A Cursed Death that Earned us Life

Mark 15:21-47 

The King on a Cross

21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. 22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. 24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."

29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"

31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe."

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

Jesus Dies on the Cross

33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!" 36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."

37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"

40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, 41 who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Buried in Joseph's Tomb

42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords willing went through suffering to His ignoble death on the cursed tree of the cross to redeem for Himself a people (2 Samuel 7:23, Titus 2:14) called and chosen to be His.  This was the only way to pay the price of our sin in dying by substituting Himself and giving the blood of His life as a perfect sacrifice to atone forever for our sin and sins.  Another man was made to bear the cross part of the way for Jesus as a foreshadowing of our own bearing this death to self (Mark 8:34, 10:21) along within him as we share in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:5) by His invitation.  There at the Place of a Skull where men were put to a cruel death on a cross by the Romans Jesus was nailed to the tree of the curse of the law according to Galatians 3:13-14 to present us with the promise of life and forgiveness by the permanent presence of His Spirit in us by faith in this work of God in Christ.  They crucified the Lord of Peace with willing zeal and even gambled for His fine clothes as He hung in pain on the way to a horrible death of suffering as it was written long before (Psalm 22:18).  The Romans even gave Him the correct identity by a sign stating that He was the King of the Jews which was meant as an accusation but was really a testament to His true identity as He had told them all.  He was put in the middle of two criminals to join their number even though Jesus was blameless of all sin.  This sinless perfection made it possible to be a perfect unblemished Lamb sacrificed for us that need never be repeated again, unlike the yearly animal sacrifices made by the high priest before then to cover our sin.  

As Isaiah 53:12 predicted, Jesus the suffering servant poured out His life in the middle of such sinners to take our sin on Himself and make eternal intercession for those He calls to Himself by this sacrificial act.  Still the surrounding sinners who had rejected Him continued to blaspheme the Lord and taunted Him by telling Jesus to use His great power and come down off the cross.  Those he could not do if He was to finish this work of salvation for us.  They demanded this sign of His own deliverance so they could see and believe, but Jesus had earlier told them (Matthew 12:39-40) that the only sign would be akin to Jonah who was buried in the deep in a fish for three days before coming back into life, just as He would rebuild the dead body of His temple by the resurrection in three days.  None understood this until those three days had passed and the promise of this gospel work was made manifest to the world.  When darkness covered the earth at the end (Amos 8:9), Jesus recited Psalm 22:1 as a reminder to those who knew the scriptures that He was forsaken by God because of their sin taken onto Himself as a substitution for their condemnation and punishment of death as a result to earn their release from the just due of their sin (Romans 6:23) and of all who trust in His work here to pay the eternal price of our sin.  When He died and left that body, the great veil of the temple was rent in half to show that an entrance to God’s presence had been made through His death as Hebrews 10:19-21 further explains.  A Roman centurion who witnessed this cried out, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” as a testimony and witness to the truth of Christ’s work and identity that others who read this may also know and believe Him and do the work earning salvation which is trusting His work and not vainly attempting our own except as faith in His (John 6:29).  Joseph asked for the body of the Lord to give a proper burial and did so, taking Him down from the cursed cross, wrapping Him in fine linen, and laying Him in a tomb.  The two Marys noted where the tomb was so they could return after the Sabbath as we will later see.  This then is a record of a cursed death that earned us life.