April 7, 2006

”CRUCIFY HIM!”

Mark 15:1-32

Turn with me to I Corinthians 15:3. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

I have a question for you this morning. What Scriptures is Paul referring to in that verse? For most of my life, here is how I would have answered that question: “Why, the Gospels of course. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” I would have paraphrased that verse in this way: “Christ died for our sins, just like the Bible describes in the New Testament.”

Only a few years ago, did I notice something. This is I Corinthians. I Corinthians was one of the first epistles Paul wrote. He wrote it before the Gospels were written, or at least before any of them were widely distributed. For Paul, the Scriptures he mentions here are not the New Testament Scriptures, but the Old Testament Scriptures. A more accurate paraphrase of the verse would be as follows: “Christ (Messiah) died for our sins, just as the Old Testament said he would.”

I want to start by supporting Paul’s statement this morning. Last week we looked at the account of Jesus’ arrest in the Garden and his religious trial before the chief priest. A few moments ago, we read the first 32 verses of Mark 15, taking us through Jesus’ trial before Pilate, his treatment by the soldiers, up to the point where he is nailed to the cross to die. From these accounts, I want to point out eight specific prophecies that were fulfilled.

Isaiah 53:8: By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

The word “oppression” here carries the sense of violent arrest. It is a very clear picture of what happened to Jesus in the Garden. They came after him carrying swords and clubs. Jesus himself challenged them in Mark 14:48: Am I leading a rebellion that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Then he adds in verse 49: But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Isaiah 53:7:  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he did not open his mouth.

Compare this with Jesus’ behavior when he was on trial. First of all before the religious court, we read in Mark 14:60-61: Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.

Look also at his actions before Pilate in Mark 15:3-5: The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply and Pilate was amazed.

Isaiah 50:6: I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Does that sound anything like what we read in Mark this morning? Let’s even go back to chapter 14 again; (verse 65) Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him. Now look at chapter 15:15: Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified. Look at verse 19: Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him.

This behavior was part of a larger pattern that was also prophesied. Turn to Psalm 22:7: All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

The mockery began in the high priest’s court, when they blindfolded him and challenged him to prophesy and tell them who was hitting him. It continued at the hand of Pilate’s soldiers in Mark 15:16ff: The solders led Jesus away into the palace (that is the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him; then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him.

It even continued while he was on the cross. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. (v. 29-31) This theme of the mocking to which Jesus was subjected is one of the dominant features of Mark’s description of the trials and the crucifixion. And it was all in fulfillment of prophecy.

Now back to Psalm 22:16: Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I am not sure what the psalmist pictured when he wrote those words. But in Mark 15:24, we read the stark words: And they crucified him. The Gospel accounts never emphasize the physical description of crucifixion, but we know it involved nails driven through the wrist joint into the horizontal member of the cross, and through the feet into the vertical portion of the cross, whereupon the victim was left on the cross to die a slow and agonizing death. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, it was in fulfillment of prophecy.

Psalm 22:18: They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. It is a stark and specific detail. Look at Mark 15:24: Dividing up his clothes they cast lots to see what each would get. Just like it said in the prophecy!

Back to Isaiah again in Isaiah 53:12: In the fourth line of that verse we read, And he was numbered with transgressors. In Mark 15:27: They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. To the world’s assessment, he was just one more criminal. That is what the prophet predicted.

Finally in Psalm 22:8, we have the prophecy of one of the taunts that would be hurled at him. “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him.” Just as the prophet foretold, this was the taunt that the bystanders and the religious leaders took up against him when he was on the cross. In Mark 15:29-32: “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves, “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”

There we have it: Eight specific Old Testament prophecies fulfilled just in the portion of the account that we have looked at today. What does it all add up to? What does it prove? That God can foretell the future? Yes, but more than that. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. It is one of the lines of evidence, of proof that Jesus is who he claimed to be.

