Palm Sunday, April 13, 2003
Isaiah 45:21-25 or Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22:1-21 or 22:1-11; Phil. 2:5-11; Mark (14:32-72) 15:1-39 (40-47)
Mark began his gospel with this: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Then, at the end of the gospel we see this very same phrase (Son of God) where we would least expect it; from the lips of a Roman centurion gazing at the lifeless corpse hanging on the cross. As John Wesley put it, “Tis myst’ry all…” Between 1:1 and 15:37, Mark has shown us by his mighty acts, and his great teaching that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and Son of God. Not only this, but Mark has shown us, especially in the second half of his gospel (beginning with Mark 8:31), what kind of Messiah and Son of God Jesus would be. He was a suffering Messiah, one who fulfilled the words of Isaiah 52:3-5. All this is revealed to us in the startling words of this Roman centurion.
Paul puts it this way, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). “Scorned by mankind and despised by the people” (Psalm 22:6), on the cross Jesus has “borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 52:4). Who would have imagined it? Certainly, the apostles could not have imagined that victory over sin, the devil and death would come by way of Jesus’ death on the cross. After all, they fled (Mark 14:50) at his arrest, and only hours before, Peter had denied him three times. Yet, to understand the gospel, we need to see the centrality of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:2, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified,” which didn’t mean that this was all he ever talked about, but that the Christ he served and followed was the one who inaugurated God’s rule through his death on the cross. Of course, we cannot separate the cross from the resurrection; without the resurrection, the cross was a defeat, not a victory.
In Mark 3:6, the political and religious leaders want to kill Jesus; in Mark 6, he is rejected by his own hometown. In addition, in chapter 15, the crowds, who once eagerly followed Jesus, now have turned on him. Worse still, his disciples have fled, leaving the Lord alone to suffer. However, Mark wants us to see that when we understand the cross as God’s place of victory in his Son, then we will be able to say with the Roman centurion that Jesus is the Son of God. Then we will be able to see Jesus as “holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3).
Look It Up
Mark 1:1, 8:29 and 15:39. How do 8:29 and 15:39 relate to the assertion of Mark in 1:1?
Think About It
Do I believe that the crucifixion of Jesus was necessary for our salvation? If not, why?
Next Sunday
Easter Day, April 20, 2003
Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:14-29 or 118:14-17, 22-24; Col. 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43; Mark 16:1-8
