| DEATH OF JESUS |

We have seen three things this week in each of the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament).

John: Jesus is God. He is the Creator. He is the light and life of the world.

Luke: Jesus became man. He was born in humility in a manger in Bethlehem.

Matthew: Jesus brought news of an upside-down kingdom. A kingdom we cannot earn, but must humbly receive with faith.

Now, in Mark, we see the very purpose for which Jesus came. That same Jesus, who was born so humbly, now dies in humiliation. He doesn’t grow old and die. He isn’t the victim of a freak accident. He didn’t contract a disease. He wasn’t set upon by a random act of violence. Jesus was shamefully executed alongside criminals. He was made a mockery, spat upon and gawked at.

Now, remember the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:4-6.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Why did Jesus do this? Why did he come to earth in the first place if, in the end, he was going to die? Isaiah 53:11:

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

Remember the curse for sin? The curse is death. Since all are sinners, there is no hope for anyone. Unless someone without sin would willingly die in the place of sinners. This is the work of Jesus that we see taking place in Mark 15. The death that is recounted in Mark 15 isn’t an accident. It isn’t a fluke ending to a tragic story. It is the victorious moment where Jesus accomplished what he came to earth for. Only God made flesh, sinless and perfect, could do what Jesus did.

We will have to wait until tomorrow to see how God reveals the victory that he accomplished in Jesus’ death on the cross.