Pierced For Our Transgressions

We're parachuting in, so to speak, to the middle of Mark's description of Jesus' crucifixion.

As we saw last week in verses 16 to 32, Mark really aimed to express what Jesus endured

in the process of crucifixion itself, namely mockery, brutality, blasphemy.

And we walked through that text last week.

But there's a noticeable shift in the text that we just read.

When we get to verse 33, Mark is still describing the crucifixion, but he has moved away from

a focus on the cross to a focus on the death of Christ itself.

To say it another way, Mark is moving in the earlier section, telling us of the physical

suffering that Jesus endured, to now he is focused on, in this present passage, communicating

the atoning work that Jesus accomplished.

Do you see the difference?

In one sense last week, we focused on this is the physical nature, for the most part, the

physical nature of what Jesus endured.

And now Mark moves on immediately to the most important facet of all of that, which is why

that physical suffering even matters.

What was actually the purpose of it?

It was a finished work of atonement that Jesus was providing for sinners.

So our concern with Jesus' crucifixion then is not merely about the excruciating way that

he died, but about the spiritual purpose that his death achieved, which we would say in one

simple word, it achieved a substitution, a substitution for sinners.

And this substitution is not something that has been looked back upon by Christians and contrived

in an effort to try to piece things together as they've looked at it.

This is actually the pattern of the Bible.

The Old Testament prophesied this substitution.

Jesus himself declared this substitution as we have studied all the way through Mark's gospel.

It was symbolized most recently in our study in Barabbas, who was set free at Jesus' trial,

and then as you work on through the New Testament, it is explained in explicit detail by the apostles.

And of course, we're reminded of Isaiah 53, which we have referenced so often in these last few weeks.

This passage corresponds very hopefully to verses 4 through 6.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows,

yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

That's the significance of this text.

That's why we care about the cross.

And that's what I'd like for us to explore this morning.

Four things that I want to point out to you.

The first two will take us a good bit of a time, and then we'll move somewhat quickly through the last two.

So if you get to the point after about the second point, and you're just ready to be done with this,

don't worry.

We're close, okay?

Number one, if you want to keep notes,

I want you to see the judgment of God.

The judgment of God.

Look with me at verse 33.

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Now I want to go ahead and pause here,

and I want to take just a moment to consider the nature and the purpose of this darkness

that descended upon the region around Jerusalem.

Mark tells us that this darkness enveloped the region at the sixth hour,

which according to Jewish reckoning of time was midday.

It was noon.

And the darkness continued until Jesus' final breath at three in the afternoon.

Now the significance of this is its timing.

Darkness descended upon the land, not clouds.

This isn't a storm that just kind of rolls into the area of Jerusalem.

That's not what we're told in the text.

We're told in the text this is actually a supernatural darkness

that descends upon this particular region at this time.

And the significance is it appears and it descends upon this region

at the brightest part of the day.

There's no natural way to explain it.

The timing of Passover actually renders a full solar eclipse an impossibility

because Passover took place at the new moon, not the full moon.

So it couldn't be that there was, it's not astronomically possible

that there would be a solar eclipse that we could point to and say,

well, this was just kind of coincidental.

That's not what's happening here.

What was taking place at the moment of Jesus' crucifixion

was an astronomical anomaly attributed only to

the supernatural power of the creator God.

Now that shouldn't come as surprising to us if we're students of the Bible

because the kids just quoted just a few moments ago in Genesis 1.26

that God created not only us, but he created everything that we see

and that he rules over those things.

And that part of the blessing of knowing him

is that we can see his hand at work in the creation around us.

So if he created all that there is and he created the things that we see in the world,

including the sun and the moon and the stars,

as the Bible affirms that he did,

then it should come as no surprise to us then

that he would actually have power over those things.

That in his divine power,

he could bring darkness at whatever moment he wanted to bring darkness.

And it appears that that's exactly what is happening here in verse 33.

But this darkness was not an expression of divine mourning.

That's not the reason for it.

It's not that God was so distraught by what man was doing to his son

that almost in a sense, maybe we would imagine it this way,

that there was an expression of his emotional volatility in this moment

that ushered in this darkness,

just so that everybody would know that Jesus was upset at what they were doing

or that God was upset with what they were doing to Jesus.

That's not what this darkness is about.

It's not divine mourning.

