The Fascinating Details of the Crucifixion of Christ | Mark 15:21-32 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Indeed, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Messiah, and I am not

ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation

to everyone who believes, to the Jew 1st and then to the Greek.

Well, let us continue to relish and enjoy and wonder at this

Gospel as we come to the Gospel of Mark chapter 15.

Mark 15 · chapter mention

And we will together at this time look at verse 21 down to

verse 32. We will begin to read this

immediately and see what the Lord has in store for us.

Mark 15 beginning in verse 21. And they compelled the passer

by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the

father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which

means place of a skull. And they offered him wine mixed

with myrrh, but he did not take it.

And they crucified him and divided his garments among them,

casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.

And it was the third hour when they crucified him, and the

inscription of the charge against them read The King of

the Jews. And with them they crucified 2

robbers, 1 on his right, and one on his left.

And those who pass by derided him, wagging their heads and

saying Aha. You who would destroy the temple

and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from

the cross. So also the chief.

Priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying He

saved others, he cannot save himself.

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the

cross, that we may see and believe.

Those who are crucified with Him also reviled Him.

But we ask that you would help us empower this time.

Change us. Let everything that is meant to

be said be said. Let things that you desire to

say be communicated clearly. We asked Lord again that the

only voice that we would hear would be yours.

And we trust that you will guide us at this time and your holy,

precious, sacred, eternal word in Jesus name we pray, Amen.

I've entitled this message something I've entitled this

message the fascinating details of Jesus's crucifixion.

And the reason for that is because as we come to this

passage, you'll realize that it is layered with profound

insights. And this is not going to follow

typical format of a sermon with headings and points because I

quickly discovered that each of the verses that we touched on

are brimming with thought provoking and heart stirring

revelation. And so how we're going to

approach this is like how you would if you've ever been on a

tour. I remember when I toured Israel,

what we did with most, if not all of our days was go from one

site to the next. And that's what we're going to

do with these verses. We're just going to visit one

verse, look at all the beauty has to offer, meditate on it,

and then move on to the next post to do the same.

Now, I'll tell you ahead of time that we will most likely not

cover every single detail presented here, though we could.

Instead, here's my prayer that whatever we touch on today would

so move you and stir you that you would linger longer at

Calvary and then on your own time, you would seek to discover

things that we did not. Look at today, that's all we're

going to do. We're just going to hold each

other's hands and go from one verse to the next and trust that

God will speak to us every single.

Time. If you recall, Jesus was

mercilessly scourged prior to his crucifixion.

And if that weren't enough, if you were destined to a Roman

cross, you had to carry your own instrument of execution until

you arrive to the place of your hellish death.

And it was no different. For our Lord.

But you have to understand, with the pain of the flogging and the

exhaustion and the blood loss, it's not difficult to imagine

how this trek would have been extremely difficult for the

Lord. And that was realized by the

very ones who led him. And so with all the multitudes

that followed this despicable parade, there was one individual

who seemed to be randomly selected to come to the aid of

Christ. And we could have just been told

that a man helped him. He could have remained unnamed.

Yet for some reason we are given his identity.

Look at verse 21. And they compel the passer by,

Simon of Cyrene. Mark is not the only one who

tells us about this man. We know that also Matthew and

Luke mention him as well. And it's helpful to stop here

and ask a couple of questions. Question number one, what is a

man from Cyrene doing here at Jerusalem?

That question is important when you remember where Cyrene is and

we have the answer from the Bible of exactly where this man

came from. Now you remember that when the

120 were stuffed in that upper room waiting on the Lord for the

Father that pour out the promise of the Holy Spirit, it was

during the feast of Pentecost. And we're told there in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 that multitudes, multitudes of Jews from all

across the world made pilgrimage to Jerusalem to honor the feast.

And when the Holy Spirit poured out on those 120, it made an

impact and an effect on the whole neighborhood, the whole

city. They began to hear in their own

respective languages the praises and the honors of God.

And then the Holy Spirit mentions the different places

where these Jews came from. Let me read to you Acts chapter

Acts 2:10

2, verse 10, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts

of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome.

There it is. Cyrene is a part of Libya.

This man was a North African. And the same verse where we're

told that we're also informed that there are many people from

Cyrene. They're also why?

Because again, we had the Passover feast and a few weeks

later we had what, Pentecost. So they're they're honoring what

the law commanded of them. And so while this man is here,

we have to understand that he would walk in one way and leave

another. This would be the most unique

Passover that Simon ever experienced.

We have every reason to believe that this would be a turning

point for him, and not just him, but others.

And I'll tell you why we can make that conclusion because

Mark does something strange, something that you should have

noticed that he doesn't just mention Simon of Cyrene.

