Reflective Bible Study

As we continue looking at the details Mark includes in the crucifixion portion of his gospel, we come to the section of this event that frames who Jesus died with, and the messages Jesus was receiving from those present. While it would be easy to see these verses and the messages Jesus was receiving as simply the mocking of hostile people, what these people were saying has a profound spiritual truth that might have even encouraged Jesus to press forward to His last breath.

Let’s continue reading and discover what the next verses can teach us about Jesus, and about God’s love for us. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 27, Mark tells us that:

²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him [referring to Jesus], one on his right and one on his left. ^[28] [And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals.”]  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.

Let’s stop reading here. From these verses, it doesn’t seem like anything in the messages Jesus was receiving is positive.

However, let’s look a little closer at what was said. The first “insult” Mark describes coming from people who passed by, and these people said, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” While these people believed or understood Jesus’ statement to refer to the building that was called the temple, John’s gospel tells us Jesus meant His body and He called His body the temple when making that claim.

This means that when these people threw Jesus’ words back at Him, while they intended their reminder to be an insult, they were actually reminding Jesus in the moment of His greatest physical pain, that resurrection was just around the corner!

I doubt anyone present would have realized this subtle encouragement, and I wonder if Jesus had planned early on to make this prediction knowing that at the moment He would need some encouragement from hostile people, He could count on them to remember and repeat this coded message back to Him.

But that isn’t the only insult that has multiple meanings in this passage. The other primary insult Jesus received was from the religious leaders, who Mark describes as saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” Again, similar to how the first “insult” could be reinterpreted to be encouraging, this second insult can also be a great reminder that Jesus could grasp and be encouraged by.

In this second insult, Jesus is reminded why He is on the cross. Jesus faced the cross to save others, not to save Himself.

The only reason Jesus faced the cross was to pay for the sins of those who want to escape the disease of sin and the traps of Satan. Jesus came to redeem sinners and to give those who want to return to God a way to return to God while allowing God’s justness and justice to still be clearly seen. God punishes sin and sinners deserved to be punished. However, someone unworthy of punishment is allowed to step in and take the punishment on themselves, which both allows justice to happen, while also showing love and mercy towards the guilty person. This second insult reminded Jesus why He was on the cross – because He was dying to save all of God’s people throughout history, including you and me!

However, the reason these insults were seen as insults was because of an assumption that those present blinded themselves into believing. This assumption was either something these people had convinced themselves was true, or it was a lie Satan had prompted them to believe in order to give Jesus one big last temptation before His death. The assumption I am referring to is that Jesus did not want to die.

The last big temptation Satan planned for Jesus was the temptation to come down from the cross and to save Himself. This temptation was included in both of the insults that were hurled at Jesus, and the implication is that Jesus needed to do this to prove who He was. This could only be a temptation if it were possible for Jesus to do, and I believe that Jesus was fully capable of leaving the cross if He wanted to.

However, Jesus knew that proving Himself to a skeptic would do no good. If Jesus had abandoned the cross when faced with this last temptation, the religious leaders and skeptics might have believed, or they might have simply come up with another reason they should doubt. One possible doubt would be that the soldiers didn’t do a good enough job driving the spikes into the wood, or that Jesus’ bone structure was uniquely different, allowing the spikes to slip off of Him. A skeptic’s mind can come up with countless reasons to not believe.

If Jesus had abandoned the cross when faced with this temptation, any belief in Jesus would be worthless, because Jesus gave up when times were too tough. Satan’s big claim against God was that God’s law was impossible to keep and impractical for life. Jesus came to demonstrate God’s love and to live a life that fulfilled all of God’s laws, showing us how God’s way is the best way!

Jesus’ chose not to save Himself so that He could save every person who wants to have a new life with God. Jesus used these insults that were thrown His way as subtle encouragements to remind Him why He was on the cross, which was to save sinners, and that the cross would end with resurrection on the third day!

