Mark 15:21-39 (April 2, 2023)

Palm Sunday and the Road to the Cross

So you can turn in your Bibles to Mark 15. Mark 15. We're going to pick up where we left off several weeks ago. We're nearing the end of our journey through Mark, over the next several weeks, and today we're going to be in Mark 15 verses 21 through 39.

21 through 39. Today's Palm Sunday. Again, this is the day we remember the triumphant entrance into Jerusalem of Jesus on a colt when the crowd waved palm branches and shouted, Hosanna! And we remember that Jesus went into Jerusalem with full knowledge of what was to come, even if the crowds and even if the disciples did not have that full knowledge.

He was headed to Calvary. He was headed to Golgotha, the place of the skull, where he would die a brutal death. Next Sunday, we're going to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter. Easter is characterized by light and life and newness.

But today, the message is a little bit heavier. This week we remember the journey to the cross. This week we remember darkness and death and the old burdens of our sins. And like Simon of Cyrene that we're going to read about here in verse 21, you may find yourself this morning carrying a heavy load.

You may find yourself carrying a heavy load this morning, a heavy load of sin perhaps. I paraphrase Charles Spurgeon, the great English preacher, your sins may be as high as the mountains, but the mercy of Christ is as Noah's flood and it plunges your sins into the depths.

I want you to see the mercy of Christ this morning. I want you to see the mercy of Christ in the judgment of God the Father against sin that was poured out on Jesus Christ. I want you to see His mercy.

If you remember your Old Testament readings, you'll remember that God set before Israel blessings and curses. Blessings for obedience and curses for sin. In this passage today, we're going to see that Jesus, though He had never sinned, He took on the curse of sin.

He took on the curse of death in our place. So let's read in Mark 15, 21 -39, and the Word of God says this, 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.

And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide what each should take.

And it was the third hour when they crucified him, and the inscription of the charge against him read The King of the Jews. And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.

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, save yourself and come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with scribes mocked him to one another, saying, He saved others, he cannot save himself.

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. And those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

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? And some of the bystanders hearing it said, Behold, he is calling Elijah.

And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine and 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. And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 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. Amen.

The Resolute Courage of Jesus in Refusing the Drugged Wine

This is the word of the Lord to us this morning. First thing I want to draw your attention to from this passage is the resolute courage of Jesus that we see. See it in verse 23 and they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

What was this? This was drugged wine, a narcotic meant to dull the pain. He was offered a painkiller and he refused. Why? Because Jesus chose to suffer straight up. He was going to take the full brunt of the wrath of God against sin.

And he wasn't going to take any shortcuts. And he wasn't going to circumvent anything. He wasn't going to hedge. He wasn't going to mitigate anything. He wasn't going to dodge anything. Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners.

Jesus Christ came into this world to save the world. And He would take the full measure of God's wrath to do so. And He would take the curse. He would take all of it. And He would take it fully and in His right mind.

The Physical Torture and Public Mockery of the Cross

We see the resolute courage of Jesus there. And so He did not take the drugged wine. And then verse 24, and they crucified Him. In these and the following verses we see the suffering of Jesus Christ. We first see the suffering of the physical torture of Christ.

There's a reason that they offered Him wine mixed with myrrh. So if you go back and read Proverbs you see that it says, give strong drink to those who are perishing. And there were some ladies in Jerusalem who took it upon themselves to take that verse and apply it so that when people were crucified, they would go and hand them this narcotic, drugged wine to those who were perishing to ease the pain.

Why? Because it was physically brutal to be crucified. Crucifixion was a torturous method of capital punishment. And so you can think of the flogging that Christ endured beforehand that flayed His back and His shoulders.

You can think of the nails driven into His hands and to His feet, damaging the medial nerve. You can think of the weight of His body hanging on the nails tearing at the bones and the ligaments. You can think of Him gasping for breath as the weight of His body forces His lungs to collapse.

The cross was physically brutal and He suffered that. He also suffered the mockery of men while He was on the cross. We actually see three different groups mock Jesus in this passage. In verse 29 we see the passers-by wagging their heads at Jesus and saying, Aha!

Aha! You who had destroyed the temple and rebuilt it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross! And they mocked Him. And in verse 31, the chief priests and the scribes they get in on the mocking action saying, well, He saved others but He can't save Himself apparently.

Let this Christ, let this Messiah let this One who calls Himself the King of the Jews, the King of Israel let Him come down from the cross that we may see and believe. And they too ridiculed mocked Jesus.

And if that were not enough, the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled Him. We see that in verse 32. Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him. Yet the Roman soldiers, they mocked Him going back earlier in chapter 15, they put robes on Him and said, Hail, King of the Jews.

