The Dark Day That Gives Hope

N.T.#454 "The Dark Day That Gives Hope"

Dec. 31, 2024 

Mark 15-Part 10

LET IT GLOW

We have all experienced dark days, but none was like the day Jesus died. Is He your hope?

Jesus could have saved Himself, but He chose to sacrifice Himself to save the world from the penalty of sin. Mark leaves out details surrounding this event. Jesus asked the Father to forgive them for didn't know what they were doing. Also, the conversation of the thieves on the and one who went to heaven. Those accounts are found in Luke 23. Then Christ tells John to take care of His mother. Jesus thirsted and they gave Him vinegar instead of water. (John 20)

It was dark from noon until 3:00 that day. The supernatural darkness was a sign of God's judgment .It was as if nature could not bear to look at its Creator dying and heaven holding its breath. (Swindoll)

My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? (verse 34 and Ps. 22:1)

At that moment my sins, your sins, those sins of the people in the past and future were laid upon Jesus. It was such an overwhelming experience, the Jesus literally screamed. Jesus bore the weight of the sins of the world upon Him in the darkness alone. God cannot look upon sin, for He is holy. Therefore, Jesus was alone. 

Are you a sinner that needs forgiveness? We all are, friend. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

LET IT GROW 

And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. (verse 38)

Jesus had accomplished what He came to do-grant human beings access to God. By atoning for sin, Jesus made it possible for people to come into God's presence. No we have no need for priests to offer sacrifices repeatedly so we can be right with Holy God. Jesus Christ is our great High Priest, who offered Himself for sin once and for all. (Heb. 4:14; 7:27; 10:10,12)(Tony Evans)

A heavy curtain hung in the Temple, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. It was a place reserved by God and for God Himself. Once the curtain was torn, now we can approach our Holy God through Jesus. Jesus is our interceder for our prayers. He sits at the right hand of God in heaven speaking to the Father for us.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. We believe Jesus is and was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He is the only way to get to heaven.

Have you trusted in Jesus as your Savior? If not, ask Him today.

LET IT GO

Jesus, Messiah, You are Lord of all. All our hope is in You Lord, Light of the world.

We place our soul in Your hands.

Help those unbelievers to trust in You today, King Jesus.

The Mistreated King

N.T.#453 "The Mistreated King"

Dec. 30, 2024 

Mark 15-Part 9 

LET IT GLOW

What happened at the end of this chapter?

• The soldiers offered Jesus wine with myrrh to lessen the torture as He hung on the cross.
• His garments were gambled for by the soldiers, casting lots. (Ps. 22:18 and verse 24)
• Jesus was put on the cross the third hour, 9 AM. (verse 25)
• Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross: JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. Since Christ had not been found guilty of a crime, Pilate placed a title above the cross. It was written in Aramaic, the language of the Jews; Greek, the language of culture; and Latin, the official language of Rome. (John 19:19) (Falwell)
•  Jesus was crucified between two thieves. (verse 27)
• He was numbered with the transgressors. (Ps. 53:12) Swindoll tells us this verse was not in the original transcripts. a Scribe probable later got it from Luke 22:37 and jotted it down in his margin, so it was place in the writing of Mark later.) 
• Those who passed by kept on blaspheming Christ.
• The people though Jesus referred to the Temple being destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days, but He was referring to Himself. (verse 29)
• Some said for Jesus to save Himself and come down off the cross.(verse 30)
• Priests challenged Jesus that He saved others, Himself He cannot save. (verse 31)
• Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. (verse 32)

Is it faith if one sees with their physical eyes? 

LET IT GROW

In his commentary of Mark, J. Vernon McGee explains the physical versus the spiritual:

• There was spiritual darkness the first 3 hours Jesus hung on the cross because man did his worst by crucifying Him and reviling Him.
• Jesus' enemies marched around the cross, wagging their heads and ridiculing Him. He was suffering at the hands of man.
• The first 3 hours Jesus was dying because of sin; the last three He was dying for the sin of the world.
• Sin was doing all it could to destroy Jesus the first 3 hours; the last 3 hours Jesus made His soul an offering for sin.
• Jesus Christ was made sin,  for us; He became sin for us. He was forsaken of God and yet, even at that time, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. (2 Cor. 5:19)

 We are sinners in need of a Savior, daily. What a sacrifice Jesus made for us. The One who committed no sin became sin so He provided salvation for us through faith in Him. Friend, have you asked Jesus to be your Savior? We have all sinned and come short of the standard God has for entering heaven. Jesus fulfilled that requirement for us-sinless life.

LET IT GO

Jesus, You are my King.

Help me to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow You daily.

We love You Lord Jesus, for Your mercy never fails us.

*We appreciate your prayers as my husband has a knee replacement this afternoon. It had been scheduled 3 weeks earlier, but the surgeon hurt his back. Thanks.

