My God, My God why have you forsaken me! (Mark 15b note)

 

Mark 15:16-41

Key verse 34: And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

 

1.               The blasphemous and arrogant king must be stripped of any respect and honor (16-20)

2.                The blasphemous and arrogant king must be pinned down and impaled to the crucifixion (21-28)

3.                The true King/ Messiah, Jesus took upon himself all the charges made against the blasphemous and arrogant king (29-32)

4.                The true king/Messiah paid full price for blasphemy and arrogance of the false kings. (33-37)

5.                God the father accepted the payment; men and women of faith came to senses and accepted Jesus as the son of God. (38-41)

As we learned from the last week's passage, Jesus was condemned as a blasphemer by the religious leaders of Israel. And then, he was sentenced to crucifixion because of his treason against the Roman Emperor/claiming to be the king of the Jews.  In this way, there were two charges against him; blasphemy against God and treason against Roman authority. If we look into the depth of each of these charges, we can understand that blasphemy is a sin against God; it is a spiritual; rebellion against God; treason is against the authority of the king or kingdom. It is a violation of the law of the land/people of the kingdom. One brings judgment on eternal death and separation from God; the rebellion against the king must bear death; this is physical death. In these two ways, what Jesus committed was worthy of death, spiritual and physical.

Each of these charges amounted death sentence. How much more punishment for the one who committed both? The worst form of punishment was rightly due to him. That was crucifixion. Pinning down one’s body to a crossbar of logs; simply impaling one’s body to a cross; let the spirit on one’s mind subdued and dissipate slowly, At the same time, the body of sin and rebellion must bear agonizing pain and dissipate, or saps away; no matter what he does, he is totally helpless, being bound to the crossbars;

Mark described most succinctly facts with much reservation. As we go through, I like to unearth the true meaning and purpose of all that entailed in this passage, the facts that speak of the spirit that ran through these events.  

Today’s passage focuses on Jesus’ suffering and death.

1.                Blasphemous and arrogant king must be stripped of any respect and honor (16-20)

Upon the decision to crucify Jesus, Pilate ordered flogging of Jesus in the midst of a large crowd. According to Josephus, the prisoner was stripped and bound to a post and beaten with a leather whip woven with bits of bone or metal. No maximum number of strokes was prescribed. The scourging lacerated and stripped the flesh, often exposing bones and entrails. One of its purposes was to shorten the duration of crucifixion, but scourging was so brutal that some prisoners died before reaching the cross. Pilate’s purpose was clear: to satisfy the crowd (15). Pilate saw in them the hate and disdain against Jesus. It was so strong and could not be mitigated unless they saw the blood and mutilation of the flesh. In other words, men living by upholding self-righteousness could not be appeased unless they see the blood of the righteous. Jesus prophesied this in 10:34 and also Isa 53:5 alludes to ‘crushing’ of the Messiah. After flogging, the back of Jesus was denuded, lacerated, and even torn apart and blood was trickling down from every wound.  People saw in Jesus what their hearts were eager to see;

After this, Jesus was handed over to the soldiers.

Now Jesus, at the hands of the soldiers were moved to the private quarter of Pilate and his soldiers—the praetorium. In their hand was a man sentenced to crucifixion, on the charge of treason against the Roman empire. They could do anything to him as they desired not only because he was to take all the abuses but also their hearts had great disdain and contempt for this so-called king of the Jews. were with the true king Roman emperor.

First, they made a mockery of his kingship: Jesus was led to the palace of Herod/Pilate and it was their world; there was no one but themselves.  They were given the authority to do anything to him. They love to exercise their power and authority; it is more exhilarating to discharge all that power over the one who had once held power and authority over their head. Jesus was the one, respected by many and honored far above them by many. Now, he is before them as a helpless, powerless man in chains.

They put a theory crown on his head and dressed him up with a purple robe; gave him a homage as the king: ‘hail King of the Jews'. The term ‘king of the Jews’ was not used by the Jews. It was the term used by the Roman Empire. King Herod was called King of the Jews. It might be a derogatory remark, esp. when it was addressed by Romans. This is particularly true when the king was a Jew!

Is it possible that a Jew can have a king? Or Can Jews set themselves up a king? No! as long as Roman Empire stands tall among all nations of the world; to have a king for their own is an impossible thing; How can a mere man in the chain be the king of Jews? It is an unthinkable and unreasonable dream or it was just a fantasy; This was the theme of the mockery of these soldiers. A mere man cannot match against the Mighty power of the Roman Empire. 

