Step 47

Mark 15:21-39 God Did Not Hide His Face

About Mark: Matthew, Mark, and Luke all name Simon of Cyrene as the man who assisted in carrying the cross to Golgotha, perhaps with the purpose of identifying a witness to the event who was still alive and well-known. Only Mark adds that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus, who seem well-known to Mark's Roman readers. Paul's letter to Roman readers also includes greetings to a person named Rufus, possibly the same man (Romans 16:13).

Verse 28 is omitted in the New Revised Standard Version. A few early texts insert here text apparently assimilated from Luke 22:37 which reads "The Scripture was fulfilled in me, 'And he was counted among the lawless,'" drawing readers' attention that these events fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12, "He was reckoned with the transgressors." As the following explanation shows, Mark has another way of drawing his readers' attention to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, especially to Psalm 22.

This Psalm highlights the enormous ambiguity of the death of Christ. It appears as the worst of things. Even so, in ways beyond our understanding, through it God was accomplishing atonement ("at-one"-ment). But Mark is not wishing to dilute his account with theological speculation. He wants rather to present the factual collision between good and bad, with its bizarre outcome, and leaves us to ponder and wonder like the centurion; so that perhaps we would come to the same conclusion as the centurion.

Bible: Mark 15:21-39, The Crucifixion of Jesus

21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 25 It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 27 And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. 28 29 Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

The Death of Jesus
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." 36 And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." 37 Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"

Comment: GOD DID NOT HIDE HIS FACE
IF THIS passage is read alongside Psalm 22, which Jesus quotes (Mark's verse 34 quotes the first verse of Psalm 22), very many overlaps are detected; the division of the clothes, the scorning mockery of everyone around, the trauma and thirst of dying by crucifixion, and Christ's unswerving trust in God (compare Psalm 22:4-5 and 1 Peter 2:23).

When Jesus quotes the Messianic Psalm 22, Mark quickly explains that the crowd rushes to misinterpretation. The Hebrew word "Eloi" is taken to refer to Eli. This is Mark's warning that the words of Jesus have already once been misinterpreted, and we should hesitate before doing it again. The crowds have already misunderstood the Messiannic mission (15:32), and we should not do likewise.

For Psalm 22 is all about a misinterpretation. It is about an apparent abandonment, as it appears to the mocking crowd, but not real abandonment. Psalm 22 describes a person who is apparently abandoned by God, but is not in fact abandoned by God at all. This is missed when Jesus' cry of desolation is interpreted, as it often is, as evidence of Christ's alienation from God (because of our sin, it is often said). "My God, my God ..." denotes solidarity not separation. And Psalm 22 says that despite all appearances of abandonment, "God did not hide his face from me" (Psalm 22:24).

God sent his son to be an atonement for sin (Romans 3:25). God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor. 5:19). Through the marvel of this event on the stage of human history, God acted to accomplish the Messianic mission through his son - to call to himself men and women who had seen both sin and righteousness and who recognised Jesus as the Son of God.

Discipleship today: Did the Roman centurion get it right? Was this crucified man truly the Son of God? Over the ages through this account, people have viewed the depravity of human sin and been repulsed by it, and seen the love of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and been compellingly attracted to Him. What about you?