Carry That Cross

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

CARRY THAT CROSS

Mark 15:21-22

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).

NIV

We should be taking the whole of this event, right up to the end when Jesus breathes his last, but it is too much to take in and consider how this affects us. We do not know much about this Simon of Cyrene, other than the reason he was pressed into service. It is certain Jesus was at the point of exhaustion. He had started the day before in Bethany and made his way into Jerusalem for the Passover meal. At the conclusion of that meal, he and his disciples walked back across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane, and by now it was already evening. At this time Judas and the crowd had shown up and arrested Jesus, taking back across the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem to the house of the high priest. This trial went on all night and it was not until morning that they determent that he was worthy of death and took him to Pilate. At this point, Jesus had been up, without sleep for twenty-four hours and the day was not over yet. After hours of this so-called trial at Pilates and then being flogged and beating, he now is required to carry his own cross for several miles. It is no wonder, he faltered under the weight and so here is this Simon, pressed into service to carry the cross of Jesus. How many of us have been pressed into service to carry our own cross? The reality is that we all have been called, or pressed into service, to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. It seems natural that we might think following Jesus is obeying all his commands, and indeed we are called to that task. But in another sense, as we are here in the moment of the cross, it might also be seen that we are to pick up our cross and follow Jesus to Golgotha. There is where we crucify our old self, dying to self, in a sense, and as we will see, be buried with Jesus, and be resurrected a new creature with Christ. The whole of our Baptism was playing out our burial and resurrection, so it would make sense we first needed to pick up our cross and follow Jesus to the place of the skull. The problem seems to be that old self does not want to stay on that cross. It wants to raise up and demand to be heard. This is the war that wages within, as Paul says. Why can’t it just stay dead? The fact may be that we did not crucify it, or are actually able to do so. We want to. We want that old self to remain dead and buried, but this war is a fact, and we do wage this war within. We do that which we do not want to do and we do not do those things we want to do. That is not an absolute, all the time, for there are times when we are able to say no, and not do that which we do not want to do and there are times that we do that which we want to do. That is we do that which we have been called to do, but at times we relapse into an attitude, an emotion, a response, and even a behavior we have been called to nail to our cross. We have been pressed into service and need to continue to carry that cross.

Thank You Jesus!

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

THANK YOU JESUS!

Mark 15:16-20

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

NIV

This is not the best part of the gospel in one sense, in fact, in reality it is rather gruesome in the way the Roman soldiers treated Jesus. However, in another sense, this beating of Jesus was to fulfill that which was written about him.

Isa 53:5

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

NIV

Surely, this was not an easy thing for Jesus to go through and the pain and suffering he experienced at the hands of man, were in fact for man. We do not like to think of how Jesus was tortured, both emotionally and physically by those men, but at the same time by what he went through, we have been healed. We have peace with God, because of the punishment Jesus took upon himself. All the open wounds, all the blood that was spilled in this beating was a healing balm for us. Often it is thought that the spear which pierced his side, is the blood that he spilled, but maybe all this blood that was a result of his beating, his flogging, was what brought us peace and healing. Sometimes it is thought how awful the scene was on that cross, Jesus nailed through his wrists and feet, being mocked by many, but also loved by those who were in agony watching him on that cross. Yet the scene here that Mark mentions briefly, without much of the details, had to be unimaginably horrific. This seems like the same way in which the church usually deals with holy week, with black Friday being the most solemn occasion and only on Easter Sunday do we celebrate as, He has risen, He has risen indeed. Yet his resurrection did not bring us salvation or the forgiveness of sin, His death on the cross did that. In the same way, we usually feel sorrow and grief over this beating, this flogging and mocking of Jesus, but by it, He brought us peace and healing. Through the violence of flogging, we have peace. Through the blood of His wounds, we have healing. Yes, it is not easy to think of his pain and suffering, and painful to watch that movie produced by Mel Gibson, yet on the other hand, perhaps it should be a time of celebration of what Jesus did for us. We know that sounds a little weird, but everything that Jesus did, all his life and death was for our benefit. Everything He said and did was to show us the way, to bring us back into full relationship with the Father, and have eternal life. Jesus came for us. We are the reason He did everything, including his terribly violent experience. Thank you, Jesus!