This ridicule was the antithetical them to what God prophesied through Daniel. The last superpower of the world kingdom will be the Roman Empire (Dan 2:44-45)). The Antichrist will come out of the Roman Empire at the end of ages. He will establish one unified kingdom over the entire world. Can a king of the Jews be established? Or can Jesus, so-called King of the Jews, become the King of the God’s chosen nation Israel to set herself against the world Superpower Roman empire?  This is being ridiculed then and even now.  But the prophetic word given through Daniel was clear; Dan 2:45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold to pieces.

By making a mockery of his kingship, Jesus’ glory and honor of the king of the world was denied, degraded, and totally discredited. The son of God, the king of the world was lowered to a mere man that must succumb to judgment and death.

In this ridicule is the unbelief that no man of such humility and meekness can be the king of the world. Only the mighty in power that is able to subdue and destroy the enemies can be the king!

2.                Blasphemous and arrogant king must be pinned down and impaled to the crucifixion (21-28)

After playing out their mockery in the praetorium, Jesus was led to the place of Golgotha, where the crucifixion will take place. He had to carry the cross for several hundred yards.  But by this time, flogging had much debilitated Jesus’ body and he could not carry the heavy load of the crossbar. Depending on the severity of flogging beforehand, the victims may survive on crosses for long or for a short hour; since flogging causes no damage to major arteries and death came not by blood loss, but from hypovolemic shock or exhaustion asphyxia or heart failure, or a combination of the above. By this time Jesus’ body was extremely weakened by flogging and he might have fallen down again and again on the way. Seeing this, the soldiers caught a man Simon from Cyrene.   He was coming to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But this crowd caught his attention and saw Jesus was driven to carry the heavy cross. While he was watching at Jesus with empathy, he was forced to carry the cross to unburden Jesus’ load. If Jesus was unwilling to carry the cross, then it would not be a good thing for him to carry on behalf of Jesus. But Jesus was willing and yet simply he was not able to do so. In this regard, Simon was a great help for Jesus, though it would hasten his crucifixion. we know that Later he became a firm follower of Jesus. He came to know Jesus only when Jesus was crucified. But ‘in this short period’ of his encounter with Jesus, he came to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. How could that be possible? A certain Rufus is mentioned in Rom 16:13. If the Rufus of Mark 15:21 and the one of Rom 16:13 are the same person, and if Rom 16 was written to Rome, there is additional evidence for a Roman provenance for Mark’s Gospel. While he was praying at Gethsemane, Jesus talked to his disciples “Mark 14:38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mar 14:38 NIV). 

On arrival to Golgotha, the soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh. This seems to be a routine for those who were to be crucified; it would reduce the pain and ease one’s mind by obtunding mental acuity. But when this was offered to Jesus, Jesus refused to take it. Here he expressed his firm will take all the pain and anguish. He not only did not want to lose his sharp mind and will to sustain his integrity but also an expression of his will to take the pain that God the father assigned to him as his portion. How many are willing to take any pain at his or their will? At the hospital, the patients have the right to get relief from any pain as long as life can be sustained. Near the end of their lives, either by terminal illness due to cancer or other debilitating diseases, they were given as much narcotics as their body could tolerate. We human beings do anything to ease our pain, whether it is physical or mental. But here Jesus was willing to take the pain no matter how severe it might be; which pain is more excruciating than being nailed on one hand and feet?  “pain” control has become a booming business: many doctors garnered fortunes by those who are caught as a hostage to various kinds of pains. This speaks of one thing about our lives: Pain robs our peace, our happiness. But in essence, it is a warning of forthcoming damage to our body and threatens our lives. It is a prelude to coming death!

I have a lower back pain; it is common among the old because lumbar disc aging process. It comes and goes and gnawing; it disturbs my mind and makes my spirit unsettled. I cannot concentrate my mind and spirit on one thing; At the same time, it is a perpetual reminder of the deterioration of my body that must succumb to the power of death.

Jesus willed to take the pain!  When we decide to take the pain that would come from the weaknesses and sins of others, we can do much greater things; but how hard it is! More often than not, we even cannot take the pain of our own wrongs, mistakes and Then how can it be possible to even for us?

As Jesus rejected the offer, this routine was bypassed; Jesus was crucified; nailing him at his hands and feet to the cross. He was nailed down and was totally impaled. Though he was the son of God, he remained there as if he was utterly helpless. It was nine in the morning. On each side of Jesus were two others crucified. They were those who really joined in rebellion against Roman power.

