The Last Week of Jesus Series: The True Confession (Mark 15)

When it comes to the crucifixion – I believe that the most important thing we can hear today – is the Gospel account – that we can listen to Scripture telling the story and letting it speak for itself.

And so we are going to be reading almost the whole of Mark chapter 15.

We have up until now been following Mark’s account of the last week with Jesus. We have celebrated his arrival in Jerusalem – and each day have witnessed his teaching, his authority, and his quiet time spent with his disciples and those he loved. Last night we meditated on the terrible suffering Jesus went through as he struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he allowed a dear friend to betray him, as he watched those he loves, abandon him and deny him.

We now come to the climax – this is it. Today is the day that the greatest love the world has ever seen, gets poured out, offered up and given for you and for me. And so we will read from the Gospel of Mark chapter 15 – from verse one. 

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.

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 self-interest 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.

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.

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 Soldiers Mock Jesus

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify 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. 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.

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]

³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

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.

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, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Taticus, the Roman historian, states concerning Judea during the whole life and ministry of Jesus; His trial, His crucifixion and His resurrection, one sentence "nothing of significance happened in that time during those days." One of the greatest historians of the era could say that nothing of importance happened in Judea when Jesus walked the earth & gave His life for mankind. He missed it – completely. The central point of human history was recorded as “nothing of significance”. 

And while there may be many many reasons why this event may have passed him by, I sometimes wonder if we miss the significance of today. If we leave here this morning, or on Sunday morning and when people ask – how was Church or how was your weekend… we respond saying – “Ja fine”… nothing of consequence happened here really… nothing significant. We fall into the trap of getting used to this. We talk casually about the cross and Jesus sufferings. Sometimes we don’t understand what the cross was really like – the fact that even to this day it is still the most heinous and cruel and degrading form of execution ever devised. Sometimes we have simply heard the story too many times – we have become immune to its power and its horror and its beauty.

In the story we have read though – there is someone who I believe could teach us about the significance of what has happened. And that is the Centurion. If anyone could shrug his shoulders at the events of that day it would have been him. As a Roman soldier crucifixions would have been common place, they were the form of execution used as a scare tactic in order to maintain control in the empire. At one time and a couple of years before, around 150 men were crucified on the same day. Crucifixions were part and parcel of this man’s job as he served his time in Judea.

So the horror and the cruelty of it probably passed him by. He was hardened by the time and the way of life to the point that this was simply another day at the job.

But something was different on this day. Something that changed everything for this man.

What was it?

Was it Jesus’ innocence proclaimed by Pilate or his silence in the face of false accusations?

Was it the way in which he took the spit of the Roman guard on his face and instead of retaliating looked at these men with compassion?

Was it the statement he kept hearing in mockery – and that he read above Jesus head “The King of the Jews”… and his welcoming of the one criminal into his eternal kingdom?

Was it his pronouncement of forgiveness, his care of his mother – his god-forsaken cry of abandonment?

Was it the terror of the earthquake and the darkness?

Whatever the Centurion saw, it was clear to him that this was no ordinary man – this death; this cross; this suffering – this was different… and in horrified realisation, he proclaims his own guilt by saying – This is the Son of God… whom I have just crucified.

Can you imagine the agony and the fear involved in knowing that you played a part in that? That you have not only innocent blood on your hands, but the blood of Almighty God.

The realisation this morning – is that we do. Each of us here are the reason that Jesus went to the cross. Each of us here hold the nails in our hands. Let his blood be on our heads and on our children is what the crowd cried out that day – and it hasn’t changed since then.

And so the truest confession we can ever make when looking at the cross is – truly there hangs the son of God… and I crucified him.