This darkness is a divine judgment.

The Old Testament speaks of prophecies,

particularly in Amos chapter 8.

Amos 8 · chapter mention

It speaks of prophecies of midday darkness

sent by God in reference to his divine judgment

against sin and sinners.

Many scholars see even in this darkness a parallel to the ninth plague in the book of Exodus,

which was darkness that continued through the moment of Passover

where there was a death that resulted in the freedom

and the exodus of God's people out of bondage in Egypt.

In either case, no matter which one you would want to attribute it to,

or maybe it's to be attributed to both things in some dimension,

in either case, there's no doubt that this darkness

is a sign of the Father's judgment against sin.

It's an expression of it.

But the fact that we cannot overlook

is that Jesus had no sin for which to be judged.

So what is this darkness then about?

It's not about God's judgment on us.

It's about God's judgment on Christ, the sinless one,

who on the cross absorbs the wrath of God in the place of sinners.

And God expresses this in a visible sign through midday darkness.

And then it's affirmed by Jesus' own statement.

Look at verse 34.

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

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,

which means, my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

So the darkness then is a visible expression of the divine judgment

that Jesus was in that moment genuinely experiencing.

And perhaps for us to understand this best,

we need to be reminded that the ultimate punishment for sin

is spiritual death,

which the New Testament affirms as alienation from God,

separation from the creator.

In becoming a man,

Jesus experienced the fullness of humanity

with one exception up to this point.

The one exception is that his relationship with the father was not broken.

But remember, it's sin that brings death and separation from God.

But Jesus did not sin.

At that moment, in the hours of his crucifixion,

Jesus was truly experiencing what he had foreseen

with profound horror in the garden of Gethsemane.

Remember in our earlier study,

Jesus cries out to God three different times.

He goes back and he cries to the father,

if it be possible,

let this cup of divine wrath pass from me.

And then of course he affirms in that moment,

not my will, but your will.

An amazing pattern for us to follow as we studied that.

But what was his anguish over in the garden?

It wasn't merely what he foresaw in his physical suffering.

His anguish in the garden was about this moment.

For the first time,

experiencing true separation from the father

in the sense of bearing our sin.

And after hours of silent suffering,

Jesus cried out, quoting verse one of Psalm 22,

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

And it's amazing how instinctively

Jesus expressed himself in biblical language.

Something we see him do over and over and over.

And then here again on the cross,

the way that Jesus expresses himself

is with his very words,

the words of God,

the words of the Old Testament.

I think that might be just as a side note,

a good lesson for us to make note of.

In these moments,

Jesus doesn't express himself in just human feelings.

He expresses himself through the lens of the word of God.

Maybe we would be helped to do that ourselves.

But we don't need to be confused by his statement here.

We shouldn't interpret Jesus's cry here

as a question for which he had no answer.

That's not really what Jesus is doing.

He's not asking the father a question

that he had no answer for.

Jesus knew all along what would happen to him.

He knew all along exactly why this was happening.

And he was willingly enduring it for our sakes.

So he wasn't asking a question.

He was using scripture to give voice

to what he was going through at that moment.

And what he was going through at that moment

in bearing our sin

was the separation from the father

as sin bearer.

And praise God that he made this cry from the cross.

Because had he not made this cry from the cross,

we would have terrible difficulty

grasping the true nature of his suffering in this moment.

But his suffering wasn't just about his body's pain.

His suffering ultimately was about being the bearer of our sin.

You said God's holy nature demanded separation

as the son became sin.

Not even the most evil man, he goes on to write,

including Nero and Hitler,

has ever known in this life

the horror of being completely cut off from God.

But Christ knew it in this moment.

Now I want to take a moment to let this marinate.

And I know that can produce all kinds of other questions

that we don't have time to get into today.

And there's answers for those questions

if you're thinking that we can get to later.

But I want you to just let this marinate for a moment.

On the cross,

the sinless son of God

endured what sinners are destined to suffer

for all eternity.

And I wonder how often we consider the death of Christ

without clearly recognizing

that it is our personal sin

that made it necessary.

I think we tend to view

Jesus' sacrifice for sin in abstraction.

That is that we see sin theoretically

and we understand the dynamic

that Jesus died for sin and for sinners,

but we don't always personalize that

in a way that the gospel demands.

