Mark 15:33-41

Open your Bibles again to Mark chapter 15.

Mark 15 · chapter mention

We're continuing our series on the crucifixion in Mark.

! Last week we looked at the moment of the crucifixion.

Next week we're going to look at the burial of Jesus.

But today we're going to look at his actual death.

So would you please turn your focus to Mark chapter 15, verses 33 to 41.

Mark 15:33–41

Over the past 2,000 years,

it has been estimated that there have been about 66 billion human deaths in this world.

And think of the whole variety of contexts of all those deaths.

Deaths in hospitals and hospices.

Deaths on the battlefield and the trenches.

Deaths in prisons, on roadsides, in houses.

Tragic deaths.

Heroic deaths.

Deserved deaths.

Executions.

The electric chair, the gallows, lethal injection.

Even thousands of crucifixions in the past two millennia.

66 billion deaths.

But one thing unites them all.

They are all, ultimately, just deaths.

Life coming to an end.

And they may leave behind memories or grief or a legacy.

But still, they are all life just coming to an end.

No mistake about it.

And to deal with the grief, we try our hardest to move on.

And as the centuries go by, the world does just keep moving on.

But I say one thing unites them all.

But really, we should say, all except one.

One death of the 66 billion is not actually just a death.

One, unlike any other.

One with a meaning and significance and impact on you and me, unlike any other.

A death the world cannot just move on from.

And it is the death we are witnessing here in Mark today.

But if you were there on the roadside, as Jesus hung on that cross, you could be very tempted to think,

this is like every other death.

In the middle of two criminals, you could be mistaken to think, his death is just like theirs.

And just like the thousands of other crucifixions of the past.

And just like the other 66 billion.

And in fact, that mistake is being made here in Mark.

We saw last week the passers-by and the priests thought this was a death like any other.

In fact, a forgettable, laughable death.

And the bystanders in our passage today make a mistake.

They hear Jesus crying to God, but they mishear him.

They think he's calling Elijah.

It is possible to mistake what's going on here in the death of Christ.

And to think it is a death like any other.

But to do so would be the greatest mistake of your life.

In fact, you might be here today, and you know this person called Jesus died.

You know it involved a cross.

And you know Christians care about it.

But to you, it may just be a death.

Something you can just move on from.

Well, Mark has written these words today to make it very clear without mistake that this is a death unlike any other.

And you must not move on from it.

Because in this passage here, we see God's perspective of what is happening on the cross.

Two supernatural, divine events appear in this passage.

The darkness that falls upon the land.

And the tearing of the curtain at the moment of Jesus' death.

And in these two divine events, we see God's perspective on the cross.

Not what it means to me.

Not what it means to the onlookers.

But what it means to God.

And we can make mistakes, but God cannot.

And so God is doing something in creation.

Supernaturally shaping these events to clear up the mistakes.

And to show us why this is a death unlike any other.

Why we must not be mistaken about this.

And why the world, why you, cannot just move on from this death.

But rather, this is the most glorious moment of history.

And this death will transform your life.

It will transform your eternity.

And so last week we focused on the dynamic between the passers-by and Christ.

Well now, I want us to turn our eyes up to heaven.

And see the dynamic between God and Christ.

And see what God says about the cross.

And so I just want to focus on two things today.

The darkness and the curtain.

And we will see what God says about this death.

And so the first thing is this, the darkness.

Let's look at the darkness.

Jesus has been hanging on the cross for about three hours now.

And look back to verse 25.

It was the third hour, 9 a.m., when they crucified him.

And now in verse 33, we're in the sixth hour.

Twelve o'clock, midday.

Just outside Jerusalem.

Three hours of Jesus hanging in the hot sun.

His flesh pulling on those nails.

And blood dripping onto the dry dust.

But as the clock strikes 12, what is the one thing you would expect at midday in the Middle East?

Sun.

Hot sun, high in the sky.

For what happens here, the clock strikes 12.

And verse 33, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Now, this is not talking about a solar eclipse.

This is not talking about just being overcast.

No, this is talking about a sudden, supernatural pitch blackness across the land for three hours.

We're about to approach midday soon.

It would be like right now, the sun turns off like a light switch.

Your eyes dilate.

And London is submerged into a winter night until 3 p.m.

Well, that's Jerusalem here.

As Jesus hangs there, God shuts off the sun's rays.

And this cross and this land is plunged into darkness.

No warmth in your skin.

No light in your eyes.

And without electricity, there really was darkness over the whole land.

And whenever God acts in creation like this, he does so to communicate something to us.

It is like a cosmic sign telling us something about what is going on in this moment.

And darkness in the Bible has a very significant meaning.

