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Christ and Confession
Charles R. Biggs
Text: Mark 15:33-41
Good Friday Service- Knox Orthodox Presbyterian
Church, AD 2000
Let's Pray: Opening
Prayer-
Grant, Almighty God that we may truly marvel at this great act of
compassion and grace that is revealed to us in the cross of Christ. Grant
that we may know the undying love that you have shown to your people in the
cursing of your own Son to satisfy your justice and the reality that you
are the justifier of those who believe upon Jesus Christ.
Grant, dear Lord that we may truly know that if we confess with our mouth
'Jesus is Lord' and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead,
we shall be saved…for with the heart man believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. May the truth of
Scripture give us hope that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the
ungodly…Jesus was put to death for our sins, and raised for our justification.
As we seek to understand your word tonight, we ask for grace in
illumination. We pray that you will open our ears to hear, illumine our
minds to understand, and may we receive in our hearts the truth of your
Word that is real life to us!
We pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Mark's gospel has been called a "passion narrative with a lengthy
introduction." Mark represents Jesus' ministry as a relentless
progression of events whose climax is Golgotha. There are anticipatory allusions
to Jesus' passion that dot the landscape of the Gospel of Mark. This
demonstrates the intimate relation between Jesus' confession of who he is
as Messiah, and his suffering. We see this confession in Mark 2:19-20,
where Jesus intimates his death for the first time. In various other places
in Mark's gospel such as Mark 3:6; 11:18; 12:12, we read of the political
and religious authorities who plot his death, and ultimately, Jesus himself
prophetically announces his rejection and death beginning in Mark 8:31ff;
9:31ff; 10:32-34, 38-39,45.
This Good Friday
Evening, we want to appreciate the drama of the cross and reality of the
God-Man-the Messiah, who has suffered on behalf of his people. Mark wants
us to realize that only in Jesus' death can his Person and Work be fully
appreciated. From the beginning of Jesus' ministry, God himself has
confessed that Jesus was his Son, the true Son of God. In the turning point
of Jesus' earthly ministry as recorded in Mark 8, Peter confesses that he
is the Messiah, and Jesus tells the disciples that because of that reality
he must turn his face toward Jerusalem in order to die. In Mark 8,
Jesus says, "…the Son of Man must suffer many things…and
be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes…and
be killed. Jesus came to die!
Having considered these
highlights of Mark's gospel, we want to now focus our attention on the
narrative before us in Mark 15. We want to consider the events that lead up
to Jesus' crucifixion, then focus our attention
particularly on Mark 15, verses 33-41. In verses 33-41, we want to
appreciate the way Mark records four reactions as Jesus is hanging upon the
Roman cross. The first reaction we notice in the context of the crucifixion
is: 1) the Cosmic reaction upon the cross; 2) the Crucified-Christ's
reaction on the cross; 3) the Cultic Reaction because of the cross (cultus-having to do with the Temple, that is, "a
system or community of religious worship and ritual"); and
climactically, the movement of the narrative brings us to the Centurion's Reaction
in his confession under the cross: "Truly, this man was the Son of
God."
SERMON
In the narrative before us is the great redemptive act of God on behalf of
his people. We want to set the stage by appreciating the context of the
confession: "Truly this man was the Son of God!" made by the
Centurion at the cross. What Mark desires his readers to appreciate and
understand in this context is the great hope we have in the cross of Christ
and the undying and unfailing love of our Sovereign God man-ward.
As we read in Chap. 15,
the first events that transpire are that Jesus is betrayed by both his
fellow Jews and the Gentiles of Rome, then he undergoes the lowest
humiliation and mocking and suffering at the hands of ungodly sinners. Here
we have the great Messiah of Israel that seems like a failed Messiah to his
own in the crowds. The expectation of Messiah's kingdom that would
reestablish Israel over the nations, the kingdom
some in Israel had expected- - this kingdom
had not come with Jesus! The Romans are still a threat to their religion
and way of life, and here Jesus the Messiah of Israel is hanging upon a
heinous Roman cross, [slow tempo: lower voice] dying the death of a
revolutionary, a criminal, a brigand, being crucified among thieves.
