February 29, 2012
Central Truth
No pain was too great. No betrayal could sway him. He came to save us. He lived to teach us. He suffered and died as our sacrifice. Who does that? Only God. In short, Jesus is God, Lord, and King. He became man, son, carpenter, teacher, savior, and my hero.
When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39)
1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged 1 15:15 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), 2 15:16 Greek the praetorium and they called together the whole battalion. 3 15:16 Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour 4 15:25 That is, 9 a.m. when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 5 15:27 Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, He was numbered with the transgressors 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour 6 15:33 That is, noon had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 7 15:33 That is, 3 p.m. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he 8 15:39 Some manuscripts insert cried out and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son 9 15:39 Or a son of God!”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. 10 15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph 11 15:46 Greek he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
We're moved by stories of men who put themselves in harm's way and die for love of God, their fellow man, or country. We weep at real life images of sacrifice. Soldiers. United Flight 93. Jim Elliot. Martin Luther King. Bonhoeffer. I lose my mind when William Wallace cries "Freedom!" and breathes his last. We're devoted defenders of heroes who pay the ultimate sacrifice. Rightly so. "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
In Mark 15 the writer detailed the sacrifice of the One who gave His life freely with no army at His side. For all of mankind, He was accused (verses 1-5), rejected (verses 6-15), mocked (verses 16-20), tortured and tempted (verses 22-32), and finally executed (verses 33-39).
I have to ask myself if I put the proper perspective on this Man's sacrifice. Do I appreciate the reality of what this Man, the Son of God, surrendered for me? Do I come to His defense? Do I weep at the breathing of His last breath? I want to be like Him. I want to be courageous. I want to believe I would lay my life down for my friends. I want to believe that I would cry freedom, love my enemy even unto death, walk the tough road for the sake of those I love and the injustices against them. I want my life to be more like His. When we are accused, rejected, mocked, hurt, and tempted we can look for strength in the example Jesus lived. He is worthy of our devotion because this Man did not just die for injustice against us, He also willingly died for the injustice we commit -- even against Him.
Jesus' acts in this chapter are as close as we can ever get to being like Him in this life. His greatest act in humanity was His surrender of His will to God, the Father, for us, the beloved. His greatest act as deity came three days later. The story just keeps getting better -- He's coming back.
1. In what ways can you identify with what Jesus went through (rejected, mocked, hurt)? What does it mean to you that He can identify with you in any suffering?
2. What sacrifice or sin in your life seems to be too great? Look again at Romans 8. It doesn't compare with your future glory through Christ Jesus.
3. Consider whom you hold in high esteem, whom you are devoted to, whom you strive to be more like. Life and habits can easily distract us from devotion to Jesus. If anyone comes before Christ, pray that the Spirit begin to show you where you may have competing devotions and help you to rearrange priorities.
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
MARK 13-LUKE 1 (FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 2)
Read Luke 1:26-56.
• What did the angel tell Mary?
• Who was the baby going to be?
• What did Mary do in verses 46-55?
• Make a list of ways that God has been faithful in your life and in your family's life?
Activity: Make a book of "God's Faithfulness!" Each person takes one of the times that God has been faithful and draws a picture or writes the story of God's faithfulness in that particular situation. Do this for the entire list. One page for each time He was faithful. Put this book somewhere where you can add pages to it. Any time you are having a hard time believing that God is with you, pull out the book and remember His serial faithfulness.