We think that sin is this thing

that's kind of out there,

just kind of this whole big thing

that the whole earth is just kind of

inadvertently plagued by

and that when Jesus died on the cross,

he was dying for like this kind of thing

that's just out there.

And we never really truly bring it

into concrete terms.

We think of it theoretically,

we fail to acknowledge

the words of that song that we just sang.

It was my sin that held him there

until it was accomplished.

The reality is that it is yours and my deceits,

yours and my immoralities,

yours and my slanders,

yours and my rebellions,

yours and my thefts,

yours and my abuses,

yours and my envies,

yours and my sin.

It is our sin,

my sin,

Jared's sin

that made the death of Jesus

necessary for our salvation.

And I'll never forget

when Ashlyn first made

a profession of faith and conversion.

She's always been so good

at memorizing things

and she could explain the gospel

better than some adults could

before she had ever actually professed faith

in the gospel.

Which tells us something

that's helpful

about the nature of conversion.

Just having an intellectual knowledge

of the things of God

is not sufficient for salvation.

And she could tell you

all of those things.

And I remember one day

we're working through all the stuff.

She had been catechized thoroughly

on the fact that Jesus died for sin.

Jesus died for sinners.

But I remember the first time

that she finally realized

that it wasn't just that Jesus died for sin,

this kind of abstract notion

of sinful existence,

but that he died for her sin,

for her lies.

Maybe you know that Jesus died for sin,

but you've just never really seen yourself

as much of a sinner.

And I want to tell you

that Jesus did not die for sin conceptually.

He died for it actually.

And the only way possible for him to do that

is if the sin for which he died

was ours personally.

Your sin,

your rebellion,

your lies,

your fill in the blank,

that's what held him to the tree.

That's what made his death necessary.

That's what he was absorbing in that moment.

God's wrath against you,

not people against you and me.

And just to show you that

I'm not just making this up.

This is in the text itself.

1 Peter 2 in verse 24.

Peter says he himself bore our sins

in his body on the tree

that we might die to sin

and live to righteousness.

By his wounds,

we have been healed,

Peter writes,

quoting Isaiah 53.

Paul says it to the Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 5, 21.

For our sake,

he made him to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness of God.

He says it again

to the Galatians.

Galatians chapter 3

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

and verse 13.

Christ redeemed us

from the curse of the law

by becoming a curse

for us.

For it is written,

quote,

cursed is everyone

who hangs on a tree.

What is the significance

of this moment?

In this moment,

in this darkness,

with this statement

of being forsaken

by the Father,

Jesus becomes our sin bearer.

He takes our sin.

He suffers in our place.

Verse 35.

Just as today,

there were many people

standing by

who didn't get it.

Some of the bystanders

hearing it said,

behold,

he is calling Elijah.

And someone ran

and filled a sponge

with sour wine

to put it on a reed

and gave it to him

to drink saying,

wait,

let us see

whether Elijah

will come

to take him down.

Now,

I need to leave it

to you

to do some

of the digging

necessary

to mind these verses

or we'll never finish.

As Alistair

regularly says,

you are sensible people

and with a little effort

you can determine

these things,

you can work

these things out.

The basic point here

is that the Jews

standing by

completely misunderstood

and misinterpreted

Jesus' cry

from the cross.

And there's some

explanation from this

we could point to.

If you look at the words

that Mark gives us

the Aramaic language

that Jesus would have

actually cried out,

Eloi, Eloi,

Lema Sabachthani,

and then he translates

it in Greek

which we then have

in English,

my God,

my God,

why have you

forsaken me?

In Aramaic,

there's only a single

letter difference

between the phrase

my God

and the name Elijah.

If you take

what for us

in the text

in verse 34

is an O

or in Greek

would be an Omicron,

you take that out

and you just have

the E-L-I,

that would be

the Aramaic word

for Elijah.

So it's possible

that the people

standing,

the Jews at least,

that were standing

by the cross

when they hear

Jesus cry this out,

they perhaps confuse

his language

and say he's calling

out for Elijah.

But why would they

ever think that

he would call out

for Elijah

in that moment?

Scholars say

there was a Jewish

superstition at work

in the first century

where they viewed

Elijah as sort of

a patron saint

in the way that

some religions

would view

sainthood today.

And that Elijah

was the patron saint,

so to speak,

over righteous

sufferers.

