Mark 15:40-41 Comfort God's People

Mark 15:40-41  Some women were watching from a distance.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.  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.

Jesus has just drawn his last breath, and the temple veil was rent in two.  As Jesus cried out, the centurion who was closest to him was touched by the power of the events and the presence of Jesus, and he proclaims, "Truly this man was the Son of God."  In the midst of this divine moment, Mark directs our attention away from the cross to a group of women watching from a distance.  He describes several important women in Jesus' life as well as many others who had followed him to Jerusalem, and he says, these women had followed him and cared for his needs.  Finally tucked into this story of loss, we hear of a group who stood by Jesus until the end.  We have seen Judas take money to betray him and lead men to arrest him.  We have heard Peter curse and say, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”  (Mark 14:71)  And we know the Bible says that everyone that was with Jesus deserted him and fled when the guards took him away.  Jesus must have remembered with love and thankfulness the kind deeds of these faithful women who stood by him at the very end, whose deeds testified to the love in their hearts.  We also remember a time when Mary showed great love to Jesus while he was in Bethany at the house of Lazarus.  We read: Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.   When Judas complains that the money from the sale of this perfume could have been used to feed the poor, Jesus replies, “Leave her alone.  [It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.  You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”  (John 12:7-8)  Jesus knew her act of kindness and obedience was motivated by God and would resonate far beyond the walls of that home.  Mary ministered to and comforted her Lord while she anointed his body in preparation for his coming journey to the cross.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus shows us that God is a God of concern and care for his people.  Christ never would have gone to the cross except for God's unfailing love and commitment to his fallen creation.  The prophet foretold the coming of Christ with grace and mercy: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.  He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.  (Isaiah 40:1-2 & 11)  A forsaken and condemned people would receive the mercy of their God.  When Jesus looked over Jerusalem, He cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  (Luke 13:34)  The ones He came to shepherd rejected his care, turned away from his embrace.  Jesus wanted to establish the family of God on Earth, to make sons and daughters of the Most High God, as people who would accept the sacrifice He was going to offer as a bridge of reconciliation for mankind; yet people chose darkness over light.  Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  But in spite of this loving call, many had eyes but could not see and ears but could not hear.

All who know the Lord, stand with the women who stood by Jesus at the cross.  We have walked with him in the way as did the women who watched him on the cross.  We talk with him, and we listen to his words of comfort and encouragement.  We praise him and glorify his deeds.  Today, He tells us, "I have work for YOU to do!"  Brothers and sisters, each of us has work to do for the Lord.  In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul wrote in his salutation, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)  Paul says we will suffer as Christ suffered, but just as we share in that suffering, we share in God's comfort.  We have Christ in us our hope of glory.  Furthermore, that comfort overflows to others.  The comfort we receive, we share!  Paul told the church not to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  (1 Thessalonians 4:13)  He knew we have light and life in abundance to share with those around us.  We are not merely trudging through our lives, persevering by faith, waiting for the Lord's coming or for God to take us home.  We are here to reach  those who need a touch from the Lord.  The Holy Spirit used Paul to encourage the church to turn from worldly pursuits and to seek God.  Paul wrote: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  (Titus 2:11-14)  God has good deeds for us to do in his name.  May we comfort his people in his name this day and please the heart of God!  

Mark 15:35-39 Is Mankind Good Or Sinful?

Mark 15:35-39  When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”  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.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  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!” 

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  Why did Jesus have to pay such a high price for the salvation of men?  Why did God demand such an awful price for man's redemption?  If men are basically good as many think, why the death of Jesus on the cross?  Are we not considered by God, as with all creation, to be "good?"  Is God mistaken: has He forgotten that when He made us, He declared us "very good?"  We read in the Bible, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  (Genesis 1:27)  The general consensus of most men and women, even Christians, is that if we are God's creation, created in his image, we are basically good.  We are quite sure God will accept us into his presence, his domain, because He made us, and we can add that our good works probably outweigh our bad deeds.  If this goodness over badness is not true, surely his mercy and grace will overshadow any of our base animalistic or selfish tendencies.  We know John wrote, And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.  (1John 4:16)  Many today believe the cross and its symbolic meaning as an avenue to God is a primitive belief, much like worshipping idols made of stone, silver, or gold.  The cultural and societal elite especially reject this idea of Jesus' death as a propitiation for sin, for as people of the enlightenment and science with an understanding of the cosmos and the existence of all things, they are not bogged down in superstition and mythology from the past.  They and others ask who needs this Jesus thing on the cross or even the idea of God!  