But we might ask, “Just what or who did Jesus claim himself to be?” If Jesus was mute before his accusers, how do we know what he claimed for himself? Well, in Mark’s account, Jesus did break his silence twice under trial. The first time was before the chief priest, during the religious trial. Let’s go back to Mark 14:60-62: Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him (and we know here from other accounts that he placed Jesus under a solemn oath) “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”

This is a climactic point in Mark’s Gospel. If you remember the opening verse of the book: The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ (Messiah) the Son of God. Now, in the development of Mark’s story, Jesus stands before the chief priest. He is placed under oath. And the chief priest asks him this two part question. “Are you the Christ (the Messiah)?” And, “Are you the Son of the Blessed One?” What does this title signify? The phrase “the Blessed One” was a common way of referring to God himself. Because of the Jews’ reluctance to use the given name for God, they used roundabout phrases to refer to him. “The Blessed One” was one of those titles. The chief priest is literally asking, “Are you the Son of God?” Mark’s entire thesis for his book rests on Jesus’ answer to the chief priest’s question. Look at his answer in Mark 14:62: “I am,” said Jesus, “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

It is a stunning claim, the clearest claim in the Bible, given in Jesus’ own words. “Yes, I am the Christ, the Son of God.” The chief priest did not miss the impact. He tore his clothes “Why do we need any more witnesses: You have heard the blasphemy.”

The second time was in front of Pilate, in Mark 15:2: “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. The king of the Jews was a politicized title for Messiah. It had political connotations relative to Rome that Jesus did not accept. But he clearly did not shy away from the title itself. “It is as you say.”

“Are you the Christ? Are you the Son of God? Are you the king of the Jews?” To all of these queries, Jesus answered, “Yes, I am.” This is the crux of Mark’s gospel, and of all the gospel accounts. Two years ago, the world was captivated by the film The Passion which portrayed Jesus’ suffering on screen in riveting, horrifying detail. I preached a message just after the film came out. My thesis statement in that sermon was simple: It is the not the intensity of the suffering, but the identity of the Sufferer, that gives the Passion its significance. That is the unanimous emphasis of all the gospel writers.

That brings us to today. Jesus’ claims are clear. One line of evidence has been presented in the fulfilled prophecies. If I can borrow the title of Josh MacDowell’s book, it is Evidence That Demands a Verdict. The question before us is, what will we do with the evidence? Is Jesus who he claimed to be or not? What will our verdict be?

There are three choices. The first is the response of unbelief. This was the response of the chief priests and other religious leaders. It was the response of the Roman soldiers, and the crowd who shouted, “Crucify him!” It was the response of many who passed by as Jesus hung on the cross. This unbelief expressed itself in mockery. They laughed at him. One can almost hear the raucous, mocking laughter of the Roman soldiers as they carried out their charade and called out, “Hail, king of the Jews!” That this would be so is also a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. We read it in Isaiah 53:3: He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. That is how so many responded to him in Jerusalem. The question is, is that your response to Jesus? There are many today who still make that same response. Most of them aren’t in church, so there probably aren’t many in this category in the service today. But there may be some. I would only challenge you with these words from a popular TV show: “Is that your final answer?” Are you content to make that your final verdict?

The second response is that of vacillation. The person in the account that epitomizes that response is Pilate. As we blend together all the Gospel accounts, we know that Pilate believed that Jesus was innocent. He marveled at him. He looked for ways to release Jesus. He kept bringing him back for more questions. But at the end of the day, his response had the same result. By not deciding for Jesus, he ultimately decided against him. I believe there are many people like Pilate. They are impressed by Jesus. They are even attracted to him. They know there is something different in this man. But ultimately the pressure of the crowd, of man’s opinion, is too strong. A failure to decide is ultimately a decision in and of itself.

The third decision is the one that John talks about in his Gospel, John 1:11-12. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (We have seen the ultimate outcome of that rejection in the passage today. But the passage goes on.) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. That is the third and final verdict when confronted with Jesus’ claims and the evidence for his identity.

Here it is again: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

And one more time: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. The claims are there. The evidence is before us. What will our verdict be?