The Passion Week of Christ: A Study from the Book of Mark
Week 9: The Servant Finishes - His Death
Mark 15:21-32
I. Introduction
A. Do you ever struggle to believe that YOU are someone worth dying for? I mean doesn't it seem ludicrous, don't we Christians seem to be off our rockers, to have a few screws loose, to think that 1) God exists, 2) that the God who created this vast universe didn't simply set it in motion and forget it but is mindful of us, and 3) despite how desperately wicked our hearts are with sin and that even the best we do is nothing more than filthy rags, that same God purposed from the foundation of the world to send His own Son to this earth to be born in a manger and then to die for us? But that glorious truth is exactly what the Bible tells us! And yet its not a SAY SO truth its a SHOW SO truth. Just like in the Mike's Chair song, God not only says we are someone worth dying for, He showed it, He proved it at the cross! Recite John 3:16.
B. So far in our Passion Week series, we have followed our Lord to many places...the home of Mary, Martha & Lazarus as He was anointed, the city gates of Jerusalem as He triumphantly entered them, the Temple where He cleaned house and taught, the Upper Room where He was betrayed, the Garden where He was forsaken, Caiaphas' home where He was rejected, the Roman HQs where He was condemned and so now Friday AM they brought him to the place called Golgotha. There's much we don't know about Golgotha - was it shaped like a skull or simply a place of skulls, was it located on the north side or on the west side of the city. We simply don't know...but one thing we do know. It was a place of limitless love in which Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many and proved that you, I indeed are Someone Worth Dying For. Let's journey now with our Lord to Golgotha, a place of limitless love. There we will see Jesus' limitless love for sinful humanity in the fact that Golgotha was A Place of Choices, Crucifixion, Prophecy, and Cruelty.
II. Scripture Reading & Prayer
A. Stand with me to honor the reading of God's Word. Read Mark 15:21-32.
B. Pray - Father, I shudder when I think of all that Your Son, Our Lord & Savior, went through that Friday AM not only saying He loved the world but also showing how much He loved the world by giving His life. As we travel this AM to Golgotha where He did just that, teach us truths that we can apply to our lives.
III. Golgotha: A Place of Choices (Read and explain 15:22-23)
A. Golgotha is an Aramaic word meaning "skull." Again the exact site is unknown. Given crucifixion was to serve as a deterrent to crime, it would have been a heavily traveled and highly visible location. Yet, its location is not so much important as the events that took place there that Good Friday AM. First & foremost, Mark tells us that our Lord was brought there. And that the Roman soldier's first order of business there was that they offered him wine mixed with myrrh. Myrrh has a bitter taste and is essentially a narcotic that deadens pain. The Jews had a custom, based on Prov. 31:6, of administering a pain-deadening medication mixed with wine to victims of crucifixion, as an act of mercy in order to deaden the pain. The Romans allowed it to be given not so much out of compassion, but out of convenience - to keep them from struggling as they were crucified.
B. And yet Mark records that Jesus did not take it. Offered is imperfect meaning they tried several times. Have you ever even considered why He chose not to take it? As we'll see shortly, even at this point, our Lord's body was howling out in pain. Discuss times in our lives we have been in such pain. Yet, think of this - have you ever taken a narcotic? What effect did it have on you? You see Jesus likely would have welcomed any amount of pain relief in that moment, but He needed His full mental faculties for the hours to come. His limitless love for humanity did not permit Him to slip into a drug induced stupor as He died on the cross. Even as He struggled for each and every breath, He was still about His Father's business - committing His mother to the care of John not His unbelieving brothers (cf. John 19:26-27), praying for the forgiveness of His enemies, through His words and actions bringing about the salvation of the thief on the cross who reviled him and the Roman Centurion who crucified Him. Love for sinful, lost humanity constrained Jesus to the point that at His hour of greatest pain He refused so much as a single Lortab!!!
C. And yet the greatest choice He made at Golgotha was to stay nailed to that cross. Both the passersby and the religious leaders yelled for Jesus to come down from the cross. In perhaps the truest statement they ever spoke, they mocked Jesus saying He cannot save himself. How true!! Once God chose to save humanity, this was the only way possible. And it wasn't that Jesus couldn't come down, it was that He wouldn't!! It's been well said that nails didn't hold Jesus to the cross, love did. He could have called down a legion of angels, 72,000 of them, to stop this whole process yet He didn't. Why? Read John 10:11, 18. If He came down, then there was a limit to God's love; something that love wasn't prepared to suffer for lost men & women, a line beyond which it would NOT go! Hallelujah, Praise God, He didn't come down! Hallelujah, He could have saved Himself, but love constrained Him from it!!!