Mark tells us that he's the father of Alexander and Rufus

and he doesn't give explanation of who these two are, implying

that Mark expects his original readers to know exactly who

Alexander Rufus are. So in other words, when this

gospel and we've determined when we when we open up the Gospel

Mark together some time ago that it's very likely that Mark's

original audience were Gentiles, specifically Roman Gentiles.

So when this letter was distributed and given and read

and and shared at this part, when they came to this part of

this account and they read and they compelled a passerby of

Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father

of Alexander and Rufus, the audience, the immediate author

of that. Oh, Alexander and Rufus's dad

helped him carry the cross. You're saying why is this

important? Here's why it's important,

because the name Rufus only appears in one other place in

all of the Bible. What do you think it is, Romans?

Interesting, right? Who is Mark's original audience?

Gentiles who are most likely Romans.

So years later, Paul writes his epistle to the Christians in

Rome. And look at Romans 16 with me in

verse 13 as he lists different names in that chapter, greeting

them and see what name comes up there.

Romans 16, verse 13, greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord.

Romans 16:13

Don't you love that? Also his mother who has been a

mother to me as well. If this is the same Rufus that

is referenced in the Gospel of Mark, then we have an amazing

testimony before us. Here's the testimony.

Simon of Cyrene, the faithful Jew who came to the city of

Jerusalem to honor the Passover, was chosen to carry and help

carry Jesus. Cross.

And after that moment he became a believer in the one who

carried that cross. And not only the Simon and

Cyrene acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, but his family came to

that same conclusion themselves. And evidently Alexander and

Rufus, the children of Simon of Cyrene, became well known

believers in the Church of Rome. Wouldn't you love to know how

that happened? I think one day we will, but for

now we can only speculate. What did Simon of Cyrene see as

he helped shoulder that cross? What did he hear?

And after that life changing experience, what did he say to

his wife who who became a spiritual mother to Paul?

By the way, what did he, what did he say to his sons about

what he experienced on that road to Golgotha?

We don't know. All we know is that it made an

impact. And what we have here also,

though the details are unclear, a very certain thing that Simon

carrying this cross for Jesus sake would have an impact and

would bless his family. And I want to say this, that the

same opportunity is granted to you and I, if you're willing to

answer the call of discipleship, which in the same Gospel account

we're told we are called to carry our own crosses.

And if you're willing to carry your own cross, it can touch

those that mean the most to you. I want to.

Specifically address my brothers in the house, husbands and

fathers, those who are heads of their households.

I want you to understand from a fellow brother who loves you and

prays for you all the time. Do not underestimate the impact

that your sacrificial walk with Christ can have and also the

impact that a lack of it can have on those that you care

about the most. I know many of the brothers in

this house. You are hard working men.

You are devoted men. You love your family well.

But here's my heart for you again.

Please hear my love for you, that I don't want you to be

known in your family as someone who just went to church once in

a while. I wanted to see a man who has a

supreme delight in Jesus over everything else.

I wanted to see a man who brings everything to God in prayer.

I wanted to see a man who is rich in wisdom, rich in counsel

because you're a wealthy in the Word.

I wanted to see a man who knows how to say sorry and ask for

forgiveness when they're wrong. I wanted to see a man who exudes

heavenly peace and joy because you have an eternal perspective.

I wanted to see a man who can love them stronger, better,

longer, because you experienced and you have tasted the

knowledge of Christ, love for you.

Men like Simon of Cyrene carry your cross and understand that

it can have generational blessings and He is right there

ready to energize you and animate you and empower you to

do that. So as you do what you need to

do, I know you're you're working maybe sometimes two jobs, maybe

long hours. You're exhausted.

You can barely offer anything else.

But understand what Christ your Lord said.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

He's willing to help you and He's willing to bless you and

bless those who are connected to you.

This is what we see here with Simon of Sirene.

This is no accident. This isn't just a random detail.

This is meant to show us that this man changed because of this

cross and his sons were willing to carry their own crosses.

Now let's read on. Simon help Jesus carry his

cross. But it came to a point where the

Lord needed to be helped more. Notice in verse 22.

And they brought him to the place called Golgotha.

They brought him. Compare that to verse 20.

Look how verse 20 begins. And they had mocked him, they

stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him,

and they led him. So went from the Roman soldiers

leading Jesus to doing what in verse 22 bringing.

Jesus, the strength of the Savior is waning.

It was a brutal, treacherous journey.

And so now it wasn't just Simon and Cyrene.

They had to in some way carry it and lift him up as well to this

place called Golgotha. Mark wants to tell us by the

Spirit the meaning of this Aramaic word, skull, place of

the skull. Now, if you are somebody who

reads the King James, the new King James, and you read this

part of the gospel from Luke's perspective, you're going to

find the word starts with the letter C.

