Mark 15:33-41 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Mark 15:33-41. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage. Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage? After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Mark 15:33 (NIV)
33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
On verse 33: The sixth hour to the ninth hour would be from 12pm to 3pm. Mark describes how darkness came over the whole land as Jesus hung on the cross and neared death. Truly these were three of the darkest hours in human history. One can only imagine what was going on in heaven when Jesus, heaven’s darling, was hanging on the cross.
Mark 15:34 (NIV)
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?”
On verse 34: Why would Jesus say “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”? I believe there are at least two reasons. First, as the one who had taken on all the sins of the world upon himself and who had received God’s wrath for it all, Jesus became separated from the presence of his Father. Like a scapegoat cast out into the wilderness, Jesus experienced the abandonment, the lostness, the darkness, and the despair that all of us were supposed to experience as a consequence of our sin. Jesus, who all his life had known the close presence of his Father, for the first time was without it. It was the most despairing, horrific moment of Jesus’ life.
Keep this in mind: Jesus experienced all of this for us so that we wouldn’t have to. It’s only because Jesus was forsaken by heaven that we can benefit from this promise: “Never will I leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5)
Second, Jesus’ words are actually the first verse of Psalm 22. Psalm 22 begins with that cry of despair, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When you read all of Psalm 22 it is amazing how much the first 18 verses parallel what Jesus went through on the cross. But the second half of Psalm 22, starting with verse 19, is one of the most hope-filled passages in all the Bible. It declares the hope that God will come to the rescue, that the sufferer’s suffering is not in vain, that the sufferer will one day join his family in declaring God’s praises, that those who seek God will live forever, that all the ends of the earth will turn to God, and that future generations will be told about the Lord. It’s as if Jesus, in the midst of his greatest suffering, was also declaring his hope.
What can we learn from this?
1. Jesus suffered separation from the Father so that you and I wouldn’t have to.
2. In his darkest hours Jesus clung to the Word of God to help him express his hardest emotions and to help him declare his highest hope. In the midst of his suffering Jesus found hope through the Word of God. We can do the same.
Mark 15:35 (NIV)
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
On verse 35: It seems that some people mistook Jesus’ words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” to mean that Jesus was calling the prophet Elijah. That could be because in Hebrew the word for God and the word for Elijah sound similar. It could also be because of a common belief among Jews that Elijah would return (Malachi 4:5; Mark 6:14-15). But Jesus wasn’t calling on Elijah. He was calling on his Father.
In our deepest pain, the one we need to call on is no human being, but God Himself. The kind of salvation we as human beings need cannot be provided by a mere human being. It can only come from God.
Mark 15:36 (NIV)
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.
On verse 36: I once heard a pastor share about his experience on a tour of Israel. His tour guide shared that if you were living in cities occupied by the Roman empire, such as Jerusalem during Jesus’ time, you go to the public washroom and find that there was no toilet paper to use. Instead, if you defecated, someone would take a stick with a sponge attached to it, dip it in vinegar as a disinfectant and clean your backside that way. Could it be that the same thing the Romans used to wipe their backsides is what they fed to Jesus in the last moments of his life? If that is the case, then it is very possible that the last scent in Jesus’ nose and the last taste in Jesus’ mouth before he died was that of our own feces. Not only would that be utterly humiliating and cruel, but it is a picture of what Jesus went through for us: taking on all of our filth, all of our mess, all of our dirt, all because He loves us.
Mark 15:37 (NIV)
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
On verse 37: Jesus didn’t go quietly into the night and into death. Rather he cried out and then breathed his last. It’s as if he still had so much life in him and then he died. What does it take to take away the life of the one who is life itself? It took all of our sin and rebellion against God, and it also took all of Jesus’ own willingness and courage to give up his life on our behalf. There will never be one as amazing as Jesus.
Mark 15:38 (NIV)
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
On verse 38: There were two curtains in the temple, one that separated the outer courts from the Holy Place (where the priests serve), and one that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (where the ark of the covenant, representing the presence of God, was located). The book of Hebrews says that it was this second curtain that was torn in two from top to bottom.
What’s the message here? When Jesus died, his death tore the barrier that stood between God and His people. Whereas sin once separated us from God’s presence, now because of Jesus’ sacrifice, our debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for, and now we have access to the presence of almighty, holy God. All because of Jesus, we can now be reconciled and in relationship with God.
Mark 15:39 (NIV)
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!”
On verse 39: Mark began his gospel describing Jesus as the Son of God (Mark 1:1). Now this Roman centurion, a Gentile, makes the same confession about Jesus after watching the way Jesus suffered and died. There was something about Jesus’ presence, the way he carried himself even unto death, that caused the centurion to be deeply impacted. This suggests to me that you can go through suffering and even death in a way that leads people to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is.
Mark 15:40-41 (NIV)
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
41 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.
On verses 40-41: Jesus served so many, and only a few served him. Among them were these women mentioned here. I pray that, like these women, you and I would be known not just as people whom Jesus served, but as people who served Jesus, cared for Him, and did things that blessed Him.
King Jesus, You lived the most incredible life and You died the most powerful death. Truly Your suffering and death were not in vain because through Your suffering and death on the cross, we are forgiven, granted access to God’s presence, and everything You spoke in Psalm 22 has come true. I honour You for giving Your life for me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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