INTRODUCTION:

            It was not the agonizing, terrible physical suffering that Jesus experienced that made His death unique.  Tens of thousands died by crucifixion beginning in the 4th century B.C. with the Persians, then used by the  Greeks, and finally the Romans.  The crown of thorns, the whip used for scourging embedded with bits of sharp metal and bone, the iron nails, the wooden cross all inflicted indescribable pain, but this is not what made the death of Jesus Christ unique.  When Jesus prayed in the garden, it was not the thought of physical torture that He prayed might be avoided, the uniqueness of Jesus death was His knowing that He would soon drink the full cup of divine wrath for the sins of all whom God had chosen for salvation.

            All four Gospel accounts do not go into great detail in their description of the physical torments that the Lord Jesus endured.  They did not need to in a day when crucifixion was a common form of capital punishment and it was performed along main throughfares as a warning to the general populace, and seeing the horror of this type of torture was not something that could be easily forgotten.  Instead, the Gospel writers focused more on the irreverent mockery hurled at Jesus from His trial before Caiaphas to the judgment hall of Pilate and Herod Antipas to the cross itself, the Son of God was over and over treated with irreverent scorn, disrespect, and contempt.  There is a stark contrast in the blasphemous cruelty of Jesus’ enemies and the infinite mercy and grace of God in allowing His beloved Son to suffer unspeakable humiliation and death in order to save sinners, including blasphemers and murderers.  In describing the crucifixion in our passage this morning, Mark focuses on the shameful abuse both verbal and physical of those who ridiculed and scorned the perfect, sinless Son of God. From the scoffing soldiers to the sneering participants who came to see the spectacle of the cross.  Jesus Christ, our suffering Savior is seen humiliatingly enduring the punishment for sin in obedience to His Father’s will.  Let’s pray and then get into this morning’s passage of Scripture.

--PRAY--

 

SCRIPTURE:

            Turn in your Bibles to Mark 15:16-32.  Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God, and follow along as I read.

     Mark 15:16-32,

            “The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’  They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The inscription 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. And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors.’  Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, ‘Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!’  In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’  Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” (Mark 15:16–32, NASB95)[1]

THE SCOFFING SOLDIERS (Mark 15:16-20)

            After Jesus had been scourged, Mark tells us that the soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, which was the judgment hall of Pilate when he was in Jerusalem.  The torture of Jesus did not end with the scourging but continued when He was brought into the judgment hall. This torture by the whole cohort of soldiers included mockery, insults, and abuse.  Remember the Lord’s face was already battered and swollen from the abuse of the members of the Sanhedrin and the temple police.  Not only this but His lacerated back would have been bleeding badly from the scourging He had received.  These Roman soldiers did not care and decided to treat Him much in the same way that Herod and His soldiers had treated Him, making a mockery of Him for their entertainment.  They dressed Him in a purple robe, possibly the same one that Herod had put on Him.  Then Mark informs us that they twisted together a crown of sharp thorns, which was to resemble the golden laurel wreath worn by Caesar.  They put this on His head pushing it down firmly so that the thorns dug in and blood began to trickle down His face.  Then they knelt before Him and began to mock Him.  To complete their sadistic joke the soldiers began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  Little did they know that one day they would bow before Him and proclaim Him the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Mercilessly, they kept beating Him on the head with a reed driving the thorns deeper into His head, they also began to spit on Him and kneel and bow before Him in mock respect.  Jesus had predicted all of this, in Mark 10:34 Jesus said concerning the Messiah, “They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.” (Mark 10:34, NASB95)[2]

            After they tired of their mockery of the Son of God, they began to get Jesus Christ ready for His crucifixion.  They stripped the purple robe off of Him and put His own clothes back on Him.  And then they led Him out to crucify Him.  Mosaic Law required executions to be performed outside the city, which is why Jesus was taken outside the gates of Jerusalem.

 

THE SUFFERING SAVIOR (Mark 15:21-25)

            Jesus Christ was condemned to death, and for those prisoners receiving the death penalty, they were required to carry the heavy horizontal crossbeam to the place of execution.  Jesus began by carrying His cross because John tells us that He did.  In His weakened state from lack of sleep, blood loss, and severe injuries from His scourging He could not continue.  To keep the procession going to the place of execution, the Roman soldiers pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country.  The soldiers just selected someone who was amongst the people watching the prisoners go by.  They chose a man by the name of Simon, who was from Cyrene, he was commanded to carry the cross of Jesus the rest of the way.  The port city of Cyrene was located on the north coast of Africa in modern day Libya.  In the first century it was a busy trade center and also was home to a large Jewish population.  Simon, like so many others, was a Jewish pilgrim who had traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