What is it? Calvary.

Calvary, that is a word derived from the Latin calvarya, and it

means the same thing, skull. And the translators to the King

James were more familiar with the Latin, and so that's why

they did that. And you're saying, why are you

bringing this up? Because I want you to know what

you're singing and reading. I don't want any of us to ever

come to a point that we sing things or we read things and

commentaries or devotionals and we and we don't know what it

means. I'm here to tell you that

Calvary means skull and it's meant to tell you of the place

where Jesus died. So when we sing or when we read

something and the word Calvary comes because it's not something

that was just known in the Latin.

It was something that developed to be common in the English

speaking world for Christians at least.

We're singing, we're talking, we're studying about where Jesus

died, the physical location, Calvary.

But why was it called the place of the skull?

Some believe it's because it was a little hill and and depending

on the angle, that hill actually had the appearance of a skull.

Others would say it was just the name that it had as a reputation

because it became the designated regular spot for Rome's gruesome

executions. Those things are up for a

debate, but what's for certain is what the Bible says about the

geographical location of Jesus sacrifice.

Turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 13 and let's

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

read a few verses together to see what the Spirit says about

where Jesus died. Hebrews 1310.

You have to remember that the author of Hebrews is speaking to

Jewish Christians, Jews who converted from the law to

accepting Messiah in Jesus, and they are experiencing the

temptation and the tension of returning to the Mosaic system,

the Mosaic law. And so the author of Hebrews

here is making a wonderful defense for the case of Christ

and how he's superior to everything, including the

Levitical system. And at this final part, he is

now giving final exhortations. And notice what he says.

We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no

right to eat. For the bodies of those animals

whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest

as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify

the people through his own blood.

Now this is not just granted to us to satisfy our geographical

curiosity. This is given to us to draw a

spectacular gospel truth. We're told here that Jesus

suffered and died outside the gate, outside the city walls.

And he's reminding these Christians again, who have

sacrificed so much to put their faith in Christ.

They were rejected and denied from Jewish religious life and

social life. They were paying a high price to

follow Jesus Christ. But he wants to let them know

that as followers of this Jesus, they have access to something.

That others don't. Look at verse 10.

We have an altar. We have an altar with those who

serve the tent, which those who serve the tent have no right to

eat. So you have to remember that in

the Tabernacle. This is why it's so important to

study the Old Testament. Listen to me.

You cannot know the depths of the New Testament.

If you're lazy with the Old Testament, you cannot.

You'll be shallow in your understanding of God's Word,

especially in the New Testament. In the Old Testament with the

Tabernacle, the designated House of worship that later became the

temple, there was an altar that was called by God to be created

to be the instrument of making sacrifices, animal sacrifices,

and those sacrifices would serve to cover sins.

And so this language of altar was familiar to these readers.

And this author by the Spirit says, do you understand that in

the new covenant you also have an altar?

You have an altar saying, what kind of altar?

It's a spiritual altar. And more than just a spiritual

altar. It's a superior altar.

What is the altar? The sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

the Son of God who shed his blood.

That is your altar and mine. And he goes on to say that

unbelievers, including Christ denying Jews, have no access.

They cannot participate at that altar that you have access to.

You're saying, why is that? Because look at verse 11.

Now he reminds the Jewish Christians of the sacrificial

system. And he says for the bodies of

those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by

the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the

camp. See, this is you will not get

this if you skip Leviticus, you will not understand what he's

talking about. You just think he's being

poetic. No, he's pointing back to

instructions. And there are a variety of

sacrifices that were made and were instructed by God to give.

One of them was the sin offering.

And this is the illusion that he's making.

He's making an illusion back to a particular right, an

ordinance, this sin offering. And depending on the sin and who

sinned, the sin offering was unique in this way, that you

would put some of the bull on the altar and it would be

consumed. But in many cases you would have

to take the flesh of the bull and the pieces of the bull, and

you would have to leave the tent.

Leave. The walls and burn it outside

the camp. It was not fit for consumption.

There were other sacrifices that the priest, this was part of

their payment where they would make a sacrifice on behalf of

people or even large groups of people or leaders, and they

would eat of it. That was part of their

compensation. But the burnt offering, or

rather the sin offering in many cases was not fit to be eaten.

You were supposed to take it, go outside and let it be burned on

wood. Why?

It was a symbolic picture of sin being separated from the people

of God. That the tent and within the

walls we are holy. So anything that's sinful, take

it outside. So they could not benefit from

that sin offering when it came to consumption necessarily in

many cases. So what's his point?

He reminds him of that and then he comes back and he says here

in verse 12 in the in the same way the sin offering was

sacrificed outside, Jesus was sacrificed outside.

You're saying, what's his point? Here's his point.