Who Do We Listen to

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

WHO DO WE LISTEN TO

Mark 15:3-15

3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of." 5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 6 Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. 9 "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. 12 "What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them. 13 "Crucify him!" they shouted. 14 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

NIV

Like a lamb led to the slaughter is how this fulfills the scriptures. Jesus would not defend himself against the onslaught of accusations of the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders. They had to have presented their case before Pilate if he was going to condemn Jesus to crucifixion. This form of punishment was for crimes against the Roman rule of law, not for any Jewish matter. Jesus would not give any response to the claims by the Jewish leaders, but that was already spoken of by Isaiah, as we started with:

Isa 53:7

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

NIV  

This had to make the Chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders even angrier and upset at him. Pilate must have been confounded by his silence. From the other accounts, we know that by now the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders, had gathered a crowd and had worked them into a frenzy against Jesus. How could just a few have so much influence on a crowd of people, who many may have had some positive experience with Jesus in the past, is amazing? For the whole crowd to yell and keep yelling louder and louder, “Crucify him” somehow does not make any sense. Again, Mark does not give us the details about Pilate's offer to release Jesus, but instead, they stirred the crowd up to want Barabbas released and Jesus to be crucified. Envy leads to hatred, and hatred destroys the heart of men. Envy was the core issue at the center of these actions by the chief priests, teachers of the law, and the elders. There positions of dominance over the hearts and minds of the common people were so severely threatened by Jesus, and it would appear or at least it seems to us, they became envious of him, for the people followed after him with such adoration, which they felt they should have from the people, not this Jesus. Their hearts were darkened by this jealously and envy until hatred overpowered them. This is a lesson we need to take to heart. There will always be someone who has more, is more liked, that has more respect and more influence on how people think. They will always be someone who is better equipped, has more education, more abilities, and more material things than we have. The key to being content is given to us in the peace that Jesus gives us. This peace, this Greek word carries the meaning of a soul, which is us, that is assured of its salvation through Christ and does not fear anything from God and is content with its lot in life, whatsoever that is. These men missed that kind of peace because of their greed or desires of their own. Life is far better if we leave that kind of life behind and move forward with the peace of Christ in our hearts. Let us not listen to the crowd, nor those who would incite them into a frenzy, but rather let our hearts listen to that still small voice within, guiding us to a life of peace.

Our King

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

OUR KING

Mark 15:1-2

15:1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 "Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate. "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

NIV

We have come to the beginning of the cross, but first, we must go through Pilate. The Jews had no right to have a man crucified, so they had to bring Jesus to the Romans for such a murderous act. We are not sure why the chief priests and elders and the teachers of the law had to deliberate all night as we had just been to the house of the high priest and it was decided then that Jesus was worthy of death. Maybe they had to decide how they were going to do this and it was determined they had to hand him over to the Romans and how they were going to convince Pilate that Jesus needed to be crucified. Nevertheless, Jesus is here in front of Pilate, bound by the Jews. Why did they bind him? Did they think he was going to try to escape? We think it was more of their show of force, to show their authority for the sake of the people. What is interesting in the first exchange between Pilate and Jesus, at least according to Mark, is that Pilate asks Jesus if he is the king of the Jews. That in itself was not against Rome, as they did not mind that the countries they occupied had their own leaders, for that kept the peace and that was more important in occupation, so taxes could be collected, peacefully. What is interesting is that Jesus admits to Pilate that He is the King of the Jews. For surely Jesus is the King of kings, and He is the Lord, fully in charge of the Jews and all this is going exactly according to His plan. We will see later that Pilate finds no fault in Jesus, but for now, we have to believe the Pilate is not concerned about Jesus being king of the Jews. Yet, he asks and Jesus says, “Yes, it is as you say”. We know we usually refer to Jesus as Lord, as most of the scriptures do. Yet, because we are the wild olive branch grafted in, we would also be considered Jews in that respect. In addition to the grafting in, we have to remember that Paul talks about who is a Jew and it is not because of the circumcision of the flesh, but if the heart that makes a man a Jew. This may fit into the whole idea of all of Israel will be saved. For all those who have been circumcised of the heart are the true Israel. It would seem out of the character of God to save all those chief priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the Law, especially those who hated Jesus. When we consider all the Israelites that refused to enter the Promised Land and how God turned them around and made them wander for forty years until they all died, and then brought their grown children into the land. All of Israel may well not be all of the people who were once Israelites, but all the people who have circumcised their hearts, which is us. So then we are the true Jews in that sense and although Jesus is our Lord, He is also our King. Hail to our King.     

