The Fascinating Details of the Crucifixion of Christ | Mark 15:21-32 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

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 first 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, 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 a passerby, 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 him read, the king of the Jews.

And with them, they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, 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 were crucified with him also reviled him. Lord, 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 ask Lord again that the only voice that we would hear would be yours and we trust that you will guide us at this time in 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 gonna 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 gonna visit one verse, look at all the beauty it 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 that 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 gonna 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 arrived 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 compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene. Mark is not the only one who tells us about this man. We know that also Matthew and Luke mentioned 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 to pour out the promise of the Holy Spirit, it was during the Feast of Pentecost. And we're told there in Acts chapter two 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 two 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 there also. Why? Because again, we had the Passover feast and a few weeks later, we had what?

Pentecost. So they're there 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 and Rufus are. So in other words, when this gospel and we've determined when we when we open up the gospel of 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, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, the audience, the immediate audience, were like, oh, Alexander and Rufus's dad helped him carry the cross. You're saying, why 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. Where 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 this 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. 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 did Simon of Cyrene acknowledge 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 wanna 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 wanna 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 hardworking 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 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's 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 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 Cyrene. 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 helped 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 of Cyrene, they had to in some way carry him 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 gonna find the word starts with the letter c. What is it? Calvary. Calvary. That is a word derived from the Latin, calvareia, 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 in 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 a name that it had as a reputation because it became the designated regular spot for Rome's gruesome executions. Those things are up for 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 read a few verses together to see what the spirit says about where Jesus died. Hebrews thirteen ten. 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 that designated a 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 made 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 gotta 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 was sacrificed outside. Let me make it relatable. You have to make a choice, everybody in this room.

Is salvation gonna 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 alter 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. Do 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 gonna get through it in a short amount of time. If we ever go to Hebrews, we'll be here for like ten years, I think.

It's so deep. It's so deep. You gotta make a choice. Which altar will you worship at? This is so powerful.

So powerful, but it 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 diseased 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 wanna 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 myrrh. Myrrh is like a a gum like resin. It's a substance that can be extracted from the bark of certain trees. It had a fragrance.

It 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 six. We're 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 senses to help these criminals embrace the pain that they were about to endure. And it 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, an 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 gonna take a little rabbit trail and come back. Myrrh is mentioned here, but myrrh is also mentioned when Jesus was ready to be buried. Look at John 19 with me in your bibles.

Look at verse 39. John nineteen thirty nine, Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy five pounds 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 pounds of ointment? You're not carrying that in your hands.

You're hauling that in some way. So he is bringing all of this perfume. Right? Including myrrh. Look at verse 40.

So they took the body of Jesus and bounded in linen cloths with the spices as is the burial custom of the Jews. So now out of the the three references, we covered two 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 myrrh 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 two.

This is the final reference of myrrh in the gospels. These are when the wise men from the East came. These gentiles who were looking for the king of the Jews and notice what it says in Matthew two verse 11. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother and they fell down and worshiped 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 three 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 30 of them.

There could have been much more. Remember, when they came to Jerusalem, it was a scene. But they did bring three gifts. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I I understand the value of gold and frankincense.

But myrrh? Okay. 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 raise. 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 six. 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 that 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 gonna be New Jersey. Jerusalem. He's gonna rule and reign from there. The glory of God is gonna shine from there and it's gonna be the attraction of the world. The glory of the Lord.

And it's gonna 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 wanna highlight verse six. Look at this specific detail. A multitude of camels shall cover you. The young camels of Midian and Ephah.

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 rule and 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 gonna 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 did 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 gonna bring. Do you see how brilliant the Bible is? Do 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 replacement 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 in 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. Four words that in hearing them demands our silence, demands our 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 kinda 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 one and 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, it 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. A company of evildoers encircles me. They have pierced my hands and feet. Do you understand how powerful this is?

A thousand 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 is the Messiah that they had done a number on this text to try to make it sound or be something else. 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?

A thousand years before it actually happened, you get a play by play prophecy of what's taking place in 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 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 in verse 27 what? That he was he was there in the middle between two robbers. One to his right and one to his left. And Isaiah fifty three twelve tells us that he was numbered among the transgressors. We could look at verse 29.

Look at verse 29 again. It says, and those who passed by derided and wagging their heads and saying, 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 two, 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 gonna destroy that physical temple, that glorious temple. And you're gonna 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 wanna come straight to the last few verses for our consideration. Look at verse 31.

So also the chief priest 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 did 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 heap 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 was 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 on your death bed and you're mocking the innocent, sinless messiah.

And you know this very well that something changes. Between the third hour, the sixth hour, later the ninth 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 he like Simon of Cyrene, he perceived 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 gonna 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 gonna come with his kingdom and I wanna 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 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 gonna keep you in mind. I'm gonna 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 wanna 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 fourteen, fifteen, 16, then he ends it with the 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 two.

Listen. Listen. Listen. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would 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 will take you pause. How many of us would finish that sentence? He's He's been talking about preparing a place, preparing a place, I'm gonna come, take you, and then 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 will 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 one nine, 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 heart 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 would be brought to him. That we would be with him. So listen, you're not just saying that 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 gonna 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 gonna see this thief in heaven. Undeserving?

Sure. Scandalous? You better believe it. Welcome to grace. And the confidence that 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.

Well, now. You know, 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 wanna 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 him.

Shall we pray? Let's pray. For 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 would be blessed. And we ask, Lord, in these final moments of this 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 wanna 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 being 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.