Christ's death birthed Christianity.  Without the cross and Jesus' subsequent resurrection, eternal life with God does not exist.  Christianity is not a way of life or a compilation of good works to please God.  Christianity is Jesus Christ in us through the Holy Spirit's indwelling power: Christ in you, the hope of glory.  (Colossians 1:27)  We who place our trust in Jesus have his life in us.  He is our righteousness.   He died for us who ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  With that knowledge, we placed ourselves on thrones and made ourselves gods to ourselves, deciding what is right and wrong, good or evil.  We know the evil of murder, drunkenness, debauchery, adultery, fornication and the like, but we do not understand that when we usurp God's authority, we sin against the One who made us. The Bible says, There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.  (Proverbs 30:12)  The prophet saw: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.  (Isaiah 53:6)  From our self-appointed thrones, we feel we have the privilege, the right, to instruct, to tell, to decide, to judge, to criticize, to punish, to reward, others.  We put our wisdom, our knowledge of good and evil in front of everyone else's.  This is the self that God dealt with on the cross.  Why do we fight, devour each other, get hurt feelings, blame others, criticize, gossip, hurt others with our words?  Why, because we want to be in control on our thrones.  Uncontrollable self or absolute power corrupts absolutely.  That is why we have policemen in every community, for the human race needs control to prevent chaos.  Everyone who is eating this breakfast probably understands we need policemen to keep us from speeding on the highway.  We speed because we are natural law breakers.  We tend to do things based on our own needs, not on the needs of others.  Jesus died on the cross for the needs of others.  Only a perfect sinless lamb could satisfy God's wrath on sin.  Jesus was that lamb.  No speeder on the highway could die for mankind, for he deserves punishment for his waywardness.  Jesus had no waywardness; He always did the will of the Father.

Carnal man will never understand the cross.  The good, righteous man without Christ will never understand the cross.  To these people the cross is foolishness.  Today's scripture tells us why the cross was needed: The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The work of the cross brought mankind into the Holy of Holies, the very presence of God.  In the Old Testament, only the most worthy of the priests could enter the Holy of Holies.  If he was not worthy, he would experience God's wrath, death in that inner court.  Imperfection is not allowed in the presence of a perfect God.  Today, we who place our faith in Jesus Christ's holiness enter into the very presence of God.  In fact, we who are saved by faith are temples of the living God, always in the presence of God.  Praise Him for that!  The cross and its work will never be out of date.  The 21st Century, as with all previous centuries, has been a century of violence.  Wars and rumors of wars surround the globe; conflicts and disputes are everywhere.  Divorces and family squabbles are alive and well.  The social media has made criticism, gossip, and disrespect an art form.  All this can be classified as violence.  We have said before that in Noah's time, The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  (Genesis 6:5)  Jesus implied that people will be their own gods in this violent world: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark.  Then the flood came and destroyed them all.  (Luke 17:26-27)  Living life consumed with your own self-interests or what you think is best for you or others will not bring you a release from sin or please God.  Your throne-like existence will become a prison: only Jesus can set you free.  He came to set the captives free.  Yes, we were created "good," but as Paul wrote, sin was living in him, and he said, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  (Romans 7:18)  Therefore, we need an ark, which is Jesus Christ and his saving work.  IN HIM, we will land safely in heaven, forever to be with God.  Praise him today for paying the price for all who call upon him!  Glory to the Lamb for sinners slain!  

Mark 15:31-34 Gift of God, Life!

