Flashback Episode — The Son of God: Mark 15:33-41

If I were to think about the whole story of the Bible and look closely at its plotline, I would probably conclude the climax of the entire Bible is the moment where Jesus gives His last breath. While the resurrection that happened at the end of that weekend is one of the most exciting and earth-shattering events, the whole salvation plan rests on Jesus laying down His life and dying for humanity. The sacrifice Jesus made for us is way more than we can truly comprehend, and because of this, the crucifixion marks the climax of God’s salvation plan.

Our passage for this week covers the exact moment Jesus gives His last breath. All four gospels include this moment, and each gospel has unique details about this event that the others don’t include. All four gospels also include many details that convey a lot of meaning. While I’d love to cover all the details and nuances in each of the gospels that record the final moments of Jesus’ crucifixion, we don’t have enough time, and I truly don’t believe I know or even realize all the nuances that the gospel writers bring into this part of their record.

But with that said, I will touch on some things I see from one of the gospel writers. The gospel of Mark, gives a good overall picture of the last hours and minutes of Jesus’ death. Using the God’s Word translation, let’s read Mark, chapter 15, starting in verse 33:

³³ At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

³⁵ When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, “Listen! He’s calling Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. The man said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”

Pausing briefly while reading this, we see a picture given of the last minutes Jesus was alive. Darkness had covered the land, and it might have appeared as though darkness had won. Jesus cries out a phrase giving us a clue into what He was thinking and feeling. The darkness and the coldness of death approaching had overshadowed Jesus from feeling God’s presence with Him. This possibly was the only time Jesus ever experienced the feeling of being outside of God’s presence, and this made the final hours on the cross feel like Jesus was truly alone.

However, I am positive that Jesus was not alone, because in the moments when Jesus was hanging on the cross unable to feel God’s presence, it would not be a stretch to think Satan was there casting doubts into His mind. Satan was likely casting doubts about Jesus’ sacrifice not being enough and that it wouldn’t be accepted or appreciated by a single human being. Satan possibly even tormented Jesus into thinking that God tricked Him into dying and that God’s absence meant that God was rejecting Him.

While none of Satan’s lies were even close to being true, I’m sure that Satan used his strongest temptations during the moments when Jesus could not feel God’s presence with Him.

As Jesus was nearing death, He cried out His final prayer and question to God. Perhaps this was because He was becoming delirious because of blood loss, or maybe Satan’s temptations were getting to Him.

Whatever the reason, the Hebrew word for God used here is “Eloi” which also sounds like the name Elijah. This prompts people who were present to think Jesus was calling Elijah to come help Him when that wasn’t the message at all.

Perhaps this cry, and the one that followed it, signaled the end and it drew the crowd of onlookers to pay attention because in the next two verses, we read the climax of the salvation plan. Picking back up in verse 37, we read:

³⁷ Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died. ³⁸ The curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the officer who stood facing Jesus saw how he gave up his spirit, he said, “Certainly, this man was the Son of God!”

In these two verses we just finished reading, Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died, and at that exact instant, the curtain in the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place split in two from top to bottom. It was like an angel dove to earth and ripped the thick, ornate, multiple-layers-thick curtain into two sections like it was a single sheet of paper.

The curtain splitting is symbolic of an accepted sacrifice, and it draws our attention to Jesus’ sacrifice being enough to satisfy and fulfill the whole Jewish sacrificial system. The sacrificial system in Jewish law was set up to foreshadow Jesus’ death, and while it is possible that only Jesus had actually made the connection at the time of His death, thousands of people following the resurrection would learn the symbolism after Jesus helped the disciples understand it.

However, the detail about the curtain splitting in the temple is a side-note that is added. That happened several miles away from the cross. At the moment Jesus gave up His spirit, the reaction of a Roman officer present summed up the conclusion of everyone present. This officer said to those around him, “Certainly, this man was the Son of God!”

From one of the most secular people present at the crucifixion, and likely one of the least likely to believe in Jesus, comes what is probably the most profound statement in the entire Bible. The Roman officer states without any doubt that Jesus was God’s own Son.

This officer’s declaration incriminates all those who pushed for Jesus’ arrest, trial, and death. From Judas, to the chief priests and religious leaders, to Pilate who was responsible even if he didn’t want to take responsibility, and to the guards who were following orders, after the dust had settled from this event, there was no doubt that Jesus was innocent, and that God’s Son had just been crucified.

However, while this is the climax of the salvation plan, we are ending this podcast on a sad note. At the moment this passage ends, it seems like all hope is lost.

But we know what happens next in the story. We know that just days later, the resurrection would happen – but those alive at this point didn’t realize this.

So as we conclude our podcast episode for this week, probably the biggest key that we can all take away is this: Even when it seems like all hope is gone and that evil is winning, know that victory is just around the corner and that Jesus ultimately triumphs. Even if at times it seems like Satan has the upper hand, Satan’s achievements are short lived because Jesus’ death marked God’s ultimate victory over sin.

Instead of leaving us with the typical closing challenges, let me close by simply challenging each of us to intentionally choose Jesus when we face times of hopelessness, and know that God is with us and He loves us when we are going through dark times and dark places in our lives.