Precious sadness …

Mark 15:21-32

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 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.

This passage is very sad. Sad because Jesus had been so beaten up that he was too weak to carry his own cross, as was normally required at crucifixions. Sad because he refused the wine mixed with myrrh, which was meant to relieve some of his pain, having already vowed that he would not drink wine again until he drank it anew in the kingdom of God. Sad because of the disregard the soldiers had for his suffering, instead rolling dice to see who would get the best bits of his clothing. But mostly sad because of the extreme irony in it.

The insults being hurled at Jesus were all accusations of things he was actually in the process of doing. Jesus is the true temple. So, being crucified and rising three days later was destroying the temple and rebuilding it in that timeframe. Passersby taunted him to come down from the cross and save himself. Jesus did come down from the cross – dead, before rising again. Not to save himself but others. The teachers of the law and chief priests sarcastically called him “Messiah” and “King of Israel”, but that’s who he really was. They also sarcastically say that they want to “see and believe”. Mark has made it clear throughout his gospel that it goes in the other direction. It is only when we believe that Jesus is God that we really see how his life, death and resurrection all work for our salvation.

Jesus, all I can do is thank you again for your sacrifice, made for me. When I read this passage, I am reminded of the physical and emotional pain you went through. Lord, I believe. Help me to see. Amen

Written by Megan Cornell