Mark 15:31-34  In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.  “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!  Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”  Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.  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?” 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are words that reveal the heart of God's gift to the world.  He was allowing Jesus, his beloved Son, to take the punishment for every sin mankind had committed or ever would commit.  Through Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, God made a way for every person to enter into an intimate relationship with him as a his child, joint heir with Christ.  Sin, without eradication, always causes death, eternal separation from God.  In the Garden of Eden, the serpent lied when he said eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would not cause death:  “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (Genesis 3:4-5)  From that time on, all people would experience biological death, but worse than that was their separation from eternal life, which meant they would never be with an eternal God.  Jesus could have saved himself that day on the cross.  He could have called down a multitude of angels to spare him this agonizing death.  All of heaven would have responded; for Jesus, the Christ, is the bright and morning star of all that is, and was, or ever will be.  As we read in God's Word, Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  (Revelation 22:13)  He is the light and life of all that exists--bread to the hungry and water to the thirsty.  Jesus had the authority to call down the heavenlies on his behalf, but as He often told his disciples, I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  (John 6:38)  And his Father's desire was to put an end to Satan's work and to make a way to life eternal for his fallen creation.  Jesus kept his eyes on his mission to make a way to heaven for all who would believe in him.  Jesus paid the price to erase our debt and to satisfy the righteousness of God.  

God cursed the serpent in the garden after the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  (Genesis 3:15)  He was saying, I will put a block to your advances to the woman's offspring.  You will not be able to tempt her offspring or deal with them as if they were mere animals as you are.  I will make them living spirits, who will have eternal life; and Jesus, my Son, will accomplish this feat.  He will pay the price for their waywardness.  He will make them alive, for his Spirit will reside in them.  Those who have placed their trust in him will be sons and daughters of the Most High, no longer living out their biological lives under the fear of eternal death.  Adam and Eve lived in a pristine environment, sinless, because they did not know anything other than God and his companionship, but sin broke that condition of an intimate relationship with God as his created beings.  No longer would God commune with human beings in the cool of the evening.  But God had a plan, and his plan for humans was greater than this relationship.  Through Jesus Christ his Son, the Creator of all things, God planned for divinity to be placed in his sons and daughters through the abiding Holy Spirit, the blessed Comforter.  Jesus promised his followers, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth.  But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (John 14:16-17 & 26  No longer would humans hide from God in fear or only hear him occasionally, for now they would be holy temples where God through the Spirit constantly abides, giving them wisdom, guidance, knowledge, and peace.   

Jesus could have come down from that place of torture and death, but if He had, the grand plan of making us sons and daughters of the Most High would have been thwarted.  God's plan of bringing children into his intimate family as coheirs with his eternal Son would not have materialized.  On the cross, Jesus fulfilled every requirement for mankind to enter into the household of God.  Jesus paid the COMPLETE price for our deliverance from darkness into light.  We no longer hide from God as Adam and Eve because of our disobedience.  We no longer have limited periods of fellowship with God, for we are always in his presence because of the Holy Spirit within us.  The devil deceived Eve when he said she would not die if she ate of the tree of Good and Evil.  He said, Surely, your life with Adam's will go on forever.  Even though we were made in his image, the power of knowing good and evil led us to rebellion and death.  As humans, we naturally fix our lives on ourselves, creating our kingdom for our good.  Seeking what is best for us, not what is best for others skews life towards conflict and violence.  The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.  (Genesis 6:5-6)  God's pain became the pain of the cross when He sent Jesus to Earth as a propitiation for our sins.  Through Jesus, God made us holy and righteous, even when our natural inclination is self-serving and sometimes violent.  Jesus' sacrifice made us alive, even though sometimes our deeds seem to be those of the dead.  Jesus paid for it all on the cross.  He definitely blocked the old serpent's pathway to our destruction; through his death, He crushed the serpent's head.  We will not die, for Christ is alive in us.  As Paul told the church, And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.  (Romans 8:11)  Jesus cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  This question uttered in horrible agony can be reverently answered by those who accept the gift of his grace.  God sent his Son to the cross for the sake of the lost, FOR YOU AND ME!  He gave us the privilege to abide in his household forever in His perfect presence, in harmony and peace.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:23)      

Mark 15:21-30 Forced to Carry Christ's Cross

Mark 15:21-30  A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.  They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).  Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.  And they crucified him.  Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.  It was the third hour when they crucified him.  The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.  They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.  Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!”