C. Illustration: A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. “Do I like this work?” he said “No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonably refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse....But is a man to do nothing for Christ that he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to “Go”, and we go. Love constrains us." App. What do your choices when it comes to loving God, loving people, following Christ say about you - comfortable Christian or committed follower?
IV. Golgotha: A Place of Crucifixion (Read and explain 15:15, 21, 25-26)
A. Mark tells us that back at the Roman HQs, read v. 15. Describe the process of scourging. It was a horrifying & fearful ordeal. Jesus' hematidrosis = scourging even more painful as skin would be fragile & tender. Its intent? Weaken the victim to state just short of collapse or death. Often limited to 39 lashes, one shy of death. Severity depended on disposition of lictors. Jesus = severe - cf. 1 Peter 2:24, short time on the cross (inverse relation to severity), but also that Jesus was too weak to carry His own cross to the place of execution which condemned prisoners were required to do. Mark doesn't describe the process of crucifixion, as it likely was known to his audience, and simply writes and they crucified him and that it was the third hour (9am). Yet a close look at the process helps us understand the sheer agony our Lord went through in proving His limitless love for the world.
B. The Phoenicians invented crucifixion but the Romans perfected it as a deterrent to crime so that condemned criminals often suffered in anguish for days before dying, literally becoming mad in the process. The Roman writer Cicero wrote that it was " the cruelest and most hideous punishment possible."
- The patibulum was put on the ground & the victim laid on it. Nails, 7" long and 3/8" diameter, were driven in the wrists. This would impale the median nerve - funny bone. It was possible to place the nails between the bones so that no bones fractured (Ps. 34:19-20). Studies have shown that nails were driven through the small bones of the wrist, since nails in the palms of the hand wouldn't support the weight of a body. In ancient terminology, the wrist was considered to be part of the hand. Standing at the crucifixion sites would be upright posts, called stipes, standing about 7' high. In the center of the stipes there was sometimes a crude seat, called a sedile or sedulum, which served as a support for the victim. The patibulum was then lifted on to the stipes. The feet were then nailed to the stipes, impaling the deep peroneal nerve. To allow for this, the knees had to be bent & rotated laterally, being left in a very uncomfortable position. The titulus was hung above the victim's head. Discuss Jesus' titulus - v. 26 & comments. When the cross was erected upright, there was tremendous strain put on the wrists, arms and shoulders, resulting in a dislocation of the shoulder and elbow joints (cf. Ps. 22:14) - discuss dislocation pain. The arms, being held up and outward, held the rib cage in a fixed end inspiratory position which made it very difficult to exhale, and impossible to take a full breath - act out. The victim would only be able to take very shallow breaths. (This may explain why Jesus made very short statements while on the cross). As time passed, the muscles, from the loss of blood, loss of oxygen, and build up of CO2, would undergo severe cramps - discuss muscle cramps. The cause of death was multifactorial - two most common = hypovolemic shock and asphyxia. Yet certain aspects of Jesus' (severe scourging with profound hypovolemia and shock, blood and water poured from side signifying fluid in chest or heart cavity, and cried out in loud voice) suggest acute heart failure with a catastrophic terminal event, cardiac rupture. He loved sinful humanity so limitlessly that He literally died of a broken heart!
App. Does your lifestyle reflect an appreciation of the cross? Taking on your SIN = excruciating, "out of the cross"! Are you striving for holiness, Christlikeness?
V. Golgotha: A Place of Prophecy (Read and explain 15:24, 27-29)
A. Think about this - God didn't on the spur of a moment suddenly decide He loved us and that after living for 33 years Jesus would go to the cross. He literally has loved us for all eternity!!! I know we have a hard time grasping that truth, but the fact is, your salvation, my salvation has been on the heart of God for a long time. Before the world was formed God set an amazing plan into motion. Before the sun, moon, stars and planets were formed; before God made man in His own image; before there was even light in the universe; God determined to send His Son to die for sinners. Listen - Read Revelation 13:8; Ephesians 1:4; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:19-20. God determined that He would save you in Jesus Christ, before He ever formed the world. Then, God sent His Son into the world to die on the cross so that you would be saved. What God formulated in eternity was fulfilled in time! Every moment of our Lord’s life led Him to Golgotha. In a very real sense Jesus Christ was born to die.
