Mark #54 - Surely this Man was the Son of God!
Mark 15:33-47 (NIV)
“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”
Today’s passage pulls us back into that vision from Amos. Here we are, with all the jews standing there watching Jesus die in the middle of Passover, the celebration of Yahweh’s rescue from slavery in Egypt. Do you remember the ten plagues God sent to Egypt as he worked through Moses to free his people? 3 days of total darkness was the 9th plague. The tenth... was the death of the firstborn… in this passage we witness a new exodus.
The only son, the firstborn of all creation, hanging on a cross. The faithful servant suffering in the place of faithless Israel for the sins of a fallen world.
All of this symmetry is on display before each person watching and the only person who sees Jesus for who he really is, is a gentile… a roman centurion. Whoever has eyes let them see, whoever has ears let them hear.
So find a quiet space. Put away any distractions. And listen now to Mark chapter 15, 33-47.
----------REFLECT----------
1. In this passage Jesus cries out “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Have you ever felt this way in your relationship to the LORD, bring that to him now.
2. The Roman centurion confessed “Surely this man was the Son of God.” He could see the reality of Jesus. And maybe as we’ve walked through the Gospel of Mark you’ve seen something new about Jesus too. Take a moment to confess that to the LORD.
3. The curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom, this enormous, incredibly thick curtain that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the world, the place where God’s presence dwelt and humanity, it was gone. Jesus was saying all along that God’s power and presence and reign is now free to move about the world. Take a moment to invite the Spirit of God to meet with you and fill you up for today.
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