad had died as a child;
• Then I would not be here and my children would not be here.
• My dad’s death would have effected not just my life;
• But future generations of my family.
• Now if an ordinary human beings death can altar history;
• Then the life of the eternal Son of God will affect all eternity!
Quote: There is a green hill far away.
• I mentioned earlier that the first line was not very accurate;
• But the rest of the hill is spot on!
“We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains He had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.”
• “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us”.
• (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21)
Ill:
• At the cross a transaction took place:
• Let me illustrate it further through the use of a video clip.
• You can find it on www.sermonspice.com;
• It is called: ‘He Was Crucified’.
That video clip is a reminder that:
• He was rejected that we might be accepted
• He was condemned that we might be forgiven
• He was punished that we might be pardoned
• He was hated that we might be loved
• He was crucified that we might be justified
• He died that we might be live!
Pause and get personal:
• Question: Have you ever responded to what Jesus Christ has done for you?
• If not why not?
• You might say; “Strange question, how can you respond to someone who is dead?”
• Well I don’t want to spoil next week’s sermon – but he didn’t stay dead!
• He conquered death just as he conquered sin!
• This morning you have the opportunity to invite the living Christ into your life:
• It’s as easy as ABC.
• Admit – your need (“All have sinned”)
• Believe – in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
• Confess – Jesus Christ as Lord of your life (“Turn from your sins & follow him”)
(3). The Tomb (vs 42-47).
• Normally the bodies of crucifixion were taken from the cross;
• And thrown on the local garbage dump as a free meal for the wild animals.
• But not Jesus!
• His burial would be unique in its burial - just like the rest of his life.
• i.e. His birth was unique – born of the virgin Mary.
• i.e. His life was unique – sinless & perfect.
• i.e. His death was unique – he gave his life as an offering for others.
• i.e. His after-death was unusual – because three days later he rose from the dead!
Well his burial was unusual:
• For one thing we read about it 500years before it happened.
• Isaiah the prophet wrote (chapter 53 verse 9):
• N.L.T.: “he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”
To fulfil that prophecy God put the desire into the hearts of two men to ask for the body;
• Joseph of Arimathaea (Matthew chapter 27 verse 57);
• And a Pharisee called Nicodemus (John chapter 19 verse 38-42)
• They were given the body of Jesus;
• And he was placed as Isaiah had predicted “in a rich man’s tomb”.
Notice: The last verses (46b-47) of our passage read:
“Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.”
Ill:
• Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd President of the United States.
• He produced his own translation of the New Testament.
• But Jefferson did not believe in the supernatural;
• So he removed and left out all passages which present Jesus as a supernatural person.
• So there is no records of his miraculous birth and all the miracles are deleted,
• Together with all statements which declare Jesus to be the Son of God.
• In this deleted New Testament the Gospel of Matthew ends with these words:
• "And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed"
• (Matt. 27:60).
• I want to finish by reminding you that the Christian gospels;
• Do not finish in death and defeat!
• They finish with resurrection and victory;
• So make sure you come back for next weeks sermon!