Pay very close attention. This is what he's saying.

He's talking to these Hebrew Christians that are thinking

maybe we should just go back to the law.

And he says as long as you cling to the old covenant system that

prevents you from eating the sin offering that is made outside,

you are also excluded from benefiting from the sacrifice of

Jesus Christ, who was also sacrificed outside.

In other words, let me make it plain, he's telling these Hebrew

Christians, you got to make a choice.

Are you going to put your hope in the sufficient sacrifice of

Jesus Christ, which may call you, and it does call you to

turn your back on any other kind of sacrifice for your salvation?

Or are you going to back, go back to the law, embrace the

law, and in doing so, because Jesus was sacrificed outside,

your law prohibits you from benefiting from Christ who is

sacrificed outside. Let me make it relatable.

You have to make a choice. Everybody in this room.

Is salvation going to be by grace or by works?

Because you cannot, just like these original readers, you

cannot claim that you can receive the efficacy of Christ's

sacrifice, that it's sufficient, and then go eat at other altars.

It's either the altar of the Gospel or whatever altar your

choosing is. You can't have both.

That's what he's saying. So either take what Christ has

done and it will cost you. Yes, maybe some persecution and

denial and rejection, or you can go back to what you wanted.

But this tells you that you can't benefit from any sacrifice

outside the camp, including Jesus.

So you see how brilliant it is. You know, we're almost finished

marking some people saying, can we go to Hebrews next?

I'm thinking we're never going to get through it in a short

amount of time. If we ever go to Hebrews, we'll

be here for like 10 years. I think.

It's so deep. It's so deep.

You got to make a choice. Which altar will you worship at?

This is so powerful, so powerful.

But he doesn't even end there. Look at verse 13.

Now He makes it very practical. Therefore, let us go to Him

outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured.

So if a sacrifice was made outside the camp and it was

deemed as unclean, rejected, denied, separate, join it.

If Jesus was sacrificed outside the camp, discarded and rejected

by others, let's then join Him. It's a privilege to have this

level of loyalty to Him. And just as lepers and the

unclean and the disease were expelled and had to remain

outside, if following Christ means that we are treated the

same, so be it. Let's go outside with Him.

Let's consider the honor of bearing the reproach that he

endured. So this is what the Spirit is

telling these Christians, and it's no different for us.

There is a high price to pay. Are we willing to be shunned to

be associated with him? Are you willing to be scorned at

by your friends? Are you willing to have to

endure awkward Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners with your

extended unbelieving family because they know you're one of

those fanatical evangelicals? Bear the reproach.

Join him. Go outside.

Let them say whatever they want. Let them treat you however they

want to treat you. And and the Bible is realistic.

The Holy Spirit knows that it's a challenge for many of us.

So he gives at least one encouragement for us to pack our

bags and say if he went outside, let me go outside with him.

Look at verse 14. For here we have no lasting.

City, but we seek the city that is to come.

In other words, the rejection that you fear, the property and

the privileges that you worry about losing, all of that is

temporary. You must take and make this

decision with an eternal perspective.

And the same one who suffered outside the walls of the city of

Jerusalem will one day come again.

To establish a new world and a new city, where he will rule and

reign, and we who suffered with him will rule and reign with

him. Look beyond this life, my

friend. Look beyond the little aches and

awkwardness of your temporary existence on this planet, my

friend. And realize what's to come and

realize the honor that Christ will grant you for the reproach

that you're willing to receive on His behalf.

Do you see how even the location of?

Jesus death carries incredible insight and even application.

He suffered outside on Golgotha. Let's go and suffer.

Let's come back to Mark 15. It says there that they brought

him to a place called Golgotha once they arrived.

On Golgotha or Calvary it says here in verse 23.

And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh but he did not take

it. What is myrrh?

So at the station they had wine and it was infused with murmurs

like a gum like resin. It's a substance that can be

extracted from the bark of certain trees ahead of

fragrance. They did possess medicinal and

aromatic properties, but why was it being offered?

And I think there's one verse that gives us a little bit of a

clue. You don't have to turn there,

but let me quote it to you. From Proverbs 31, verse 6, we're

Proverbs 31:6

told there give strong drink to the one who is perishing.

So that might be an insight that tells us that it was an ancient

Jewish custom for the people to provide some kind of pain

numbing narcotic to those who have been executed or planning

to be executed to death. So this would be kind of like a

deadening thing for the census to help these criminals embrace

the pain that they were about to endure.

And it could have been a custom that followed all the way up to

Jesus day that was included even though the Romans were governing

and supervising these affairs. And that makes sense because as

Jesus is there ready to be nailed on the cross, He refuses

this wine mixed with myrrh. Do you know why?

Because he's a strong savior. Do you know why?

