BEHOLD OUR SAVIOUR WHO STAYED Text: Mark 15:15-39 1) HE STAYED (v15-20) Don Carson: Immediately after sentence of crucifixion was passed, Jesus was flogged again. [The flogging] was standard procedure; it was customary to flog prisoners before taking them out to be crucified. But what takes place in verses 16-20 is not standard procedure. It is more like barracks-room humor. The governor’s soldiers gather around, strip Jesus of his clothes, and drape some sort of scarlet robe on him, pretending he is a royal figure. Then they wind together some strands of vine thorns, the spikes of which are 15 to 20 cm long. They crunch this down on his head to make a cruel crown of thorns. They put a staff into his hand and pretend it is a scepter. Alternately bowing before Jesus in mock reverence and hitting him in brutal cruelty, they cry, “Hail, king of the Jews!”—and complete the acclamation by spitting in his face and hitting him again and again with the mock scepter. Raucous, mocking laughter keeps the room alive until the soldiers tire of their sport. They have finished laughing at him as the king of the Jews. Now they put his own clothes back on him and lead him away to be crucified. -- “Mighty cross” verse: On His brow, a crown of sorrow For a King whose weakness was our strength No word He spoke, His love was shown For all to see 2) So we’re saved (v29-39)
“How Great the Father’s love for us” verse: Behold the man upon a cross My sin upon His shoulders Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers --
Don Carson: The truth of the matter is that Jesus could not save himself, not because of any physical constraint, but because of a moral imperative. He came to do his Father’s will, and he would not be deflected from it... It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners like me.
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“And Can It Be That I should gain” verse: And can it be that I should gain An int’rest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
-- Andreas Kostenberger: In some mysterious way beyond our human understanding, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, is cut off and separated from God because he is bearing the sin of humanity and enduring God’s wrath as a substitute for and in place of sinful humans... Jesus’s cry does not indicate that he was bewildered or confused—as if he actually expected God to rescue him from the cross and was disappointed—but rather expresses the terrifying cost of his sacrifice. He knew beforehand that he must die in order to fulfill his mission. Jesus could endure the pain, but the terrifying weight of utter separation from God and God-forsakenness are something he has never experienced before and which, in the actual moment of suffering, seem unbearable. --