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Mark 15:33–41
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 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 breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the 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.
As with the previous passages, I encourage you to go back and re-read these verses out loud. These verses are thick with sights and sounds. Let the fullness of what’s happening soak into your heart and mind. Try to take in the magnitude of what’s occurring and allow yourself to be overwhelmed.
This passage records the death of Jesus, and it unfolds quickly. Remember that crucifixion was designed to be brutal and humiliating as the victim hung between heaven and earth, not for hours, but for days. The fact that Jesus died quickly would have shocked people. Mark, in his usual concise style, relates Jesus’ final moments in sharp order:
The darkness. (It wasn’t an eclipse because the Passover festival happened during the full moon, so the moon would have been in the wrong position to cause an eclipse.)
Jesus cries out to God.
The people misunderstood Jesus, thinking He was calling for Elijah.
Jesus cries out once more, and then He dies.
The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The incredible remark of the Roman centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
It’s shocking to me that the person who recognized Jesus as the Son of God, and I’m sure it would have been quite shocking to Mark’s readers, who were mostly Jewish, that it was a Roman. But not just any Roman. This is a Centurion who rightly declares Jesus to be the Son of God! It wasn’t the people of God who should have recognized Jesus as the Messiah, nor the religious leaders who knew the Old Testament Scriptures. The first to recognize Jesus as the Son of God was the Roman Centurion, who most certainly was overseeing the crucifixion.
The tearing of the curtain in the Temple would have caught the attention of every Jewish reader. The curtain was in the Temple, and it separated the dwelling place of God, the Holy of Holies, from the other inner room. Only one person could go into the Holy of Holies, and only once a year, to clean it. The curtain, which was huge, thick, and ornate, was torn in two when Jesus died. The clear message: because of Jesus’ death, we can be reconciled with God.
That’s also reflected in Jesus’ crying out to God. Here on the cross is the only time in all of the Gospels when Jesus prays but doesn’t call God Father. Timothy Keller, in his excellent book Prayer, noted regarding this prayer of Jesus, “Jesus lost his relationship with the Father so that we could have a relationship with God as father. Jesus was forgotten so that we could be remembered forever—from everlasting to everlasting. Jesus Christ bore all the eternal punishment that our sin deserve. That is the cost of prayer. Jesus paid the price so God could be our father.”
My heart and mind are pulled to the last recorded words of Jesus before He breathes His final breath. Read them slowly:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath. He took on all the suffering, pain, evil, darkness, and every sin in every heart. At that moment, Jesus, who knew perfect fellowship with the Heavenly Father, was separated from the One who took great delight in Him (Mark 1.11). In that darkness, a new light was bursting into our world. Jesus met us at the deepest point of our need, paying the price for our sin and darkness, and opened the way for us to be reconciled to the Heavenly Father.
Now, there are no more barriers between God and us. Not even our own sinfulness can separate us from God if we humbly come before Jesus, confess our sin, and ask for forgiveness. The Heavenly Father’s arms are open wide to us through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Don't let anything keep you from God. Don't let anything take God's place at the center of your life. Don't let guilt, or past failure, or pain, or bitterness, or anything in all of creation make you feel or think for a moment that God can't, or doesn’t, love you.
He can—He does—that's why Jesus died.
Realize the unfathomable height, depth, and the unending width of God's love for you.
Is there anything that is holding you back from entrusting your life to Jesus or hindering you in your relationship with Him? Is there anything that you’ve locked away in a closet space in your heart? Don’t hesitate, don’t fear. Give it to the Lord. Jesus lived and died (and rose!) so that you might have life and be reconciled to the Lord. The curtain is torn; the way is clear. You are invited and welcome to come in. Because of Jesus, you can have the same joy, love, and intimacy with the Heavenly Father that Jesus enjoys.
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
Scott
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