Jesus used the biggest insults His enemies had and He had masterfully planned for them to be a source of encouragement in His darkest, most pain-filled hours leading up to His last breath.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf. Choose to let Jesus’ death pay for the price of your sins and accept the new life that Jesus offers to each of us because of what He faced. Jesus faced the cross for you and me, and His sacrifice only benefits us when we accept His death on our behalf by placing our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Choose to pray and study the Bible to discover a God who is passionately in love with you and a God who would stop at nothing to show His love for you because He wants to redeem you from the life of sin you are living in. God loves sinners, and Jesus came to redeem sinners who want to love God in return.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

For the last few episodes, we have been focusing on the time Jesus spent on the cross. In this episode, we will look at how John’s gospel describes Jesus’ last moments before His death, and what we can learn from what happened.

Our passage for this episode is found in John’s gospel, chapter 19, and we will read it using the God’s Word translation. Starting in verse 28, John tells us that:

²⁸ After this, when Jesus knew that everything had now been finished, he said, “I’m thirsty.” He said this so that Scripture could finally be concluded.

²⁹ A jar filled with vinegar was there. So the soldiers put a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick and held it to his mouth.

³⁰ After Jesus had taken the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!”

Then he bowed his head and died.

At the end of our passage, we come to the darkest point in all of history. This is the point when Jesus gives up His Spirit.

However, before we focus in on this part of our passage, I am fascinated at the earlier portion of this passage, and a phrase John includes in his gospel. In verse 28, John opened this passage by writing: “When Jesus knew that everything had now been finished, he said, “I’m thirsty.” He said this so that Scripture could finally be concluded.”

This phrase and idea jumped out at me, because what about the phrase “I’m thirsty” was significant so that Scripture could finally be concluded.

After doing a little bit of research, I found the answer in an inconspicuous part of the book of Psalms. In Psalm 69, which was written by David, we find the answer. Let’s begin reading a couple verses before our key verse to give this message some context. Starting in verse 19, David writes:

¹⁹ You know that I have been insulted, put to shame, and humiliated.
    All my opponents are in front of you.
²⁰ Insults have broken my heart, and I am sick.
   I looked for sympathy, but there was none.
   I looked for people to comfort me, but I found no one.
²¹ They poisoned my food,
   and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.

In verse 21, which is the last verse we read, David describes being given poisoned food and vinegar to drink. This verse is significant because while this translation describes this as poisoned food, the literal reading we find in several other translations is that this food was mixed with gall, which was a specific type of poison.

This is significant because Matthew’s gospel describes the wine being given to Jesus as containing gall, and here in John’s gospel we discover the second half of this verse being fulfilled as well. When Jesus cries out that He is thirsty, He receives vinegar to drink. Within the gospels record of Jesus’ time on the cross, we have two clear prophecies being fulfilled.

I have no idea if David wrote this psalm in a way that would predict what Jesus would face while on the cross, or if God directed David to face some similar experiences and write them down. Regardless of whether David understood that this psalm was prophetic, John draws our attention to the detail that those in the first century believed that Jesus’ words and experience here on the cross were fulfillments of David’s writing.

However, it is amazing to look at how David describes the situation in the verses leading up to this prophecy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the verses leading up to our key idea are also prophetic to Jesus’ time on the cross. In verses 19 and 20, David describes the situation as “You know that I have been insulted, put to shame, and humiliated. All my opponents are in front of you. Insults have broken my heart, and I am sick. I looked for sympathy, but there was none. I looked for people to comfort me, but I found no one.”

While David may have experienced this, I see Jesus also facing this exact same situation on the cross. While hanging on the cross, Jesus was insulted, put to shame, and humiliated. Jesus faced ridicule from all of His opponents.

I don’t know if insults broke Jesus’ heart or if Jesus felt sick, I know that if Jesus looked for sympathy or comfort while hanging there, He would not find any from those present. While there were people at the cross who were followers of Jesus, and a criminal who had a change of heart, there isn’t much comfort or sympathy present for someone who is being publicly executed. I would suspect that Jesus’ enemies outnumbered Jesus’ allies by a wide margin while Jesus was hanging on the cross.

However, Jesus did not face the cross looking for sympathy or comfort. Jesus had a much bigger reason for facing death that day. Jesus’ big reason for facing death included fulfilling scripture, demonstrating to the universe just how much God loves humanity who had fallen into sin and rebellion, and opening the way for salvation of sinners.

Many people living today do not understand why Jesus died. Many people living today discount Jesus’ death because He was resurrected less than 48 hours later. Many people living today simply do not understand why God could not just forgive and wipe a sinner’s slate clean without having to face death.

