Jesus was surrounded by antagonistic people.
One of the remarkable features of Mark's gospel is the sheer antagonism of Jesus' enemies. Jesus' arch rival in
Mark is Satan himself. In
Mark 1:13 we find Satan tempting Jesus in the desert, challenging his messianic identity. A little while later in
Mark 1:24 (NIV) an evil spirit confronts Jesus saying,
"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-- the Holy One of God!" In
Mark 8:33 (NIV) you may recall Jesus' stunning rebuke of Peter, when Jesus says,
"Get behind me Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
On a lesser scale, the crowds proved antagonistic to Jesus. They sense his power and authority, but are never quite sure what to do with Jesus. For example, in
Mark 1:27 (NIV) after Jesus drives out an evil spirit, the people ask,
"What is this? A new teaching-- and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." In
Mark 5:40 (NIV) when Jesus interrupts a funeral and announced a young girl isn't dead but will in fact be raised, the mourners and extended family,
"laughed at him."
Jesus' own family proves antagonistic. In
Mark 3:21 (NIV) they come to take charge of Jesus saying,
"He is out of his mind." The people from Jesus' hometown were antagonistic! In
Mark 6:2-3 (NIV) they question Jesus,
" 'What's this wisdom that's been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?' And they took offense at him."
The secular authorities, Herod and Pilate, stand opposed to Jesus. The religious authorities, the chief priests, teachers of the law, elders, Pharisees and Sadducees, continually plot to kill Jesus. As Jesus is hung on the cross, it appears that Christ's enemies, and Satan himself, have won the victory. Toward the end of
Mark, Jesus' own disciples are forced to desert him in humiliation and with a sense of defeat.
And when it appears things couldn't get any worse, the enemies of Jesus circle back to gloat. This is their moment. They've won. Their way of seeing the world has been vindicated. However, Jesus' antagonists made four very incorrect conclusions about Jesus.
They conclude that Jesus is just an ordinary man.
In
Mark 15:17-18 (NIV),
"They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns. And they began to call out to him, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' " In
Mark 15:32 (NIV) they say,
"Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe."
One of my favorite shows on television is "Undercover Boss." Each week, a boss of a major corporation discards his suit and tie and puts on the company uniform. It's really quite entertaining! One CEO of a water park had to decontaminate a kiddy pool. Other CEOs get fired, harassed, or ridiculed. I thought about doing an episode here at Lakeside. I could put on a wig and try out for the worship team. I could crash one of the mowers into the landscape. I could make kids cry in the nursery.
My favorite part is the end of each episode, when employees are called to headquarters only to learn that they had been working alongside the CEO of their company! The people are often shocked and embarrassed. For now, the King of kings and Lord of lords would remain undercover.
They concluded that Jesus is powerless.
In
Mark 15:29-30 (NIV) says,
"Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, 'So! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!' "
Prior to his crucifixion, Jesus had been so severely beaten and flogged that Simon the Cyrene was forced to carry the crossbeam on which Jesus was crucified. At the execution site, the soldiers stripped Jesus naked, in front of his own mother and other women, and divided up his clothes in order to elevate his sense of shame and powerlessness. This is the very thing American soldiers were severely, and rightly, reprimanded for in Iraq. Nakedness is a symbol of vulnerability and total humiliation, a human being robbed of all dignity and worth and power. It's what the Germans did to the Jews in Nazi Germany.
They concluded that Jesus couldn't save.
Mark 15:31 (NIV) says,
"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!' "
This is perhaps the most bizarre statement. The chief priests and teachers of the law had full knowledge of all the miracles Jesus performed. He cast out evil spirits, he healed people with fevers, various diseases, leprosy, paralysis, blindness, deafness, and the mute. He restored shriveled-up limbs, he raised a dead girl, fed 5000, and then 4000. But now it appeared that death had the upper hand. In just a little while, Jesus would breathe his last and a Roman centurion would pierce his side with a spear.
They concluded that Jesus wasn't God's Son.
In
Mark 15:34 (NIV) it says,
"And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'-- which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' "
There are those who would have perhaps taken these words at face value. By all appearances, it did seem as if God had forsaken Jesus. No father would allow his son to die in such a manner, certainly not God almighty! In the Old Testament law there are verses about people who die in the manner in which Christ died.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (NIV) says,
"If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance."
As Christmas approaches, many are drawing the exact same conclusions about Jesus. What hopelessness! Some believe that Jesus was just an ordinary man and not a king, that Jesus is powerless to act on our behalf, that Jesus is powerless to save us from our sins, or that Jesus wasn't God's one and only Son.
But what was really happening on that cross? The opening of the gospel of
Mark,
Mark 1:1 (NIV) announces,
"The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Could it be that what many perceive as an ending is really a new beginning? The gospel of
Mark doesn't end with Jesus dying. It ends with a perplexing array of events.
Mark 15:37-16:8 (NIV) details these events.
"With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God!' "
"Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph and Salome. 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. It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 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. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 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. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid."
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, 'Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?' But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed."
" 'Don't be alarmed,' he said. 'You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid."
Mark records the impact of these events.
Mark doesn't explain the meaning of all these events. He only records their impact upon those who witnessed them.
• The curtain of the Holy of Holies was torn in half to signal to the chief priests that a new, better way had been opened up to God.
• The Roman centurion acknowledges Jesus to be the Son of God, a King even greater than Caesar Augustus to whom he'd sworn his loyalty to the death.
• The women return to the tomb and witness the power of God to raise Jesus from the grave. Christ had kept his word just as he said. The temple of his body had been raised in three days!
• And everyone is racing to Galilee trembling and bewildered to see what Jesus has in store for them next.
In Romans 1:16 (NIV) Paul writes, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
In Galatians 3:10-11 (NIV) Paul says, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, 'The righteous will live by faith.' " And then again in Galatians 3:13 (NIV) Paul writes, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' "
In 1 Peter 2:23-24 (NIV) Peter writes, "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."