Simon from Cyrene, probably a faithful Jew visiting Jerusalem, was forced by the Roman soldiers to carry Jesus' cross.  They undoubtedly threatened to harm him if he did not carry out their order of carrying the cross.  On that day, we see Simon as an unwilling participant in Jesus' crucifixion, carrying the cross to Golgotha, The Place of the Skull.  Although perhaps reluctant, Simon's participation that day helped to bring about the death of Jesus Christ.  However, later, rather than participating in death, Simon and his family will be participants in bringing life to many.  In Romans 16:13 Paul mentions Simon's wife and son, Rufus, as integral part of his ministry.  As the head of the family, we can infer that Simon too was heavily involved with the ministry.  We can also infer that there was a diametrical change in Simon and his family after they became Christians.  No longer forced to serve Jesus out of fear as when Simon carried Jesus' cross, now, as Christians, they willingly placed Christ first in their lives out of their love for him.  By supporting Paul and his ministry, they were putting  their own lives in danger, for Christians everywhere were facing persecution for their commitment to serving the cause of Christ.  As Paul warned his spiritual son, Timothy, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."  (2 Timothy 3:12-13)  Paul greatly depended upon his supporters such as this family: he considered Rufus as chosen in the Lord, and he considered Simon's wife, Rufus' mother, as dear to him as his own mother.

Simon came into contact with Jesus on that day of the crucifixion when he was forced to carry the cross.  We don't know when He became a believer, for at that time he probably was a good Jew making his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover.  But for whatever reason He was there, and he assisted a man so weak that He could not carry his own cross all the way to the place of crucifixion, Golgotha.  He saw Jesus in his weakest state after the people had spit on him and struck him with their fists, the guards had beaten him, and Pilate had him flogged.  Yet, at some time, Simon and his family dedicated their lives to this man Jesus.  In those days, the father's religion was the family's religion.  If any member of the family departed from that tradition, he or she was expelled from the family, so we are quite sure that Simon became a convert to Christianity.  What did he see in this Jewish man Jesus?  Surely his mind must have been filled with questions on the day of the crucifixion as he carried that cross.  He might have believed the story that Jesus was an insurrectionist and agreed with those who called out for the death of Jesus.  But, somehow, He came to the realization that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the long awaited One who came to save the Jewish people.  We can trust that God was working in Simon's heart from the moment he shouldered the burden of the cross, from the moment he saw Jesus.  The man Simon saw that day, so weak that He could not carry his own cross, became Simon's Lord and his family's Lord.  Salvation: a life changed forever.  A great mystery!  Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.  (1 Timothy 3:16)

This story of resurrection and transformation has been told in millions of lives with unbelievers, even agnostics and atheists, turning into faithful followers of Christ, even to the point of putting their own lives in danger.  How many martyrs for Jesus were once haters of Christ?  How many strong believers such as Paul believed they were not worthy to be called by Christ's name because they persecuted the church of God?  (1 Corinthians 15:9)  Only God knows.  But we do know this miracle of transformation has happened over and over throughout history.  People have come to believe in this Jewish man who could not save himself or even carry his own cross, and they have accepted him as the Son of God and their Savior.  They ridiculed the Lamb of God as He offered himself as a sin offering: “So!  You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!”  Yet Jesus kept his eyes fixed on the Father, for He came to do his will.  Once when they wanted Jesus to eat, He said, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  (John 4:34)  The sacrifice of Christ and the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit changed the world: it changed Simon and his family.  How does this faith in Jesus happen?  Just as Rufus was chosen in the Lord, we who follow Christ are chosen to be in the Lord.  Our choice must be a faith choice if we are to abide IN HIM.  The Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost to tell the Jewish people the Spirit of God does not live in temples or holy places, but in people, collectively and individually.  The Spirit fell on the Gentiles during Cornelius' time, revealing the Holy Spirit was now in them and not their holy places.  When the Spirit comes to us in reality, we change from creatures of the flesh who need to go to holy places to find God, to people of the Spirit who have God in them.  This is called being born again, made new because Christ is in us through his eternal Spirit.  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  (Romans 8:1 & 14-15)  Simon became this new creature, this temple of God, when He found Jesus by faith.  This weak man for whom he carried the cross became his Lord.   

Mark 15:16-20 Real Faith or Mockery?

Mark 15:16-20  The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.  They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.  And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”  Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.  Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.  Then they led him out to crucify him. 