I will be the first to say that my knowledge is limited, and there are most certainly other reasons for Jesus’ death than what I will briefly describe. However, let me paint Jesus’ death in a way that you might not have seen before.

Before the beginning of this world, when the Godhead and the angels were living peacefully in heaven, we understand that Lucifer decided to break away from this peace. Lucifer, who had been created perfect, became prideful and unhappy with his position. Lucifer began a rebellion in heaven that centered on the claim that God is not just, God cannot be trusted, and that God’s standard cannot be kept.

Lucifer’s claim, which had not been seen prior to this point in heaven’s history, caused one third of the angels to doubt God and to side with Lucifer.

Lucifer was kicked out of heaven, and for some reason we likely will only fully understand once we reach heaven, Lucifer was allowed to come to earth. Lucifer, tricked Eve into eating the fruit and this started the chain reaction of sin in this world.

According to the Biblical record, sin on Planet Earth is not our responsibility or even our choice. We have our ancestors to blame for its presence. In several places in both the Old and New Testaments, the Bible writers make it clear that sin’s punishment is death.

A fully just God must execute judgment on sinners in order to remain just. However, if God executes sinners at the moment they sin, He cannot be trusted, because those left would be left fearing God instead of loving Him. A completely just God ultimately would be feared rather than loved, and God wouldn’t be trustworthy.

However, if God simply wipes the slate clean for all who have sinned, then He would lose respect because He would not be just. God’s word that sin’s punishment is death would lose all value. Lucifer’s claim against God would stand as valid if God simply forgave all who have sinned, because anyone who God forgives would appear like a favorite when compared with those who God would punish.

Through Lucifer’s multiple angles of accusation, God is left in an almost impossible situation, because He both cannot let sin slide while He also cannot punish sin. God’s solution for sin is to take the punishment for sin on Himself. Through the death of a member of the Godhead who had not sinned, and who did not deserve the punishment, a way is opened for God to still be just, since a penalty was paid for sin, while also being loving and trustworthy, because someone born into sin with no other options is given a second chance.

This is where God’s law is tricky. God’s law demands death for all who have sinned, but God’s law does not specify the duration of the death. Jesus describes the effects of God’s punishment as lasting forever, but this is contrasted with the effects of God’s rewards also lasting forever. While some people believe that an eternity in torment is God’s way of punishing sinners, nothing like that is specified in God’s law.

God’s character is one that takes the punishment for sin on Himself because God loves us. Jesus died for us in order to make the way possible for a sinner to be saved while also allowing God to remain just. Through Jesus’ death, God’s character is proved as just and also loving because He punishes sin while also demonstrating His love for sinners.

This means that at the darkest point in history, when Jesus gives up His spirit, while it looked on the surface like evil won, I suspect that a celebration was going on in heaven, because God’s character was proved as both just and loving, and God demonstrated to all the universe that He is trustworthy.

While I don’t know all the reasons why God has allowed sin to persist until this point in history, I do know that because God is delaying the end of history, we all have the opportunity to make a choice to accept Jesus’ death in place of ours. When we accept Jesus’ life, His death stands in the place of the death we deserve, and we receive His life in place of ours. And when we have Jesus’ life in place of ours, we have eternal life that lasts forever!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and accept Jesus’ gift of His life in exchange for yours. Understand that Jesus’ death exposes Lucifer’s lies and it proves God is both just and trustworthy when faced with the problem of sin.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God. Through prayer and personal Bible study, develop a personal relationship with God, and discover how the relationship we can have with God starting today can extend into eternity!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or be tricked out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

For the next several podcast episodes, we will slow down and focus in on Jesus’ time on the cross. In many ways, this event is the climax of the entire Bible record, and this event could be considered the climax of history, or we could say “His-Story”. However, nothing in this event seemed positive at the time it was happening, that is unless you were Satan or one of the religious leaders pushing for Jesus’ death. This moment in history was evil’s big time in the spotlight.

Let’s read how Mark’s gospel describes the first portion of the crucifixion, and unpack some things we can learn from this event. Our passage for this episode is found in Mark, chapter 15, and we will read from the New Century Version. Starting in verse 22, Mark tells us that:

²² They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull. ²³ The soldiers tried to give Jesus wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he refused. ²⁴ The soldiers crucified Jesus and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing lots to decide what each soldier would get.