Now you will recall
that Pilate had placed a placard on the cross above Jesus' head that read:
"King of the Jews", and as the crowds passed by "wagging
their heads" they mocked Jesus reminding him that if had indeed the
power to destroy the temple and raise it in three days, then why in the
world can he not come down from the cross? Why can he not just overthrow
the Romans and bring the Kingdom of God in with might and power NOW? They had seen his miracles and his
raising men from the dead, but he appears to not be able to save
himself…what kind of paradox is this? From the crowd’s point of
view, Jesus is obviously not the Messiah that Israel had set all their
eschatological hopes upon.
Then the crowds proceed
to tempt Jesus as the Devil had done earlier in his ministry in the
wilderness. The crowds tempt Jesus to come down from the cross and prove
himself. They might have said, "If you want our recognition of you as
Messiah, then prove it! Show us by your power of coming down from this
heinous death that is upon you…if you do not, then we will not
believe. Seeing is everything for some, and the crowds will only believe if
they see the works that they have set before Jesus to perform. But Jesus is
no trickster who performs miracles on demand to please a crowd. He is the
dying Messiah, showing that the way to bring in the Kingdom is not through
might, but through weakness, suffering and death, as he has told his
disciples numerous times before! As true children of the Devil, the crowds
are confessing unbelief and tempting Jesus just as the Devil their father
had done before him. The crowds want
to prevent Jesus from going the way of suffering, the way of weakness, the
way of death, and ultimately, the way of the cross…that wretched Roman
cross…that tree that showed the true curse of Deuteronomy, that
indeed it was true… "Cursed is he who hangs upon a tree."
Now, while the crowds are still mocking and raising their voices in
defiance of their so-called "failed Messiah"…
We read in v.33: 33 Now
when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour.
(1) Here we want to
notice the Cosmic Reaction while Jesus is upon the Cross..
Here is darkness like the dark that covered the land of Egypt when God sent it upon the land
as the last of the plagues, in order to bring his people out of bondage so
that they could worship God in the desert. We notice the darkness that
exists for Jesus and the people who are around the cross. In the Exodus,
God plagued the pagans of Egypt in order to bring out and redeem his
"first-born Son" Israel, now he is plaguing his only Son in
darkness in order to secure the redemption of his people, the redemption
that had been foretold through the Law and the Prophets. Through the prophets
of the OT, the crowds should have known that this kind of cosmic darkness
manifests itself when God's presence comes to earth, and his wrath intrudes
upon the earth as on the Day of Wrath.
The prophet Zephaniah
says, "…the Day of Wrath is a day of trouble and distress, a day
of devastation and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of
clouds and thick darkness" (cf. Amos 5:18). But this day of wrath is
unique, although cosmic in breadth; Jesus is in the darkness performing an
act that only later would prove to be the dawn of a new creation, the
beginning of a holy and new order because of this great accomplishment in
the Person and Work of Jesus.
In v. 34 we read: 34
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
(2) Here we notice the
Crucified-Christ's Reaction on the cross.
You can imagine the thoughts that went through the minds of those in the
crowd that day when they heard Jesus cry out: "My God, My God, why
have you forsaken me?" What was this that was happening on the cross?
God was not blessing and keeping Jesus and making his face shine upon him--
he was cursing Jesus in all his wrath…God does not curse his Messiah!
The crowds, including the mockers and the thieves, would have heard him cry
in painful agony feeling forsaken by God, as he was about to give up his
life, as he was about to die. Here we have the curse of the law and the
sins of the people of God being laid upon the back of Jesus as he suffers
the torments of the wrath of God in this darkness, and as he is undergoing
the great affliction that he came to suffer in his life and ministry as he
had told them earlier!
Yes, he was proclaimed
the Son of God from his baptism at the beginning of his ministry, when he
identified himself with his people. God had confessed that this was the Son
of God for Jesus and all the crowds around him to hear. But as Jesus told
Peter in his confession in Mk. 8, that he came to suffer and go to Jerusalem to die (Mk. 8:31ff)- -Jesus came to die. For all the failures and sins of
his people, and their inability to keep the law of God…Jesus was
punished.