B. We see that in the overwhelming number of prophecies He fulfilled during His lifetime (over 400), never more abundantly apparent than at the time of His crucifixion - I just read three and we've seen no less than 10 in the verses we've read this AM:
- Verse 24 = Ps. 22:18; Verse 27 = Isaiah 53:12; Verse 29 = Ps. 109:25
- Scourging & mocking (Isaiah 50:6), Body mutilated (Isaiah 52:14), Gall/myrrh to drink (Ps. 69:21), Crucifixion (Isaiah 53:4-6), Hands/feet pierced (Ps. 22:16), Many watching (Ps. 22:17), words of reproachers (Ps. 22:8).
C. If someone asked you to write a definition of love, what would you write? Philos - hunting or shopping buddy, BFF? Eros - S-E-X? You know what I'd do? Draw 'em a cross! Read 1 John 4:10. And When I Survey the Wondrous Cross on which the Prince of glory died, I see the quivering ribbons of flesh from His scourging, His body mutilated beyond recognition, the many watching and mocking Him, His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! A love that was formulated in eternity and fulfilled in time at Golgotha.
App. Jesus' fulfillment of prophecy at Golgotha alone tells us He was and is God. It also tells us that in His eyes we always have been someone worth dying for, even from the very foundation of the world. That's almost unbelievable!!! It ought to make you fall down in worship at His feet! And it ought to make you stop questioning your value because God who formed you also loves you. How much? This much - from one nail scarred hand to the other!
VI. Golgotha: A Place of Cruelty (Read and explain 15:24, 29-32)
A. People like to think that humanity is basically good. It's perhaps the most common thing I hear when witnessing to people. But that is far from the truth! Man, in his natural state, is a totally defiled, absolutely corrupt being (cf. Jer. 17:9). There is no good in mankind, and left to himself, man will always choose a downward, evil path - read Rom. 3:10-18. Man is hopelessly and universally evil. He cannot do good, he cannot change his own heart, and in fact, he has no desire to. The ugly depths of human depravity were clearly on display that day at Calvary. Mankind came face to face with his Creator. Man did not bow to Him. Man did not worship Him. Man did not honor Him. When mankind came face to face with the Creator on Calvary, man killed his God. Many of the people at Calvary that day were decent people, by other people’s standards. Many would have looked at them and called them good. Those so-called “good” people murdered God when they were given the chance! Notice how the cruelty of man was put on display at a place called Golgotha.
B. The Cruelty of the Soldiers (v. 24): Discuss what their family & coworkers would have said about them - hard worker, loyal to Rome, respects authority, provides for family. And yet, as 3 men endured the most cruel and hideous punishment possible, they gambled for the only worldly possessions one had, the very clothes on His back! This was in fact part of their pay. They had grown so callous to this form of torture, they thought nothing of driving nails through nerves, of watching men struggle for every breath, wishing to die and anguishing on instead. The actions of these men are Jer. 17:9 in motion. These hard hearted soldiers turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the sufferings of the Lord Jesus that day. There was not one ounce of compassion on their part for the Lord Jesus Christ. Good? "No one does good, not even one." Yet, Christ loved & died for them!
C. The Cruelty of the Passersby (v. 29-30): Discuss what their friends & acquaintances would have said about them - loved their kids & spouse, good to their neighbors, paid their debts, not trouble makers. And yet, they were lawbreakers of their own choosing - #3 took Lord's name in vain, derided = Greek, "blasphemeo," to speak evil against, blaspheme. Not only in word but deed - wagging their heads (sign of contempt). #9 bore false witness, you who would destroy the temple - a distortion of Jesus' words. Having kept the whole law but failed in one point they had become accountable for all of it. Good? "No one does good, not even one." Yet, Christ loved & died for them!
D. The Cruelty of the Priests (v. 31-32a): Discuss what their church members would have said about them - faithfully attended church, took mission trips winning people to Judaism, prayed & fasted & tithed. And yet, these men's actions stand as those the farthest removed from their professed beliefs. If there was any group of men in Jerusalem who should have been motivated by love, compassion and godly concern, it should have been these men. But, when they pass by the cross, they do not pray or offer words of comfort and encouragement or offer expressions of sympathy or apology. When these men pass by the cross, they mocked Jesus. Greek = "empaizo," properly "to sport/play with somone." In other words, they made a cruel game of passing by and ridiculing Jesus as He died. These men are glaring proof that religion alone does not have the power to make evil men holy. Their religion did not reach beyond their hearts. They knew about God, but they did not know God. They were religious, but they were lost. How many atrocities have been committed in the name of religion? Good? "No one does good, not even one." Yet, Christ loved & died for them!