²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified Jesus. ²⁶ There was a sign with this charge against Jesus written on it: the king of the jews. 

Let’s stop reading here. Each one of the verses we just read has some fascinating details in it.

First off, the place Jesus was crucified was called Golgotha, and the meaning of Golgotha is “the Place of the Skull”. This is interesting in my mind because to get a name like this, this location needed something special about it. When looking up information about this location, there is some speculation about how Golgotha received this name. However, I found the following detail fascinating. Golgotha may be named this way because it was a hill that resembled a skull, because one church tradition said that Adam was buried there, or because of all the people (or skulls) that were executed there.

When seeing the detail that Adam was buried there, I chuckled a little bit because how could anyone know where Adam was buried since he died before the flood and the flood radically changed the surface of the earth. However, the rational explanation for this theory is that Noah excavated Adams bones and brought them with them on the ark. Then following the flood, Shem and Melchizedek traveled to the resting place of Noah’s Ark, retrieved Adam’s bones from it, and were led by Angels to Golgotha, which is described as a skull-shaped hill at the center of the Earth. This location was also where the serpent’s head had been crushed following the Fall of Man.

I found this theory to be fascinating, and if it turns out to be true, then it gives a lot of symbolism not only to the significance of Jesus death, but that the place Jesus died was connected with the origin of sin and with humanity’s fall. It also connects Jesus with Adam, and in other parts of the New Testament, Jesus is symbolically referred to as a second Adam.

Also in these verses, I find it fascinating that Mark describes Jesus being offered wine mixed with myrrh to drink. This detail is fascinating because one of the gifts Jesus received when He was born was myrrh. The wise men brought Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This means that at the beginning of Jesus’ life, He was brought myrrh and at the end of His life, He again is offered myrrh.

With this recurrence of myrrh, I wonder what might be its significance. Looking at myrrh in the Old Testament, we discover that myrrh is a key ingredient in the oil that was used to anoint and dedicate the temple, priests, and kings. However, this was myrrh used for anointing, not ingesting. Wine mixed with myrrh likely was given as a way to help numb the pain, and I believe Jesus refused this because He did not want rumors circulating that He was drunk while on the cross, even if the amount of wine given wouldn’t likely have been enough to intoxicate someone.

In addition to being in the wine that was offered to Jesus at His death, myrrh shows up again in Jesus’ burial, but in John’s gospel, when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bring a 100 pound mixture of spices, which included myrrh by name. While we aren’t focusing in on John’s gospel in this year of podcasting, myrrh in this context symbolically connects Jesus’ death and His being anointed as priest and king.

Following Jesus refusing the wine, Mark describes the soldiers dividing Jesus’ clothes and gambling for them. While Mark doesn’t give much context or symbolism for this detail, at least one of the other gospel writers includes the detail that this fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy.

After describing Jesus’ clothing being gambled for, Mark tells us that the crucifixion began at nine o’clock in the morning. This detail is important in my mind because it shows how quickly and earnestly the religious leaders wanted Jesus condemned to death, with the sentence carried out. The previous day had ended with Jesus walking freely around Jerusalem as He left the temple that day, but less than 18 hours later, Jesus is dying on a cross.

Many of Jesus’ biggest supporters would have gone to bed that night believing everything was fine, but they would wake up the following morning, get ready for their day, head into Jerusalem, and pass Jesus hanging on the cross. This was evil’s time in the spotlight, and Satan was not going to give up this opportunity to see Jesus’ life end.

The speed of Jesus’ crucifixion and the events of His betrayal and arrest remind me that life can change in an instant. However, while life can instantly become worse when it was better before, Jesus’ death also makes the reverse possible. Because of Jesus’ death, our lives that are destined to end in death because of our sin can instantly be given a different destiny.