We read in v. 35-36: 35
Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is
calling for Elijah!"
36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a
reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us
see if Elijah will come to take Him down."
The crowds recognized
the quote from Psalm 22-but failed to understand its meaning: "My God,
My God, why have you forsaken me?…Some thought he was calling Elijah,
but if they had understood what he had already told them, Elijah had
already come. You see some of the Jews expected Elijah to return before
Messiah came, and perhaps here their last hope is that if he is a Messiah,
and not just a "failed Messiah" in their eyes, then maybe now
Elijah will come and save him. It seems that the people offer Jesus a drink
to prolong his life on the cross, to see a great feat and miracle such as
this one. But Jesus was crying out in the words of Psalm 22 because he
truly was experiencing what was involved in being the sin-bearer in the
presence of the sinless God; Jesus brought himself in sacrifice to God and
thus the priest became the victim.
In verses 37-38, we
read: 37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
(3) Here we want to
appreciate the Cultic Reaction because of the Cross.
In verses 37-38, we should notice a turning point in Mark's narrative. As
Jesus dies, let us understand the reactions that follow as we near the
climax. Remember, the cosmic darkness had covered the land, Jesus cries in
agony as he takes upon himself the curse of God and he "breathes his
last". Now Mark records that the curtain of the temple was torn- -
from top to bottom. What can this mean?
The temple was the place of worship and presence of God, but after
this great sacrificial act there is no more need of such a temple. The
temple pointed forward as a type to the true substance of God dwelling with
man in Jesus Christ and now that the substance had come, there was no more
need for the type. Here we see the temple desecrated by God himself in the
body of Jesus. Jesus' death created a new way into God's presence.
The temple also was
primarily important for ethnic Israel, and as we will see in a moment
this ethnic distinction of the worship of God would be changed forever. The
way to God was indeed through a cross and not merely by the blood of
beasts, but with Jesus' own sacrifice. Only the Son of God as our great
High Priest could accomplish such a way to God. This means that the via delorossa
became the via deus-the way of suffering became the true way to God for
those who believe. But the crowds,
alas, do not understand. Although Jesus had come to
truly save his own, his own received him not- - many of his own were
mocking him and confessing unbelief! Even in the midst of these cosmic and
supernatural occurrences while Jesus was on the cross; even as Jesus quoted
the Psalms and fulfilled what was written of him in the Law and the
Prophets, the crowds stood encircling him- - and mocking him. The beloved Messiah
of Israel was revealed before their very eyes, in all the suffering that
had been foretold, but their eyes could not see because of the veil that
covered them.
But notice,
"opposite Jesus"…as an individual makes his way to the
center of the stage and as the noisy crowds seem to disappear from the
focus of Mark's narrative…
…Notice in the
distance a lone centurion who has been observing carefully these voices and
the acts going on around him. This centurion has been busy carrying out
Pilate's orders in this crucifixion, as his chief executioner. But suddenly
the centurion is in the midst of the darkness that is covering the whole
land, and we should notice how startling and awesome this must have been
for him…a stranger to the covenant of Israel and to the full revelation of
God's Almighty power.
In verse 39, we want to
appreciate the confession of this lone centurion as he watches Jesus suffer
and die. The moment Jesus dies, we read: 39 So when the centurion, who
stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last,
he said, "Truly this Man was the Son of God!"
(4) Here is the climax
of our passage: The Centurion's Reaction under the cross.
The centurion of Rome had been watching the
crucifixion, and listening to the crowds from the beginning of the
crucifixion of Jesus until now. When Jesus dies, he cries out: "Truly
this man was the Son of God!" What could have made a pagan, Gentile
Roman Centurion make such a statement? He had crucified many men, and it was his job
to make sure that all the crucified rebels were dead and taken down
afterwards in order to satisfy Roman justice. This day when the Centurion
awoke from his night of sleep, surely he would never have expected to make
such a declaration about a so-called Jewish Messiah by the end of the day.