Darkness represents two things.

Firstly, darkness represents evil, sin.

The Bible speaks of our sinful actions as being deeds of darkness.

And in sin, we walk in darkness with darkened minds and belonging to the kingdom of darkness.

Darkness means sin and evil.

And we even use that imagery, don't we?

When a great evil happens in our country, think of the Southport attacks.

When that happens, we say, today is a very dark day.

We know something evil is present.

Well, in this darkness, God is indicating in the heavens itself, there is an intense presence of evil and sin in this moment.

And as well as that, darkness means another thing.

Darkness represents God's anger, his wrath, his judgment.

Think of the Exodus, when there was darkness over Egypt as it faces the plagues of judgment.

And think of how Jesus describes hell.

He calls it the outer darkness.

Darkness.

Which makes sense because light, light is to do with comfort and joy, isn't it?

What lifts your spirit?

It's a warm summer's day.

Light is life and comfort and joy.

And in particular, light is God's goodness.

Think of the benediction we hear every Sunday.

God's favor shines upon us.

And so darkness is the complete opposite.

It is the shutting off of joy and happiness and comfort.

And instead, it's the presence of God's wrath.

So in this supernatural darkness over this cross, God is revealing to the world something is present at Golgotha.

God's holy anger is intensely present in this moment.

And these two meanings, sin and wrath, they always go together.

Like two magnets stuck together.

Because the darkness of sin always brings the darkness of God's anger.

Where there is human evil, there is divine wrath.

You cannot separate the two.

And so you may not realize it.

But this very same darkness has been lurking in this world for a while.

Ever since Adam ate that fruit, though the sun still shone, this darkness has filled the earth.

This darkness was over Adam and Eve.

It was over Cain and Abel.

It was over the nations as they grew and spread across this planet.

And it's everywhere today.

This darkness is over this country right now.

It's over this city.

It's over homes and in bedrooms.

It hangs over those parades.

It sits over the mosques.

It's there over phones and laptops, cafes and boardrooms.

The darkness is everywhere.

The wrath of God looms over all ungodliness in this world.

Where there is sin, there is God's wrath.

And it is an unbearable weight hanging over a world turned from God.

It is an infinite debt that none of us can repay.

A guilt none of us can erase.

But the scary thing is, we don't see it.

We go about living our lives thinking everything is as bright as day.

No God, no darkness, no consequences.

And we go about our lives thinking everything is fine.

We make the mistake thinking it's not there, but a darkness looms.

And in this moment, as Jesus hangs on the cross, God knows that we don't see the darkness.

And so he shuts off the sun to show us this darkness really does exist.

And the darkness is intensely present in this moment at this cross.

It is like God is saying, I need to shut off the light from a star just to show you what this cross really means.

And so though the sky is black, this moment is actually blazing hot with the fury of God.

Yet this darkness is hanging over the purest of all people.

A man who has no sin.

A man for whom evil has never even crossed his mind.

The man in whom God is well pleased.

The man who is filled with light and joy.

Yet the darkness of sin and wrath hangs above him of all people.

Why?

Well, God is showing us what this moment really means.

Why this is a death unlike any other.

It is because as Jesus hangs on that cross, it is not his own darkness that he bears.

But he bears the darkness of sinners.

There is the darkness of sin in the air because on this cross, this man is becoming sin for us.

The pure Lord of glory is being treated as a sinner.

He is bearing the darkness of sin in his body on that tree.

And God is striking him with the fury of his wrath upon sin.

But it is not his own sin.

No, that sin is coming from somewhere.

Someone else.

But whose?

Whose sin is he bearing?

Brothers and sisters, it is yours.

And it is mine.

It is like if we could all open up our spiritual bank accounts and see every thought and word and action that we have ever done,

all written with the ink of darkness.

Every sin.

Every outburst.

Every click.

Every kiss.

Every lie.

Everything from our grumbling this morning down to the unspeakable things we don't even dare to think about.

All of that in our account.

It is like as the clock strikes 12 in Jerusalem, the lights go out and your account is drained and emptied and funneled all into Christ's account.

All the darkness of our life landing on him.

You can't even imagine the horrors and the filth being put to his holy name.

Yet in this moment, God is declaring in the darkness, this man is bearing your sin.

And Jesus continues to hang there because he knows we are not able to bear it.

And the only way to save sin is to save you.

It is to take the darkness off us.

And place the unbearable weight of our debt onto his shoulders.

Which means not only the darkness of sin,

but the darkness of God's wrath is falling upon this man.

In this moment, as he hangs there,

the full sting of sin's curse is piercing him right now.