In the 1976 film "Jesus of Nazareth," directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Jesus was played by the British actor Robert Powell and another man by the name of Ernest Borgnine had a small but crucial role as the centurion whose servant Jesus healed and who (as done with artistic licence) was later present at the crucifixion. Borgnine recounts the story of his scene at the cross as follows:
“When it came time for my scene during the crucifixion, the weather was chill and gray. The camera was to be focused on me at the foot of the cross, and so it was not necessary for Robert Powell, the actor who portrayed Jesus, to be there. Instead, Zeffirelli put a chalk mark on a piece of scenery beside the cameraman. "I want you to look up at that mark," he told me, "as if you were looking at Jesus."
I hesitated. Somehow I wasn’t ready. I was uneasy.
"Do you think it would be possible for somebody to read from the Bible the words Jesus said as He hung on the cross?" I asked.
I knew the words well from the days of my childhood in an Italian-American family in Connecticut, and I’d read them in preparation for the film. Even so, I wanted to hear them now.
"I will do it myself," Zeffirelli said. He found a Bible, opened it to the Book of Luke, and signaled for the camera to start rolling.
As Zeffirelli began reading Christ’s words aloud, I stared up at that chalk mark, thinking what might have gone through the centurion’s mind.
That poor Man up there, I thought. I met Him when He healed my servant who is like a son to me. Jesus says He is the Son of God, an unfortunate claim during these perilous times. But I know he is innocent of any crime.
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The voice was Zeffirelli’s, but the words burned into me -- the words of Jesus. (Luke 23:34-46)
Forgive me, Father, for even being here, was the centurion’s prayer that formed in my thoughts. I am so ashamed, so ashamed.
"Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise," said Jesus to the thief hanging next to Him.
If Jesus can forgive that criminal, then He will forgive me, I thought. I will lay down my sword and retire to my little farm outside of Rome.
Then it happened.
As I stared upward, instead of the chalk mark, I suddenly saw the face of Jesus Christ, lifelike and clear. It was not the face of Robert Powell I was used to seeing, but the most beautiful, gentle visage I have ever known. Pain-seared, sweat-stained, with blood flowing down from thorns pressed deep, His face was still filled with compassion. He looked down at me through tragic, sorrowful eyes with an expression of love beyond description.
Then His cry rose against the desert wind. Not the voice of Zeffirelli, reading from the Bible, but the voice of Jesus Himself: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
In awe I watched Jesus’ head slump to one side. I knew He was dead. A terrible grief welled within me, and completely oblivious of the camera, I started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Cut!" yelled Zeffirelli. The women playing the roles of Mary and Mary Magdalene were crying, too. I wiped my eyes and looked up again to where I had seen Jesus. He was gone.
Whether I saw a vision of Jesus that windswept day or whether it was only something in my mind, I do not know. It doesn’t matter. For I do know that it was a profound spiritual experience and that I have not been quite the same person since. As that centurion learned two thousand years ago, I too have found that you simply cannot come close to Jesus without being changed.”

This morning we come together and we look at the Cross. We look at a man hanging there in pain and agony. And when we look at our own hands – we will see his blood on them.

But the beauty in the midst of the horror is this – that while we gaze on the one who hangs there we can hear these words.

Father forgive them – they do not know what they are doing.

And we can know that there is forgiveness for us.

Today you shall be with me in paradise

And we can know that there is eternal life promised for us.

It is finished.

No longer do I need to hold onto guilt or shame or bitterness or hopelessness. The darkness is over – we look forward to the son rising on Easter Sunday to know the glorious truth – that the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And as we feel the earth shake, as we watch the curtain torn in two – we can know that God’s heart broke for us. He loved us so much – that he gave his one and only son… not to condemn the world – but to save the world through him.

I don’t know what it is that will change your heart. But this morning I invite you to look upon the King of the Jews, as he hangs on the cross. I want you to go through the story – hear the words, watch as he takes on the sins and filth of this world – and experience a love that is greater than the burden he carries and the pain he bears.

And ensure that you don’t leave here without encountering him. Don’t leave believing nothing of significance took place. Stand alongside the Centurion and believe in the wondrous truth. This is the son of God – who takes away the sins of the world.

The Last Week of Jesus Series: The True Worshipper (Mark 14:1-11)

We began this series in Mark 11, with the triumphant entry, and the clearing of the Temple, the scribes questioning Jesus goes into chapter 12, and his teaching on that Tuesday goes into chapter 13. This morning we begin chapter 14 – the longest chapter in the book of Mark.