No Denying Him

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

NO DENYING HIM

Mark 14:66-72

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. 68 But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway.   69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." 70 Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." 71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about." 72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

NIV

Jesus told Peter this would happen and Peter insisted he would never do such a thing, that he was willing to die with Jesus. However, here he is doing exactly what Jesus said he would do. Three times he had the opportunity to admit he was one of Jesus’s disciples, and it wasn’t to anyone who would have arrested him or beat him. The first was a servant girl, although she was a servant girl of the high priest, and possible she would have gone back and told the master, the high priest, about Peter, had he said that he was not with that Nazarene Jesus. It was this same girl who was talking with the others and telling them Peter was with Jesus and he denied her statements again. The third time he was even more emphatic about not even knowing what they were talking about as if he had never even heard about this Jesus. It seems almost impossible to imagine this Peter denying Jesus three times, and yet he did. Peter was the one who walked on water. Peter was the one who said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter was the one who saw Jesus transfigured. Peter saw Jesus raise several people from the dead. How could he do such a thing as to deny he even knew Jesus? Certainly, we would not deny Jesus. But then we live in a culture that does not care that much whether we know Jesus or not. We can freely admit that we are Christians, but then in doing that it does not mean that we are or have been with Jesus, that we are one of his disciples. Many people claim Christianity as their religion, but in our culture, that does not necessarily mean they are followers of Jesus. It is easy to say that we believe in God, many people believe there is a God, or at least hope there is a God so they can believe they will go to heaven when they die. But do we talk about being a follower of Jesus? To we talk about being a disciple of Jesus? Do we talk about the fact that the only where to eternal life is believing in and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior? Do we press that point? Do we allow people to skip that truth and simply affirm them as being saved because they say they believe in God? If so, is that a form of denying Jesus? We think we have to just put the truth, the whole truth out there, including the name of Jesus, not just God in our conversations. We need to include those words about being born again, about accepting Jesus as our Savior, and about it is only through Jesus that our sins are forgiven. Every time a conversation about God ensues, we need to use the name of Jesus, no denying him.    

Worthy of Death

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

WORTHY OF DEATH

Mark 14:63-65

63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.

