What Jesus Did

Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

—Mark 15:37-38 NLT

Key Thought​

The meaning of this event and its symbolism are powerful. The curtain in today's scripture was the one between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the Jewish Temple. For the Jews, the place of atonement* was in the Most Holy Place, and only the high priest could go to the place of atonement on behalf...

 

Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.

—Mark 15:37 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus finishes his work as our ransom from sin and death. Please ponder the incredible words of Mark 15:37. God in human flesh dies. He dies because he allows his life to be taken. He dies as one of us. He dies in pain, humiliation, rejection, and ridicule. He dies because he loves us and wants his blood to free us from our sin. He completes the work that the Father gave him to do in his...

 

Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought [Jesus] was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. "Wait!" he said. "Let's see whether Elijah comes to take him down!"

—Mark 15:35-36 NLT

Key Thought​

From the vantage points of Jesus, the Messiah, and of the Gospel of Mark, Elijah had already come. John the Baptizer was the Elijah who was to precede the Messiah. Those in power had...

 

At noon [when Jesus was crucified], darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. Then at three o'clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

—Mark 15:33-34 NLT

Key Thought​

As Jesus died, this was the time of darkness. At midday, all light was snuffed out of the world as Jesus faced ridicule, mockery, shame, brutality, and humiliation alone. He felt as if he had been...

 

[The religious leaders continued mocking Jesus, saying,] "Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from the cross so we can see it and believe him!" Even the men who were crucified with Jesus ridiculed him.

—Mark 15:32 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus was ridiculed by everyone present during his Passion — the crowds cried "Crucify him!" before Pilate. The soldiers beat and mocked him. People who passed by him hanging on the cross hurled their insults at Jesus. The religious...

 

The leading priests and teachers of religious law also mocked Jesus [on the cross]. "He saved others," they scoffed, "but he can't save himself!"

—Mark 15:31 NLT

Key Thought​

Wrong! Jesus could have saved himself, but he didn't do it in order that he could save others... save you... save me. Thankfully the religious folks were wrong about Jesus' power to save. Thank God that Jesus loved us enough to bear their ridicule, face their scorn, absorb their hate, suffer their torture...

 

The people passing by [Jesus on the cross] shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. "Ha! Look at you now!" they yelled at him. "You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, save yourself and come down from the cross!"

—Mark 15:29-30 NLT

Key Thought​

If you listen carefully, behind the voice of the people shouting abuse at Jesus, you can hear the voice of Satan mocking God's Son. Notice how similar these words are to the words of...

 

Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

—Mark 15:27 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus came to earth and lived as one of us. He made his home among real people — he wasn't tucked away in some neat and tidy place protected from the dirt, sin, and filth of our world. So it is not surprising that when he was killed on the cross, that he was crucified between two criminals. (The Greek word translated as "revolutionaries" is robbers, bandits, or...

 

It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified [Jesus]. A sign announced the charge against him. It read, "The King of the Jews."

—Mark 15:25-26 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus was recognized as King at his birth by angels, shepherds, and stargazers. Jesus was recognized as King at his death only by God — the sign described the charge against Jesus, whose closest followers had abandoned him. While God had shown glimpses of his plan through the words of the prophets, a crucified...

 

Then the soldiers nailed [Jesus] to the cross. They divided his clothes and threw dice to decide who would get each piece.

—Mark 15:24 NLT

Key Thought​

Just as the soldiers at the foot of this cross gambled for Jesus' clothes, people still gamble on the cross of Christ today. Anytime people refuse to recognize who was crucified on that cross, they gamble with their future — their eternal future — assuming that Jesus was only just another man. The stakes of this gamble are...