3.                The true King/ Messiah, Jesus took upon himself all the charges of the blasphemous and arrogant king (29-32)

Here three responses are noted: the passersby, the chief priest, and the teachers of the Law, and the soldiers who crucified him. To them, one thing was very clear; Jesus was impaled on the cross and he could not do anything; death is the sure thing and there won’t be any more for him; no chance to become the king of the Jews, and no chance to become the Messiah/Savior. All things of his were ending that no further consideration of all that Jesus said and claimed was worthy or necessary.

When they saw the end of Jesus life, they uttered their sarcastic remarks;

First; the passersby said, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” Most likely this person was at the deliberation at the court of Sanhedrin. Some came and presented this claim of Jesus. But as we know Jesus was talking about his own body. But this man did not understand what Jesus said; he thought that Jesus was proud of his power to raise a temple in three days. Either way, whether it was about his body or the temple, one thing was clear; Jesus talked about an enormous power that no man can display. How can a man impaled on the cross do such a thing as raising the temple in three days? First, he must save himself from the crucifixion. Can he come down from the impalement?  It was beyond the scope of this man’s understanding or sphere of thinking.

On the other hand, now the time has come to fulfill what Jesus said, John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” This man’s ridicule of Jesus opened a big question, ”Can Jesus do what he had said?”

Can he not come down from the cross? Can he undo all these powers that impaled him? Does he have the power to undo all these? Or is this the final for his life or something more? 

Second the high priests and the teachers of the Law: “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.”

Strikingly these religious leaders were more or less thinking the same as the one of those in the crowd; to them, since Jesus was totally impaled on the cross, he cannot do anything about it and he cannot save himself through he had saved others. They acknowledged that Jesus had the power to save others; one of the prominent examples was raising Lazarus from death. If Jesus had such power and that power was genuine, then he must be able to come down from the cross; four nails on his hands and feet can be easily undone and come down in power. But they did not believe he could. So they ridiculed him. If he does so then, they would believe him as the Messiah and the true king of the Jews.

What do the taunts of these people say about these people?

a)     Since Jesus was crucified on the cross and he could not much about it no matter how much power and authority he had. In other words, they took control over Jesus. They had the upper hand and powered over him; they succeeded; Jesus failed.

b)     Crucifixion is the end of his life and he cannot any more anything. All the words that Jesus said including what they knew; if they destroy the temple, he will raise it up in three days- is false and all the promises will turn out to be false.
Jesus the night before, Jesus told them that he could come back in glory, 14: 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.”

4.                The true king/Messiah paid full price for blasphemy and arrogance of the false kings. (33-37)

This paragraph details the moment of his death on the cross. We will explore the details of his death to find why and how Jesus died and what kind of responses his death was brought up.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” –Jesus called His father God at 3 pm on the Day of Passover. The reason for his calling his father was why God the Father has forsaken him. Up to the last minute of his life or as the power of death was about to take its toll on his life, he called His father; had trusted and believed that the father would rescue him but up to this moment God the father did not. Up to the last minute of life, he trusted the father and entrusted his life on the father’s hand.--

Also his loud voice is very difficult if he was gasping for air at the last minute of his strength. Most commonly the cause of death is asphyxia, which is not being able to breathe; His loud voice speaks otherwise. He gave up his spirit or he gave up his life on God’s hand. He trusted His father in his death. Simply he did not succumb to the power of death; instead, he gave up his spirit by entrusting his life in God’s hand. This was the utmost expression of his willing submission to God the father.

Jesus’ crying out to the Father is short and hard to capture the full meaning: but the same cry is found in Ps 22:1. Ps 22 is a Psalm of David, the holder of God’s promise of Messiah. Psalm 22 as a whole depicts a struggle that David went through in his quest for God’s mercy in times of life crisis. In this respect, the entire theme of this psalm hangs on v1 and the rest verses elucidate the meaning, and significance of v1  (v1-21) as well as the outcome of this cry (v22-31).   

a)     The author, David, was in a desperate situation because of attacks from his enemies:

                            i.           12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

b)     He was worn out of his strength and there was no help available

                            i.           14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

c)      I am seeking your help because

                            i.           you are the holy one; (3)

                           ii.           you have delivered my ancestors when they desperately asked for help (4)

                         iii.           All make a mockery of me because I put my trust in you.(8)

d)     Please come quickly and deliver me from my enemies

                            i.           Because I am in dire condition: 15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

                           ii.           Because you are not far from me

                         iii.           Because you are my strength 

As a whole, this is a picture of a cry of a sinner who looks for God’s help as all the punishment of sin comes upon his life.  He demands God’s help first as God helped his ancestors when they asked for His help—God is God of mercy and grace; second I am totally helpless against the accusers and attackers; third I am totally depend on you and your help;

This is expressed in poetry—unveiling what went through one’s heart, fully charged with emotions.