Made the sign. See, Roman soldiers, they couldn't imagine that a captive was king. It didn't make sense. The priests and the scribes, they couldn't imagine that God would let His King be humiliated in such a way.

By such a death. So this too was also ludicrous in their minds. So they mocked. See, crucifixion was a scandalous, shameful death to the Gentiles. I read this week of one upper class Roman actor. He did a mime depiction one time of a crucifixion and another upper class guy, a writer named Juvenal, was so repulsed by even this mime depiction of the cross that he was so repulsed that a member of the patrician class would dare even do such a thing, would so debase himself in that way that he said, I wish that that actor would end up on a real cross himself.

It was scandalous and shameful. And so in this mockery of Jesus, I want you to think about the temptation that Jesus faced. The temptation to vindicate Himself. Because yes, He could have come down from that cross.

Yes, He could have saved Himself. Yes, He could have put them all to shame and stopped all of their mouths. Stopped all of their mocking in an instant. He could have executed His own wrath against every person who jeered against Him.

That temptation must have been strong. But He endured. He endured the physical pain. He endured the mocking of men for the sake of lost sinners in a lost world. He suffered the pain of the cross and He suffered the mockery of men for us.

And He also suffered being forsaken by the Father. Verse 34 says, 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? See, Jesus is the eternal Son of God.

Who would know nothing but perfect fellowship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit from eternity past. Yet in this moment, the Father turns His back on the Son. And He pours out onto Jesus His wrath and His anger against sin.

The physical pain of the cross was immense. The public shame of the cross was great. But being forsaken by the Father, the One who had said back at His baptism, This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.

Oh, what suffering that must have been. I don't even have a word to describe it. But He put all of this together, the mockery and the pain and being forsaken by the Father. What all of this together is is the curse.

It's the curse against sin. We read about it in Deuteronomy 21, verse 23, that a man hanged on a tree is cursed by God. Paul references that verse in Galatians chapter 3 when he says,. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. Verse 33, Mark 15,. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Darkness. From noon to three o 'clock, Jerusalem went dark.

This is also associated with the curse. It's also associated with God's judgment. Zephaniah 1 speaks of a great day of the Lord that is near, a day of darkness and gloom. A day of clouds and thick darkness.

A day of judgment. Amos 9 connects darkness with judgment saying,. And on that day declares the Lord God I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. You might also think about the last plague against Egypt.

When in the dark of night, the angel of death killed the firstborn in every household of Egypt. Except those whose doorposts had the blood of a lamb smeared upon them. You see the lamb died in place of the sons.

And here, in Mark 15, we see the only son of God is killed in our place. For Jesus is the true Passover lamb. He is, as John says, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then we see in verse 37, Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.

Something you see throughout the Bible is that sin brings forth death. You might remember back in the garden, what did God say to Adam? On the day you eat of that tree, you will surely die. You might read about it in Proverbs.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. You might read about it in James. Desire when it is conceived brings forth sin. Sin when it is full grown brings forth death.

And you see it in Romans. For the wages of sin is death. Sin brings forth death. And then we read that Jesus breathed his last. He died. And why? Because of sin. Or we might make it more personal. Jesus breathed his last and Jesus died because of your sin.

And my sin. He died because of your envy. Your bitterness. Your laziness. Lust. Anger. Greed. Idolatry. Selfishness. Pride. Shark tongue. Vulgar tongue. Drunkenness. Use of pornography. Lies. That list could go on.

Because we have done these things. That is why Jesus breathed his last and died. Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Because sin brings death. And it is not just sins in the abstract.

Sins generally. No it is sins personally. It is sins specifically. The specific sins that we in this room have committed even last week. Those sins are washed away in the blood of Jesus. Those sins. Your sins.

My sins. Washed away in the blood of Jesus. And this wasn't a normal crucifixion death. If you read down in verse 44 you will see that Pilate was surprised to learn that Jesus had already died. You see normally people hung on the cross.

They hung on and on until they finally and feebly stopped breathing. Or often they would have to break their legs in order to make their bodies collapse. And their lungs collapse so they couldn't breathe anymore.

That is normally what happened. They didn't have to do that in this case. And why? Because Jesus said it is finished and he breathed his last. Jesus gave his life. It was not taken from him. And in so doing Jesus was the true Passover Lamb who won a true exodus for God's people.

For he has freed us not from slavery physical slavery in Egypt. But he has delivered us from sin. He has delivered us from Satan. He has delivered us from death. And at the cross of Christ he defeated Satan, sin, and death.

We see the death of death and the death of Christ. And because of it he leads us ever heavenward. But when he breathed his last I want you to notice what happened next down in verse 38. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. I want you to notice that the veil was torn from top to bottom not from bottom up. I think this signifies that this is the action of God to tear the veil.

