Hey there! So this is my first ever blog post haha!
Anyway, I just read Mark, Chapter 15 of the Bible. This part of the Bible is basically the most legendary story of how Jesus Christ died for our sins. I've been a Christian for 17 years (well I was born into a Christian family), but only have I just realised how powerful Mark, Chapter 15 is. It is mind-blowing. So I thought I'll share it here.
DISCLAIMER: I am no pastor nor saint but here are just some of my human thoughts which I thought I'll share. Forgive me if I make mistakes.
So here's Mark, Chapter 15. The extract below is taken from - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2015
Mark 15 New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Before Pilate
15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. (Basically they handed Jesus over to Pilate. Pilate was the prefect of the Roman Province.)
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. (Pilate knew that the chief priest wanted to crucify Jesus because he was just jealous and doing it out of self-interest. So Pilate knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong. But his faith was not strong enough. His faith was shaken by the pressure of his people.)
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. (He tried to help Jesus by proposing a question, hoping to instil a doubt in their decision to crucify Jesus, but Pilate was'nt trying hard enough.)
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (The Bible said it. Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, and in turn, sacrificed the justice for Jesus. This immediately struck me hard, have I ever in any case, defied the word of God just to please my friends or anyone? Have I ever succumbed to peer pressure? God is proposing a challenge to me, if one day when I become successful and has fulfilled all my dreams, would I ever sacrifice obeying God for the little sake of pleasing or satisfying my target audience or "customers"? Remember, Pilate was the Prefect of the Roman Province, would he lose his "loyal people" and his role as a prefect if he had fought a harder fight for Jesus? Was he just trying to protect his status? Pray for faith in us, faith ever so strong to always place God first despite the doubts and pressure the society is inflicting on us under all circumstances. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Don't worry, God will help us. Pilate had a lil faith, but that was just not enough.)
(Basically…) Then the soldiers mock Jesus and put a crown of thorns on his head, struck him on his head and spit on him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. (The Talmud gives evidence that Myrrh was mixed with wine to deaden pain. Jesus could have felt less pain while being crucified on the cross for us, but he chose not to. Why? I don't know for sure, but Wow! Such Love!) 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] [a] 29 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, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 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! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
k it gets even more mind-blowing…. :D
The Death of Jesus
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b] (Note how these words reveal how deeply Jesus felt his abandonment by God as he bore "the sin of the world". I've always wandered at this point of the Bible, why would our loving God send his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and then forsake him while he's dying?? Hmm..)
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” (Jesus cried out "Eloi Eloi", they thought he was calling Elijah for help, but no la.)
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. (The strength of this loud cry indicates that Jesus did not die the ordinary death of those crucified, who normally suffered long periods of complete agony, exhaustion and then unconsciousness before dying.) (Then it suddenly occurred to me - God did not at all forsake Jesus while he was dying. God was always there for Jesus, even when he felt like God wasn't. If not, he would have died an ordinary(human) death of those crucified. But he did not.) (Another amazing thing was something we can learn from Jesus:
-Even though he felt forsaken, he took his last breath, gave a loud cry and died.
-Even though he felt forsaken, he obeyed God.
-He knew that He had to die for our sins and the prophesy must be fulfilled this way.
-I mean, he was the miraculous Jesus of history, he could really have just perform a miracle, fly down the cross and heal himself in the blink of an eye, but he obeyed God.
I suddenly remembered this quote from Mother Teresa that I've heard quite a while ago in church:
"Even when I couldn't feel the presence of God, I will seek to obey him."
-Mother Teresa
Wow. How many of you followers out there would actually promise God this? (I mean we all aim to.) This is not something easy to do. Wow, Mother Teresa is being like Jesus, they both obeyed God even though they were in the darkest moment of their lives and couldn't feel the presence of God. Respect.)
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (He saw how Jesus died, by the strength of God - even this centurion witness could see the power of God when Jesus took his last breath.)
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,[d] and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
The Burial of Jesus
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.
-End of Chapter 15-
Dear God, thank you for everything you have done for us. ~~~
