Jesus was Forsaken and Died for Us

Mark 15:33-47, Key Verse: 15:34

“And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).”

In last week’s message delivered by Msn. Paul, we saw how Jesus was crucified as a result of the Jewish leaders’ conspiracy and Judas’ betrayal. But this only served to reveal that Jesus is the true king of the Jews. Today we think about the remainder of Jesus’ time on the cross, his death itself, and his burial. Though all the powers of darkness were concentrated around Jesus’ cross, what happened there, as we will see, is really good news. Even in his suffering and death, Jesus is revealed to be the ultimate victor, and it’s us who can receive the benefit of that victory. As we think about Jesus’ death today, let’s pray that the power of the gospel may work in our lives. 

I. How Jesus was forsaken on the cross (33-36)

We read in last week’s passage that it was nine in the morning when Jesus was crucified. After Jesus was suffering on the cross for three hours, something happened that no one could ignore. Verse 33 says, “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.” Think how eerie it would be to have everything go dark in the middle of the day. What caused this darkness? Some people have said maybe it was an eclipse, but it could not have been any natural eclipse because those don’t last for three hours but just a few minutes. 

Whether this darkness was a phenomenon that we could call “natural” isn’t really important. What’s important is the spiritual significance of this darkness. When he was arrested, Jesus said to his captors, “This is your hour—when darkness reigns.” (Lk 22:53) The land becoming dark while Jesus was on the cross indicates that this was the time when the power of sin and evil reached its maximum, and all of it was directed against Jesus. The people who loved Jesus probably felt the darkness was very appropriate because it reflected the grief overshadowing their hearts. Maybe the darkness was an expression of God’s own grief. Hopefully this darkness made some people fear God and repent, realizing that it was their sin that helped bring about this condition. 

On the cross, Jesus himself went into the darkness in a way that we can’t fully understand. We can see that also from what Jesus said next. Look at verse 34. “And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’).” Though Mark wrote his gospel in Greek, he quotes this statement of Jesus in the original Aramaic that Jesus would have spoken. It’s like the impact of these words was still resonating through the people who originally heard them. It can be hard to understand why Jesus would say a thing like “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Did Jesus lose his faith on the cross and think that God had just given him up? No, not at all. Jesus said this because it reflected the reality of what was happening to him, and also how his death fulfilled the scriptures. 

This statement is a direct quote from Psalm 22, a Psalm of David. Psalm 22:1-2 says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” It was a heartfelt cry from a time in David’s life when he was in a situation that seemed totally hopeless. Maybe we have felt like saying something similar in a dark time in our lives. The fact that Jesus also said this shows how he experienced the full depth of suffering that any human can feel, and even beyond that. 

Mark also records how some people who were present misunderstood this statement from Jesus. Verse 35 says that they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” I guess “Eloi” does sound something like “Eli-yah”. But their misunderstanding was more than just mis-hearing; they had really missed the point about Jesus. They didn’t understand that Jesus prayed directly to God as his father and would never call on Elijah to save him. At that point, someone offered Jesus a drink of wine vinegar by soaking a sponge with it and putting it on a stick to raise up to him. I’m not sure if this was intended as an act of mercy or a cruel joke, to give such a sour drink to someone who is dying of thirst. But this also fulfills the scripture from Psalm 69:21. “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Then they said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.” Not understanding at all why Jesus had to go to the cross, they were hoping to see a miracle where Elijah would swoop down from the sky in his flaming chariot and take Jesus off the cross. They remind me of people who gather around just to see the aftermath of a car accident. 

As we know, Elijah didn’t come. Why did Jesus have to be in such an utterly forsaken condition on the cross? It was for us. This is the forsakenness that we deserved because of our sins. The prophet Isaiah clearly stated expressed that the fruit of sin is to be forsaken by God. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” On the cross, Jesus was bearing the sin of the world in himself, and so, even though he himself was sinless, he was experiencing the terrible separation from God that is the result of sin. His whole life, Jesus had a perfect trust and love relationship with God his Father. He knew that God always watched over him, always, heard him, always answered his prayers. But now, for one time in Jesus’ life, it’s like all that was gone. That’s the very definition of hell—the absence of God’s presence. 

Jesus’ saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” shows us so much. Paul gave one summary of its meaning in 1 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus was forsaken on the cross so we never have to be forsaken by God, so that we can also call God “my God” and know that he will never leave us or forsake us. 

II. The curtain is torn (37-39)

It was at 3pm, shortly after receiving the drink of wine vinegar, that Jesus died. Verse 37 simply says, “With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.” Jesus died faster than most people who were crucified. Jesus died after six hours on the cross, but it was not uncommon for some to linger on for days. You could say that Jesus’ death was accelerated because of the unusual severity of the torture he underwent. But more fundamentally, we understand that Jesus died when he did because he had finished his mission. Once Jesus had offered himself for the sin of the world, he willingly gave his soul up to God. The loud cry with which Jesus died was a declaration of victory. 

At the moment Jesus died, another supernatural event occurred that powerfully shows us what his death accomplished. Look at verse 38. “The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” The curtain referred to here is the curtain that closed off the innermost room of the Jerusalem temple, the place known as the holy of holies. The ark of the covenant was in there, the box containing the ten commandments, with its lid with the sculptures of the seraphim on it. This place was considered to be the very presence of God. No one could ever go in there behind the curtain, except the high priest and even him only once a year, to pray for the sins of Israel and he had to come bringing the blood of a sacrifice and wearing jingling bells on his robe, so that people outside would know if he suddenly was struck dead. If the other priests heard the bells stop ringing, they would take a pole with a hook on it or something and drag him out. These rules and ceremonies served to help Israel understand the holiness of God, to realize that sinful people simply could not stand in God’s presence. 