What is the veil? It separated sinful man from holy God. It was the divider that separated out the holy of holies. The place where the presence of God dwelt in the temple. But at the death of Christ this veil was torn in two.

You see that by his death Jesus opened the way to God. Jesus opened the way into the holy of holies. Jesus opened the way to heaven. All who believe and trust in him are forgiven of their sins and they are made priests who can approach God in the name of Jesus.

And further we see that Jesus he fulfilled his role as priest to the nations. And now that dividing wall between Jew and Gentile is torn down. And so with one action Jesus secures forgiveness for sins and he transfigures the people of God into one new man Jew and Gentile together which we read about in Ephesians chapter 2.

You see Jesus opened the way into the holy of holies. Jesus opened the way into heaven. And the Roman centurion when he saw the way in which Jesus died what did he do? He confessed truly this man was the son of God.

This is a pronouncement of the deity and kingship of Jesus. With mockery earlier in Mark 15 the soldiers had made the sign with the inscription King of the Jews. And now without mockery that Roman soldier declares that Jesus was the son of God.

Declares the kingship of Jesus. That Jesus is the king of all of us. And don't miss the fact that this is a confession from a Gentile. Showing that the kingdom is going to the Gentiles and the gospel is going to the ends of the earth.

That's what happens with the death of Jesus Christ. And so we proclaim this good news today. The way of heaven is open. The veil is torn. And we invite all. Come. Come to God through Jesus Christ today.

Come to God through Jesus Christ today. And so I want to pause here for just one moment and ask I don't know the state of everybody's hearts in this room but I want to ask do you need to come to God today?

Do you need to come to God today through Jesus Christ? If that's you you've never repented and turned from your sins. You've never declared your loyalty and trust and belief in Jesus Christ. You've never united yourself by faith.

Do not harden your heart today. Let today be the day of salvation for you. Now Mark, he doesn't record Jesus saying it is finished here. Other gospels do. Mark is much more subtle in declaring mission accomplished.

In verses 37 -39 we see that there's a striking bit of similarity in language between these verses and the account of Jesus' baptism. And so in Mark 1, the account of Jesus' baptism, we see that the heavens are torn.

Or your translation may say the heavens were ripped. They were torn. And then we see that the spirit, which is the same word that's translated as breath elsewhere, the spirit descends like a dove and a voice cries out from heaven.

And what does that voice say? You are my beloved son. That's Mark 1. Mark 15, Jesus utters a loud cry on the cross. It's the same word as voice in Mark 1. He breathed his last, similar language to spirit.

The veil is torn or the veil is rent. Same word as used for the heavens in Mark 1. And the centurion confesses what? Truly this man is the son of God. And so you remember way back in Mark 1, we said that at the baptism of Jesus, Jesus was baptized into service.

He was baptized into service. And in Mark 10, Jesus said for even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What we see is that the service of Jesus was to die.

This is his priestly service that he offers to the world. To die in our place. Sacrifice for sin. To offer himself in the place of sinners. To pay the wages of sin. And the wages of sin is death. To die as a ransom for many.

You see he was baptized to go to Calvary. He was baptized to go to Golgotha, the place of the skull. He was baptized so that he might be nailed to the cross. To the tree. And everyone who is hanged on a tree is cursed.

He was baptized to take on the curse of sin in our place. Mission accomplished. It is finished. Jesus cried out on the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see God didn't spare his only son but forsook him so that the church could then answer in Romans 8.

For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus was forsaken by the Father on the cross so that we might never be forsaken by God. That nothing could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. On the end with the very first verse of what we read, verse 21.

It says,. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to carry his cross. In the latter chapters of Mark we have a tale of two Simons. There's Simon Peter who denied Jesus and fled. And there's Simon of Cyrene who took up a cross and followed Jesus to Calvary.

Now thankfully John's gospel tells us of Peter's repentance and Peter's restoration and that he was brought back in but at this point in the story there are two Simons which can represent for us two ways to live.

Will you turn your back on Christ and deny him or will you take up your cross and follow him? One way leads to everlasting life and the other leads to never ending death. So choose this day whom you will serve.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Call to Faith

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for the cross of Jesus Christ that takes away all of our sins. Father thank you that though the wages of our sin is death the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I pray for every person in here that they would have eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If there are any in here who are not believing and trusting in Christ, Lord I pray that today would be the day of salvation for them.

For those in here who are believing and trusting in Christ Father I pray that this reminder of the work of Christ would spur us on to love and good deeds and holy living. To forsake our sin to lay aside that sin which so easily weighs us down.

That we would keep our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and that we would run our race with endurance. Thank you for the work of Jesus on the cross Father. We pray this in the name of Christ.

Amen. Amen.