Series

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. [22] They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). [23] Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. [24] And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

[25] It was the third hour when they crucified him. [26] The written notice of the charge against him read: the King of the Jews. [27] They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [29] Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, [30] come down from the cross and save yourself!"

[31] In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! [32] Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

[33] At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. [34] And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

[35] When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

[36] One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

[38] The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. [39] And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

[40] Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. [41] In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

[42] It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, [43] Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. [44] Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. [45] When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. [46] So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. [47] Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”

We are following the record in Mark’s gospel of the final hours of Jesus Christ. Last week we looked at His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, His trials before the Jewish and Roman authorities, and His beating and mocking by the Jews and the Roman guards. Then they put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to be crucified. On the way, they grabbed a man named Simon, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, and made him carry the cross. Mark doesn’t say why they made someone else carry Jesus’ cross; it was probably because they had beaten Jesus so severely, He was unable to carry it Himself. But the fact that neither Mark nor any of the other gospel writers mention that is significant. They never tried to play up the physical beating or pain that Jesus suffered. Preachers and movie producers ever since then have, often in gory detail, but the Scriptural record from the people who were closest to the events is really subdued on this point. For example, Mel Gibson made an entire movie around the beating and crucifixion of Jesus, but Mark simply says, Mark 15:15 & 24, “Pilate…had Jesus flogged,” and, “they crucified him.”

Why do you think that was? Why did the gospel writers seem to minimize what we would elaborate today? I think it was because the physical suffering was not the main point for them. They saw that what Jesus was doing on the cross was being punished for the sins of humanity. The punishment for sin is not a physical beating, or pain. The penalty for sin is separation from God. The gospels focus on the spiritual dimension of the cross because that was the most important thing that was happening there. The bystanders might have seen a martyr dying for a cause, or a heretic dying for his heresy, but the believers saw Jesus making atonement for the sins of the world.

Mark 15:22, “They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).” There is some controversy over where Jesus was actually crucified and buried. The traditional sites have been venerated for centuries, but in the late 1800s, an Englishman named Charles Gordon discovered another site[1] that seemed to fit the description in Scripture. The Bible says Jesus was crucified on a hill called Golgotha, which is Hebrew for The Place of the Skull. The Latin word Calvary means skull, also, so you sometimes hear the place called that. (Side note: this word is Calvary, not cavalry, which is an army mounted on horses.) If you look at this picture, which we took when we were in Israel on our Sabbatical, you can see what looks like the forehead, eyes and nose of a skull. Archaeologists lean toward the traditional site of the crucifixion, but I think most Protestant pilgrims to Israel tend to favor this site.

Mark 15:23, “Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. (Come to our Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 p.m. to find out why.) [24] And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.”

John (19:23-24) reports that there were four soldiers in the crucifixion detail, and they each got one piece of His clothes, as one of the perks of that job. But there was an undergarment that was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. Rather than tear it in four pieces, they cast lots for it.

Mark 15:25, “It was the third hour (9:00 a.m.) when they crucified him. [26] The written notice of the charge against him read: The King of the Jews.”

The irony here is delicious. The religious authorities charged Jesus with claiming to be the King of the Jews, and hence, guilty of insurrection against Rome. So Pilate had this written on a placard fixed to the cross above Jesus’ head, so everyone could see the crime He was being crucified for. But of course, the religious leaders didn’t believe Jesus was their king, and they were irritated at what Pilate had written. They asked him to change it to say, “He claimed to be King of the Jews”, but Pilate, who felt he had been manipulated into executing Jesus, refused, saying, “What I have written, I have written.” So Pilate had the sign made that way to irritate the Jews, which it did, but it was, in fact, the truth. He was the Messiah, the King of the Jews.

Mark 15:27, “They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [29] Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, [30] come down from the cross and save yourself!’ [31] In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can't save himself! [32] Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’ Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

There are three sets of people who are mocking Jesus here: the crowd that always gathered to watch a crucifixion; the chief priests and teachers of the law who have come to make sure the sentence was carried out; and the two criminals hanging on crosses on either side of Him.

Their taunts seem to be of two sorts. One is, if you’re so great—if you’re the Messiah, the King of Israel, the one who can rebuild the temple in three days—prove it by coming down from the cross. If you can save other people (and maybe there is even a reference to raising Lazarus from the dead), let’s see you save yourself from this fix you’re in.

The other part of it was, if you do that, then we’ll believe in you. We want some tangible proof that you are who you say you are, and if you come down from the cross, then we’ll believe.

The challenge for Jesus was to not respond to their taunts. He could have done it. He could have called to the Father, who would have sent thousands of angels to deliver Him from the cross and all human powers. He could have risen up in power and glory and terrified them all with a sight of who He really was. But if He had done that, He would not have been able to save them. So in a way, the mockers were right—He couldn’t save Himself…if He was going to save anyone else.