And in unique

cases of injustice,

they could cry out

to God

and God would

send Elijah.

Now this is not

actual,

this is just in

some of the

rabbinic thought

of the day.

That God would

send Elijah

and Elijah

would rescue

them in some way

in that moment.

And it appears

that this might

be the best

explanation

for their confusion.

So what did

the people do?

They gave him

some wine vinegar.

This is different

from the drink,

the narcotic

that was offered

to him earlier

that we talked

about last week.

And they gave him

this so that they

could try to

prolong his life

long enough

to see if Elijah

would indeed come

to rescue him.

That's the language.

Some bystanders

hearing it said,

behold,

he's calling Elijah.

They run and fill

a sponge.

John tells us

Jesus had actually

mentioned his thirst

to prolong his life,

to hear his voice

perhaps more clearly.

They usher this

wine vinegar to him

to refresh him

in some way.

And then they say,

wait,

let us see

if Elijah

will actually come.

Let's see

if he'll come

to help him.

Let's see

if this might be

some kind of proof

that we have

messed up here.

James Edwards

affirms this thought.

The bystanders

then,

as some today,

fail to see

that Jesus fulfills

God's plan

of redemption

precisely in

his suffering

by giving his life

a ransom for many

by taking the curse

of humanity

on himself.

And here's the point

I want to get

across to you here.

These people

are staring

directly at the cross

but they can't see it.

and I'm concerned

that many Christian churches

are filled

with precisely

this type of person.

Their lives

are surrounded

by the clear truth

of the gospel

but they keep

fiddling around

with things

that are entirely

irrelevant

to the true purpose

of the cross.

They wear crosses

around their necks

and offer prayers

and public worship

but the idea

that Jesus

absorbed the wrath

of God

in place

of sinners

is the furthest

thing from their minds.

And what a shame

it would be

to sit in service

after service

where the truth

of the gospel

is taught

and preached

and remain ignorant

of its significance

to your life.

It would be like

standing beside

the cross

gazing upon

the crucifixion itself

witnessing Jesus

become the Savior

but your only thought

in that moment

is I wonder

who's going

to save him.

Fiddling around

with things

that don't matter.

Fiddling around

with things

that are irrelevant.

What a tragedy

that would be.

Well that's

the judgment

of God.

Let's look at

the finished work

of atonement.

The finished work

of atonement.

So if verses

33 to 36

reveal the divine

judgment of God

being poured out

on Jesus

verses 37

and 38

communicate

the sufficiency

of Christ's death

as an atonement

for sin.

Okay?

So stick with me.

First few verses

God's judgment

put on Christ.

Now we see

it worked.

Okay?

That's the point.

The word we use

for this

in theological terms

even in biblical terms

is propitiation

which just means

that Christ's death

totally satisfied

appeased

the wrath of God.

We sing this

in Christ alone.

We sing this

till on that cross

as Jesus died

the wrath of God

was satisfied

for every sin

on him was laid

here in the death

of Christ

I live.

Okay?

He took our place.

He appeased

God's wrath

and that Jesus'

sacrifice

was sufficient

to pay for our sins

is proven

in his resurrection.

It's validated there.

We'll get there

in a couple of weeks

but it's also

clearly expressed here.

Look at verse 37.

Jesus uttered

a loud cry

and breathed

his last.

You say,

well that doesn't

really actually

tell us anything,

Jared.

Well you're right.

We have to go outside

of Mark's gospel

to actually piece this together.

Mark doesn't identify

exactly what Jesus cried

only that he did cry out

and I really think

that the reason for that

is in the brevity

of his narrative

he wants us

to really see

the response

of the centurion

to the way

that Jesus cried.

We'll get there

in a minute.

Just hang tight, okay?

We have to go to Luke

and John

to find out

what exactly

Jesus cried out.

They record

two statements

that constitute

this loud cry

that's mentioned

by Mark.

The first one

we find in John 19

and it is the cry

it is finished.

It is finished.

I'll read the verse

to you.

John 19

and verse 30

when Jesus

had received

the sour wine

he said

it is finished

and he bowed

his head

and gave up

his spirit.

So when Jesus

musters up

the strength

to cry out

it is finished

he's not

referring there

to

he is finished

he's referring

to the fact

that his work

is finished.

