"Meditation on the Passion According to St. Mark" Holy Tuesday April 19, 2011 Mark 15:21-37
Mark tells us not only that there was this guy who was compelled to carry the cross of Christ, but he tells us who he is. Matthew gives his name, Mark tells us he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. On one level this is a sensible thing for the Holy Spirit to inspire Mark to write to the Christians in the first century: the guy who this was was the father of Alexander and Rufus, and the recipients of the Gospel account could have a connection with the amazing event of Jesus being crucified. On another level we see that this was no mere story. Jesus being crucified was in history. It happened in a particular place, with actual people involved in the events. Simon was a man who had children. He was a person just like us. Jesus came for this purpose, for people like you and me. Mark also tells us as Matthew did that He was brought to the place called Golgotha. This almost seems more a matter-of-fact way of telling what happened. As if to say, this is where He was crucified. But we also see in this detail that Jesus was crucified in the normal order of the Roman system of justice. They had a system and Jesus was brought into that system. Golgotha was the place where they crucified notorious criminals. Jesus was brought into that. But again, even as Mark says they brought Him here, Jesus assuredly walked of His own accord. When He was offered the wine mixed with myrrh He would not drink it. There are times we want to help someone in need and they refuse our help. Why won’t they just receive what is offered? Perhaps those who offered it to Jesus felt the same way. In hindsight we see that what Jesus was doing here was not only procuring salvation for the world but also showing that there is nothing we could give Him that would really help Him. He needs nothing and yet gave of everything of Himself for us. We’re the ones who really need help. We need the salvation He was accomplishing. The soldiers played their little game to try to win the clothing that Jesus wore. The casting of lots in their efforts to get the clothes of a condemned man shows the gamble we take when we take our eyes off Christ. Yes, He lost His clothes, but He stripped off His glory and power in order to provide us with something greater. There is no need for gambling or to play any games. He has given us much more than those men wanted. He gave us His life. He gave us Himself. A lot happened on that day almost two thousand years ago. We have come to know it as Good Friday. At the third hour Mark tells us He was crucified. Things didn’t seem very good at that moment in time, which was 9:00 in the morning. But at that third hour of the day something amazing was happening. Jesus was being nailed to a cross and God the Father was looking on. He wasn’t stopping it. Jesus was not lashing out in righteous anger and putting a stop to it. Rather, as Mark says, “And it was the third hour when they crucified Him.” The charge against Him was “The King of the Jews.” Who was that man who was crucified on a cross outside Jerusalem? He was the King of the Jews. We know Him as our King. He is the King of all creation. But for a few hours on a cross He was charged with being the King of the Jews. This one who was Jewish was also born as we are and so bears humanity as we all do. The King of the Jews was the one who took upon Himself flesh as a common Jewish man, died as the King of the Jews, and in doing so is the Lord and Savior of all. Jesus was not crucified alone. There were two with Him. They were there because they were guilty. They were found guilty by the Roman law and ended up being crucified alongside the one who was not guilty. And though He was not alone in suffering crucifixion He was most assuredly alone in suffering for the sin of the world. He was derided by those who passed by. They challenged Him to save Himself. Come down from the cross! He could have done that. They didn’t believe He could. But if He had He wouldn’t so much as saved Himself as He would not have been who He is. And that is God. God is God not just because He solely is the All-Powerful Being. He is God because He loves us. That’s why He wouldn’t “save Himself” in the words of those who derided Him. He wouldn’t because He was there to save them and the whole world. The religious leaders also mocked Him in the same way. How sad when those who are called to give to the people of God the gifts of God instead mock the very Giver of those gifts. We must always guard against this in the Church. For those who are called, to remain faithful in the Scriptures, always keeping their eye on Christ and Him crucified, always delivering to the people of God the Gifts of Christ. For those who are called to serve God as laypeople, to pray for the Servants of the Word and to hold them accountable by checking them against the Word of God. When we don’t we mock Christ. He was reviled by those who were crucified with Him. We could say by those who deserved to be there. But isn’t that all of us? Do we also revile our Lord? We ought to pray for mercy so that we may come to repentance as the one thief did later on, as we see from one of the other Gospel accounts. After three hours something changed. From 9:00 to noon we have heard from those surrounding Him. Now everyone hears from Creation. Creation now speaks. Darkness comes over the land for three hours. In the light our words minimizing the suffering of Christ on the cross may seem in place. But they are overshadowed by God speaking through His creation. Our words do not stand. Darkness covers the land and all there is to see is one who is hanging on a tree, one who is shining the brightest light into the darkness of our world of sin. Now it has been six hours. Six hours of suffering on the cross. But the Scriptures do not go to great pains describing and discussing the physical torment Jesus endured. It was beyond what most of us could imagine, there’s no doubt about it. But the Scriptures drive home the suffering our Lord endured at the hands of God. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Our Lord endured the suffering at the hands of God that is ours to endure. We can’t comprehend this. But we don’t need to. Marveling at such great love is a much better response. Gratitude. Simply confessing God as our God, our Savior, our Redeemer. The words of Christ of His Father, ‘Why have You forsaken Me’ are at the heart of our salvation and of God. Some mistook what Jesus cried out, thinking He was calling Elijah. Elijah had been promised to come again, to usher in the Messiah. But there was no need for Elijah to come, the Messiah was already there. Hanging before them, calling out to God, not Elijah. Those who did not understand this tried to prevent the person who got some wine to give to Jesus. Instead of giving Him the wine, let’s wait to see if Elijah will come and save Him. Had Jesus needed this kind of saving His prayer probably would have been more along the lines of, My God, My God, bring Me down. But His cry was not for salvation. Ironically, it actually was. But it was not for His own, but for ours. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? The answer is given in the Scriptures: so that we may not be forsaken. And with that Mark tells us that “Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last.” He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, Let not My will be done, but Thy will be done. It was so. This was His will. Jesus’ will coincided with the Heavenly Father’s will. His will was done. He breathed His last but that was not the last of Him. He continues to serve us as He did on the cross. He loves us and this is how we know. Amen. SDG -- Pastor Paul L. Willweber Prince of Peace Lutheran Church [LCMS] 6801 Easton Ct., San Diego, California 92120 619.583.1436 princeofpeacesd.net three-taverns.net It is the spirit and genius of Lutheranism to be liberal in everything except where the marks of the Church are concerned. [Henry Hamann, On Being a Christian] ___________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author (as long as no charge is made for the work and it is not made part of a compilation), as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. 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