Mark 15:33, “At the sixth hour (noon) darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. (3:00 p.m.) [34] And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’--which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”

This is right at the very center of the meaning of the cross, and it goes all the way back to Genesis. God told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat the fruit from one tree in the Garden of Eden, and if they did, they would surely die. They did eat it, but they didn’t die physically right away. But something drastically changed right then that would eventually result in their death. You recall, right after that, Adam and Eve were hiding in the Garden, hiding from God. The intimate fellowship they had enjoyed up until then was gone, and they were cut off from Him by their sin. If you are separated from God, who is the source of all life, then you will surely die, if not immediately, then eventually, as Adam and Eve did.

The point is that the fundamental and immediate consequence of sin is separation from God. Jesus took on Himself the sin and guilt of the whole world, and as a result, He was separated from the Father. He cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” but I’m sure He knew why—this is what He had been dreading there in the Garden, when He begged not to have to drink the cup of God’s wrath against sin. And when He was once cut off from God, then He died.

Mark 15:37, “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” John’s gospel (John 19:30) tells us what Jesus said in that loud cry. He said, "It’s finished!" In Greek, it is one word: tetelestai. It’s in a tense that means the action of the verb is complete, and the effects of it are permanent: once and for all, it is finished.

What was finished? His life? Yes, temporarily, but not permanently, as we will celebrate on Easter Sunday. His work was finished. He had completed what He had come to do. And what was that?

Well, Jesus healed a lot of people while He was here, but there were still plenty of sick and crippled people in Palestine. He taught a lot of things to the crowds and to His disciples, but they certainly didn’t understand all that He had said. He fed at least 9,000 people on two different occasions, but there were still lots of hungry people in the world. What part of His work was done, complete, finished—once and for all?

There are lots of ways to say it, but here’s a simple one: Our sin, our determination to live without God, has had its intended effect—now we are living without God. We are cut off from Him, and there is nothing we can do to get back into fellowship with Him. Habakkuk 1:13, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.” It’s as though there is this huge chasm between us and God, and we can’t cross it no matter how hard we try.

But Jesus has, in effect, laid His cross across that gap, and made a bridge between God and us. He’s made it possible for us to be reconciled to God, to be back in His loving fellowship. We can be reunited with our creator and the one who loves us more than life itself.

That’s what Jesus had finished. He had once for all bridged the gap between us and God that we created by our sinful rebellion and independence from Him. Here’s how God demonstrated that at that time:

When Jesus died, Mark 15:38, “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” In the Temple, there was a large curtain that hung from the ceiling. It separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies—the place where the presence of God dwelt, the most holy place on earth. No one could go past that curtain except the High Priest, and then only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. He had to offer sacrifices for his own sins first, and then take with him the blood of the animal that was sacrificed for the sins of the nation. That curtain was there to emphasize in a very visible and tangible way, the separation from God that our sin had created. Basically, it said, you can’t get to God; He is too holy, and you are too sinful, and if you go in there, you’ll be consumed by His holiness.

But now, look! The curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, indicating that it was God who tore it! He is the one who has made a way for us to enter His holy presence, by punishing Jesus for our sins. Ephesians says we can be “holy and blameless” in His sight, so we can be qualified to come boldly before the throne of grace. All because Jesus was crucified.

Mark 15:42, “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, [43] Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. [44] Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. [45] When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.”

It normally took two to three days for a person who had been crucified to die. It was an extraordinarily long and painful death, which is why the Romans used it so often, as a deterrent to crime. So when Joseph of Arimathea asked for Jesus’ body, only six or seven hours after He was first nailed to the cross, Pilate was naturally surprised that Jesus was already dead. Actually, he was suspicious, and asked the centurion to confirm that that was the case. The Roman soldiers in charge of crucifixions had lots of practice in determining when the victims were actually dead, and the officer in charge confirmed that even though it had only been a few hours, Jesus really was gone. So Pilate gave Joseph permission to take the body down.

Jesus had been beaten to within an inch of His life, probably so severely that He was unable to carry the crossbeam of His cross to the place of execution. The Roman guards confirmed that He was actually gone. He was buried in a tomb and sealed in for parts of three days, perhaps 36 hours.[2] Brain cells start dying after only three minutes without oxygen. Rigor mortis sets in within two to six hours after death, and spreads from muscles in the neck and face to the internal organs within 24 hours. There can’t be any question that Jesus of Nazareth was really dead.

Mark 15:46, “So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”

The traditional site of Jesus’ tomb is now completely built over with the expanding city of Jerusalem, and is actually covered with a very dark and ornate and, to our minds, unpleasant church, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, full of incense, icons, and candles. When Charles Gordon discovered an alternate site for the crucifixion, he also found, just a few hundred yards away, a tomb cut into the rock. Here’s a picture of the outside of that tomb; you can see where part of the wall has collapsed and has been patched up with stone blocks.