We must understand and
appreciate Mark's purpose in writing his gospel to the Church at Rome. At the time it was written,
the church in Rome was undergoing persecution for
their faith in Jesus Christ. The very thought of a Roman Centurion would
have caused chills to run up and down their spines. The Roman Church was
being persecuted by these same Roman centurions because of their confession
of Christ. For the Roman church, such an image of a centurion meant at best
persecution, at the worst for them- -death!
But think of the great
hope it would have brought them to see a Roman Centurion to be one of the
first to confess belief in this Jesus after his death on the cross. We see
the irony here that Mark narrates for us.
A Roman centurion, an executioner of Rome, who was flesh and blood was hanging Jesus the God-Man on the cross; a man
like no other…and in hanging him on the cross, the Centurion would never
have realized at the time that he was securing his own salvation through
the mysterious providence of God. What great hope for all of us that the
LORD does his work in spite of sinful men and the devil's threats- -he is
faithful and powerful to save! We must ask ourselves as did the centurion
at the cross…the question Mark wanted his readers to ask: "Who
is this Jesus?"
As the centurion makes
his confession of Christ, we look back at the cosmic context of the
darkness surrounding the cross, and remember that the darkness of Egypt was God's wrath against a pagan
power to redeem his people Israel. Now we see the darkness as the
place where God is in Christ redeeming the world. His wrath is poured out on
his dear and beloved Son and his hand of grace is extended to the pagan
power of which the Centurion is a part.
This was the Day of Passover in Palestine and this Centurion had no High
Priest, nor lamb for this celebration, but in the
crucifixion, Jesus became both his High Priest and the sacrifice on
his behalf.
We look at the cry of
Jesus on the cross, being forsaken by his Father and God and experiencing
the wrath of our loving God, so that he might be the Savior of this
centurion of Rome. We must be reminded that as in
Peter's confession, although flesh and blood hung Jesus on the cross, flesh
and blood did not reveal to the Centurion that this was the Son of God, but
Jesus' gracious Father in heaven. This is an act of real wrath and grace as
Jesus takes upon the wrath so that men like pagans and Centurions and
Romans and sinners like us might be saved. It is interesting to note the
contrast in these verses. In the mocking of the crowds, their insistence
was for Jesus to come down so that they might believe upon him, but for the
Centurion it is just in his remaining on the cross that saves him by the
grace of God's loving power.
The Temple curtain was now torn and there
would now be no separation between Jews and Gentiles, but to all the
nations, through the Seed of Abraham which is Christ. They too would be
partakers and adopted as sons because of this great work that was happening
on the cross. This is the climax of God's redemption of his people, a
supernatural turning point in history in the heavens and the earth. The
true fulfillment of the covenant promises made to Abraham: "Through
you shall all nations be blessed."
The confession was the
result of the Centurion's revelation from God that Jesus truly was the Son
of God and that there truly was a power in the cross to save…the only
power to save was through Jesus' suffering and death, his laying down his
life to ransom men and redeem men out of their sins so that they might be
forever reconciled to God. Although Mark has brought the Centurion of Rome
to the center stage, it is clear that it is the suffering, dying Messiah on
the cross that is the prime actor of this scene. It is just in his work on
the cross that brought hope to the church in Mark's day, and that brings hope
to us today.
People of God, ask
yourself: Did the Centurion ever imagine that such an act, such a
confession would have passed from his lips that day…No! But what hope
for us all! For all of us pagans, for all sinners who look to the cross and
see their sins being punished in the body of Jesus…Jesus being filled
up to the uttermost with the wrath of God. On the cross, the face of God
turned away from Jesus in order to forsake him, in order that God might
turn his face of grace toward us who are like the Centurion. On the hill of
Golgotha something of cosmic significance happened when Jesus was on the
cross. It was a pivotal act in the history of God's redemption of, and
reconciliation with man the sinner, and here Mark shows us a true portrait
of God's grace even in the midst of darkness, because of a Messiah who dies
on a cross, on a hill called the "place of the skull." [pause]
But all of you who have
looked to the cross and exclaimed, "Truly this was the Son of
God" have felt and understood what was revealed to the Centurion at
the cross. Blessed are those who see and believe, but even more blessed are
those who do not see--yet believe-- and that is everyone who has looked to
Jesus' work on the cross by faith in order to be reconciled to God and to
have God's wrath propitiated and their sins washed away. The hope that we
have because of this great act and word of God to us today, is that we
still hear and "see" and believe upon Jesus Christ alone for the
forgiveness of our sins. This is great news! Those who were separated by God, have now been brought near through the blood of the
cross!
