Three Hours of Darkness Mark 15:33-37

Text: “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the nineth hour. And at the nineth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, E-lo`-i, E-lo`-i, la`-ma sa-bach`-tha-ni?  Which is being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Mark 15:33-34

Good morning, enlightened Christian!  Not for you or I, a mere listening to what a church leader, Pastor, or Bible Teacher spoon-feeds us from a pulpit, or a university lectern, and swallowing it whole as absolute truth. No! You and I seek to be like the Bereans, we listen intently to what is being preached or taught, then, “…search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were/are so.”     (Acts 17:11) 

We become more ‘enlightened’ in Scriptural truth and knowledge of Christ Jesus, by making sure our KJV Bibles are our measuring sticks for God’s inspired truths.  Praise God for an open KJV Bible!  (Psalm 119:105)

“The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

We can cry out with Christ our prayer to our Father God in Heaven: “…I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Thy sight.” (Matthew 11:25-26)

When studying our Bibles, it is always a most beneficial practice to think through what we are reading, and ask ourselves many questions as to the deeper meaning of what is being revealed by God the Holy Spirit to us.  Therefore, when we read about the Lord Jesus on that cruel Cross at Calvary, crying out a Divine question to our Father in Heaven – we NEED to fully understand exactly why His cry was being made at that crucial time of Crucifixion.

Rhetorical Question: “E-lo`-i; E-lo`-i; la`-mas sa-bach`-tha-ni? My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Dictionary Definition: A rhetorical question is a question in form, for rhetorical effect, not calling for an answer to the one asking, but used to persuade listeners to ask the question posed for themselves, in order to receive the answer for themselves, personally. (Chambers Dictionary, page 1415)

The Lord Jesus Christ - being at all times, both God and man - obviously knew the answer as to why God the Father and God the Spirit had to forsake Him, while hanging there upon that cruel Roman Cross.  He had taken upon Himself the vile sins of all of ‘His people’ from all over the world; all that had died in faith believing in the coming Messiah Christ, and all who would come to faith following Christ’s Crucifixion for our sins. 

The other two Divine Persons of the Triune Godhead – God the Father, and God the Holy Ghost – were compelled to turn their Divine faces away from our sins which Christ Jesus bore upon Himself, because a Holy Lord God cannot for one moment look upon SIN without punishing it. 

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity…”  (Habakkuk 1:13)

Punishing Christ with all our vile sins upon Himself on that Cross, and shedding His sinless Blood, was the only way to redeem God’s elect people from all our sins! Christ’s once-for-all-time Sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross, made a full propitiation; an atoning Sacrifice, for the sins of those Jesus Christ came to save. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord (God the Father) hath laid on Him (God the Son) the iniquity of us all (all ‘His people’).” (Isaiah 53:6) (Matthew 1:21)

“He (Christ Jesus) shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My (God the Father) righteous servant (Jesus Christ) justify MANY (not all!), for He shall bear their iniquities (on the Cross).” (Isaiah 53:11)

The Lord Jesus Christ, as the God-man, knew the answer to His rhetorical question from the Cross, but He needed you and I, and all others, to ask ourselves this vital question, for it was for the sins of ‘His people’ that Christ was so forsaken as He bore the punishment we fully deserved, and, like the Old Testament scapegoat, took all our sins – past, present and future sins – away forever.

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us observe, secondly, in these verses, how truly and really our Lord Jesus Christ was made a curse for us, and bore our sins. We see it strikingly brought out in those marvellous words which He used at the ninth hour, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

It would be useless to pretend to fathom all the depth of meaning which these words contain. They imply an amount of mental suffering, such as we are unable to conceive. The agony of some of God’s holiest servants has been occasionally very great, under an impression of God’s favour being withdrawn from them. What then may we suppose was the agony of the holy Son of God, when all the sin of all the world was laid upon His head, when He felt Himself reckoned guilty, though without sin, when He felt His Father’s countenance turned away from Him? The agony of that season must have been something past understanding. It is a high thing. We cannot attain to a comprehension of it. We may believe it, but we cannot explain and find it out to perfection.  (J.C. Ryle’s Exposition of Mark’s Gospel)

Thought: Christ Jesus took all our vile sins upon Himself, and suffered in our place, died, and rose again from the dead to prove His power to justify all who trust in Him.