John chapter 10

John 10 · chapter mention

Jesus explicitly

said

his mission

was from the

father

was to lay

down his life

and to take

it up again

for an atonement

for sin.

It is finished

is Jesus'

declaration

that the task

he was sent

to accomplish

has been

fully

and perfectly

brought to

completion.

That's the

significance

of this statement.

There's a Greek word

I know you don't care

about that I'm just

going to tell you

because it's helpful

here.

It's tetelestai

tetelestai

it's in the

perfect tense

which communicates

a past action

that has an

ongoing effect

if that makes sense.

So it's in the

past tense

in one way

but it's in the

past tense

not simply

bringing completion

to a moment

but completion

to an action

that has

lasting effects

moving forward

in the present

and into the future.

That's the language

that Jesus uses here

that Mark

communicates Jesus

or John

communicates Jesus'

language as.

So Jesus

was in essence

saying

it has been

and it forever

will be

finished.

And here's

why that matters.

The work

that Jesus

accomplished

for us

on the cross

is an eternally

finished

work

that will not

be withdrawn

and it cannot

be undone.

The sin

that God

poured out

on his son

will never

have to be

paid for

again

meaning

that all

who believe

can rest assured

in the promise

of eternal

salvation.

What Jesus

did on the cross

was a once

and for all

work.

It is finished.

It is accomplished.

And no matter

how much

on your worst

day you feel

like you just

emotionally

may not

be saved

you could

never point

to the sacrifice

of Christ

and say

there was

something lacking

in what he

did.

He covered

it all.

He took

it all.

He drank

the cup

every last

drop

of God's

wrath

and in this

moment

at his

dying breath

he cries

out

my work

is finished

atonement

has been

made.

And Paul

tells us

in Romans

6

we know

that Christ

being raised

from the

dead

will never

die again.

Death

no longer

has dominion

over him

for the

death he

died

he died

to sin

once

for all

but the

life he

lives

he lives

to God

and then

Paul puts

it in

practical

terms

for us.

So you

also

those who

are in

Christ

those who

are

believers

so you

also

must

consider

yourselves

dead

to sin

and alive

to God

in Christ

Jesus.

It's a

finished work

accomplished

by Jesus

alone

which means

that it's

sufficient

to cover

your sin

for all

of eternity.

No more

payment must

be made.

There's no

place for you

to go

and be

sent

after this

life

to suffer

to pay

for what

Jesus

didn't

pay for.

No it's

been paid.

It's

finished.

Tetelestai.

It's

finished.

Well he

says another

statement Luke

tells us this

one in Luke

Luke 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23.

Father

into your

hands

I commit

my spirit.

Another

quote from

Psalm 22

Luke 23

and verse

46

then Jesus

calling out

with a loud

voice said

Father

into your

hands I

commit my

spirit.

And having

said this

he breathed

his last.

This final

statement

affirms that

Jesus gave

his life.

It was not

taken from

him.

He gave

it.

Over and

over we

have seen

Jesus'

power and

opportunity

to overcome

his enemies

and escape

the agony

of the

cross.

His

adversaries

as he

hung on

the cross

we saw

last week

even taunted

him to

this end.

If you're

really the

Christ

save

yourself.

Take

yourself

off the

cross they

cried.

But again

they misunderstood

the whole

thing.

Jesus

didn't need

a savior.

this is

what he

had come

to do.

His life

wasn't

taken.

He gave

it.

He didn't

need a

savior.

As we

said last

week he

only needed

a cross

in order

that he

could become

the savior.

He wasn't

overcome by

death.

He willingly

surrendered to

it to

fulfill his

purpose.

And this

is the

mark of

a true

sufficient

sacrifice and

atonement for

sin.

John

John 10:17

chapter 10

verse 17.

For this

reason Jesus

says the

father loves

me because

I lay down

my life that

I may take

it up again.

No one

takes it

from me.

I lay it

down of my

own accord.

I have

authority to

lay it

down.

I have

authority to

take it up

again.

This charge

I have

received from

my father.

So with

his last

cry it is

finished and

into your

hands I

commit my

spirit.

Jesus

says my

life isn't

taken.

I have

laid it

down.

And by

laying it

down I

have finished

the work

that God

sent me to

finish and

to accomplish.

But there's a

second part to

this.

Verse 38.