            To us, the choice of Simon by the Roman soldiers may seem random, but in reality it was not, God had providentially put Simon at that spot at that time.  God used the mindless action of a Roman soldier to chose Simon for this task so that He might draw Simon to saving faith.  Why do I say this?  Mark identifies Simon of Cyrene as the father of Alexander and Rufus.  Mark would only do this if he knew Alexander and Rufus, and his readers knew them.  Remember Mark was writing his gospel to believers in Rome.  It seems that Alexander and Rufus were active in the church in Rome.  That conclusion is supported by the fact that Paul in his letter to the Roman church, in the final chapter when he sends greetings to believers that he knows in the church mentions Rufus and his mother (Simon’s wife) in Romans 16:13.  It is widely believed that Simon, the man who carried Jesus’ cross, came to faith in Jesus Christ, and not only him but his whole family.

            Finally, with the help of Simon they arrive at the place of execution.  Mark writes, “Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.” (Mark 15:22, NASB95)[3] This place was located outside the city wall alongside a highway and possibly up on a hill to make those being crucified more visible to those passing by on the highway.  Golgotha was likely a site where crucifixions were regularly performed.  The word Golgotha is Aramaic and Mark as he does throughout his gospel translates it for his readers, he writes that it means Place of a Skull.  Some believe that it was named this because it was located on top of a hill that looked like a skull.  We do not know for sure where Jesus was crucified or why it was named Golgotha.  Whatever the reason, it became linked with what was horrific and vey public death.

            Before nailing Jesus to the cross, the soldiers first offered Him some wine mixed with myrrh.  Myrrh was a narcotic that was also used as an anointing oil, and a perfume.  Mixed in wine it would have a pain-deadening affect on those who received it.  Jesus refused it, wanting to remain fully aware as He completed His atoning work.

            Mark then relates what took place next with one very simple phrase: “and they crucified Him.”  Crucifixion as I said earlier was a well-known form of execution in the Roman world, it needed no additional description for Mark’s Roman readers, they knew the horrors of it all to well.  Victims that were crucified were often scourged first to help hasten the death on the cross due to severe injuries and massive blood loss.  Even so, crucifixion was a long form of dying that produced maximum suffering and severe pain.  Death by crucifixion was to die of asphyxiation, when the person crucified no longer had strength to push themselves up to breathe, they would suffocate. 

            Once Jesus was nailed to the cross and it was raised up into the upright position, the soldiers had to remain until the person was dead.  Mark writes that the soldiers, “…divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take.” (Mark 15:24b, NASB95)[4]   The regular clothes of a Jewish person would have included an inner garment, an outer garment or tunic, a belt, sandals, and a head covering for prayer.  Unknown to the soldiers but this fulfilled prophecy that David had made centuries before concerning the death of the Messiah.  Psalm 22:18 says, “They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22:18, NASB95)[5]

            Mark then notes for us that it was the third hour when they crucified Him.  The third hour would be 9:00 am according to the Jewish method of telling time, they would begin to count the hours of the day beginning at 6:00 am.  This means from the time Pilate began question Jesus to His execution only three hours had passed.  Just the night before Jesus had celebrated the Passover with His disciples in the upper room.  The events since that time had passed very quickly, but they did so according to God’s predetermined timetable.  The Lamb of God would celebrate a final meal with His disciples on Thursday night and then die at the same time that Passover lambs were being slaughtered on Friday.

 

THE SNEERING PARTICIPANTS (Mark 15:26-32)

            Mark continues to describe for us the scene around the cross of Jesus.  First, he describes a wooden board that would be fastened to the cross above the head of the victim that would have written on it the crimes for which the person was being crucified.  Mark writes, “The inscription of the charge against Him read, ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ ” (Mark 15:26, NASB95)[6]  When we compare all four gospels we find that the full inscription was, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek so all could read it.  This was not the charge the religious leaders wanted Pilate to write but when they asked him he refused to change it.  For Pilate, this inscription was a little bit of vengeance aimed at the religious leaders for blackmailing him into condemning an innocent man.

            Mark goes on to tell us that Jesus was not the only one crucified that day, but two others who Mark’s identifies as robbers were crucified, one on His left and the other on His right.  These two were possibly part of the band of insurrectionists that were in prison.  They had been condemned to die with Barabbas until he was fully pardoned and released.  The statement in verse 28 that says, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors.’ ” (Mark 15:28, NASB95)[7]  is not in the earliest manuscripts that we have of Mark’s gospel, so it was likely not a part of Mark’s original gospel, which is why it is either in brackets or in the margin of most modern translations.  Whether it was in Mark’s original manuscript or not, it is a true prediction made in Isaiah 53:12 regarding the suffering servant and it finds its fulfillment here in Mark’s gospel.