Patient Suffering for Christ Mark 15:16-32

Text: “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But, if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For (a conclusion) even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.”

1 Peter 2:19-21. 

Good morning, falsely accused Christian!  Both you, and the author, feel deeply, the hurt of being falsely accused of faults, failures, actions and words, in which we actually contributed no offence. 

Personal Note: It is, for me, almost impossible not to immediately protest innocence, or defend myself when wrongly accused.  I pray often for the power of patience, taking into full consideration also my penchant for ‘NOT SUFFERING FOOLS GLADLY’.  Having lived a life of receiving and causing violence, often instant violence – I need an ‘all-sufficient grace’ from the Lord God to keep me from unloosing the old man within me, and silencing by force the tongues of my worldly detractors.  Therefore, I can empathise completely with those Readers of my Bible Lesson blog who are similarly affected in this impatient manner.  Let us pray one for another that the Lord God Almighty might grant us more power to be patient in times of false accusation and attacks from would-be detractors.

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man (made righteous in Christ Jesus) availeth much.  Elias (Elijah) was a man of like passions as we are…” (James 5:16-18)

However, just read again the patience of our altogether lovely, Holy, impeccable Saviour, Jesus Christ, contained in our selected Bible reading from Marks’s Gospel today.  What a wonder of perfect self-control!  What a Divine patience practiced!  What an example to follow!

“He (Christ Jesus) was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

Utter Humiliation: An entire ‘band of soldiers’ were employed to cruelly humiliate, buffet (punch hard), and ruthlessly abuse the Creator Lord God, Jesus Christ! (Mark 15:16-20)

Scourged: Pilate had the Lord Jesus scourged. “What did being scourged with the Roman flagellum involve?  The victim to be scourged was stripped and made to stretch his arms around a pillar, boulder or another large object, typically at a forward-leaning angle. His hands were then "bound...with thongs" (Acts 22:25) tightly on the other side of the pillar or boulder so that his arms were distended and his back stretched taut. He was then whipped with the Roman flagellum, which is a whip with two or three long leather strips attached to a short wooden handle. Knotted in along the leather strips were pieces of metal and bone that dug into and then tore out flesh during the whipping, which shredded the victim's back from the neck to the buttocks. It wasn't uncommon for the victims of the Roman scourge to die from the ensuing blood loss and/or shock.” (BibleVerseStudy.com)

Buffeted: The Lord Jesus was buffeted by ‘a whole band’ of Roman soldiers. Buffeting definition: “to give a blow with the fist. It describes the coarse and cowardly treatment of Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders and so-called guardians of God’s law. He was not subjected simply to insults and mockery but to violent blows with clenched fists (Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65).  (https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/buffet-buffeting)

“I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6)

The Holy and altogether lovely Son of God, God the Son Jesus Christ, took all this punishment that ‘His people’, you and me, completely deserved to suffer, in order that we might be spared Everlasting Punishment – can we not say together, beloved reader?  Hallelujah! What a Saviour! (Matthew 1:21)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“Let us mark, secondly, in these verses, the meekness and lowliness of our Lord Jesus Christ. When He stood before Pilate’s bar, and was “accused of many things,” He answered nothing. Though the charges against Him were false, and He knew no sin, He was content to endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself, not answering again. (Hebrews 12:3) Though He was innocent of any trans­gression, He submitted to hear groundless accusations made against Him without a murmur. Great is the contrast between the second Adam and the first! Our first father Adam was guilty, and yet tried to excuse him­self. The second Adam was guiltless, and yet made no defence at all. “As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so openeth he not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

“Let us learn a practical lesson from our Saviour’s example. Let us learn to suffer patiently, and not to complain, whatever God may think fit to lay upon us. Let us take heed to our ways, that we offend not in our tongues, in the hour of temptation.

“I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.” (Psalm 39:1)

“Let us beware of giving way to irritation and ill-temper, however provoking and undeserved our trials may seem to be. Nothing in the Christian character glorifies God so much as patient suffering. “…If when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is ac­ceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:20-21) (J.C. Ryle’s Exposition of Mark’s Gospel)

Thought: Let us learn from Christ’s suffering, to be patient when suffering ourselves.