But when Jesus died, the curtain was torn completely in half, exposing that inner room to anyone who walked by. This would have been very shocking to any priests or Pharisees in the temple at that time. This was a long, thick, and heavy curtain; try to imagine what it would sound like as it tore. This shows that Jesus had done what no high priest could do. By the sacrifice of his own self on the cross, he made full atonement, once for all, for the sins not just of Israel but of the whole world, and opened the way for anyone to come directly into God’s presence and have fellowship with him. The torn curtain shows that the barrier of sin between us and God was taken away by Jesus’ death. 

Think about what kind of access Jesus obtained for us! When we have faith in what Jesus has done for us, we can go directly to God through prayer, be accepted and welcomed into his presence as his children. This relationship is the definition of heaven. More than that, God himself will come to us and dwell in us by the Holy Spirit, making our own body a holy temple of God. 

To realize the power of the gospel in our lives, it’s very important to remember that we have this kind of access. I’m sorry to say that, even after Jesus’ time, many people have tried to put back some barrier between others and God, for example, by saying, “Normal people can’t come to God on their own, you need a priest to intercede for you.” That concept is anti-gospel. The Bible says Jesus is our high priest, but even his goal was to give us direct access to the Father. The night before he died, Jesus described to his disciples the new relationship that he was giving them with God. In John 16 Jesus says, “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name...I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (Jn 16:23, 26b-27) 

This also means that if we want to be shepherds for others, we must watch ourselves so we aren’t tempted to put ourselves between someone and God, not even if it seems to be for their good. Jesus rebuked the Jewish religious leaders very harshly for this. There are people who would sew that curtain back together if they could, because they want to keep some hold that they have over vulnerable people. But they will not finally succeed, because on the cross Jesus finished once for all his work of opening our way to God. 

III. People changed by Jesus’ death (39-47)

The power of Jesus’ death is also shown by the effect it had on people who witnessed it. One of them, Mark tells us, was a Roman centurion. This centurion would have been the officer in charge of Jesus’ execution, giving orders to the soldiers and watching over the procedure to make sure there was no funny business.

This centurion had no personal connection to Jesus or the Jewish faith; Jerusalem was just where he was stationed. In that sense he represents a more objective third party witness. Furthermore, to rise to the rank of centurion, this man would have to have been a tough and hardened soldier. Probably he had seen hundreds of people die in his line of work and scenes of suffering and brutality didn’t even affect him anymore. And yet, Jesus’ death got even his attention. He couldn’t help but notice there was something different about the way Jesus died. Everything he witnessed could only make him conclude, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (39) The centurion is an example of the power of Jesus’ cross to change even hard-hearted people. It can open anyone’s eyes, because it shows that the work of God doesn’t work like earthly power. 

Mark also takes note of the women who stayed with Jesus to the end as witnesses of his death: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. The men disciples had all run away, except possibly John. But these women, even though there was nothing they could practically do for Jesus, out of pure love and gratitude stayed with him to the very end. We cannot really say they were changed by Jesus’ death, because they were faithful from the beginning to the end, and that was enough. Because of their faithfulness, as we will see, these women would be used by God to play a key part in the revelation of the gospel. 

Finally, there was one more person who was changed by Jesus’ death, and he was changed not just in his opinion but in action. It was Joseph of Arimathea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. We know the Sanhedrin as the group that schemed to kill Jesus and conduced his mockery of a trial. But as usual in the real world, it wasn’t 100% unanimous. Joseph was one member of the Sanhedrin who didn’t go along with their plan, because he actually believed in Jesus! Until now, he had kept his belief a secret, because if he revealed it, he would certainly be kicked off the council and lose all his social status, and probably his income source as well. We can say that Joseph lacked courage. But when Joseph saw how Jesus died, something inside him changed. He decided to do something to honor Jesus, not caring who knew about it. He seemed to be too late to do anything useful, but he decided to bury Jesus the tomb he had for himself, which usually only rich people owned. So Joseph boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. This led to Pilate confirming that indeed Jesus was dead, and then he granted Joseph’s request. Joseph took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen, placed it in his tomb, and rolled a stone in front of the entrance. The women who were with Jesus followed Joseph and saw the tomb.

It's interesting that Jesus had not prepared any tomb for his own death, but his death changed someone’s heart who then took action to provide it. In fact, this is a pattern you can see with God, that he doesn’t do a lot of things directly himself, but accomplishes, his will through people whose hearts he has moved. And when Joseph did what he could do to honor Jesus, it set the stage for Jesus’ resurrection.

Today we saw the power of Jesus’ death. Even though he was betrayed and forsaken, Jesus displayed his glory all the more, revealing himself to be the Son of God and the one who can open our way to God. We also saw that God’s work is done by people who are changed at the foot of cross. So we also want to spend some time there, meditating on the meaning of Jesus’ death. Our Easter Bible Conference will be another opportunity to be confronted by and changed by this gospel. May God bless you with abundant grace from Jesus’ death and resurrection.