E. The Cruelty of the Thieves (v. 32b): Discuss what their fellow countrymen would have said about them - good people, zealous for justice, despised the cruelty, corruption & ungodliness of Rome. And yet, they were criminals! No matter what you call it they were guilty. Sin is Sin!! And even they get in on the action as they reviled our Lord. Greek = "oneidizo," "to defame, rail at, taunt," meaning to "show one's teeth," and to view someone as guilty. Their adamic nature was on full display even as they died. Good? "No one does good, not even one." Yet, Christ loved & died for them! Luke tells us that one of these men came to faith. God opened his eyes and he turned to Jesus and prayed to be saved, and the Lord saved his soul that day. In that man, we see the way of salvation. It is not by works. It is not by religious deeds. It is not by being good. It by simple faith in Jesus and His finished work on the cross.
F. App. Did you know that your life, my life is on display daily as a witness to a lost and dying world? It's been well said that the only Bible some people will ever read is you. Yet, sometimes we're more interested in picking out a snazzy Christian T-shirt than actually BEING a Christian T-shirt ourselves! I see many Christians displaying some unbelievable ones - the T-shirt of unforgiveness, joylessness, University of Laodicea, Scrooge. Sometimes I wonder if when we wear the popular one - It's Not About Religion, It's About Relationship - if we, like the chief priests and scribes, are truly putting more into our religion or our relationship? The largest complaint a lost and dying world has against us is Hypocrite. Are we displaying "acts of cruelty" or salt and light?
VII. Conclusion
A. Unbeliever, not saved? I pray God has convinced & convicted you this AM of your standing before a loving, holy & just God. Quote Hebrews 9:27. On that day, none of us will be able to claim good person. Romans 3:23. None of us can pass the same 5 ? test - lying, stealing, adulterous, murderous, blasphemer! God is loving but He is also holy & just & good Judge - MUST punish sin. Good news - while you, I were doing all that Christ stepped into the courtroom and tetelestai - paid in full - our ticket, our punishment. But it's a gift - and gifts have to be opened. You have to accept it - otherwise you are still in your sins, still guilty before a loving, holy & just God.
B. Believer? Think for a minute about the last time you experienced an adrenaline rush. You were ALL JACKED UP weren't you? For a minute, you were Superman or Superwoman and could accomplish anything! You know, sometimes in our Christian walk, we need a shot of adrenaline. To stir us afresh. Read Hebrews 12:1-2 (MSG). All of us surely find ourselves flagging in our faith at times. Like Ephesus in Rev. 2, we have abandoned the love we had at first. We have consciously or unconsciously set limits on our love of God, our love of ourselves and our love of each other. And yet Golgotha as a Place of Choices, Crucifixion, Prophecy and Cruelty proved to us God set no limits on His love for us, for the world. This AM as we went over that story of Golgotha again, item by item, that long litany of hostility that Jesus plowed through, I hope it shot adrenaline into your souls! I pray from now til the day the good Lord calls us home, that Golgotha will be a perpetual shot of adrenaline for our souls. Adrenaline that will leave you ALL JACKED UP to truly Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And like Christ at the cross, not just SAY SO but SHOW SO - to stop using grace as a license to sin, to start developing holiness & Christlikeness in your life; to stop saying we're not under Law but the New Covenant and so thinking God doesn't mind it if I call myself a little Christ (Christian) and don't read & study my Bible, don't pray, don't give, don't serve at church, and don't witness to lost folks. Adrenaline that will leave you ALL JACKED UP to truly Love yourself. And like Christ at the cross, not just SAY SO but SHOW SO - stop hating yourself, blaming yourself, beating yourself up and to instead see and love yourself as God loved you and to expect the same from others. Adrenaline that will leave you ALL JACKED UP to love others not only as you love yourself but to see and love them as God does. And like Christ at the cross, not just SAY SO but SHOW SO - even the most annoying, cruel, despicable members of our society (annoying/hateful kid in 3rd period, irritating/condescending coworker, spouse who gets under your skin, homosexuals, atheists, suicide bombers, leaders in Washington) because beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
VIII. Invitation and Benediction