A company of soldiers, approximately one hundred men, gathered around Jesus to degrade, persecute, and afflict him, the true King of the Jews.  These soldiers gained pleasure from mocking him, pretending homage to him as king.  Jesus' humiliation, degradation, and suffering brought joy to them as they exerted their earthly power over this man they saw as powerless to defend himself.  As Jude writes, this kind of men are like unreasoning animals, they don't understand anything about what they are doing, even boldly coming against the divine world of God, not understanding the authority and power of those who reside in the heavenlies.  As Jude indicates, even the devil has considerable power in spiritual battles: Michael, the archangel, could not come directly against the devil when disputing over the body of Moses.  Instead, he said,  “The Lord rebuke you!"  (See Jude 8-10)  Michael's situation reveals that in all events, on Earth or in heaven, only God has the authority and ultimate power to determine what will happen.  These soldiers in their finiteness had their fun, mocking the Creator of all things, believing they were in control of the day's events.  They did not realize Jesus could have called down thousands of angels to annihilate them and everything else on the face of the earth.  God tolerated their abuse of Jesus only because He had a plan much bigger than any man could understand.  Going forth from the actions of that day, God intended to rescue his fallen creation from the death that resides in each person, giving all mankind a chance to walk on the path to eternal life.  As Isaiah predicted: He (Jesus) was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  (Isaiah 53:7)  God's Son had to pay the complete price for man's waywardness from God, for man's sins.  Therefore, God allowed despicable acts against his Son.  He allowed mere men to lead Jesus, the light of heaven, to the slaughter for the transgressions of all humanity.  He was without sin, but he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.  (Isaiah 53:5)  Of course, the soldiers did not understand his divinity, but someday each of them will bow his knee in homage to Jesus Christ, for every knee will bow when He judges all men.    

As with the Roman soldiers, sometimes we Christians do not fully understand or appreciate who Jesus should be to us.  We may not spit at him or abuse him, but we do treat him somewhat like the soldiers treated Jesus when we pay homage to him without the sincerity He deserves.  We call him Lord, but do not do what He says.  We say we love him, but rarely think of him as we go through our daily lives.  We claim to be interested in his interests, but we don't think about the poor or needy: our thoughts are mostly consumed by our own needs and desires.  We design our lives to revolve around us, not him.  In our imagination, we put a crown on his head, a royal robe around him, and place him on a throne.  We call him the king of kings, and we claim we are citizens of his kingdom, but in reality our feet are planted firmly in our own kingdoms.  We pray when we have a want or a special need, begging God to better our kingdom.  We sing songs with a fervent heart when we feel like it.  We search his word or listen to his still quiet voice only when we have nothing else to do.  Of course, we would never strip Jesus naked and laugh at his nakedness.  But in so many ways we treat him the way we want for our own good pleasure.   We use him as a trump card to get us out of trouble and into heaven.  He is to be there when we want him to be there, our rescuer, healer, and helper when we are in need.  Often our ears are stopped to his voice; our mouths lack words to glorify him in songs; our activities center on us, not him.  We even fail to consistently gather together to worship him.  We would not use coarse language or guffaw at his awkwardness and humiliation, but we mock him when we carry on with this charade that we love him as the center of our lives, the supposed captain of our souls.  Sadly, we wear the robe and the crown as we occupy the throne of our lives.  "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"  (Luke 6:46)  We make Jesus into our image and do not allow the Holy Spirit to make us into his image.

When we read the above verses about Jesus' persecution, many of us cry because we are emotionally touched by what Jesus endured for each of us.  We are saddened that He suffered such an abominable experience.  We wonder why a man of such kindness and goodness had to face so much.  Why would He be placed into the hands of the wicked soldiers?  Jesus went to the cross so we humans might be transformed from a condition of darkness to light.  Jesus knew his purpose on Earth, and He told his disciples ahead of time, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.  They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.”  (Matthew 17:22-23)  As Christians, we are light in a dark and dying world; we are the salt of the earth; we are goodness in a world of turmoil, pain, and sin.  Our lives ought to demonstrate God's salvation plan to others by displaying his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; all of these are God's attributes, the fruit of the Spirit in our lives when we keep in step with the Spirit and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  (See Galatians 5)  We can do this if Jesus is truly the Lord of our lives, Lord of everything.  If our choices and actions revolve around us, we mock him as surely as the Roman's mocked him.  We hold to our religious emblems of authority concerning Jesus, but our service to him will determine whether we are serious about him as the Lord of our lives.  Imagination and reality can be two different things.  We cannot live our lives as we wish, substituting our control over his lordship, dressing ourselves in a robe of self-rightness over his robe of royal righteousness, wearing our crown of self-direction over his crown of  absolute authority in our lives.  Living for Christ as Lord has nothing to do with self, but everything to do with him, Lord of all.  We are to be his servants and to express his servant's heart to the world.  