            As agonizingly painful death by crucifixion was there was added to this the shame and disgrace of being publicly executed in such a humiliating manner.  Crucifixion was meant not only to put to death its victim but was also to humiliate and dishonor its victim for the purpose of sending a clear message to anyone who would see them as what happens to someone who becomes an enemy to Rome.  Not only this, but the Jews regarded anyone hanging on a tree or a cross to be cursed by God which just added to the Jews contempt of those who were crucified.

            Those who had come to see the execution of Jesus were the same ones the religious leaders had stirred up to call for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus.  Mark writes, “Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, ‘Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!’ ” (Mark 15:29–30, NASB95)[8]  Wagging their heads was a Jewish gesture of hatred and scorn.  Their taunt was the same false testimony that had been raised against Jesus at the illegal night trial in the home of Caiaphas.  Some of this crowd was the same that had hailed Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on Monday.  Their screams of scorn and hatred show how wickedly vacillating an unbelieving heart can be. 

            Not only were the swayed crowds at the crucifixion but the religious leaders who had swayed them were there also to continue to intensify the hate and abuse that had ignited at the judgment hall.   Mark writes, “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ ” (Mark 15:31–32a, NASB95)[9] Luke in the parallel passage to this one tells us that the religious leaders were sneering at Jesus which simply means to lift up one’s nose in contempt.  This abuse and scorn had begun the night before in the house of the high priest and continued even after Jesus was nailed to the cross.  David centuries before had foretold of this mistreatment in Psalm 22:7-8,  “All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, ‘Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.’ ” (Psalm 22:7–8, NASB95)[10] Their taunt that “He saved others; He cannot save Himself,” was not an admission of Christ’s ability to save instead it was a sarcastic denial of His divine power.  How could He save others when He couldn’t even rescue Himself?  They knew about His miracles and could not deny them.  Even having witnessed them, they willfully refused to believe in Him.  Though these words were intended to be an insult, without knowing it they had spoken a profound gospel truth.  It is because the Lord Jesus submissively refused to rescue Himself from the cross that He is able to save others from sin and death.

            The religious leaders claimed if Jesus came down from the cross and they saw it they would believe in Him.  They had witnessed and heard about countless miracles that Jesus had performed throughout His lifetime on earth, yet they claimed if He performed one more they would believe.  But again, their declaration was only meant to be an insult.  Otherwise, when Jesus rose from the dead three days later they would have believed, instead they bribed the Roman soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body while they slept.  No miracle would have convinced them to believe; they loved their sin far too much.

            Mark ends our passage with these words, “Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” (Mark 15:32b, NASB95)[11] The two criminals being crucified on either side of Jesus joined the hostile crowd and the religious leaders in mocking the Son of God, even though their execution was justified for the crimes they had committed.  In spite of their impending deaths, these two criminals joined in blaspheming and insulting the Son of God.

CONCLUSION:

            It was against this dark backdrop of venomous hatred that the grace and mercy of God was displayed.  God the Father could have destroyed the blasphemers on the spot and brought an end to their abuse of His Son.  He also could have rescued His Son from the cross.  Instead, as Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him,” (Isaiah 53:10a, NASB95) putting Him to death, so that He might rescue countless others, from sin and eternal damnation.

            As the criminals mocked Him, one suddenly grew quiet, and he became a trophy of God’s grace that day.  Luke 23:39-43 describes for us what took place as these three hung upon crosses,

“One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’  But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’  And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’  And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’ ” (Luke 23:39–43, NASB95)[12]

The centurion, the leader of the soldiers who had crucified the Lord, would soon realize and declare, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39, NASB95)[13]  Of the people that were in the crowd who scorned Jesus, some would believe on the day of Pentecost and in the weeks and months following that day.  Acts 6:7 tells us that even many of the priests of Israel became obedient to the faith.

            Finally, a man named Saul, a violent persecutor of the early church out of His zeal for Judaism and his hatred of Jesus.  Even this man by the grace of God was transformed from a murderous blasphemer into a courageous missionary that we know as the apostle Paul.  As Paul explained to Timothy in 1st Timothy 1,   “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” (1 Timothy 1:12–13, 15 NASB95)[14]   The salvation of the blasphemer, persecutor and violent aggressor Paul, like every sinner, is only possible because the Lord Jesus “bore our sins in His body on the cross…” (1st peter 2:24b, NASB95)[15] as the apostle Peter wrote.  Jesus Christ accomplished God the Father’s eternal purpose of redemption.  Paul tells us that God the Father, “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB95)[16]  Because Jesus became the Passover Lamb, the substitutionary sacrifice, all who come to Him agreeing that they are sinners and putting their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on their behalf are forgiven their sins, saved from the wrath of God against sin, and receive eternal life.  All this is because of Jesus Christ; it is nothing that we do because all we can offer Him is our sin.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NASB95)[17]

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.