Because as he was ready to drink the wrath of God, he wanted to

be fully conscious of it. He would not numb himself.

He wanted the entire experience and untainted sacrifice and Lamb

of God. He denied it.

He shunned it. He rejected it.

Now what becomes even more moving is when you realize how

many times myrrh appears in the Gospels.

Do you realize that including this, what we find in Mark 15, a

total of three times, only three times in all of the Gospel

accounts are we told about myrrh.

So let's go on a little trip, right?

We're still on our tour, but we're going to take a little

rabbit trail and come back. Myrrh is mentioned here, but

myrh is also mentioned when Jesus was ready to be buried.

Look at John 19 with me in your Bibles.

Look at verse 39, John 1939. Nicodemus.

Also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night came bringing a

mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 lbs in weight.

You know some people criticize Nicodemus for going out at

night. I guess that you are trying to

be discreet. But how discreet are you when

you bring 75 lbs of ointment? You're not carrying that in your

hands. You're hauling that in some way.

So he's bringing all of this perfume, right?

Including myrrh. Look at verse 40.

So they took the body of Jesus and bounded in linen cloth with

the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

So now out of the the three references, we cover 2 with

myrrh, the first one at the cross, the second one at his

burial. So right here in terms of theme,

in terms of connection, the mention of mirror is strictly

associated with death, death and affliction and suffering, right?

If it's there at the cross, if it's there at the tomb, that's

what we're getting so far. But there's one more place.

You know this. Very well.

And as we come to the Christmas season, we'll be reminded not at

the cross, not at the tomb, but shortly after his birth.

So go to Matthew 2. This is the final reference of

myrrh in the Gospels. These are when the wise men from

the East came, these Gentiles who are looking for the king of

the Jews. And notice what it says in

Matthew 2, verse 11. And going into the house, they

Matthew 2:11

saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and

worshipped him. Then opening their treasures,

they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

This is where we get a Christian myth.

That there were 3 kings that came from the East.

Because there are three gifts. We're not told how many of them

came. They just came.

It could have been a collective effort.

There could have been thirty of them.

There could have been much more. Remember when they came to

Jerusalem, it was a scene. But they did bring 3 gifts,

gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I I understand the value of gold

and frankincense, but myrrh? OK, it's a perfume, but I

believe it's more than that when you consider the Holy Spirit's

authorship. I believe what these kings are

doing, what these wise men are doing as they come, is that this

was a foreshadowing of what was to become of this child, his

destiny to be born so that he would die.

If myrrh was used as a custom for the burial of the Jews,

you're giving this to this child who came into this world for

that very purpose, to suffer, die, be buried, and then raised.

Now here's here's where it gets so exciting, because this is not

the only time that the King of the Jews and the King of Kings

will be offered gifts by Gentiles believing Gentiles.

No, there is a prophecy granted to us about the same Jesus who

in His second coming will come back not to die.

He will come back to redeem, to restore, and to reign.

And when He does, there will be another visit.

There will be plenty of visits where people will come to offer

their gifts to the same king. Can I show it to you?

Go to Isaiah 60. I know it's a lot of scripture,

but what else are we supposed to do at church?

What else is a preacher supposed to do?

And it's my prayer that you would leave here with the

Scriptures burning in your hearts.

Nothing else. The Scriptures, Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

6. This is a prophecy that when the

Lord returns and redeems the nation of Israel of what will

take place. So this is speaking about a

prophecy what will come to the Jewish people and their nation

in the millennial reign. And notice what it reads in

verse one just so we can understand the context.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord

has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover

the earth, and thick darkness the peoples.

But the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen

upon you, and nations shall come to your light, and kings to the

brightness of your rising. So notice this distinguishing

factor of what will take place in the headquarters of Jesus

Kingdom, which will be Jerusalem.

Sorry, it's not going to be New Jersey, Jerusalem, He's going to

rule and reign from there. The glory of God is going to

shine from there and it's going to be the attraction of the

world, the glory of the Lord, and it's going to draw leaders

and kings and politicians and different peoples from different

places and as they come because they are drawn to this.

Notice after these verses, you can read it on your own time,

but I want to highlight verse six.

Look at this specific detail. A multitude of camels shall

cover you. The young camels of Midian and

IFA, all those from Sheba, shall come.

Pause, these are Gentiles, and notice what they will bring.

They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring

good. News, the praises of the Lord.

They shall bring what gold and frankincense?

Where's the myrrh? It's not there.

Why is myrrh not mentioned? Because if myrrh signifies

death, affliction, and suffering, it has no relevance

at this point. Why does it have no relevance

for King Jesus when he comes to ruling reign?

Because he already suffered and died, that's why.