We’ll be starting in verse one:

“Jesus Anointed at Bethany

14 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ² “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages^[a]and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you,^[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

 In all our stories that we have gone through in the past four weeks, I don’t believe any are as foreign to us as this. I mean we understand the basics – but to ask the hard question of – “what does this actually mean for me today?” “How does a story like this impact my life?”

The title for today’s sermon is “The True Worshipper” – what does it mean to truly worship? And so to help us answer this I’m going to ask three straight questions of the text.

And the first is “What is it that she offered”?

 In climates where it is incredibly dry and dusty, the use of oil in anointing the person is still a common practice and it certainly was in ancient Greece and Rome. It keeps the skin cool and soothes it, and is believed to be healthful. In any house where Jesus was an honoured guest, it would have been likely he had His head anointed with oil. It was like the washing of the feet, a refreshment. And so the act of Mary was not something embarrassing and peculiar as it may seem in our culture today, but rather the very highest form of a service which was expected and welcomed. The difference however was that instead of the anointing with oil, which would have cost less probably than a few coins, she provides a rich anointing oil. Judas estimated its value at three hundred silver pieces. So, except in drops, it was only used in this fashion by kings and by the richest classes; and was costly enough to be made a royal present. So there are two thoughts, either Mary must have been a woman of property to be able to bring such a holy anointing oil; or, the more probable explanation is that this amount was the total of her life savings – really the only thing she had of value. What this means then is that with this gift she is just like the widow we spoke about last week, who with her few small coins, gives all she had to the Lord in the Temple offering bag. She is sacrificing all she has.

It is enclosed in an alabaster vase or jar, the expression in the original language is simply, "having an alabaster of ointment." The commentators explain that perfumes were best preserved in alabasters. The vessel, because it is made of alabaster, was called an alabaster, just as we would call the glass container we drink from - a glass.

And so what she brings, while foreign to us, is well understood at the time. The practise of anointing would have been standard but the gift of the perfume was well beyond the expectation. As she broke the jar then, the smell of this perfume would have been overpowering and would have filled the room – it couldn’t be missed. Everyone would know, as we saw the comments flying, that this was excessive. And thus the cause for the criticism.

But Jesus rebukes them instead. He recognises that this is an act of love. Generous, Lavish, all-encompassing devotion. And he praises her for it.

And so the question that we can ask ourselves from this is – what do we give Jesus? Do we give him generous, lavish, all-encompassing devotion – or do we give him our left-overs? There was a beautiful
sermon written where the preacher wrote of this act saying:

“Away with the cheap bottles of stale perfume when you may fill the banqueting hall of Christ with exquisite aroma. Paul had made great speeches before, but he made his best speech for Christ. John had warmth of affection in other directions, but he had his greatest warmth of affection for Christ. Jesus deserves the best word we ever uttered, the gladdest song we ever sang, the most loving letter we ever wrote, the healthiest day we ever lived, the strongest heart throb we ever felt.”

The second question we can ask was How did she offer it?

Almost every time we encounter Mary she is at the feet of the Lord. In the well-known story of Mary and Martha – where Martha criticises her, it is because she is doing exactly that – sitting at his feet and listening to her Lord. A place where we must understand, in that time and culture was reserved for men, in the privacy of her own home, Mary breaks with social conventions and follows her heart.

And this seems to continue into our story today. While the anointing would have been normal, she was doing it in someone else’s house, and with expensive and excessive lavishness. When John tells this story in his Gospel – he adds a detail we don’t read about here.

In John 12:3 we read,

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

This is an act so demonstrative of love that it feels somewhat inappropriate, and would have been uncomfortable for those at the meal. A woman’s hair was seen as her glory, and thus kept tucked away only to be seen by her husband. And yet here, Mary lets her hair down and uses that which is her glory and crown – to wipe Jesus feet.

And there are a few things we can learn from this:

Firstly – this reminds us of what we see Jesus do the following night with his disciples. Just as she has poured out oil on his feet and wiped it with her hair, so Jesus stoops down and washes his disciples feet.

