Mark 15: Passion with a Purpose (Part 2)

[See here for Part 1]

4. Jesus is mocked by his enemies

In films like The Passion of Christ, the sheer physical brutality of crucifixion is brought to the fore. Mark, however, places that in the background. However, Mark is very restrained when it comes to the gore factor. He simply says "and they crucified him" (15:24).Mark draws our attention not to the wounds of Jesus but to the words of his enemies. He goes into great detail to record the taunts and verbal abuse that Jesus suffered (15:29-32, 35). Why does he do this? Because this too is a sign that Jesus is dying under God's judgement. Consider Deut 28:37. Also, Psalm 89:38-42 (in context this is about God's king from David's line):

"You have cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your anointed.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown in the dust.
You have breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
All who pass by plunder him;
he has become the scorn of his neighbours.
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice."

In Psalm 89 being scorned by his enemies was a sign that God's king was under God's judgement for his sins. And here in Mark 15, King Jesus is scorned by his enemies. The King of the Jews is bearing God's judgement as a substitute for sinners.

5. Jesus is enveloped in darkness

While on the cross, Jesus was plunged into darkness for three hours, Mark 15:33. This recalls the plague of darkness that fell upon Egypt prior to the Exodus. This too was what God threatened Israel with in Deut. 28:29 "and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness." Amos also warned of this sign of judgement (Amos 8:9):

"And on that day," declares the Lord GOD,
"I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight."

Jesus himself speaks of hell as “outer darkness”, a place devoid of the light of God’s presence. As Christ hung on the cross, the very elements spoke of the reality of God's judgement.

6. Jesus is forsaken by God

Now we come to the words that Jesus speaks in Mark 15:34:

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?"

This is a great mystery. The beloved Son abandoned by his Father. What is going on here? We have to remember that Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh. He was true God and true man. In his human consciousness he had always been aware of the fact that he was the Son of God (Luke 2). This was reinforced by the Father’s words at his baptism and transfiguration. Jesus delighted in the Father’s presence and approval – (John 8:29). But at the cross the Son was made sin. In his humanity, he bore the weight of our transgressions. When he most needed a word of reassurance from the Father, all he could sense was God’s holy displeasure against sin. Poignantly, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” [Emphasis added]. He felt forsaken by God because he was forsaken by God. “He gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). The Father abandoned his Son to the horrors of the outer darkness. The Son was bereft of all comfort. He was no longer cheered by a sense of the Father’s loving approval. The Father treated him not as Son but as sin. He poured out upon Jesus all the wrath and judgement that is due to us as sinners. The ever blessed Son of God was made a curse for us, "suffering in his soul the terrible torments of a condemned and forsaken man". (John Calvin)

This does not mean that there was a rupture in the Trinity. If the Father gave the Son to the horrors of the cross, then it is also true to say that the Son loved us and gave himself for us. He offered himself to God by the eternal Spirit. Rabbi Duncan said, “Dying on the cross forsaken by his Father…it was damnation and damnation taken lovingly.” It is perhaps unhelpful to speak as do some theologians of God being forsaken by God at Calvary. It is more true to say that the Father forsook his Son as the Son in his humanity died for our sin. We must never forget that the Father loved the Son even as he forsook him. Perhaps he never loved him more, (John 10:17), but still he left his Son derelict and abandoned for us. That is the wonder of penal substitution. Mark 15 tells us that Jesus' passion was for us.

7. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is disclosed as he bears our sin

We have the remarkable words of the centurion, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (15:39). This is what we are told about the identity of Jesus from the outset of this Gospel - Mark 1:1. It is the fact that in his Son, God has taken our sins upon himself that gives Jesus' sufferings their infinite atoning value. In my place condemned HE stood. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

Part 1 was published yesterday. These articles originated in some notes for a pre-Easter Bible study inspired by this post by Martin Downes.

Mark 15: Passion with a Purpose (Part 1)

We perhaps tend to think that we should look to the Gospels for an historical description of the cross and to the Epistles to give us the meaning of Christ’s atonement. But we need to remember that the theology of the Epistles is rooted in the historical event of Christ’s death and that the Gospels give us history with a theological message. Mark’s passion narrative contains several indicators that Jesus died under God’s judgement for our sin. Here is passion with a purpose.