Because Hebrews tells us that he came once for all with his

sacrifice. And Hebrews tells us that he's

going to come a second time, not to deal with sin, but to rescue

those who are eagerly waiting for him.

So myrrh doesn't matter anymore because Jesus fulfilled that

part of his destiny. He died, He suffered, He was

buried. Now here we are in the

millennial reign, and the nations are coming once more,

and they bring the gold and they bring the frankincense, but no

myrrh. What do they replace the myrrh

with? Read it again.

They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall bring

good news, the praises of the Lord.

That's what they're going to bring.

Do you see how brilliant the Bible is?

You see how glorious it is? Do you see why we go from

Scripture to Scripture? So they can burn on your hearts.

And you can see the brilliance of the supernatural author in

replacing of myrrh. There will be Mary, there will

be praises, there will be honor, and we will rejoice in his

sacrifice for eternity. We're still on our tour.

Let's go to Mark 15 again. It says in verse 23.

And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take

it. Verse 24 And they crucified Him.

4 words that in hearing them demands our silence, demands are

awe, our captivation, and our contemplation.

And they crucified Him. How much more for those who

stood there and witnessed it with their own eyes.

What a sight Jesus Christ of Nazareth murdered, hanging.

And not just hanging in pain, they shamed Him even more.

How much more shame can you bestow upon somebody?

Here's the shame, it says here in verse 24.

And they crucified him and divided his garments among them,

casting lots for them to decide what each should take.

You would think that even if you had an ounce of dignity, that

standing at the shadow of the foot of the cross would cause

you to think with a little bit of respect.

Instead, what do you find? You find Roman soldiers in that

same shadow. Gambling.

Maybe we've heard this enough where we come kind of numb to

this narrative. Let's make it.

This is a poor example. Can you imagine being at a

funeral and the person there in the coffin is there and you see

people gambling for their clothes and their possessions?

Now, do you feel it a little bit?

Being in the ICU with a loved 1? You see the nurses and doctors

gambling for that person's possessions while they're dying.

Now do you feel a little bit? Do you feel how gross this is?

Do you see how appalling this is now?

As much as we have loved ones and we hate to see them go, this

is the perfect sinless Son of God, and you have Roman soldiers

gambling for his outfit while he hangs there nearly naked.

He was stripped of his clothes so that you can be clothed with

his righteousness. And though this may seem like a

detail meant to highlight the dark drama of this moment,

actually sure serves to show us that yet another prophecy from

hundreds of years ago was fulfilled.

Psalm 22, one of the clearest unmistakable prophecies about

Messiah, the suffering Messiah. You know these verses well, but

let me quote them to you once again.

Psalm 22, verse 16. For dogs encompass me.

Psalms 22:16

A company of evildoers encircles me.

They have pierced my hands and feet.

You understand how powerful this is 1000 years before Jesus died,

hundreds of years before the crucifixion was even invented.

David by the Holy Spirit perceives that the Messiah will

be pierced in his hands and feet.

You know, this has bothered rabbis and Jewish scholars so

much who, who don't believe that Jesus the Messiah that they had

done a number on this text to try to make it sound or be

something else. But when you look at the

original Hebrew, when you look at the Septuagint, when you look

at some of the Masoretic texts, when you look at the original

writings, what you'll discover is that you cannot deny this.

This is talking about a piercing.

They have pierced my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me.

They divide my garments among them.

And for my clothing, they cast lots.

There it is. How specific do you understand

1000 years before it actually happened you get a play by play

prophecy of what's taking place and what we're reading in Mark

15. I I hope that still blows your

mind to understand what we have in our hands.

What else can be said of prophecy in this brief section

so much we can discuss the timing of Christ's crucifixion

back in Mark 15. Notice it says here in verse 25,

it was the third hour when they crucified.

This is not random. This is not just to say here

here's an eyewitness account. I'm telling you what time it

happened. There's a connection between the

timing of Christ's sacrifice and the sacrifices in the Old

Testament. We can look at and discuss how

verse 27 fulfills Isaiah 53 verse 12, where we're told there

Isaiah 53:12

in verse 27 what that he was. He was there in the middle

between 2 robbers, 1 to his right and one to his left, and

Isaiah 5312 tells us that he was numbered among the

transgressions. We can look at verse 29, look at

verse 29 again. It says and those who pass by

derided and wagging their heads and saying aha, you would

destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

Save yourself and come down from the cross.

Jesus early in his ministry in John 2, you know this well.

He predicted what would happen, that they would destroy this

temple, my body, and I would raise it up.

I would raise it up, and here's how these unbelieving Jews

interpreted it. You're going to destroy that

physical temple, that glorious temple, and you're going to

rebuild it in a few days. And here they are mocking Christ

for that supposed prediction, failing to realize that he's

actually fulfilling it in their presence.

