NOTES for Mar 15:16-39
16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. |
17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, |
18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! |
19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. |
20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. |
21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. |
22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. |
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. |
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. |
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. |
26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. |
27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. |
28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. |
29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, |
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross. |
31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. |
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. |
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. |
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? |
35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. |
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. |
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. |
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. |
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. |
Hide
Christ's death on the cross seems mysterious to many. It truly is mysterious, and if it does not seem that way to us today, it is only because the Gospel accounts have become familiar to us. So familiar that we no longer think about their mystery, taking everything described in them as common knowledge and self-evident. In reality, Jesus' death is an utterly incredible event. Not death on a cross - that can be explained by the sinfulness of fallen humanity - but the fact that death became reality for Him at all.
The matter is not only that He is the God-man: God's fullness in Him could be hidden, could become unconscious even for Him, and only He knows what He experienced at that moment. The state of God-forsakenness is familiar to us, and even in a certain sense habitual, and our nature corrupted by sin has adapted to such an abnormal existence for itself. But nothing of the kind can be said of Him: He was born and grew up conscious within Himself of God's fullness, and to lose it was for Him a trial we simply cannot imagine. The matter also lies in the fact that, for human nature in general - and for transformed human nature, such as the Savior's human nature is, especially - death is an unnatural phenomenon. To us it seems natural, and in a certain sense it truly is natural for us, but only in the sense in which, for example, the presence in an addict's body of the drug that is killing him is "natural." For normal human nature, death is something unnatural, and for transformed nature it is directly impossible.
How then could the Savior die, even from the point of view of His own humanity? Death obviously could not have become reality for Him in any way unless... unless He Himself, absolutely voluntarily, fulfilling the Father's will, consented and resolved to enter it. To come into contact with it. To make it voluntarily, for Himself and for His own existence, just as real as it is real for us apart from our will. To do this for our sake - because otherwise even the fullness of the life of the Kingdom that He brought us would have remained incompatible with our fallen nature. God's fullness had to be brought into the world not simply in human nature; it had to enter the world clothed in mortal human nature, absolutely identical to our own in our present condition.
The only difference was that our mortality turned out to be the involuntary consequence of a sin committed by free choice, while His mortality was a temporary condition He voluntarily accepted upon Himself, unconnected with any sin. In this sense Jesus' death was truly absolutely voluntary: without any compulsion or necessity, He agreed to enter a condition entirely unnatural to Him and absolutely foreign to Him. Here He was moved not by necessity or inevitability, but by love - for the Father and for those whom He wants to save.
Readings for 10 April 2026
After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free. | ||