Oh The Pain of It All

 N.T.#452  "Oh The Pain of It All"

Dec. 27, 2024

Mark 15-Part 8

LET IT GLOW

Can you hear the hammering of the nails into Jesus at the base of His hands? Ping, ping. What an excruciating painful sound They would have been like railroad spikes, 5 inches long and 3/8 inch square nail. Jesus' arms would have been stretched across the cross beam, forming a T of the two beams. Both wrists would have been nailed to the cross bar. They bent His knees, placed His feet flat against the stipes, and drove a nail through each foot. Then the soldiers tilted the cross up and guided the base into the hole in the ground. With a sudden jarring thud, the cross dropped into the securing hole. By nine o'clock in the morning, the soldiers finished securing Jesus hanging on the cross of Calvary. [Resource: Swindoll's Living Insights on Mark]

There hung Jesus Christ, King of the Jews, their expected Messiah, Savior to all who believed Him to be the Son of the Living God. He was despised and rejected by His own people; innocent of their charges. The Jews expected their Messiah to deliver them from the rule of Rome. Friend, are you a believer in Jesus? 

He who knew no sin became sin so we might become His righteousness. That is love to the highest degree-dying for sinners.

LET IT GROW

They offered Jesus wine with myrrh added in it, but He refused it. It was to help lessen the torture. Did you think of that? Jesus endured the pain for us so we don't have to pay for our sins. 

J.V. McGee mentions it.  No Gospel writer records the details of the Crucifixion.; they only give us incidents. It is like the Spirit of God says it is too horrible to tell.

According to Jewish time, it was 9:00 in the morning, the third hour, when they crucified Jesus. (verse 25)

There hung THE KING OF THE JEWS. A superscription of His accusation that was written over Jesus. He died in order for everyone who believed in Him could have everlasting life. Such love!!

LET IT GO

Oh, what a Savior! Isn't He wonderful? Sing hallelujah! The godly died for the ungodly, you and me.

Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins? He is waiting with open arms, stretched out, like on the cross. Is the King biding you to come to Him today?  

Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified freely forever. One day He is coming, o glorious day!

Suffering

N.T.#451 

Dec. 26, 2024 "Suffering"

Mark 15-Part 7 

LET IT GLOW

Mark does not tell us about the fourth and fifth trials which Jesus went through. Luke tells us in chapter 23 about Jesus tried by Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee. However, Herod made no specific charges against the Messiah although He was questioned at length. Then Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate, which is found in Matthew 27, for His sixth trial. 

Pilate declared Jesus to not be guilty but sentenced Him to be crucified to mollify the angry mob. Simultaneously, a man guilty of murder, treason, and sedition was released. Dying on a cross was meant to keep noncitizens in line. It was common enough that a place outside the walls of Jerusalem was used by the Roman army-the skull. The Way of Suffering leads to hope; Gethsemane and Golgotha lead to glory. (Swindoll) 

Christ claimed to be God, and by Jewish law, He should die. (Lev. 24:16) Pilate had been warned by his wife about Christ (Matt. 27:19), and now he realized that he may be dealing with the Son of God. Yet, Pilate was spiritually blind. Also, if the Jews contacted Caesar, and explained Pilate released a king who threatened Roman authority, Pilate would be guilty of treason against Rome. (Falwell)

It was a catch 22 for Pilate. After the crowd cried, "Crucify him," Pilate said to the Jewish leaders and mob:

And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. (verse 22)

Take him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. (Luke 19:6)

We have studied about the cruelness of the Roman soldiers-clothing Jesus in a purple robe, placing a crown of thorns on his head, hitting him on the head, spitting upon him, bowing their knees in a mock worship before Jesus. Then they replaced Jesus regular clothes upon him and led the Savior out to be crucified. (verse 20)

LET IT GROW

And they compeled one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and rufus, to bear his cross. (verse 21)

Simon was from the city of Cyrene, which was along the coast of present -day Libya of northern Africa. He was well known to first-century Christians by the time Matthew, Mark, and Luke published their account (Acts 13:1). It is speculated that Simon's wife cared for or mothered the apostle Paul, who lodged with the family while at the church in Antioch. 

After intense suffering in prayer, enduring an all-night trials, and being ruthlessly beaten, Jesus was too weak to carry His cross. Simon carried the cross beam of Jesus's cross along the Via Delorosa, the way of suffering, up the hill called Golgotha, an Aramaic name meaning Place of the Skull. The English word Calvary is derived from the Latin translation, Calvaria. It was a customary place for the executions and it actually looks like a skull (standing below the hill looking up). the vertical part of the cross was waiting for them on the hill called Calvary.

Friend, are we denying ourself, taking up our cross, and following Jesus? 

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  (Matt. 16:2)

Is that what we are doing daily as a follower and believer of Jesus?

LET IT GO 

Sweet Jesus,  thank You for all that You endured in order to provide salvation for us sinners!

You are our hope and peace. 

 

 

 Merry Christmas to all!

I just wanted to thank you folks for being with me on this road of faith as we study God's Word together. 

Mark doesn't begin with the genealogy of Jesus like Matthew and Luke. He jumps right into the ministry of Jesus. 

What a plan for the Son of God provide our salvation-humbled Himself to come to earth being born in a manger, took on the form of a human, enduring all the ridicule, beatings, and the pain of nails on a cross. If that isn't love come down, I don't know what is. The wonder of it all.