Mark 15:7-15 Don't Crucify Jesus!

Mark 15:7-15  Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested.  A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.  The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.  “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.  “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?”  Pilate asked them.  “Crucify him!” they shouted.  “Why?  What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.  But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”  Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.  He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 

In the release of Barabbas over Jesus, we see the culmination of evil not only in the Jewish religious and political elite but in the people too.  In one accord they chose to release Barabbas, a murderer--one who destroys life rather than one who saves life.  They chose death for Jesus rather than life.  Loudly, with passion, they proclaimed: “Crucify him!”  This shout to destroy clearly illustrates God's thoughts about man in the time of Noah: The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  (Genesis 6:5)  There are of course many reasons the chief priests stirred up the crowd to destroy Jesus.  Pilot understood that their hatred of Jesus spawned out of jealousy; they were losing their position of authority with the people if Jesus' teachings were believed and followed, for He was telling the people that only through believing in him could people have peace with God.  Of course the chief priests taught that only through their intercessions for the people and following the law could people find a right relationship with God.  They stirred the people up because they hated Jesus for his teaching about himself: “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)  But in reality, the people would have never followed the priests if their hearts would have been good, for they would have recognized Christ's message of life and light.  "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  (John 3:19-21)

Jesus was oftentimes very harsh with the religious elite.  He even challenged them about their basic belief: their claim that because Abraham was their genetic father, they held a special position as God's children.  But Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here.  I have not come on my own; but he sent me.  Why is my language not clear to you?  Because you are unable to hear what I say.  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.  He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!  Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?  If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?  He who belongs to God hears what God says.  The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”  (John 8:42-47)  Jesus was telling these religious elite that they were not following the true Father of heaven but their own evil desires.  We see who their true father is when they stir up the crowd to murder Jesus.  They fulfill Jesus' words, You belong to your father, the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning.  They were so angry with Jesus' words that they go on to say He is demon-possessed or completely controlled by the devil.  "I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me."  (John 8:49)  They would say anything to discredit Jesus.  They carried out their father the devil's wishes when they had Jesus crucified and agreed to this terrible act.  

Why were the people so easily persuaded to kill Jesus and to release a murderer?  Why did they not reject the chief priests' claims?  We know that earlier as Jesus entered Jerusalem the population greeted him as a hero, as a king.  How could their adoration so easily turn to hate, their shouts of "Hosanna" to "Crucify him"!  Maybe they were disillusioned by the fact that their hero, their supposed Messiah, was now in the hands of the hated Romans.  Jesus probably seemed powerless to them now.  How could a savior sent from God be unable to free himself from the grip of the Romans?  Maybe this stark reality of Roman power juxtaposed with Jewish weakness brought on these raw emotions to kill this helpless Jewish man who claimed to do the Father's will.  They had forgotten the one who said, "For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (John 6:40)  They wanted power now: at least, Barrabas was strong enough to lead an insurrection, to kill his hated oppressors.  Maybe that was why they wanted him released, not Jesus.  Regardless of the reasons, they wanted Jesus killed that day.  In the past we held public executions.  For many reasons we discontinued them, but we know people used these ghastly events as a chance to celebrate.  The people would gather to view the executions, not with sorrow, but with a certain amount of ambivalence to the cruelty of the event.  Maybe in some ways, these events of the past correlate with how we watch events of death on our televisions and video games.  Not really appreciating the sanctity of life but looking for a thrill, we watch one person after another killed, meeting a tragic or gruesome end.  Yes, Jesus was murdered on that day.  People shouted, "Crucify him!"  Yet we must wonder, how easy it is for people of our day to change our minds from desiring light and peace to watching scenes of murder and mayhem, all for our enjoyment.  We must pray that when the Lord looks at us, He does not conclude: The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  Draw our hearts toward home, Lord.  Teach us your ways; lead us we pray.     

Mark 15:1-5 Was Jesus Subversive?