Long before this, God was looking ahead of this coming in Lev 26 and again gave a promise through Isaiah 8. And Daniel 12.

Lev 26:

Lev 26: 40 “ ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin,

42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land… . They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. (Lev 26: 42-44)

Confessing their sins and paying for their sins were the two requirements for God’s coming back to help and to restore the relationship. On the cross, Jesus showed his all-out commitment to the Father. This was what God was looking for from a repentance sinner who comes back to Him. Also, God let Jesus’ life dissipated by the load of the cross, the punishment heaped upon him by the evildoers.   This happened in this way; as he was crying out to the Father God, he was committing his life to God’s hand despite of all the burdens of sins of men makes their toll on him.

When God said that they are to pay for their sins, and repeating it twice, he was not just threatening to help us not to sin. He meant it what he said; sin must be paid off and he must seek Him with all his heart. Paying of all of what is due for our sins and unbridled commitment to God’s mercy are the two essentials that God required of His blessing. This demand is noted in two more places:

Isa 8

Isaiah 8:6 "Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah, 7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates-- the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks 8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel!" (Isa 8:6-8)

Isaiah gave God’s warning to Judah. Because they rejected their God and chose to rely on Aram, God would punish them by the floodwaters of the mighty army of Assyria.  This army would sweep the entire land and the nation Judah would be swallowed up by the flood. In this dire condition, there would be only one solution; Immanuel God. By this prophecy, God was teaching Judah to call for the help of Immanuel God. On the verge of the death of the nation Judah, she was to call out for help from the Immanuel God!

The same theme of the requirement of paying off of their sin and repentance more explicitly expressed in His word to Daniel.

Dan 12:7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.  When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.

Daniel asked the one who delivered him how his nation Israel would be restored in the future. At the end of his prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel, he asked when the full restoration would come to his nation Israel. He said that it will take a time, times, and half a time because this time is needed until the power of the holy people is to be broken. God mandated His people to be broken before the restoration of them back to Him again.

On the cross, taking upon humanity in sin, Jesus was totally broken. In His brokenness, he made a loud cry, my God, my God why have you forsaken me! Not just Israel, but all men must be broken first, and then he/she has to seek the Lord’s help.   

Our sins will make its toll as we face imminent death. This would be the most critical and most vulnerable time of life. All the sins that we have committed against the Lord would come and hunts us as if all the punishment of those sins are flooding on my/our lives choking our breath of our life and death is a sure thing. Can, at this crisis, you or I can cry out for God’s help? Or can we trust the Lord’s mercy? Or can we entrust our lives in His hand?

He submitted his life in God’s hand: he entrusted his being God’s hand

Then with this loud cry, he breathed his last: gave up his spirit (matt 27:50; John 19:30)
The verb ‘gave up’ is in Greek tense aorist indicative; that speaks of his voluntary will. This more explicit in Luke

Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  When he had said this, he breathed his last.

In general, those who are crucified die of exhaustion or asphyxia because they lose their ability to breathe.  But here Jesus cried out loudly! His voice rang out so loudly while darkness overshadowed the entire area. It was a surreal and thundering moment for all those who were there; many felt the power of Jesus exceeding above all.

Though he had strength, though he had the power to sustain his life, he entrusted his life in God hand and breathed his last breath. By covering the area with darkness, God the Father turned his countenance away from His Son suffering on the cross.  To this father, he entrusted his life in God’s hand for He trusted father’s love and father’s power and father’s faithfulness to His word.

Then, how did the power of Jesus’ death come about?

5.                God the father accepted the payment; man and women of faith came to senses and accepted Jesus as the son of God. (38-41)

Jesus died and he gave his life unto His father God. Soon after Peter’s confession of his faith in Jesus, Jesus told them about what he would go through: he must suffer and must die. He repeated three times. At the last Passover meal, Jesus gave his disciples;

22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” (Mark 14:22-23)

As he had said, Jesus gave his life for them. What happened then? What happened as Jesus gave up his life to the Lord on behalf of his followers? There came two powerful responses to Jesus’ death. The first one was from the LORD and the second one was from the centurion.

a)     God, the father accepted Jesus’ sacrifice of his life. over the temple curtain:

v37 and 38 happened simultaneously.  That is to say that Jesus’ loud cry and his last breath were immediately followed by the tearing of the temple curtain. It was torn from top to bottom, indicating that it was the work of God. Some believe that the curtain between the holy and the Most Holy place was torn. Others believe that the curtain between the court and the Holy place was torn which was easily visible to many from outside. The author of Hebrews understood differently:

