Sermon: Jesus, the Son of God
Bible passage: Mark 15:33-39
Introductory comments:
1. At the Garden of Gethsemane, God began His righteous judgement of sinful humanity through His Son
2. Jesus called His role “the cup,” i.e., to be the substitutionary sacrifice of atonement—Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will”
3. In the passion narrative characters like Judas, Roman soldiers, the High Priest, Pontius Pilate, and others are just human characters
4. We need not focus too much on these characters because they may deflect us from the main story
5. The Father and the Son are the two major characters in this judgement—God is the righteous Judge and Jesus is the agent and means of Atonement
The chain of events:
1. 14:43-46 At Gethsemane Judas betrayed Jesus and the Roman soldiers arrested Jesus
2. 14:50 Jesus’ disciples fled leaving Him alone in the company of His tormentors
3. 14:53-65 Jesus was questioned by Jewish authorities
4. 14:66-72 Peter denied Jesus three times; Jesus was kept in the prison/dungeon of the High Priest (cf. Psalm 88)
5. 15:1-5 In the morning Jesus was taken to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilot who found Jesus was not guilty to be punished but succumbed to Jewish pressure
6. 15:6-21 Jesus was flogged, sentenced to be crucified, was forced to carry the cross on which He was going to be crucified
7. 15:22-32 Jesus was crucified @9 am at a place called Golgotha; two other thieves were crucified along with Jesus on both sides
8. Mark 15:25 “And it was the third hour [9 am], and they crucified him”
9. Mark 15:26-32 Jesus was mocked by Romans and Jews
Verse 33
1. “When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour”
a. Sixth hour is 12 noon, the brightest time of the day
b. Twelve noon points to the fulfillment of Amos 8:9—“In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day”
c. In the OT, darkness during daytime points to God’s judgement
i. Zeph 1:15 That day will be a day of God’s anger, a day of distress and hardship, a day of devastation and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dark skies (the Day of the LORD)
ii. Mic 3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads
d. God’s judgement of human sin and curse began at the Garden of Gethsemane and continued in Golgotha
i. 2 Cor 5:21, Jesus was made sin for us
ii. Gal 3:13 Jesus was made a curse for us
e. Darkness lasted three hours upon the land from “12 noon to 3 pm”
2. No event is recorded during these three hours
a. Jesus was lonely and abandonment (abandoned by His disciples and Father)
b. Jesus abandoned himself to the will of God
3. It symbolized Jesus bearing the weight of the wrath of God— six-hour ordeal cf. 15:25 from 9 am to 3 pm (from crucifixion to death)
Verse 34
Around the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me … 15:37 Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last
1. God the Father turned completely away from His Beloved Son, Jesus (cf. 1:11, 9:7; vs 15:34)
2. The Son of God bore our sins and its curse
3. Jesus’ death at the 9th hour carries theological significance
4. It is at the 9th hour the animal was sacrificed at the Temple (cf. Ant 14.4.3)
5. Jesus died at the ninth hour signifying the sacrifice of atonement
6. Jesus’ death fulfilled what He prophesied
a. Mark 8:31 Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and after three days rise again
b. Mark 9:31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
c. Mark 10:33-34 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles. 10:34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him severely, and kill him. Yet after three days, he will rise again.”
7. Jesus’ death was a violent and painful one—Father executed His judgement righteously
8. At His death, “the cup” is completed (cf. Isa 53:3-8)
a. Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we considered him insignificant
b. Isa 53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses, he carried our pain; even though we thought he was being punished, attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
c. Isa 53:5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.
d. Isa 53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path, but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
e. Isa 53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, but he did not even open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block, like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not even open his mouth.
f. Isa 53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial—but who even cared? Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
Verse 38 “And the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom”
1. Jerusalem Temple had two curtains: (1) one before the Court of Israel and (2) one before the Holy of Holies
2. Here, Mark refers to the one before the Holy of Holies (cf. Heb 6:19; 9:3; 10:20)
3. It is a sign of something being destroyed and something being revealed
4. At the death of Jesus, the veil between God and humanity is removed
5. It symbolizes the rending of the barrier between humanity and God (cf. Lev 16)
6. The death of Jesus has made possible access to God for all humanity (not through the mediatorial work of Jewish High Priest)
7. It brought to an end the ritualistic worship service of the Temple (henceforth, Jesus is the Temple that is not made with human hands)
8. The will of God is fulfilled in the death of Jesus on the cross
Verse 39
1. The centurion (the captain of the execution squad) “sees and believes”
a. When other Roman soldiers were mocking Jesus, the centurion stood in front of Jesus and was observing Jesus dying (seeing with insight)
b. Jesus’ suffering and death evoked faith in him
c. The title “the Son of God” is a significant Christological title in the Gospel of Mark
i. Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”
ii. Mark 1:11 At His baptism, Father declares “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight”
iii. Mark 9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my one dear Son
iv. Mark 3:11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”
d. This is the first time, a person identified Jesus with this title
e. This confession was not the result of any miraculous sing, but by Jesus’ passion and death
f. Centurion’s confession is a saving confession that Jesus is the Son of God and the cross is the birthplace of faith
Take Away:
Just like the centurion, take time to see Jesus on the cross and ask God for an insight into His death