When we place our faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and His sacrifice, Jesus accepts our sinful lives as being included in His death, and He gives us the assurance of the life He deserved. The new life Jesus offers us is a life that begins today and it extends into eternity. Just as Jesus spent a brief period of time resting in the grave, we may experience this rest as well, but like Jesus was resurrected, we too can look forward to our own resurrection at the moment Jesus returns to take us home!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus and in His sacrifice on our behalf. Through Jesus’ death, we can have the assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we can have a new life with God that extends into eternity.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. By studying the Bible, discover what God wants to teach you as you come to Him in prayer and study His message of hope.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or drift away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As John describes the time Jesus spent on the cross, he includes a unique detail that draws our attention onto a situation that none of us would want to face. While Jesus is hanging on the cross, John draws our attention onto some women standing near the cross who were close to Jesus, including Jesus’ own mother.

While I believe other gospel writers might include this detail in passing, John draws attention onto it in his gospel because he focuses on a message Jesus shares with His mother, and a disciple who was standing there as well. While the gospel does not name this disciple as John, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this disciple was John, James’ brother, and one of Jesus’ inner circle of three disciples.

Let’s read these few verses and draw out some things we can learn from what happened. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 19, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, John tells us that:

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

In these few verses, we discover an amazing picture of Jesus. In these verses, we discover that while Jesus is in unimaginable pain, the focus He has is not on Himself, but on those who are around Him.

In this particular case, Jesus looks down from the cross and He sees His mother, and a disciple that Jesus knows will live longer than Mary. I suspect that Mary would have been at least 25 years older than John, and with life expectancies in that era being shorter than they are today, I suspect that Mary may have passed away within a decade or two following Jesus’ return to heaven.

While we don’t know the details surrounding how long John cared for Mary in his home, I don’t have any reason to doubt that John protected Mary after Jesus was gone.

Reading this event prompts me to ask the question about why Mary wouldn’t have been cared for by Jesus’ brothers or sisters. Earlier in John’s gospel, we see Jesus spending time with His brothers before they leave for a festival without Jesus, and other gospels have Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters arriving one day with a message for Jesus while He is preaching.

There is no doubt that Jesus had siblings, but this detail in John’s gospel makes me wonder why John would need to adopt Mary. We might not ever have answers for this question on this side of heaven, but I suspect that Jesus knew what He was asking, and John accepted Jesus’ request to care for Mary.

I wonder too if this request was for Mary as well. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to lose one of my children, or to watch them die while I cannot stop it. I also do not want to ever experience this or anything even remotely like this. In Jesus’ death, Mary experiences more pain than most people ever would, and I wonder if Jesus connecting Mary with John was a way Mary could continue forward in life with someone who was close to Jesus and who may have been able to remind her of Him.

In Jesus’ death, the prophecy that Simeon shared with Mary came to pass as well. In Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, verses 34 and 35, Simeon tells Mary, “This child [referring to Jesus] is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. And to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

That last phrase in Simeon’s prophecy came true when Jesus hung on the cross. I wouldn’t doubt that Mary felt like a sword had pierced her soul as she looked up at the face of her Son dying on the cross. I wonder if Jesus’ gift of John was able to help her move forward following this event.

While Jesus would be raised to life the following Sunday, Jesus’ resurrection didn’t really return Jesus to Mary. Instead, Jesus’ resurrection simply was a precursor to Jesus ascending to heaven and not being seen any more. Jesus connecting Mary and John while hanging on the cross was significant because Jesus would no longer be around even if He wasn’t to remain dead.

Regardless of how John and Mary moved forward after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, I am amazed at the darkest part of history, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, He focused on others. While both criminals hanging on crosses with Jesus focused on themselves, and while the soldiers focused on what they could get or win from the death of these three men, Jesus cleanly focused on others till His last breath. Jesus offered forgiveness, and Jesus kept His mind focused on accomplishing the mission that was set before Him.

The cross demonstrates God’s love for us, and everything Jesus does while on the cross helps show this love. Jesus faced the cross for you and for me, and because Jesus faced the cross, paying a debt He did not owe, we can experience a life we don’t deserve when we accept His gift of His perfect life in exchange for ours. When we accept Jesus’ life, we must give up our sinful, sin-stained lives, and step forward with the new life that God gives us. Accepting Jesus’ gift can be done in an instant, but the effects of this decision are seen for the rest of our lives on this earth, and for the rest of eternity with God!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Accept the gift of Jesus’ life in exchange for yours and live each day with Jesus’ life shining through the experiences you face as we move together towards eternity.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through prayer and Bible study, discover just how much God loves you and what He was willing to go through to make a way available for you to be saved!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!