NIV

We are still at the house of the High Priest and soon we will be in the courtyard with Peter, but for now, we need to consider what occurred after the high priest heard Jesus’s answer, saying “I am”, which meant he admits being the Christ, the Son of the Most High. This was more than these men could bear, they were so afraid of losing their grip on controlling the people, and losing their positions of authority. This tearing of his clothes was an expression of great grief or calamity. This high priest would have been in his ordinary clothes, as it was forbidden for him to rent his priestly garments as they were handed down from father to son over the generations. Nevertheless, it also could have been nothing more than a big show to demonstrate his own piety in front of the whole Sanhedrin. It may not be that far off from today when there are people who appear to be so holy when in front of other believers. True humility forbids such exhibitions. They condemned Jesus as worthy of death. The one who has no sin whatsoever, the holy one of God, the Lamb who was slain for our sin, was considered worthy of death. We are the ones who are worthy of death, but Jesus took our place. How can we be anything but contrite when we consider how unworthy he was of death yet he orchestrated his own death to gain victory over it so we, who are so worthy of death, could have life. What is so troublesome is how they treated Jesus after their condemnation of him. These were supposed to be holy men, leaders of a spiritual nature, serving in the worship of God, the care of His temple and yet they spit on Jesus, and blindfolded him. Why bother to blindfold him? They taunted him, wanting him to be able to tell them which of them were hitting him. Mark does not give us all the details of this gruesome behavior of these holy men, which was all done in the name of God. However, Jesus was the one true holy one, and he was the only worthy one. Yet while we were yet sinners, he died for us. As horrific as this action was by these men, it was so that the will of God would be accomplished, and thus what was meant as evil, God meant for good. Is not the narrative of Joseph and his brothers a forerunner to this event of Christ? His brothers meant evil against Joseph, hoping for his demise, selling him off into slavery, but God meant it for good, as Joseph turned out saving all his family from certain death by starvation. What these men meant for evil, God meant it for our eternal good, for we are worthy of death.

Taking Charge

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

TAKING CHARGE

Mark 14:53-65

53 They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. 54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire. 55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. 57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.'" 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree. 60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."  63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, "Prophesy!" And the guards took him and beat him.

NIV

And so it begins. One false witness after another and none of their testimonies agreed with each other. That is how it is when men lie, there is no agreement among lies for they are not based on the truth and therefore each falsehood is alone. Lies cannot stand up against the truth. So Mark tells us that nothing said by any supposed witness was evidence the high priest needed to convict Jesus of blasphemy and thus condemn him to death. Jesus did not bother to refute those false testimonies, he remained silent throughout all their lies about him. It is interesting how even this witness about what Jesus said about the temple was close to the truth, but not exactly the truth. Mark does not record these words of Jesus, however, John does. Jesus said to the Jews when they wanted a sign of his authority, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”. What is most interesting is the Greek word that was translated as raise. This word does not mean to rebuild, but rather to rise, to awaken, to rouse from sleep or from disease or death. So they quoted him absolutely incorrectly, only hearing what they wanted to hear rather than the truth. Isn’t this the case with many people, perhaps even ourselves? There may be times even when we ask a question, we only hear the answer we think we want to hear, rather than the actual answer, or rather we have some predetermined answer we want to hear. Nevertheless, after all the witnesses and still, no evidence was right enough to convict Jesus, the high priest finally just comes right out and asks Jesus if he is the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One. Finally, a question that Jesus can answer is truth. “I am”. That is all he needed to say, but he when on and told them the rest of his story. They could not handle the truth, they did not want to handle the truth. They only wanted to find a way to kill him, and his words did just that. Again, Jesus was not the victim here, although it seems as though he is standing trial before men. But the trial of men, with the testimony of men, fell way short of evidence to have him killed. So it was His words. He made sure man would accomplish the will of God. He was in control of the situation and made sure they had the evidence they needed to do that which he was sent to do. This was His plan, not theirs, they were merely supporting actors in with Jesus having the lead role in the accomplishment of the will of God. They appeared to be in control even as the high priest tore his garments in a show of righteousness in the face of, what they thought was blasphemy. It is interesting at times we might think we have control of our lives, making choices based on what we think is right, but only God is the source of what is right and we need to remember that He is the one who holds us in the palm of his hand, and He is the one who directs our lives, who calls us to himself and has a plan for each one of us. Should we not always look to the “I AM” instead of ourselves? We do, for our salvation, that is a given, but do we look to Him for all the aspects of our life? Jesus is the source of all things in our life. He should have the lead role and we simply need to live out the supporting role, letting him that the lead and taking charge, as he did here in his trial.