And the

curtain of

the temple

was torn

in two

from top

to bottom.

So as with

the issue of

God's

judgment,

Jesus'

words of

complete

atonement

are accompanied

then by a

visible sign.

God

we saw

in the

first

section,

right?

There's

this

visible

sign of

darkness,

God's

judgment,

and then

there's

the words

of Jesus

that affirm

it.

My

God,

my

God,

why have

you

forsaken

me?

And we

see the

same thing

happening

here.

With

the

sufficiency

of his

work,

he cries

out,

into your

hands I

commit my

spirit.

It is

finished.

And at

that moment,

at his

last breath,

God sends

another visible

sign.

It is the

curtain,

the veil in

the temple

was torn

from top

to bottom.

There were

two veils

in the

temple,

and there's

some debate

regarding which

curtain the

gospel authors

were referring

to.

We don't

have to get

into that

now.

I believe

that the

evidence suggests

that it

was the

veil that

divided the

holy place

from the

holy of

holies.

The

innermost

chamber

where only

God

dwelled,

or the

presence of

God was

believed to

have

dwelled.

Why does

any of

this matter?

Well,

God tears

it from

top to

bottom.

I think

there's

probably

some

symbolism

in

that,

that this

was not

an act

of man,

this was

a divine

act from

top to

bottom.

Maybe

that's

reading too

much into

it,

that's okay.

But why

does it

matter?

Once a

year,

on the

day of

atonement,

the high

priest,

he's the

only one

that could

do it,

would enter

into the

holy of

holies,

and he

would make

an atonement

for the sins

of the

nation.

And like

all the

other

sacrifices

that God

demanded,

it was

insufficient.

It couldn't

truly atone

for sins

because God

said you

have to

do it

over and

over and

over and

over and

over and

over and

over.

There was

no end

to it.

It was

insufficient.

And so

every year,

the high

priest would

do the

thing the

way that

God had

instructed

for him

to do

it.

By tearing

the curtain,

God

declares

that it

is through

Jesus'

sacrificial

death that

we now

have access

to him.

James

Edwards,

again,

the holy

of holies,

which was

believed to

contain the

very presence

of Yahweh,

is made

accessible not

by the high

priest's

sacrifice on

the day of

atonement,

but by the

atonement of

Jesus on

the cross.

The writer of

Hebrews affirms

this,

therefore,

brothers,

since we

have confidence

to enter

the holy

places by

the blood

of Jesus,

let us

draw near

with a

true heart

in full

assurance

of faith.

That's the

significance.

What does it

mean?

His work

was sufficient.

It did

what it was

supposed to

do,

and nothing

was left

out.

Now,

remember,

the ultimate

tragedy of

sin is that

it separates

us from

God in

eternity,

not only in

this life,

but eternally.

Jesus endured

that separation

on the cross

so that we

might be

reconciled to

God,

the Father,

and in the

rending of

the veil,

we have a

visible expression

of that being

accomplished.

We now,

all,

each of us,

have access

to the Father

through the

work,

the finished

work of

Jesus Christ

on the

cross.

Judgment

of God,

finished work

of atonement.

The last two

will be quicker,

okay?

Number three.

I want you to

see the response

of faith.

The response

of faith.

Verse 39,

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.

This is a

dramatic and

powerful

conclusion that

its brevity

makes it seem

like it isn't

such,

but this is

actually a

pivotal moment

in Mark's

gospel.

In the

centurion's

confession,

we find what

is the

desired result

of Christ's

work.

Salvation

by grace

through faith.

And the

fact of

Jesus'

sacrificial

death does

not automatically

make every

person forgiven

and reconciled

to God.

Please don't

mistake that.

Just because

Jesus died

doesn't mean he

all of a sudden

takes a blanket

of atonement

and just cast it

over everybody

throughout all of

eternity and

everybody is just

saved no matter

what you do

regardless of your

life or your

heart or anything

else.

He doesn't do

that.

That's not

what his

atonement

does.

The atoning

work of

Jesus requires

a response

of faith.

And there's

a lot that

we don't

know about

the centurion.

There's a

lot that

we can

suspect

and maybe

guess as to

what he

meant in

his mind

by this

confession.

But what

we want to

see is what

Mark intends

for us to

take away

from it.

