The King on the Cross: What more could He have done? - Mark 15:21-32

THE KING ON THE CROSS: What more could He have done?

Mark 15:21-32

Introduction:Brennan Manning, the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, enlisted in the army with his childhood friend Ray. They had grown up together and stayed best friends…

Together they went to Boot Camp, and then served on the front lines during the Korean war.  One night while sitting in a foxhole, Brennan was reminiscing about the old days in Brooklyn while Ray listened and ate a chocolate bar. Suddenly a live grenade came into the trench. Ray dropped his chocolate bar, looked at Brennan, smiled, and then threw himself on the live grenade. It exploded, killing Ray instantly, but Brennan was saved. Years later, Brennan was visiting Ray’s mother in Brooklyn. They sat up late one night having tea when Brennan asked her, “Do you think Ray loved me?” Mrs. Brennan got up off the couch, shook her finger in front of Brennan’s face and shouted, “What more could he have done for you?”

Brennan said that moment was an epiphany for him, thinking of times when he asked himself, “Does God really love me?” Have you asked that question? Maybe when life was hard, or things didn’t work out the way you had hoped? What more could He have done for you? He endured the shame and agony, He drank the cup of wrath so that we could one day drink the cup of blessing. Life in this fallen world can be tough.  Mark seems to be writing his gospel to believers who are suffering for their faith. He wanted his readers to know, and God wants us to know, “This is how God showed His love among us, He sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him…” (I John 4:9). Does He love you? Look at the Cross. What more could He have done for you? Augustine said, “The Cross is the pulpit from which God preached His love to the world.”  That is…

The Maine* Idea: Every detail of the crucifixion, according to God’s plan, fulfilled Scripture, proving that Jesus is the promised Messiah. His willingness to endure the Cross, proved His love for us.

I. Who is this Man? The “Lifting Up” of the King on the Cross (15:21-26). The word “king” only appears 11 times in Mark’s Gospel. It appears 5 times in chapter 6, referring to king Herod, when he made his foolish vow to the daughter of Herodias, and then, to save face, had John the Baptist killed. Kingship at its worst. In contrast, it then appears seven times in this chapter, three times Pilate uses the full title, “King of the Jews” (vv.3,9,12), in the passage we looked at last week it is used by the mocking soldiers (v.16), and in our text today it appears again in the title written on the placard nailed to the cross as the charge for which Jesus is being executed (v.26). We’ll see the phrase modified only slightly by the leaders who are there at the crucifixion as they mock Jesus, taunting him as “the King of Israel” (32). The irony is that rather than a defeat, disproving His messianic identity, step-by-step, His rejection vindicates His identity as the true King, the Son of God and Messiah predicted in the Scriptures. Read 15:21-24,

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.  ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means 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 garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 

       We looked last week at v.21, as a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, is compelled to carry the cross of Christ. This testifies to the weakened, human, state of Jesus. Just prior He had endured the scourging, and then the mocking abuse of the soldiers, including the crown of thorns pushed down onto his head. Tim B. made a great observation at our mid-week Bible study on Wednesday night, noting that “thorns” first appeared in the context of the curse, following the Fall, in Genesis chapter three. The thorns remind us that He took the curse for us, He took the judgment that we deserved, so that we could receive blessing and reconciliation with God. He came to undo the Fall and in Christ we are already part of the New Creation (2 Cor 5:17). The trauma that Christ endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers was so intense, He was seemingly unable to carry His cross to the execution site. The soldiers conscripted Simon, compelling him to pick up the cross, and follow them to the hill. That reminds us of the call to every disciple in 8:34, to deny self, and to “…pick up the cross, and follow Him.” Are we willing?

       There is a place today that is identified with Golgotha, the place of the Skull. As with many geographical locations, it is uncertain if the exact spot pointed out by tour guides is correct. What matters is that it would have been near there, just outside the city gate, near the main road, just a few hundred yards perhaps from the Temple. There they offered wine mixed with myrrh, probably as a sedative, but Jesus refused it. He would endure the Cross, and drink the cup set before Him to the dregs. And before He died, he had a few more words to utter from the cross – to His mother, and to the beloved disciple; “Behold your son… behold your mother…”; He also said, “tetelestai,” i.e. “It is finished… the debt is paid”; “I thirst!”; “Into your hands I commit my spirit…”; “Father forgive them, they know not what they are doing…” None of the gospels include all of these sayings, but together they paint a picture of purposeful fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan. But here in Mark, we have only one, the opening line from Psalm 22 (we’ll look at that next week). Already, however, the events themselves would cause someone familiar with Psalm 22 to think about the parallels between the lament of the psalmist, and the passion of Christ.

      Humiliating, agonizing death, by crucifixion, prophesied a thousand years earlier, before crucifixion was known (22-24; Ps 22:18). They strip Him of His clothes, apparently as a further act of humiliation, but it would also add to his suffering as the sun rose higher in the sky. The soldiers divided His clothes among them, but then, they cast lots rather than tearing one. Just by chance? A thousand years earlier, David wrote in Psalm 22…

¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;  ¹⁵ my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.  ¹⁶ For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-  ¹⁷ I can count all my bones- they stare and gloat over me;  ¹⁸ they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots… (Ps 22:14-18).