The idea that Christ died under the wrath of God is not limited to a few texts in the New Testament that use the term “propitiation”. That Christ died in our place, bearing the penalty of our sin, is at the heart of all that the New Testament has to say about the cross.

The doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement was once regarded as a hallmark of authentic evangelical theology. These days, penal substitution is up for debate in evangelical circles. If you are interested in following the controversy, I suggest that you get hold of Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the glory of penal substitution, by Steve Jeffrey, Mike Ovey and Andrew Sach, IVP, 2007 (see my review here). But I don’t want to engage in that controversy directly in this post. I simply want to reflect on what Mark 15 has to say about the Son of God as sin-bearer.

The factual details of the crucifixion of Jesus speak to us about the nature of his death. They are much more than a bare description of the events, merely "bare" facts that are open to different interpretations. Once we look below the surface, and in terms of the Old Testament background, we will see that the details of the narrative in Mark 15 testify that Jesus is dying under the wrath of God, and that he is doing so as a substitute for sinners. Many of the signs of God’s judgment displayed here may be traced back to the terrifying covenant curses. These curses were directed at those who transgressed God’s covenant commands (Deut 27:26, 28:15). As we reflect on Mark’s passion narrative with this in mind, we will see that the Evangelist is telling us that Jesus was treated as covenant breaking sinners deserve to be treated. Mark gives us six signs that Jesus died under God's judgement.

1. Jesus is handed over to the Gentiles

Six times in Mark 15 we are told that Jesus is the King of the Jews (2, 9, 12, 18, 26, and King of Israel in 32). This King of the Jews has been handed over to the Gentiles. At one level this is the fulfillment of what Jesus said would happen. Consider his words in Mark 10:33-34:

"See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise."

At another level being delivered over to the Gentiles is a traumatic sign of being under God's judgement. It is one of the covenant curses in Leviticus 27 & Deuteronomy 28, (Deut 28:47-50). This is expressed poetically in Psalm 106:40-41,

"Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage;he gave them into the hand of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them."

The same idea is expressed by Ezra as he acknowledges the guilt of the people of God that led to the exile (the ultimate OT expression of judgement). Ezra 9:7b reads:

"And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today."

In the OT being handed over to the nations was a sign of God's anger. This is happening to Jesus in Mark 15.

2. Jesus is silent before his accusers

We know that the charges brought against Jesus by the Jewish leaders were both unjust and incoherent (Mark 14:55-61). Before Pilate, as again Jesus is falsely accused, he remains silent. Why does Jesus not speak up in his own defence? Why does he not silence the lies of his enemies? Pilate is amazed at this (Mark 15:3-4). The Roman Governor knew full well that Jesus was innocent of the charges brought against him, (15:9 & 10, 14). But the sinless Jesus refused to plead his innocence. His silence is spoken of in the words of Isaiah 53:7:

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."

The silence of Jesus before his accusers is a sign that he is the suffering servant who will bear the penal consequences of the sins of others by substitutionary atonement (Isa. 53:4-6, 10). Mark also highlights the fact that Jesus identified himself with guilty sinners in 15:27 & 28. His was a guilty silence. But it is our guilt not his that he bore.

3. Jesus is hung on a tree

The very instrument of execution, the cross, spoke of the nature of Christ's death. In the words of Deuteronomy 21:22-23:

"If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God."

Jesus was not personally guilty of any crime that could issue in his death. His death was therefore substitutionary. For clearly in being hung on a tree, he was "cursed by God" for us. This is reinforced by the crown of thorns that Jesus was forced to wear by the Roman soldiers (Mark 15:17). Thorns are associated with God's curse upon creation after the fall (Gen. 3:17-19). Paul draws our attention to the fact that Jesus was made a curse for us in Gal. 3:10-13 cf. 1 Peter 2:24.

I hope to publish Part 2 tomorrow. These articles originated in some notes for a pre-Easter Bible study inspired by this post by Martin Downes.