And what

Mark's

purpose is

in recording

this is to

communicate the

only proper

response to

Jesus'

death.

And like I

said it's a

pivotal moment

in his

gospel.

It complements

both his

stated purpose

and Peter's

earlier confession.

And we've

talked about

this so much.

Mark chapter

Mark 1 · chapter mention

1 and

verse 1.

The stated

purpose.

The beginning

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ

the Son of

God.

In other

words Mark

says what

I'm writing

to you is

the good

news.

I'm declaring

the good

news that

Jesus of

Nazareth

is the

Messiah

and the

Son of

God.

And we

get about

halfway

through his

gospel.

There's all

of this

build up

for Jesus'

identity.

And we

get about

halfway

through in

chapter 8

and Jesus

looks at

his disciples

and he

says but

who do

you say

that I

am?

And Peter

has this

monumental

confession.

He doesn't

even fully

understand all

of this but

it's a

confession

nonetheless.

And he

says you

are the

Christ.

Check mark

number one

with Mark's

stated purpose.

And then we

go a little

further and we

begin to see

more of

Jesus'

identity

unfolded.

We see

the explicit

details of

his purpose

in becoming

the Messiah

and then we

get to this

pivotal moment

at the

sacrifice of

Christ and

what do we

find once

again?

Another

confession.

This time

it's not

from a Jew

and it's

not from a

disciple.

It's from

a Gentile

Roman soldier

who was just

responsible for

nailing him

to the cross

and he cries

out truly

this is the

Son of God.

God.

This is

significant to

Mark's

gospel.

And what is

it that he's

telling us?

He's telling

us that the

pair of

confessions

from Peter

and the

centurion

constitute

the only

saving

response to

the person

and work

of Jesus

Christ.

No person

merely hears

the gospel

and is all

of a sudden

okay with

God.

No,

there is a

required response

of faith

in who

Jesus is

and what

he has

done.

True

conversion

occurs when

an individual

by faith

acknowledges

Jesus'

identity,

trusts wholly

in his

atoning

work,

and devotes

himself to

the lordship

of Christ.

Now,

it's clear

the centurion

probably didn't

understand all

of those

things but

there's one

thing he

understood in

that moment

in this

confession at

least,

that Jesus

is the

Son of

God.

And Mark

intends for

us to see

that here.

And there's

also something

to be said

here about

the contrast

between the

centurion

and the

Jews in

verse 35.

The Jews

were the

privileged

ones.

They had

the scriptures.

They had

the prophets.

They had

the promises.

They were

the ones

who were

eyewitnesses

to Jesus'

power,

to his

miracles.

They heard

his teaching.

They heard

the authority

with which

he taught.

If anyone

should have

recognized what

was happening

and wholeheartedly

believed,

it was the

Jews.

But it

wasn't the

Jews that

made the

confession.

It was the

centurion who

Mark displays

as the one

with the

proper

understanding

and the

necessary

confession.

But how

can this

be?

How can the

centurion and

the bystanders

witness the

same exact

moment,

but only

the centurion

respond in

faith?

Is it not

the grace

of God

that intrudes

upon the

heart and

heart of

men and

women and

draws them

to his

son?

Is he

intruding

upon your

heart

today?

Today?

Is he

calling you

to make

this

response of

faith today?

Not to

just see

your sin

in a

theoretical

sense,

not to

see Jesus

as a

historical

figure that

we can

learn a

lot about,

but to

see him

as the

only

savior

who has

made a

complete

atonement

for sin

and by

response

you will

cast your

faith

wholly on

him,

following

him as

a

faithful

disciple.

Is God

doing that

work on

your heart?

Do you

sense his

call?

Do you

feel his

draw to

believe?

The only

saving

response is

the one

that confesses

Christ and

trusts wholly

in him.

Response

of faith,

finally,

we see the

provision of

witnesses.

Verse 40,

there were

also women

looking on

from a

distance,

among whom

were Mary

Magdalene,

Mary the

mother of

James the

younger,

and of

Joseph

and

Salome.

When he

was in

Galilee,

they followed

him and

ministered

to him,

and there

were also

many other

women who

came up

with him

to Jerusalem.

So here

Mark,

in conclusion,

introduces us

to a group

of women

present at

Jesus'

crucifixion,

and then he's

going to

mention them

again,

present at

Jesus'

burial,