You will notice in our
final verses, 40-41, Marks gives us a true picture of the New Covenant Church! Behind the Roman centurion are
the women to whom Christ had already shown his grace and favor. Now we see
Jew and Gentile, male and female, as one people, confessing together one
Christ.
Conclusion
What we must understand about the significance of the cross in Mark 15 is
that we have all been the mockers- - the crowds who have confessed
unbelief-at the foot of the cross. BUT by God's grace we have also stood
"opposite" Jesus with the centurion and confessed among the
mockers: "Truly this man is the Son of God." And now we also make
our confession and reaffirm our commitment to the suffering Messiah,
knowing that God was indeed in Christ reconciling the world to himself! God
made Jesus who had no sin to be sin for us…so that we might be the
righteousness of God in Christ…what hope…what a God…what
a crucified Christ!
The centurion's
confession implicitly asks the question: "Have you stood before the
cross and recognized that here there is an act of love which marks out this
man as none other than the Son of God?" Have you learned to recognize
that on Calvary, Jesus- -even through his
fears, his doubts, his final bitter temptations-
-was completing the obedient vocation he had undertaken? Have you attempted
to bring the pains and puzzles and tragedies of your own life into the
searching, but amazingly loving, light of that cross?
In conclusion, let us
remember one of the great classics of music: Johann
Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew's Passion. By recalling this piece of music we
can appreciate what Bach did at the conclusion of his musical drama.
Towards the close of Bach's Passion, the centurion's words ('Truly, this
was the Son of God') are given not to a soloist, as you might expect, but
to the whole chorus, singing softly and penitently. They are not in the key
one might expect for soloist or chorus, but are transposed into the key
normally reserved for Christ himself.
And into the bass line
Bach has woven the musical letters which represent his own name. That is a
true reading and re-presentation of the centurion's words. They are the
response of the awed and grateful people of God to this
all-but-unbelievable revelation of love; and within that response we are,
each of us, to write our names into the chorus. And the key in which we
sing is not our own, a merely human key: it is the key which conforms, as
now at last because of the cross and the Spirit we can conform, to the
initiating, sovereign love of God in Christ. He has been singing his own
song to his people all this time; and now, because of his death, we are at
last able to respond in the same key. Truly, we say, this man dying for us
is the Son of God. On the cross we see dying love, and we recognize it as
the undying love of God in Christ. [Quote from N. T. Wright’s Book, The Crown and the Fire, Eerdmans, 1992.
CRB
Closing Prayer:
Grant, Almighty God and Father:
That in the weakness and frailty of our sinful lives, we look to the
weakness of Christ upon the cross and receive all the strength that your
saving grace provides to us.
Grant, that we may be able to pray with the Apostle Paul that we be found
in Christ, not having a righteousness of our own- - that which is of the
law- - but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith.
May we know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship
of his sufferings, and become conformed unto his death- -if by any means we
may attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Grant Almighty God,
that we see our whole salvation and all its parts comprehended in Christ.
If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that its is
"of him";
If we seek any gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in Jesus' anointing;
If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion and power;
If we seek redemption, it lies in Jesus' passion; if acquittal, in Jesus'
condemnation; if remission of the curse, in Jesus' cross; if satisfaction,
in Jesus' sacrifice; if purification, in Jesus' blood; if reconciliation,
in Jesus' descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in Jesus' tomb.
If we seek newness of life or immortality, it is in Jesus' resurrection; if
inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in Jesus' entrance into
heaven.
If we seek protection, security, if abundant supply of all blessings, these
are found in Jesus' Kingdom.
In short, since riches of every kind of good abounds
in Jesus, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other!
We pray dear Father that we may truly know this day that Jesus was put to
death for our sins and raised for our justification.
We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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