That temple was being destroyed right before their eyes, and

they were so blind, they were so caked with unbelief that they

said he said He would do this. That's another prophecy being

fulfilled. So how many prophecies can we

deal with? So many of them.

But I just want to come straight to the last few verses for our

consideration. Look at verse 31.

So also the chief. Priests with the scribes mocked

him to one another, saying He saved others, he cannot save

himself. Let the Christ, the King of

Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and

believe. Pause.

Aren't you glad that he didn't take that up?

Because if he did save himself, if he didn't want to prove

himself, none of us would be saved.

This is the humility of Jesus. Can you imagine having the power

in the blink of an eye to get off that cross, to restore every

wound that they inflicted upon you, and to look at them all in

the face and say, Now what? How tempting would that have

been? But what was he doing?

He chose to still stay there, being heaped upon heap with all

this scorn and mockery to save us.

The last part is what I want you to see in our closing time.

Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.

The robbers, the thieves. How much venom do you have to

have in your heart that as you are experiencing excruciating

pain, as you are approaching death's door, as you're about to

slip into eternity, instead of thinking like maybe I should get

right with God with my final breaths.

You use up the. Last energy, you have to join

the enemies of Christ and mock Him.

If there is, I mean, we talk about people who are beyond hope

of being saved. This is top of the list.

You're you're about to die, you're in your deathbed and

you're mocking the innocent, sinless Messiah.

And you know this very well, that something changes between

the third hour, the 6th hour later, the 9th hour.

We're ending here. So please turn with me to Luke

23 if you'd like to see it with your own eyes.

But we're very familiar with this, so allow me to just quote

it. One of those.

Thieves. Something happened to him.

He, like Simon of Cyrene, he perceives something and he makes

this strange, incredible confession and request, Jesus,

Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.

Remember, he rebukes the other thief, and now he looks at the

Lord and he says, Jesus, Remember Me when you come into

your Kingdom. Do you understand how incredibly

amazing that statement is? Because it's a statement of

faith. What?

What is Jesus? What's happening to him?

He's dying. And yet this thief has the

revelation and has the faith that the same Jesus who's dying

will one day come with his Kingdom.

He one day will come with his Kingdom, meaning he's going to

be king. So the the thief.

Understood this is not the final stage for Christ.

This is not the end of the story.

He understood He is the King. He is going to come with his

Kingdom and I want to be a part of it.

So Jesus, Please remember me when you come with your Kingdom.

Now. Just moments ago he mocked them.

He slapped them around verbally. He despised him.

Now you would think that if you just experienced that in the

most painful point of your life, that you would say something in

response. You would remind that person of

what they did to you before you continue the conversation.

Christ doesn't address it at all.

He bypasses it and He assures them by saying truly, I say to

you today you will be with me in paradise.

What kind of grace is that? That He doesn't even address the

scorn. He sees past all of it and he

sees the repentance, He sees the faith.

And this is an example of how quick the Lord is to forgive us.

Now, the Lord could have said, I will.

I will keep you in mind in my Kingdom, but he doesn't say

that. He declares an immediate

enrollment into Paradise. Today you will be with me in

paradise. But more than listen, more than

a promised place in paradise, there are two important words

that he adds with me. You see this?

This man simply asked if he could be remembered.

Christ takes it far beyond that. I'm not just going to keep you

in mind. I'm going to bring you close to

me. You might be thinking that

sounds like a nice thought, and it's probably because this man

needed those comforting words because he was fearful of death

and scared of what was going to become of him in eternity.

But I want to tell you today that when Jesus says you will be

with me in paradise, it wasn't exclusive to this man.

It's something that he has in mind for every single one of us

who will believe with me. Listen to these words as Jesus

is now speaking to his disciples, preparing for them by

way of discourse for his departure into heaven.

He he, he goes through John 141516.

Then he ends up with a high priestly prayer in John 17.

But don't turn there. Just please, please pay

attention to these words as I read them to you.

This is Jesus to his own. Disciples, and not just to his

original disciples, the 12 apostles, but to all of us.

John 14, verse 2 Listen, listen, listen.

John 14:2

In my Father's house are many rooms.

If it were not, So what? I have not told you that I go to

prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place

for you, I will come again and we'll take you.

Pause. How many of us would finish that

sentence? He's been talking about

preparing a place. Preparing a place.

I'm going to come take you. And you think what?

Take you to an ethereal destination?

Take you to a heavenly mansion? That's not what he says.

I will come again and we'll take you to myself.

That where I am, you may be also.

Heaven is not about a place, it's about a person.

Being saved is not. It's more than about escaping

eternal torment, it's about enjoying your Savior forever.

This is the essence of our faith.

First Corinthians 19 We are told that God is faithful by whom he

has called us into fellowship with His Son.