Social Pressure Peril! Mark 15:1-15

Text: “And Jesus....said, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s…”

Mark 12:17.

Good morning, Christian civil servant!  Take care how you fulfil your social services to the State; beware of peer pressures; remember Pilate’s peril; and do what is right in God’s sight.

Sincere Christians serving the State in any given Christian democracy today must be diligent to withstand social pressures to govern or serve the State in manners contrary to God’s will.

 Subtle social pressures to serve Caesar at the expense of faithfulness to Christ are ever present to believers in such positions of civil service, and therefore the dangers of being a latter-day Pilate are manifold. Be vigilant, my friend! 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Pilate’s example of serving Caesar rather than the Lord God teaches us many things about social pressures today; and the peril of yielding to such pressures.  Social pressure can kill!

Pilate’s Perceptions: (V. 10) Pilate’s perceptions of Christ’s plight were sharp and plain.  He knew the Lord Jesus had been brought before him for judgment due to the envy of the chief priests.  Envy, too, is a killer! 

Beware of Envy: “For he knew that the chief priests had delivered Him (Jesus) for envy.” (Mark 15:10) (Acts 7:9) (Proverbs 3:31)

Envy sent Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37:27); Daniel into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16); and the Living Lord Jesus to the Cross at Calvary.  (Matthew 27:15-18)

Envy fuelled the social pressures to crucify the Saviour, but Pilate chose to yield to it.  (Proverbs 27:4)

The decision Pilate made that fateful day brought him infamy in posterity and damnation in Eternity, as opposed to the mere social approval he sought.  (Proverbs 16:8-16)

Pilate’s Pandering: (V. 15) Pandering is defined as the act of agreeing to, or gratifying the evil wishes of others in society.  God’s Word clearly reveals Pilate’s pandering to social pressures via his decision - against his own perceptions of what was right and just - to release the murdering rebel, Barabbas, and crucify the sinless Christ in his place.

Pilate served Caesar instead of God.  He bowed to social pressure, at the expense of serving the Lord.  He gained the world’s esteem - yet lost his own immortal and precious soul.  (Matthew 16:24-26)

Many Christians today who are employed by the government as policemen, prison warders; prison governors; social workers; doctors; and politicians - come under great social pressures to serve the State’s interests at the expense of personal faithfulness to God.

In many cases, their honest stand for truth against State corruption; justice against State tyranny; can cost them their jobs.  Yet, praise God, NOTHING can cost them their soul’s Salvation, and their profoundest peace of mind.  All things work together for their good! (Romans 8:28)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“These verses begin the chapter in which St. Mark de­scribes the slaying of “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” It is a part of the Gospel history which should always be read with peculiar reve­rence. We should call to mind, that Christ was cut off, not for Himself, but for us. (Daniel 9:26) We should remember that His death is the life of our souls, and that unless His blood had been shed, we must have perished miserably in our sins.

“Let us mark in these verses, what a striking proof the Jewish rulers gave to their own nation that the times of Messiah had come. The chapter opens with the fact, that the chief priests bound Jesus and “delivered Him to Pilate,” the Roman Governor. Why did they do so? Because they had no longer the power of putting any one to death, and were under the dominion of the Romans. By this one act and deed they declared that the prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled. “The sceptre had departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet,” and Shiloh the Messiah, whom God had promised to send, must have come. (Genesis 49:10) Yet there is nothing whatever to show that they remembered this prophecy. Their eyes were blinded. They either could not, or would not, see what they were doing.

“Let us never forget that wicked men are often fulfilling God’s predictions to their own ruin, and yet know it not. In the very height of their madness, folly, and unbelief, they are often unconsciously supplying fresh evidence that the Bible is true. The unhappy scoffers who make a jest of all serious religion, and can scarcely talk of Christianity without ridicule and scorn, would do well to remember that their conduct was long ago foreseen and foretold. “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.” (2 Peter 3:3) (J.C. Ryle’s Exposition of Mark’s Gospel)

Christian Civil Servants, by refusing to serve Caesar (i.e., the State) at the expense of their faith, show true allegiance to Almighty Lord God and are saved by His grace from the ultimate peril of social pressures - a Christ-rejecter’s Hell.  Christian – do what is right!

Thought: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve...” - the Lord God, or some worldly Government Caesar?