Dear one, we owe everything to our God. He has given us breath of life and beat of our heart, salvation so we can spend eternity with Him in heaven.  We should be shouting like the angels who sang to the shepherds: Glory to God in the Highest!

So I wish you peace, love, joy, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith today as you do about your day in celebration. We will continue Mark 15 tomorrow.

In Christ,

Linda

Injustice

N.T.#350 "Injustice"

Dec. 24, 2024 

Mark 15-Part 6

LET IT GLOW

We read of the brutal guards, the power-hungry governor, and the conniving religious leaders that had the upper hand They didn't know the true power and authority of this man Jesus, who they tortured and condemned to death. Injustice. They aren't so arrogant now, for they know the truth that Jesus is the Messiah/Savior.

The crowd wanted Jesus crucified, the soldiers beat Him, and Pilate was afraid of a riot. A band of soldiers (600 men) took Jesus into the Praetorium to make a spectacle of Him. How did they accomplish this?

• They clothed Jesus in a purple robe, which was the color traditionally worn by royalty. (Jesus is the King of the Jews.)
• They placed a crown of thorns on His head as a mockery of a royal crown. 
• they held a mockery coronation for Jesus as King of the Jews.
• They shouted, Hail, King of the Jews! (verse 18)
• They hit Jesus on the head with a reed (as a royal staff),which drove the thorns deeper into His skull.
• They spat upon Him ,and bowed their knees as if worshipping Jesus. (verse 19)
• .Afterwards, they removed the royal robe, put His own clothes back on Jesus, and led Him out to be crucified. (verse 20)

What a harsh treatment Jesus went through in order to provide our salvation! He was beaten unmercifully, humiliated, and made a spectacle. Yet Jesus did not return evil for evil. He turned the other cheek. He didn't curse His beaters but later forgave them. (The Son of God could have called down legions of angels to rescue Him, but chose not to.) He was obedient to His Father to the end. 

LET IT GROW

It is hard to read through all that my Savior went through because He loves me. Especially it is during the Christmas season, when it is a joyful time of the year. We celebrate the birth of our Savior, sing His praises, give thanks for all He does for us. We know the purpose for His life that God had was fulfilled. It all goes together in the Father's plan.

Such injustice was done to Jesus, the One who knew no sin. He will bring justice, eventually. Yet don't we want mercy for us?

How are we to respond when justice lies beyond our reach?

1. Let go of any expectation of justice. Do not hold onto anger and bitterness, but submit to the will of God, for one day He will judge every soul.
2. Stop trying to be heard. Speak truth in love. Let God decide when, where, and how He will set the record straight.
3. Seek comfort in Christ. Place our hope in Him. [Swindoll's Living Insights on Mark]

LET IT GO

Thank You Jesus for Your endurance through it all.

Help us to trust You as we go through injustice.

May we show love, grace, and mercy today to those who have wronged us.

To You be the glory forever!

He Took Our Punishment

N.T.#449 "He Took Our Punishment"

Dec. 23, 2024 

Mark 15-Part 5 

LET IT GLOW 

What a time to be studying the end of our Savior's life when the world is celebrating His birth. It puts things in the right perspective, doesn't it? 

What evil had he done, indeed. Nothing warranted Jesus being crucified, yet the crowd desired it. So Pilate delivered Jesus, had Him scourged, to be crucified. He released the murdering Barabbas in His place. Don't you know Pilate saw this as a frame-up? the Jews hated him and the Roman Empire he represented, yet they asked him to convict one of their fellow Jews of treason and give him the death penalty. 

Crucifixion was the Roman penalty for rebellion. Only slaves or those who were not Roman citizens could be crucified. Jesus' death would be the death of a rebel and slave, not of the king He claimed to be. The Jewish leaders wanted to put the blame for killing Jesus on the Romans. Besides, if Pilate didn't carry out their wishes, then they would report Pilate to Caesar. (John 19:12) Such a report accompanied by a riot, could cost him his position and hopes for advancement. (Life Application Study Bible)

How many times do we do something in order to appease another? Maybe it would secure our job if we didn't tell the truth. 

LET IT GROW

According to Luke, Pilate had Jesus scourged in an attempt to punish Him and then release Jesus, hoping it would satisfy the crowd. (Luke 23:16)

Scourged means to whip; lash as a public punishment.

It was a grim art of torture to beat a man within an inch of his life. 

this scourging was conducted with a whip consisting of a wooden handle to which metal-tipped leather thongs were attached. It ripped the flesh down to the bone, causing severe bleeding. Prisoners often died from such a beating. (MacArthur)

An innocent man was going to die. Jesus took my place and your place as punishment for our sins. We are the guilty ones, not Him. Love so amazing!

LET IT GO

He became sin that knew no sin, that we might become His righteousness. He carried the cross. Love so amazing. Jesus Messiah, name above all names-Blessed Redeemer, Beautiful Savior, Emmanual. The.  ransom for sinners, Jesus Messiah, Lord of all.

Is Jesus your Savior today?