How descriptive of the crucifixion, his suffering, the mockers around Him, the piercing of His hands and His feet, even dividing His garments. Mark doesn’t draw attention to the fulfillment, there is no quotation formula to highlight it like, “To fulfill what was written by the prophet…” or some such thing. He just describes the scene, allowing us to hear the echoes of the Old Testament Scriptures and come to our own realization: Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures…

       Crucified with sinners, one on His right, one on his left (25-27; Isa 53:12; cf. Mark 10:37). Throughout the Passion Narrative in Mark we’ve heard echoes not only of Psalm 22, but also of Isaiah 53. Isaiah wrote of the Suffering Servant that He would be, “…numbered with the transgressors…” (Isa 53:12). Here He is crucified between two thieves. The word translated “thief” could also mean “insurrectionist.” That fits the idea of capital punishment better, and also the earlier reference to Barabbas, who had “killed someone in the rebellion.”

       In the context of Mark’s Gospel, it is hard not to think back a few pages when, after Jesus taught for the third time about his coming suffering and death, that two of His followers abruptly asked a favor of Him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory…" (Mk 10:38). Now, as the Son of Man is lifted up, where are they? They didn’t yet understand the idea of a Crucified Messiah, a rejected and suffering King!  Nor did they understand the cost of being a disciple! By the way, was the third cross that day supposed to be for Barabbas? Jesus, though innocent, was crucified in his place.

²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified him.  ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews."  ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.     

The practice of the Romans was to write the charge for which a prisoner was being executed on a placard, and then to nail it to the cross, over the head of the condemned. The issue in the trial before Pilate focused on only one thing: “Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate had asked in 15:12, “What shall I do with the one you call king of the Jews?” That was the charge for which He was crucified. John tells us that the leaders objected, asking Pilate to write instead, “He claimed to be King of the Jews.” But Pilate wouldn’t budge, and replied “What I have written, I have written.” The charge would stand. And not the plans of Pilate, or of the Jewish leaders, but the plan of God, determined in eternity past, would be accomplished. You see, every detail of the crucifixion, unfolded according to God’s plan, fulfilling the Scriptures which had been written centuries before, and so proving that Jesus is the promised Messiah. His willingness to endure the Cross, proved His love for us.

II. Why did He come? He would not save Himself because He came to save others by the sacrifice of Himself (29-32). As the cross was approaching, we read in John’s Gospel that Jesus said to His disciples, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.  ²⁸ Father, glorify your name...” (Jn 12:27-28a). In John, the glorification of the Son happens as He is “lifted up” on the Cross (Jn 3:14). It seems to me that Mark has this same perspective – the Cross is vindication and victory, while also revealing the spiritual blindness of the leaders of the people—they could not see.

²⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,  ³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!"  ³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself.  ³² 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.

         He was ridiculed by passers-by (29-30). The reference to the mockers of Christ “wagging their heads” also evokes Psalm 22,

⁷ All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;  ⁸ "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!" (Ps 22:7-8).

Now read Mark 15:29-30…

²⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,  ³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!"

The leaders join in with the passers-by, mocking the King on the Cross (31-32a),

 ³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe."

      Not only was Jesus mocked by passers-by and the leaders, but even “Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.” He was even taunted by the condemned men at his side! By the way, we know later, one repents, we read about that in Luke 23:38-43,

…There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."  ³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."  ⁴² And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."  ⁴³ And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

This man was surely a hard case… he was deriding Christ along with the other condemned man in the beginning. But something (or someone!) changed his heart and he cries out to Jesus for salvation. And he was heard! Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! That should encourage us as we witness to the people in our sphere of influence. Even the hard cases. Is there one you interact with on a regular basis, someone who is part of your oikos, your extended household, who has resisted spiritual things? We might think it will never happen… but stay faithful, and prayerful, with gentleness and respect look for openings to give a reason for the hope that you have in Jesus. The thief on the cross had to be a hard case! Come to think of it, so was I, and maybe you were too. So stay faithful, and prayerful!

What is God saying to me in this passage? Remember that Mark is writing to believers in Rome who are under persecution, suffering for their faith. Could it be that He wants to think not only of the suffering King in Psalm 22, but also to reflect on the hope of which the psalm speaks? We read in Psalm 22:26-28,   

²⁶ The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!  ²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.  ²⁸ For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations (see also Psalm 2:8).

He was crucified as the King of the Jews, but that is not the end of the story! It is Friday, but Sunday is coming! Every detail of the crucifixion fulfilled Scripture, proving that Jesus is the Messiah, the One prophesied in the Law, the prophets, and the writings. His willingness to endure the Cross, proved His love for us.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Sometimes, when we are passing through difficult times, it is easy to question, “What did I do to deserve this? How can God be good, and all powerful, and love me, if he allows such things in my life?” I don’t know what you might be going through, and I don’t want to minimize the suffering that can come into our lives in this fallen world. Does God love you? Look at the Cross! WHAT MORE COULD HE HAVE DONE FOR YOU? God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him (I John 4:9). Greater love has no man than this: that He lay down His life for His friends… (John 15:13). You get the idea!

       Does God love you? Look at the Cross, and then answer that question. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Yes, as Augustine said, “The Cross is the pulpit from which God preached His love to the world.” Have you trusted Him as your only hope of salvation? Jesus paid it all. In view of what He has done for you, will you share the message of His grace with the people in your sphere of influence? Are you willing to love them enough to point them to Him? We have three more weeks focusing on the Cross, before celebrating the Resurrection!  Is there a friend you might invite to hear the Good News?  Take some of our invitation cards, and ask. It may be that they are waiting for an invitation!   AMEN.