This next picture shows the groove cut in the rock just outside the door of the tomb, in which a large, circular, flat rock, like a disc, would have been rolled to seal it up.

Here’s a schematic of the floor plan of this tomb, showing the entrance, and sort of a vestibule; then you go through a little doorway into the next room. On the left was a shelf about knee high, cut into the rock, complete with a stone pillow for the head. On the right was another place for a body, which was not finished yet.

tomb has a Christian symbol painted on the wall that has been dated to the approximate time of Christ. We don’t know that this is the actual tomb of Jesus, but it gives us some idea of what it might have looked like, wherever it was.

But the point is that Jesus was buried in a grave cut out of rock, and that tomb was sealed with a large stone disk. And then the tomb was sealed by the Jewish authorities. They went to Pilate and said, Matthew 27:63-66, "Sir, we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' [64] So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first." [65] "Take a guard," Pilate answered. "Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how." [66] So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.”

The seal was a cord stretched across the gap between the rock wall and the stone disc covering the doorway, and held in place with wax at both ends. The wax would have been impressed with some insignia indicating it was placed there by government authority, and that would deter anyone who might think of breaking into the tomb. They also posted a guard of the Sanhedrin police.[3]

And that’s the end of the story. (Until Sunday, anyway.) Jesus was, as the Apostle’s Creed says, crucified, dead, and buried. Each element was important.

Crucified. The Old Testament was full of prophecies that the Messiah would die, especially in Isaiah 53, but Jesus Himself pointed out that there was an incident way back in Genesis, during the time of Moses, that referred to Him. He reminded the people that when poisonous snakes were killing the Israelites, Moses had made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole in the center of the camp. If anyone who was bitten looked at the snake, they would be healed and not die. Jesus said that He was like that snake: He, too, would be lifted up on a pole in plain sight of all the people, and anyone who looked to Him in faith to save them would have eternal life (John 3:14, 15). So not only was it necessary for Jesus the Messiah to die, He had to die on a pole, on a cross, so He could be lifted up for all to see.

And it was necessary that He be dead and buried. The gospel accounts all testify to the fact that Jesus was truly dead. And that’s important, because sometime on Sunday morning, before it got very light, He rose from the dead. He didn’t just revive from His trauma and crucifixion. He was really dead, and then, a day and a half later, He wasn’t dead anymore. The rock, the seal, and the guards all together couldn’t stop Him. He rose from the dead and left the tomb.

Because Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried, and on the third day rose again from the dead, the cross is a picture of both the love of God and the power of God.

Paul points out that most of us would be reluctant to die for someone else, even if they were a really good person. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He died for us in the sense that He died in our place, as our substitute, being punished for our sins. He died for us in the sense that it was all for our benefit, to reconcile us to God. That’s amazing love, that He would do that for you and me.

And the cross is also a sign of the power of God, because this was the way God managed to do the impossible—to make bent, twisted, corrupt, self-centered, selfish people like us holy. This was the way He satisfied His own righteous anger at us for our rebellion, so that He could welcome us back into His love. This was how He bridged the gap that we had created by our refusal to submit to Him. This was how He opened the door to eternal life for all who would put their trust in Christ.

So I invite you—put your trust in Him. How can you not respond in love and gratitude to Someone who would go through all that for you? He loves you more than you can imagine, and He wants to be in fellowship with you. He wants to share your life, to be your friend, as well as your Lord and Master. He’s done the hard work, being crucified, dead, and buried. Now all you have to do is say Yes. Yes, I thank you for dying for me. Yes, I want to be in a real relationship with You. Yes, I admit that I have rebelled against you. And yes, I want you to forgive my sins. Make me holy and blameless in your sight, so I can live with you forever.

[1] see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Tomb for a brief treatment of this site and links to related web sites.

[2] At the moment of death, the muscles relax completely—a condition called "primary flaccidity." The muscles then stiffen, perhaps due to coagulation of muscle proteins or a shift in the muscle's energy containers (ATP-ADP), into a condition known as rigor mortis. All of the body's muscles are affected. Rigor mortis begins within two to six hours of death, starting with the eyelids, neck, and jaw. This sequence may be due to the difference in lactic acid levels among different muscles, which corresponds to the difference in glycogen levels and to the different types of muscle fibers. Over the next four to six hours, rigor mortis spreads to the other muscles, including those in the internal organs such as the heart. The onset of rigor mortis is more rapid if the environment is cold and if the decedent had performed hard physical work just before death. http://www.deathreference.com/Py-Se/Rigor-Mortis-and-Other-Postmortem-Changes.html

Brain cells can die if deprived of oxygen for more than three minutes. http://www.deathonline.net/decomposition/body_changes/heart_stops.htm

[3] See Matt 28:11, where they report back to the chief priests.