{"id":37484,"date":"2025-09-26T22:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37484"},"modified":"2025-09-16T14:11:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:11:37","slug":"mark_15_33-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_15_33-41\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope in the Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 15:33-41\u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 15:33-41.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 15:33\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 33:\u00a0 The sixth hour to the ninth hour would be from 12pm to 3pm.\u00a0 Mark describes how darkness came over the whole land as Jesus hung on the cross and neared death.\u00a0 Truly these were three of the darkest hours in human history.\u00a0 One can only imagine what was going on in heaven when Jesus, heaven\u2019s darling, was hanging on the cross.<\/p>\n

Mark 15:34 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice,\u00a0“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 34:\u00a0 Why would Jesus say \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me\u201d?\u00a0 I believe there are at least two reasons.\u00a0 First, as the one who had taken on all the sins of the world upon himself and who had received God\u2019s wrath for it all, Jesus became separated from the presence of his Father.\u00a0\u00a0Like 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.\u00a0 Jesus, who all his life had known the close presence of his Father, for the first time was without it.\u00a0 It was the most despairing, horrific moment of Jesus\u2019 life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Keep this in mind:\u00a0\u00a0Jesus experienced all of this for us so that we wouldn\u2019t have to.<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s only because Jesus was forsaken by heaven that we can benefit from this promise: \u201cNever will I leave you nor forsake you.\u201d (Deuteronomy 31:8; Hebrews 13:5)<\/p>\n

Second, Jesus\u2019 words are actually the first verse of Psalm 22.\u00a0 Psalm 22 begins with that cry of despair, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d When you read all of Psalm 22 it is amazing how much the first 18 verses parallel what Jesus went through on the cross.\u00a0 But the second half of Psalm 22, starting with verse 19, is one of the most hope-filled passages in all the Bible.\u00a0 It declares the hope that God will come to the rescue, that the sufferer\u2019s suffering is not in vain, that the sufferer will one day join his family in declaring God\u2019s 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.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if\u00a0Jesus, in the midst of his greatest suffering, was also declaring his hope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jesus suffered separation from the Father so that you and I wouldn\u2019t have to.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0In 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.\u00a0 In the midst of his suffering Jesus found hope through the Word of God.\u00a0 We can do the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 15:35 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 35:\u00a0 It seems that some people mistook Jesus\u2019 words \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me\u201d to mean that Jesus was calling the prophet Elijah.\u00a0 That could be because in Hebrew the word for God and the word for Elijah sound similar.\u00a0 It could also be because of a common belief among Jews that Elijah would return (Malachi 4:5; Mark 6:14-15).\u00a0 But Jesus wasn\u2019t calling on Elijah.\u00a0 He was calling on his Father.<\/p>\n

In our deepest pain, the one we need to call on is no human being, but God Himself.<\/strong>\u00a0 The kind of salvation we as human beings need cannot be provided by a mere human being.\u00a0 It can only come from God.<\/p>\n

Mark 15:36 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n36\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0One 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 36: \u00a0\u00a0I once heard a pastor share about his experience on a tour of Israel.\u00a0 His tour guide shared\u00a0that if you were living in cities occupied by the Roman empire, such as Jerusalem during Jesus\u2019 time, you go to the public washroom and find that there was no toilet paper to use.\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0Could 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?\u00a0 If that is the case, then it is very possible that the last scent in Jesus\u2019 nose and the last taste in Jesus\u2019 mouth before he died was that of our own feces.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Mark 15:37 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n37\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 37:\u00a0 Jesus didn\u2019t go quietly into the night and into death.\u00a0 Rather he cried out and then breathed his last.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if he still had so much life in him and then he died.\u00a0 What does it take to take away the life of the one who is life itself?\u00a0\u00a0It took all of our sin and rebellion against God, and it also took all of Jesus\u2019 own willingness and courage to give up his life on our behalf.\u00a0 There will never be one as amazing as Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark 15:38 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n38\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 38:\u00a0 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).\u00a0\u00a0 The book of Hebrews says that it was this second curtain that was torn in two from top to bottom.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the message here?\u00a0 When Jesus died, his death tore the barrier that stood between God and His people.\u00a0\u00a0Whereas sin once separated us from God\u2019s presence, now because of Jesus\u2019 sacrifice, our debt has been paid, our sins have been atoned for, and now we have access to the presence of almighty, holy God.<\/strong>\u00a0 All because of Jesus, we can now be reconciled and in relationship with God.<\/p>\n

Mark 15:39 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n39\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And 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!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 39: \u00a0Mark began his gospel describing Jesus as the Son of God (Mark 1:1).\u00a0 Now this Roman centurion, a Gentile, makes the same confession about Jesus after watching the way Jesus suffered and died.\u00a0 There was something about Jesus\u2019 presence, the way he carried himself even unto death, that caused the centurion to be deeply impacted.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Mark 15:40-41 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n40\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.
\n41\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 40-41:\u00a0 Jesus served so many, and only a few served him.\u00a0 Among them were these women mentioned here.\u00a0\u00a0I pray that,<\/strong>\u00a0like 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

King Jesus, You lived the most incredible life and You died the most powerful death.\u00a0 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\u2019s presence, and everything You spoke in Psalm 22 has come true.\u00a0 I honour You for giving Your life for me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 15:33-41.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nMark 15:33\u00a0(NIV)
\n33\u00a0\u00a0At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 33:\u00a0 The sixth hour to the ninth hour would be from 12pm to 3pm.\u00a0 Mark describes how darkness came over the whole land as Jesus hung on the cross and neared death.\u00a0 Truly these were three of the darkest hours in human history.\u00a0 One can only imagine what was going on in heaven when Jesus, heaven\u2019s darling, was hanging on the cross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37486,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37484\/revisions\/37486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}