Wednesday, March 10, 2004
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 |
| The Passion according to Mark ... conclusion By JOHN HATCHER Most scholars agree that Mark’s eyewitness account to the Jesus story was the earliest to hit the streets. In the last two columns I have been tracing the last hours of Jesus’ life, according to Mark. Today’s column will be the final installment for this brief series. Jesus didn’t get any sleep that certain and ominous Thursday night. While most folks were at home and in bed, the wheels of injustice were moving quickly. Injustice wants to get the bloody mess over with as soon as possible. Mark tells us that Jesus had been handed over to the Roman soldiers for execution by Pilate at the insistence of the Jewish leadership. It was 9 a.m. when they strung him up (15:25). The Romans were masters at this thing of crucifixion. According to Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, “Crucifixion took place as follows: the condemned person carried the patibulum (cross-beam) to the place of execution — the stake was already erected. Then on the ground he was bound with outstretched arms to the beam by robes, or else fixed to it by nails. The beam was then raised with the body and was fastened to the upright post. About the middle of the post was a wooden block which supported the suspended body: there was foot-rest according to ancient accounts. The height of the cross varied; it was either rather more than the man’s height or even higher when the offender was to be held up for public display at a distance. On the way to execution a tablet was hung around the offender stating the causa poenae (crime committed), and this was affixed to the cross after execution so that all could see. Crucifixion was regarded as one of the worst forms of execution. Cicero calls it the supreme capital penalty, most painful, dreaded and ugly” (vol. VII, page 573). The same day the provincial Roman authority had to attend to some other matters by crucifying two other men, identified by Mark as two robbers (15:27). It’s absolutely unbelievable that Rome rewarded common thievery with capital punishment and with the worst of capital punishment at that. Mark, according to some translations, makes an observation at this point. Mark remembers Isaiah 53:12 that prophesies that the suffering messiah would be numbered among breakers of the law. Of course, some scholars hold that the earliest Markan manuscripts do not contain this reference to Isaiah. As Jesus was dying on the cross, the circus of a crowd below hurled abuses to him. They reminded him that he said he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. They challenged him to come down off the cross and save himself (15:29, 30). The crowd at the execution site also included chief priests and scribes. They were mocking Jesus by doing a little shop talk among themselves. They observed, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let this Christ, the king of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe” (15:31, 32). Mark declares also that those two who were crucified with Jesus also were mocking him (15: 32). At precisely noon, Mark says that darkness fell over the entire land until 3 p.m. (15:33). Can you imagine? As the sun was in the highest portion of the sky, darkness consumes the light. At exactly 3 p.m., Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the crowd heard Jesus shouting out, they thought he was calling for Elijah to come and help him. Someone at this point dipped a sponge into some vinegar wine and offered it to Jesus making the statement, “Let’s see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Just as the sponge was lifted to the mouth of Jesus, he made a loud cry and breathed his last breath as a man (15:37). When the Roman soldier saw the manner in which Jesus breathed his last, he observed, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (15:39). Postscript: when others see you and me take our last breaths will they observe, “Surely this one was a child of God”? John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303
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