Focus:
kjv@Revelation:14:12 @ Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
(
FaithOfJesus thread begun by r
RandyP )
Today's Verse:
kjv@Mark:15:33-41
kjv@Mark:15:33 @ And when the sixth hour was come, there was darknes over the whole land until the ninth hour.
kjv@Mark:15:34 @ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
kjv@Mark:15:35 @ And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
kjv@Mark:15:36 @ And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
kjv@Mark:15:37 @ And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
kjv@Mark:15:38 @ And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
kjv@Mark:15:39 @ And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
kjv@Mark:15:40 @ There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
kjv@Mark:15:41 @ (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
Today's notes:
Context:
- Before - KING OF THE JEWS
- After - beheld where He was laid
Key Concepts:
What is God's righteousness observed doing?:
- Forsaking Jesus
- Jesus crying out in in a loud voice (which is impossible but by God's power in the lengthy and accumulative suffocation experienced in crucifixion).
What does this tell us about God's righteousness?:
- The question "Eloi, Why hast thou" is directed to us not the Father. It is not a shock to Jesus that this has to be so. It is not a sign of a failed attempt by Jesus to secure the Father's blessing. Father and Son are both well aware of why this has to be and have given themselves to it. To not understand this is to not understand the significance and manner of this sacrifice above all others. The answer to "why" is because it had to be so to redeem and save the fallen creation mankind from certain and overwhelming judgment; because there was no other way for it rightfully to have been done. This is what the three Father/Son/Spirit where willing to perform to get this salvation done.
- At the same time Jesus is asking us why, He is asking us in a voice that only could have been given Him by the Father. "Hast" has become past tense.
How is man reacting?:
- Many holding out the curiosity of what might still happen. Elias coming is not a biblical prophecy, it is a fabrication from what they think that they have just heard.
- The women folk mainly who have known and followed Jesus all this time are watching from afar loyal to the end. It is their testimony likely (and John's) that Peter and so then Mark will be relying on regarding these events. Mark would also know from his mom (another Mary) who hosted early church gatherings where this would have been discussed including the coming Pentecost and easily could have attended this crucifixion unanimously with this broader group indicated here.
Notes:
Jesus' mother Mary is now being identified as the mother of two of His half brothers James and Joses; her role has abruptly changed. Note also Mary Magdalene being identified before this Mary. If you didn't know who James the less and Joses were you wouldn't have known this Mary from the other Marys. This is likely done with spiritual and literary intent by Mark. Note John's mother Salome also being listed by name (she is held by some to be Mary's probable sister). These women last to see Jesus alive will also be first witness to His empty tomb three days from now.
The women folk are identified in two branches, the women from Galilee which long had ministered unto Him, the many other which came up.
The centurion would have known having witnessed other crucifixions that audible speech would not be humanly possible at this stage of Jesus agony and long drawn out suffocation. He immediately recognizes the occurrence for what it was. It was more than enough proof to him of Jesus' messianic claim. This from a man that earlier may have gambled for the Lord's garments or worse.
Key Messages:
What does this say about our present condition?
- To the human way of reasoning the death of Jesus is baffling. Why He would have to die for their sins would be foreign in large part because men do not accept the premise that their sins, each of them, are worthy of death. The holiness of God is purposely left out of their summation, that HE cannot sin nor can their be sin associated with HIM, just as the utter depravity of man that there is nothing man himself can do about his sinfulness, it has to be done by someone sinless for him.
- Sin can best be described as there being two contradictory images of God and Jesus. The one meant by God to influence complete spiritual renewal and transformation. The other all others being manufactured not by HIM but by our better intentions and intellect and vacuous misunderstandings of our present condition and reconciliation, the one that is as much of the problem as not holding any image (if even possible) at all. Sin is being without the truest image of God and Christ, without being under it's influence in us/on us/through us, being left to operate only in ours. God without Christ and or Christ without God is a manufactured image having been disproved by the testimony of these four gospels and of all holy scripture, the one revealing and glorifying the other in full. Everything from that the image forward is either sin or it is for now the process of being separated by God and Christ into the glory and virtue/partaking of His incorruptible nature that we we are called/brought to. Until Jesus' death and resurrection and ascension that truest image was not in any way available only the hope of it. It is that one image that is given by HIM (as opposed to the many manufactured) that is to rescue us from ourselves, the physical adamic seed of sin we are born with and the curse rightfully pronounced on earthly creation up until such time as such sin could be completely eliminated from the saved. No other image can approach this in the slightest. This plan is ultimately righteous because it is able to mercifully touch and affect sin to it's surgical elimination without sinning or becoming sin itself in the process. Earth and mankind are safely quarantined from the rest of creation, diagnosis proven to the likely consent of the infected patient, time frame for treatment completion set, the cure strategically injected, time for the sin antibody to take affect in as much tissue as is available, time frame completed and clinical segregation of the remaining irreversible contamination rendered, earthly creation restored back into all of creation. Righteous to the very last detail. Performed completely by Father Son and Spirit without manufacturing from inescapably sinful man.
Further Resources:
Comment Board:Mark:15:33-41
index:FAITHOFJESUSDEVOTION - Devotional Index
strkjv@Mark:15:33-41 rwp@Mark:15:33-41 mhcc@Mark:15:33-41
FaithOfJesus2 - Devotion Index