I’m sure you’ve experienced those times where you catch a scent of something and immediately it takes you somewhere else. There is a certain salty sea breeze smell that takes me back to my childhood holidays in Port Alfred. There is my Mom’s perfume that I recognise from a mile away and it reminds me of precious times spent with her. Our smell receptors in the brain are closely linked with memory and emotion.

And you have to wonder when Jesus knelt to wash the feet of his disciples – whether the memory of the smell of the ointment came  back to mind for the disciples as they reflect on Mary’s act of love.

Secondly, we live in an age and belong to a denomination where right thinking and understanding and belief are all important. We often experience our faith very cognitively, we believe in Jesus because historically its most likely that this is how things happened, we understand logically the need for the cross when we see our own failure and we respond with a belief and a faith that is quite knowledge based. And yet here we see an act not just of knowledge and belief – but huge affection and love. An act that is so extravagant that it defies common sense and seems out of proportion. Its worship.

 This is not a head thing.

This is a heart thing.

This is an act of deep raw emotional love.

The last time we encounter Mary she is falling at the feet of her Risen Saviour – the one who was crucified, and yet is alive forever more.

The final question we need to ask is Why?

We have looked at the love that has prompted the action, we understand the social custom of the time, but was there more to this – Jesus certainly seems to think so, he says to those criticising her,

⁶ “Leave her alone, why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Jesus is talking about his burial… even here this moment of beauty, of love, of generosity – the cross overshadows it all. It points to the coming death, in just two days he would be lying in a tomb. Our passage today begins with saying

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.

And the passage ends with

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.”

 And sandwiched in between this political manoeuvring, this betrayal, this darkness – is an act of light.

Remember Jesus had told his disciples again and again that he was on his way to be killed. He told them that this would be his final journey to Jerusalem – and emphasised it so much that they wondered at the courage with which he led them on towards his death.  Did Mary actually get it? Was she the only one who was really listening? Was she prompted by the Spirit of prophecy to point out that they were heading out into the murky depths of darkness?

We don’t know.

But Jesus points to what she has done – and he says… it is a beautiful thing.  Worship is a beautiful thing.

Where does this leave us today – what is the story – that as Jesus says, “wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” What is it meant to teach us?

Firstly – what we give is important. And Jesus values it. In fact our gifts to him can be beautiful. But there is a caution I believe… In 2 Samuel chapter 24, we read this story about David, who needs the Lord’s intervention – and so in verse 18 we read:

¹⁸ On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” ¹⁹ So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. ²⁰ When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to theLord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

²² Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. ²³ Your Majesty, Araunah^[d] gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

²⁴ But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

Let me restate that final line – I dare not give to the Lord my God, that which has cost me nothing.

Our warning is against giving God the dregs because it’s expected. Mary gave it all. The widow last week gave it all. And we do it because we understand the cross – because we see the love poured out for us. Our verse for this period reminds us that he gave his life. And so when we survey the wondrous cross - as the old hymn tells us, it leads us to a response of -

“Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine –

demands my soul, my life, my all.”

The second thing we can take from here; is a reminder that this man called Jesus – he isn’t an academic exercise. He is a person that we know and love with affection and heart. That our faith and our worship while we can understand and explain it – at times needs to be experienced and expressed. And we aren’t all demonstrative people who are about to break out into interpretive dance – I get that. But there does need to be a point where we offer ourselves and all we have as a love offering. Just as we stand at the alter with our wives or husband and promise allegiance based on a love that is both a choice and a deeply felt heart experience – so too with our Lord – we choose him with our heads, and we love him with our hearts.

So to end off, I’m going to ask you to close your eyes and imagine yourself as we pray, kneeling at the feet of Jesus. In the time of silence I offer, offer him whatever you have. Your heart, your time, your affection, your focus, your skill, your life – whatever it is that you have – make that your offering… break open your alabaster jar and pour it out for him in an act of love. If this is too personal an action to do here – may I encourage you to set some time aside when you get home, or this evening before you go to bed – and do the same exercise.

The incredible news that Scripture tells us – is that Jesus wants us. And that which we offer he sees as beautiful.