So if in the mockery, Christ was tasting hell for us,

well, this is him consuming every last drop.

Which is why he speaks those haunting words in verse 34.

And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice,

Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani.

Which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

As the darkness comes to an end,

we finally hear Jesus speak.

And we get an insight into how he feels right now.

And what does he say?

It's a quote from Psalm 22.

He cries to God,

why have you forsaken me?

This is what it feels like

to bear the darkness of our sin

and the darkness of God's wrath.

Forsaken.

Cut off.

Shut off.

Now, we need to be careful with these words here.

We mustn't be mistaken.

Look at verse 35.

Jesus says, Eloi, in Aramaic,

which means, my God.

But people mistakenly think he says,

Eli, meaning Elijah.

And like these people,

I don't want us to be mistaken

about what Jesus is saying here.

We must not make the mistake

of thinking,

this is the Trinity breaking.

This is not the Trinity breaking.

That is impossible.

And we must not make the mistake of thinking,

this is a cry of unbelief.

No, Jesus cries,

my God.

God is still his God.

No, what is going on here

is that Jesus,

in his human soul,

he is experiencing

the full weight

of this darkness.

God is shutting off

the light of his goodness

and comfort and grace,

shutting all of that off from Jesus

so that Jesus only feels

the weight of darkness in his soul.

He feels utterly forsaken.

It is a cry

unlike any other.

Even in our darkest moments,

we always have some light

of God's goodness.

His mercy

is always there.

Even at our lowest,

it's never as dark

as it possibly could be.

There is always

some light.

God constantly

shows you

his goodness.

And in Christ's life,

he would have known it the most.

The perfect son

in perfect communion

with the Father,

knowing that joy

and happiness

and delight of God.

Yet now,

in this cry

and in this darkness,

all of that

is shut off.

No light.

No joy.

And instead,

Jesus only feels

in his soul

the dread-filled torment

of God's

holy anger

upon sin.

If you could send

a microphone

down into hell

right now

and record the screams,

it would haunt us

forever,

wouldn't it?

We would know,

I never want

to go through that.

Well,

in a sense,

we have a recording here.

Darkness

covers the land

because as Jesus

bears our sins,

this is God

unleashing

all the furies

of hell

onto this one man

and he can't help

but cry out,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

It is a pain

hard to put down

in words,

which is why

Mark needs to write

down the Aramaic

as well,

Jesus' mother tongue

that he would have used.

Eloi,

Eloi,

Lema sabachthani.

If your first language

is in English,

sometimes

you can feel

emotions so strong

that when you cry out,

English won't do,

will it?

You must go back

to your mother tongue.

Well,

that is Jesus.

And so we must

not be mistaken

about what's going on here.

God is telling us

for those in Christ,

Jesus went through

hell for us.

He is crying out here

for your sake.

This is the cry

of bearing

our punishment.

This is the cry

of your forgiveness.

Feeling the weight

of all that we have done,

all those words,

those thoughts,

the things that we

wish we never did,

our sinless Savior

cries out

because he is

bearing all of it

on that cross.

it is a death

unlike any other.

We die as one sinner.

This man dies

carrying the sins

of billions.

And so we must

make no mistake

of how severe sin is.

We may not see

this darkness,

but God is showing us

what it deserves.

This agony

is what the world

will face

if it remains

in darkness.

It is not

a small thing

to be far from God.

It is not

a trivial thing

to have this darkness

over you.

No, look at what

the Son of God

had to go through.

And so Christian,

whatever sin

you may be persisting in,

the sin that we are

ignoring right now,

it needs to stop.

Don't make this cry

mean nothing.

And if you are not

a Christian here today,

God is telling you

something you must

not be mistaken about.

There is a darkness.

And this is what

it deserves,

but the question is,

will the darkness

remain on you

or will it land

on Christ?

Because your life

doesn't have to remain

in darkness.

This darkness

may be everywhere,

but it isn't

over everyone.

because I want us

to now look

at the other

supernatural events here.

I want us to look

at the curtain

and to why

this death

is unlike any other

and why it changes

everything

about the darkness

in this world.

So let's look

at the curtain,

the curtain.

After the darkness

passes

and Jesus cries out,

we come to the moment

of his death,

verse 35.

And Jesus uttered

a loud cry

and breathed

his last.

Just a few words.

After that agony,

after that cry,

he took

his final breath

and Jesus

died.

And again,

you might be tempted

to think

this moment

is like the 66 billion

other final moments.

But as soon as

he stops breathing

and his head

sinks down,

as soon as that happened,

God does something.

Verse 38.

And the curtain

of the temple

was torn in two

from top

to bottom.

