25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [a] 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 Messiah, 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. To think he did it all for you and I. We are the nails. We are the insults and he loved us enough anyways.
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John Burnett: 21 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 nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the Jews.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [a] 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 Messiah, 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. My
sins put Him on the cross and every time I sin, it is like I am
standing there hurling an insult at Him. Martin Luther said,” We all
carry about in our pockets His very nails,” and we cannot help but
remain humble and more receptive to being led by the Holy Spirit when we
approach the cross with this in mind. There is also a lot of prophesy
being fulfilled in these verses which should give us more confidence in
His Word and His promises.
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Allen Michaels: 21 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.
Roman soldiers had the right to take
for themselves the clothing of those crucified. It really didn’t matter
though as it fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 22:18;
“They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.”
25 It was nine in the morning when
they crucified him. Crucifixion was a
feared and shameful form of execution. The victim was forced to carry
his cross along the longest possible route to the crucifixion site as a
warning to all the onlookers. There were several
shapes for crosses and several different methods of crucifixion. (In
fact, the Jehovah’s “Witless”, are adamant that Jesus did not die on a
cross and that the cross is in fact a pagan symbol. Their insistence on
this
point is curious, given the ambiguity of the Greek word. But they have
worded their New World Translation to say that Jesus died on a “torture
stake” rather than a cross.) Jesus was
nailed to the cross; condemned men were sometimes tied to their
crosses with ropes. In either case, death came by suffocation as the
person lost strength and the weight of the body made breathing more and
more difficult. Sometimes their legs were broken
to speed things up. Being that Christ died in three hours I have to believe that he was almost beaten to death before he was ever crucified.
26 The written notice of the charge against him read:
the king of the jews. A sign stating
the condemned man’s crime was often placed on the cross as a warning.
Because Jesus was never found guilty, the only accusation placed on his
sign was the “crime” of being King of the Jews.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left.
[28] (Some manuscripts include here words similar to Luke 22:37.)
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!
Jesus could have saved himself, but
he endured this suffering because of his love for us AND his enemies. We
had a significant part in the pain and suffering that afternoon because
our sins were on the cross too. Jesus died
on that cross for us, and the penalty for our sins was paid by his
death. The only adequate response we can make is to confess our sins and
freely accept the fact that Jesus paid for it so we wouldn’t have to.
We should never insult God with indifference toward
the greatest act of genuine love in history of forever.
32 Let this Messiah, 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.
Here, as Jesus was preparing to
inaugurate his kingdom through his death, the places on his right and on
his left were taken by two dying—criminals. As Jesus explained to his
two power-hungry disciples (10:35-39), a person
who wants to be close to Jesus must be prepared to die as he himself
was doing. The way to the kingdom is the way of the cross. If we want
the glory of the kingdom, we must be willing to be united with the
crucified Christ.
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Tomorrow's reading for Mark 15:33-41
33 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 34 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?”[f]
35 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 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!”37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer[g] who stood facing him[h] saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph[i]), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.
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