Fellowship with the Son of God. This is, this is the heart of

Jesus Christ, that when he was dying on that cross, the thief

beside him and all believers later who would trust in him,

that they would accept him so that they can be with him.

This is why we as Christians have liberty, as we witness and

as we testify that we have a personal relationship with our

God. That's the essence of salvation,

that we will be brought to Him, that we would be with Him.

So listen, you're not just say, then you have a number slapped

on you and you have some kind of slot in the Lamb's book of life,

and you're just a statistic in heaven.

He wants you to be with Him. Realize that that when you give

your final breath, and you will give it, as will I, you are

going to encounter a Savior who shed His blood so that you can

be with Him. That's what's awaiting you.

That's what's awaiting me. He's not going to be distant.

And then we have to go through all these appointments with

angels and seraphim and cherubim just to have an audience with

him. At one point in eternity he

purchased us so that we can stay with him and be with him and

enjoy him. This is your salvation.

This is this is the glorious gospel.

Our God loves us. You know, you have some people

go with extremes when it comes to presenting the gospel that

Jesus Christ died for the glory of the Father.

He did die for the glory of God, but he also died because He

loves us. He actually loves us.

He actually wants you to be with Him for eternity.

We're going to see this thief in heaven.

Undeserving. Sure.

Scandalous. You better believe it.

Welcome to Grace and the confidence that will he will

have as he is prepared to enter into that new world will be

because Jesus said it would happen.

And that's the same assurance that you and I have.

You put your faith in what Jesus said and listen here.

Here's the wonderful thing as we close, we're not just waiting to

have fellowship with him. I can have fellowship with him

now. What now?

And I was studying this late last night, not too late, but

into the night. And I just wanted to put my

stuff away because here's the thought that ran through my

mind. Lord, if you died for

fellowship, I want to fellowship with you.

Spend time with you, sit at your feet and meditate on your

beauty, your compassion. This is His love.

As there are other things that we could have discovered in this

passage, you better believe it. Go fellowship with Him in the

Word, and He will show you mighty and wonderful things.

But as our time concludes, I believe that we have enough to

think about and relish in. Shall we pray?

Let's pray. Well, what words can we put

together to communicate our hearts response to this truth?

Lord, if if fellowship with you is not real to anybody in this

place today, if the extent of someone's relationship with you

is just knowledge and moral codes, Lord, please open all of

our eyes to see the intimacy that you desire to have with

each of us. Help us believe that, Lord, help

us. Only your Holy Spirit can make

that real to us. We ask, Lord, that as we sing

that you'll be blessed. And we ask, Lord, in these final

moments of the service, that you'd give us a little sample of

the presence that we will know forever when you call us home.

Thank you, Lord, that as we're here serving you, you are in

heaven, preparing a place for us.

Thank you, Lord, that what awaits us is more than just

golden streets, glorious gates, even the reunion of loved ones

who also put their faith in you. We are promised to be with you,

to be with our Savior, and we will see the tokens of your love

in those pierced hands and those pierced feet and that pierced

side. And we know that forever and

ever we will remember the great price you paid for us to be with

you. Lord, if there's anybody here

who doesn't know you, may they realize your love for them.

We thank you for the cross. We thank You that you were

stripped so that we can be clothed.

We thank you that you thirst so that we would never thirst.

We thank you that you were isolated so that we would know

the warm face of God shining upon us.

We honor you today in Jesus name, Amen.

Let's stand, let's worship the Lord.

Are you somebody here who doesn't believe in what I just

preached? Are you visiting here today and

you have not put your trust in Jesus Christ?

I want to tell you today that everything can change for you,

just like it did for Simon of Cyrene.

He went into that place one way and he left another.

And I believe that the same destiny can be for you.

What you have to do is acknowledge what Christ has done

for you. Acknowledge that you're a

Sinner, that He's the Savior, and for this transaction from

you going to be an enemy of God to a friend of God is by

repenting and believing on Christ.

Have you ever, ever, ever made a conscious decision to repent and

believe on Jesus Christ? Why don't you make that decision

today? Why can't today be the day where

you become His own? Why can't today be the day where

you go home and you have the assurance and the peace as you

lay your heavy head on that pillow, that you have peace with

God? That can happen.

It's a free gift. You got an idea of the great

price that was paid on your behalf.

Will you reject it? Will you ignore it?

How can you? What about it?

Would you reject it? Why, It's his love, God's love,

your Creator, but not just your Creator, your Redeemer.

Receive Him. At any point while we sing, you

can speak to this God. You don't have to go through any

man. You can go straight to God in

the name of Jesus Christ. And if you're sincere in your

heart, with your repentance and faith, you'll be saved and

you'll know it. Let's sing.