Mark 15:1-5  Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision.  They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.  “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.  “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.  The chief priests accused him of many things.  So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer?  See how many things they are accusing you of.”  But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

The chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin accused Jesus of treason so that the Roman government would put him on trial for sedition and eventually execute him.  And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation.  He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”  (Luke 23:2)  They knew the Romans would not execute Jesus because of religious reasons such as blaspheming the name of God or undermining the religious leaders' control over the Jewish people by asserting the true way to God was through Jesus.  “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”  (John 10:33)  So, to convince the Romans that Jesus deserved death, they accused Jesus of leading a rebellion against the Roman occupation of Israel.  Of course, leading an insurrection was worthy of death in the courts of the Romans.  Pilate addressed this accusation of the Jewish elites immediately with Jesus: “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus responds with "Yes, it is as you say."  Jesus understood fully what He was saying, for He was not only the king of the Jews, He was the king of kings of all people who have ever existed on Earth.  But Jesus did not, as Pilate assumed in his interrogation, think of himself as a potential political leader of the Jewish nation.  When Jesus answered yes to Pilate's question, Jesus was expressing that He, as the Christ, the Son of God, had authority over all that is or ever will be.  He was not a mere man, ready to be judged by the Jewish and Roman authorities, He was God incarnated in the flesh; Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.  He knew all men would someday bow at his feet, none would escape his authority or judgment of the Lord of Lords.  As Peter wrote: But they (those who choose to live in sin) will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.  (1 Peter 4:5)  

As with Pilate, Jesus does not have to answer to any of our accusations or complaints against him.  We might want to accuse him of not being on time when we needed him when we were stressed.  We might think of him as lacking power in our lives, not able to come to our aid because we do not receive the answers we want when we want them.  We might blame him for not changing situations or conditions in our lives.  We might even claim He is unfair, blessing others, but not us; rewarding others for their faithfulness to Him, but not us.  We might criticize him for his lack of involvement with our lives, seemingly abandoning us to the vicissitudes of this life.  We might assert many things about Jesus, railing about his shortcomings in our lives; but Jesus does not have to answer any of our accusations.  He is God.  He is the one who has made us: He molded us out of clay.  We are his work, not that He is our work.  As Paul told the church, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  (Ephesians 2:10)   Sometimes we treat Jesus as some super hero who is supposed to be on duty to our call whenever we have a need, a want, a desire.  He is supposed to rescue us from every situation, freeing us from every trial and hardship.  But Jesus is not a mere man: He is God, the Creator of all things, the judge of all things.  He is Lord.  As Lord of all, He knows his children should rejoice in tribulation because tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  (Romans 5:3-4)  In today's passage, Jesus' lack of defense leads him to the cross.  Even though He was without sin, even though Pilate knew He was not a seditionist, even though He was as harmless as a lamb, He was led to the slaughter.  Jesus said,  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  (John 10:10)  ETERNAL LIFE: THE GIFT OF GOD!  

We sometimes use Jesus as a support to face life's many hardships instead of as Lord of our lives.  Jesus does help us in all things, and He has sent the Holy Spirit as a comfort and a guide.  But Jesus is much more than the One we turn to in trouble.  He has our destiny in his hands.  Yes, life is hard and sometimes gets harder.  Facing  the finiteness of our lives, watching the unjustness of the world, experiencing wrong, falling under the temptation of the world are all hard; but Jesus is much more than the one who sees us through all of this difficulty and perplexity.  He Is God, the one who said to his disciples, But not a hair of your head will perish, after He told the group He was talking to they would be persecuted and some would be killed by the authorities of this world.  How could He go on to say not a hair on your head will perish, when He had just said some of them will be killed?  Surely, the hair on their heads would perish after death.  But Jesus was telling a truth that goes far beyond what most of us expect in this life.  This world is not home, not where we will reside eternally.  Our troubles, anxieties, and fears will not all be answered here on this journey.  For us we think the hairs of our heads are perishing through what we are experiencing.  The Bible says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  (James 1:2-3)  Jesus the Creator tells us, "You are mine: I take care of what is mine.  Your hair will never perish, your countenance will never fade from my presence.  You will be with me eternally, in the presence of the Father."  No, Jesus did not answer his accusers, his complainers.  He knew who He was.  I AM THAT I AM, remains the eternal answer of God to the world.  The King of all things ever made, the Light of Heaven came to the people who sat in darkness.  Jesus said that if you love the darkness, you will hate the light, But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.  (John 3:21)  Walk in the Light of the Lord today with persevering faith, for He loves you with an everlasting love and has prepared a place for you!