11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, v he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Heb 9)

As we know, no one but the priest could enter the holy place. Also, the Most Holy place was reserved only for the high priest on an exclusive occasion, with the blood of a lamb once a year. The curtain to the holy place could be seen easily from outside. If this was torn apart, then anyone could enter the holy place and this renders the holy place unholy or meaningless. So is true to the curtain that leads to the Most Holy place. The holy place becomes accessible by any person. What do these things suggest? The author of the Hebrews understood that this was the sign of Jesus’ sacrifice of his body entering to the heavenly temple. In other words, God the Father accepted Jesus’ sacrifice unto Himself at the heavenly temple and there would no need of the earthly temple. Retracing back to the torn curtains, it was not Jesus' cry that tore apart the curtain of the temple but the LORD, who accepted Jesus’ body as the good and ultimate sacrifice. It was all-sufficient to Him that there should be no need of earthly temple or sacrifices of lambs or goats.  So, the author of Hebrews concludes this theme:

24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. (Heb 9)

Simply, the torn curtain speaks for one thing: the LORD accepted Jesus’ life-giving sacrifice good and pleasing and He would not require any more sacrifice for the purpose of redeeming sinners! No more need to come to Me with the blood of lambs and goats! The LORD was declaring loudly and yet with a quiet voice.  

b)     The centurion confession

The centurion executed many and saw how they respond to the execution, esp. crucifixion. More or less the responses of ordinary people were very similar from one to the other: The response is something of intense anger and rage or frustration and hopelessness, begging for mercy. But in Jesus, he saw something remarkably different response.  i. He was calm unlike any other; in this calmness, he saw invisible quality—Jesus’ willing commitment to God the Father, do not struggle or fight or sadness or anger. ii.  there was no bitterness and anger in all his demeanors; His demeanor was filled with grace and mercy for His people.  iii.  All these tamed demeanors shined to or exuded out of His invisible trust and his strong commitment to God, especially the last and most important call that he made, “my God! my God! why have you forsaken me!” iv. He saw in Jesus the power that prevailed over the power of death. This was revealed in his power to endure the pains, power to sustain his undeterred will, and power to sustain his commitment to God the father.  v. lastly, he sensed the power of God being with him; the darkness came upon him from noon to his death. He felt God’s ominous threat and signal for all those who participated in murdering His innocent son, Jesus.

When he came to a keen realization that Jesus was truly the Son of God, in one sense, it was a dreadful feeling because he himself was at the center of this heinous act. He ordered and controlled how and where to crucify him.  But on the other, he felt a peace that transcends all the treachery of crucifixion and death of which he could have never got easy. But at this time, out of this peace came a confession, he was truly the Son of God.

The moment of one’s death speaks much of what the person is about. Because of this, the last word at death bed sums up what the life of the man was.  In a time of crisis in life, whom will you call? How will you hand the pain and anguish from the power of death? Here Jesus’ death speaks to us the truth of what it means to live by faith. Our faith shall shine like the shining star in the middle of the night when we face the final moment of our lives. When Jesus was crucified, all those who believed in him, despite of the condemnation and judgment laid upon him, and despite the treacherous death on the cross, there were some who still believed his innocence. They were the ones who would not exchange Jesus with anyone else. Who were they?

c)      Women: followed Jesus from Galilee.

They took care of his needs. They believed him in all of his teachings; they were of God. Their hearts did not sway. They had no fear, no runaway, no cry, but in silence, their hearts were filled with empathy for all the pains of their loved Lord. They did not understand and could not make anything out of this. But at the death of Jesus, the power of death, all anxiety, uncertainty, and frustration dissipated. Only one thing lingered in their hearts. What was Jesus doing? Why did he let these treacheries happen to himself? What was the Lord His father doing in this?

Jesus’ death brought the death of all that sinful men’s heart carries; fears, worries, and anxieties that arise from the condemnation and judgment. Paul said this concerning our unification with Jesus:   

3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (Rom 6:3 NIV)

In Jesus’ death, we bring our death in him so that we may rise with him!  How amazing it is that we don’t have to carry around the body of sin anymore! May the Lord bless you richly as we partake in his suffering and death!! By joining in His death, we are come to the certainty of the Heavenly father’s approval and assured of our access to the heavenly sanctuary. As Jesus’ death was the beginning of the power of God Almighty, so is our death with him the beginning of the power of God in our lives!!  Amen