Notes and readings (for the week commencing 1st April, 2012) are shown below, with a PDF version available here. The sermon topic this Sunday (08/04/2012) will be on our Easter Day celebration.

I hope and pray this journey through Mark’s gospel has been a blessing to you as it has been to Adam and me as we’ve prepared each week. My great hope and prayer is that having worked through the entire gospel, it will mean that Easter will take on special significance because of a deeper understanding of what has led to this moment. The constant tension with the religious leaders now climaxes and they get what they want. But in so doing, our sin is taken and victory over death and evil and the Evil One is won! Have a very special, meaningful, moving and challenging week!

Day 1: Read Mark 15:1-15

Now the Sanhedrin have reached a decision on Jesus and handed him over to Pilate, the Roman Governor. The religious leaders need the occupying Romans to agree to Jesus’ death because they didn’t have the power to execute. You will recall from last week and chapter 14, that the high priest in v61, had asked Jesus ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ But Pilate’s question is not ‘are you the Christ?’ – he’s not interested in that. His question is ‘are you the King of the Jews?’ Are you claiming an authority which belongs to Tiberius, the Roman Emperor alone? The Romans would not execute for blasphemy, but they would for high treason!

In regard to v5 and Jesus’ silence before his accusers, see Isaiah 53:7.

Note how Pilate reads the situation (v10). He sees right through what the religious leaders were doing. It was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. And yet he gives in to their demands, wanting to satisfy them (v15). Better this than have a riot on his hands which might attract the attention of the emperor. As for the crowd crying ‘crucify’, you will recall that this is not the same crowd who cried ‘Hosanna’ on Palm Sunday. They were Jesus’ fellow Galileans. The Jerusalem crown was stirred up locally in support of Barabbas. Note the parallels between Barabbas’ story and ours? We with him, could look at Jesus on the cross and say ‘that should have been me!’

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and honour, glory and praise!

Day 2: Read Mark 15:16-32

The way they mock Jesus is disturbing. The purple robe mocks his claim to kingship as does the cry ‘hail, king of the Jews’ and the falling before him. Little did they know the truth of what they said and their need to really fall before him as they did! This is Jesus’ third beating since the previous evening but he remains dignified in silence. His three-time warnings of what would happen to him in Jerusalem are being fulfilled.

Golgotha is an Aramaic word which means The Place of the Skull. It was perhaps called this due to a skull-like appearance. It was close to the city walls – about ½ a kilometre away and spectators would have a clear view which was no doubt useful as a deterrent to would-be insurgents.

Note in v24, Mark’s almost cold, emotionless statement ‘And they crucified him’. And yet within his original readers, there would have stirred deep emotion, for the excruciating pain and the deep humiliation and utter helpless of the cross would have been well known. The third hour is 9am. The sign above Jesus read “The King of the Jews”. On the surface his words accurately reflect the legalities of the situation: the Romans have crucified a self-styled king for high treason. But more profoundly, the gospel writer is allowing his readers to see that this man is not a self-styled king, but God’s King and his Messiah!

The mocking continues and the irony is rich. If Jesus had come down from the cross – which he could have done at any time – he would have saved himself, but could not have saved us! But no, in obedience to his Father’s will, he drinks the cup and undergoes the ‘baptism’ (See 8:29, 31; 10:38; 14:36).  This is the ‘hour’ of God’s kingdom, the ‘time’ for the king to mount his throne. Thus Christ crucified will become the central message of the apostles. (1 Cor 2:2; 15:3-5; Gal 3:1; Col 2:13-14; 1 Peter 1:19, Rev 5:5-6.) Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and honour, glory and praise!

Day 3: Read Mark 15:33-39

Jesus’ cry are the exact words of Psalm 22:1. It’s worth reading the whole Psalm and seeing how it speaks of Jesus’ situation. It is likely Jesus is meditating on this Psalm in the final moments of his life. Is he actually cut off from God, or just feeling cut off? Theologians disagree, but one understanding is that Jesus was actually cut off from his Father for the first time in all eternity because our sins were laid on him. But Mark (the gospel author) wants us to understand this – his death achieves every task which has been signalled earlier in the narrative. It is a ransom for many. It is a new covenant in his blood poured out for many. It is Jesus drinking the cup of God’s wrath. The darkness is a sure sign that something supernaturally evil is occurring.

Note that life is not taken from Jesus – he gives it up. He breathes his last. And right at that moment, the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. It is torn from the top to show this is from God and it signifies both that the temple is now finished and that the way to God is free and open. The declaration of the Roman centurion in v39 is the climax of the Gospel. It is inspired of God, matching words which God himself had spoken near the beginning of the Gospel (ch 1 v11). We stand with the centurion and want to boldly declare the same: Surely this man was the Son of God.

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and honour, glory and praise!

Day 4: Read Mark 15:40-16:8

Vv40-47 assure us that there were witness to Jesus’ death – right to the end – and that these witnesses saw Jesus removed and knew where the body lay (v47). This is important in establishing that when the women went to the tomb the next day, they actually knew where to turn up and were not mistaken. And again it must be said – no one making this up would have women in the key witnessing roles!

What the women find on approaching the tomb must have been spine tingling! The stone is rolled away. There is a young man in a white robe in the tomb and his message is too thrilling for words – ‘He has risen!’ The women are instructed to tell his disciples and Peter to find him in Galilee. Peter is to know and learn that despite his denial of Jesus, he’s still ‘in’! God’s mercy is great! The women move off trembling and bewildered. And this is both so amazing and confusing, that they leave afraid!

The Gospel finishes at v8, as suddenly as it began at 1:1, although someone thought at some stage to tidy up the ending. (The language, style, vocabulary and textual evidence all indicate that vv9-20 are not genuine.) The empty tomb and the message of the angel is astonishing and wonderful. God has done a great and powerful thing. Jesus is alive. Vindicated. Powerful. Lord of all. Promised Messiah. Son of God. This dear friends, is the Gospel of the Lord!
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and honour, glory and praise!