Now this curtain

is the temple curtain

that divided

the most holy place

from the rest

of the world.

So behind the curtain

in the most holy place

is where the Ark

of the Covenant was,

where God's presence

most intently dwelt,

intensely dwelt.

And the curtain

was there

to shut the world

off from God

because he's too holy.

It was to keep

the darkness out.

It is a giant

keep out sign

saying,

your sin is too much.

Your guilt

is too severe.

You cannot walk

onto holy ground

carrying that filth.

You cannot come to God.

You do not deserve life.

You do not deserve joy.

You deserve darkness.

But what happens

as soon

as Jesus dies?

The curtain

is torn in two.

The barrier

between God

and man

is split open.

And notice,

it happens

from top to bottom.

This was not

humans cutting up.

This is God

tearing down.

God is showing us

something.

God is showing us

the death of Christ

is like no other.

His death

causes something.

It achieves something.

This death

and only in this death,

this is how

you and I

are brought back

to God.

For those in Christ,

as that curtain

tore,

that is God

declaring to you

in the most

glorious way,

your debt

is wiped out.

your sins

are paid for.

Your darkness

has ended.

The wrath

of God

is no longer

over you

because it

has once

and for all

fallen on

the Son

of God.

Therefore,

your sins

are once

and for all

forgiven.

Your account

is emptied

onto Christ

and it stays

that way.

the curtain

is torn

and you

are forever,

you are forever

brought back

to your God.

God.

But even as

Christians,

we can so easily

be mistaken

about this,

can't we?

Because our

hearts

still accuse

us,

don't they?

Our sins

still plague us

and we imagine

this darkness

still looms

over us.

The memories

of our past

still haunt us

and the guilt

is hard to escape.

We think of what

we did last week,

last night

and we think

God is angry.

God hates me.

What can I do

to make this up

to him?

And when we

think that,

we mistake

what has happened

on the cross.

That sin,

that very sin

that you are

thinking about

right now,

that has already

fallen onto Christ

and on the cross

as that curtain

tore,

that is God

declaring to you

that Christ

has made

an end

of your sin.

And if all

God's anger

fell onto Christ,

is there any

left for you?

None.

And if all

the darkness

fell onto Christ,

when you die,

will you ever

face the outer

darkness?

Impossible.

And if Jesus

was forsaken

for us,

will God

ever forsake

you?

Never.

And so God

holds nothing

against you,

Christian,

because he

held it all

against Christ.

And the curtain

cannot be sewn

back together.

Jesus cannot

be uncrucified.

No,

you are

forgiven.

When Christ's

breath ended,

your sin

ended with him.

And if you

are in Christ,

there is

nothing,

nothing

left for you

to do.

Jesus has

done it all.

And your

soul

can find

rest here

in this

moment.

Jesus has

saved you.

But if you

are here today

and you aren't

trusting in

Christ,

I need to

tell you,

there is still

darkness looming

over you.

you could

say the

curtain

remains up

for you.

An

unbearable

weight still

hangs above

you and

you won't

be able to

carry it.

But there

is someone

who can.

Christ

can bear

it all.

But you

must

recognize

that this

man and

this death

is like

no other.

I want

you to

see the

right way

to respond

to this

death.

Look at

verse 39.

And when

the centurion

who stood

facing him

saw that

in this

way he

breathed

his last,

he said,

truly this

man was

the son

of God.

A

soldier who

was far

from God

but he

recognized

that this

was a

death like

no other.

He saw

how Jesus

died, he

saw the

signs God

gave and

he knew

this was

no ordinary

man and

this was

no ordinary

death.

He knew

this was

the death

of the

son of

God.

And this

is how

we need

to respond

if this

death is

to be of

any relevance

to us.

It is

one thing

to say

a man

died but

it is

another to

say

and that

man is

the son

of God.

And so

I urge

you today

I urge

you,

you must

recognize

that too.

Do not

mistake

this death.

death.

You

cannot

leave here

this morning

and just

move on

from this

death

because you

cannot bear

the darkness

on your own.

You cannot

pay this

debt which

is why

without Christ

you will

have to

bear it

forever.

And so I

urge you

let Christ

bear it.

It is the

only way.

Let your

sins be

taken on

the cross.

and how

recognize

that this

is a

death like

no other.

Recognize

this man

is the

son of

God,

the savior

of sinners

and he

will become

your savior

because for

those in

Christ

this is

your savior.

Your

darkness

has fallen

on this

man.

Your sin

has been

taken away.

Jesus

has carried

it all.

The curtain

has been

torn in

two.

This

death is

like no

other.

Truly

this man

was the

son of

God.

Let's

pray.