The Acts of the Apostles 6

Subtitle: Peter Preaches to the Crowd II

Acts 2:22-24.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 26, 2022.

Today, we continue with Peter’s address to the crowd following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus almost 2,000 years ago.

As a quick reminder, Peter is essentially answering the question that the crowd has.  “What does this mean?”  He starts by countering the mockers who were saying that they were just drunk.  After this, he points them to the Promise of God in Joel 2:28-32.  There God promises to pour out His Holy Spirit upon all people in the last days.

Let’s look at our passage and continue Peter’s message.

The Holy Spirit Speaks through Peter (22-24)

In these verses, Peter explains how this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is connected to what happened with Jesus, especially the events concluding 50 days prior to Pentecost.

The religious authorities felt that they had dealt with the “Jesus-Problem” once and for all.  Of course, Jesus isn’t actually a problem.  Jesus is a solution, salvation.  Their true problem was that his activity and words kept highlighting how unrighteous they had become.  It is only a problem for the proud who refuse to admit that they need to repent.

Of course, within a matter of three days rumors began circulating in Jerusalem that Jesus had risen from the dead.  The tomb was empty and the guards had no helpful explanation of how Jesus escaped their watch.

During these 50 days, the disciples basically kept a low profile due to the fact that they were fearful of the authorities, and Jesus had been appearing to them.  Ultimately, he had told them to wait until this event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before they proceeded to spread the Gospel.

Now, we have this strange event on the Day of Pentecost.  What gives?  Peter gives the crowd understanding of how all of these events are connected and what God is doing through them.  They are not just random strange events that make no sense, if you understand what God is doing.  So what was God doing through Jesus?

In verse 22, Peter reminds the crowd that Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary man.  He had been “attested by God” to Israel.  The word “attested” has the sense of proving something through demonstration.  God had publicly demonstrated to Israel that Jesus was an exceptional prophet, and that they should listen to him.  These public attestations, or proofs, were not done in a corner and hidden from anyone, and they were not mere tricks that could pull the wool over the eyes of simpletons.

Peter mentions that God used miracles to prove Jesus.  Miracles are acts of supernatural power.  He also mentions wonders and signs.  These are essentially the same thing, but seen from a different purpose.  A wonder is that which leaves your jaw dropped.  It is an amazing thing that gets your attention.  However, God is not in the business of merely trying to impress humans with what He can do.  These wonders have purpose and meaning.  They are signs that are intended to point us in the right direction, and even explain God’s purpose to some degree.

Peter also makes it clear that these miracles, wonders, and signs were done through Jesus.  This is not just saying Jesus was only a conduit.  Jesus is the effective agent on the ground by whom these things are being done.  Jesus had done many spectacular healings of people who had been blind and lame since birth, and these healings were immediately upon command.  He powerfully cast out demons that plagued individuals who could not be handled by others.  He fed 1,000’s in the wilderness with only a handful of food.  Probably the most amazing was his resurrection of Lazarus.  A man who had died, was buried for 4 days, and was brought back to life by Jesus on command, and in front of a crowd.

I could add on top of this that many of the things Jesus did parallel what God did through Moses and the children of Israel.  For the sake of time, I will just mention that there is a contrast to the 10 plagues of Egypt.  The waters were turned to blood in judgment of Egypt, but Jesus turns water into wine as a blessing.  The flies, lice, and gnats seem to be symbolic of demonic hordes that Jesus dismisses.  The death of the firstborn in Egypt is countered by the death of the Son of God who becomes the Lamb of God protecting us from the destroying angel.  He fed the people miraculous bread in the wilderness.  All of these things are signs that tell Israel that Jesus is the prophet that Moses had told them would come.  He was publicly proved by God.

How could the religious leaders reject such proofs?  We should issue a caution that even the apostles highlight in the New Testament.  Satan does have supernatural power though it pales in comparison to God.  2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 makes it clear that people who reject the love of the truth that God is trying to give them will become deluded by lying signs and wonders.  Thus, it is important to note that the only “sin” the religious leaders could pin on Jesus was that he put himself on a level with God that they felt was heretical.  Of course, Jesus points them back to the Scriptures they claimed to follow and neutralized their accusation (see Psalm 82 and John 10:33 and following).  Jesus was pointing people back to proper worship of God the Father in spirit and in truth, not superficial actions that covered lives that were anything but godly.

Peter in verse 22 says that Jesus was “delivered” over to them.  He was handed into their power.  From a standpoint of authority, Jesus is essentially their higher authority, so they would have no authority to do what they did.  From a standpoint of power, Jesus could not be seized by them and held without his cooperation.  He who created the universe can only be arrested, tried, and crucified if he allows it to happen.  In this sense, Judas is immaterial.  Yes, he opens the door for Jesus to be arrested in secret, but it is the purpose and plan of God the Father that puts Jesus under their power.  This is why Peter mentions God’s foreknowledge (He knows what people will choose to do before they do it), and His determined purpose.

Of course, the test of putting Jesus in their power is to prove publicly what they would do with the God they claim to worship if He came down to their level.  It is easy to say that you love and worship and invisible being, but if He comes down and becomes visible in a way that we can’t control, we may find that we don’t love Him nearly as much as we put on, if at all.  The shocking reality that they had executed a man whom God had publicly proved to them is being highlighted.

We should notice that, even though they made it look like they were merely following the Law, their hands were “lawless” (vs 23).  No number of judges, prosecutors, police, lawyers, military, politicians, etc. can make something righteous that God has defined as unrighteous.  In the name of law, we can become a lawless people.  Whether these are actions that are done under the color of law, i.e., we make it look like we are only following the law, or we make up laws that are contrary to God’s Law, i.e., the laws we follow themselves are lawless against God’s law, God will always bring such actions to account.

They had put Jesus to death, a public execution.  However, Peter declares that God raised up Jesus from the dead.  Essentially, God had overruled their decision and Pilate’s decision.  Jesus was raised up and freed from the “pains of death.”  This is not talking about the physical pain of dying.  Jesus experienced that to the hilt.  It could be translated the sorrows of death.  There is a sorrow of being separated from loved ones, and the fact that even righteous souls were held in the grave, unable to directly enter the presence of God.

Peter even states that it is not possible that He should be held by death (i.e., death and the resultant residence in the grave-Hades/She’ol).  Jesus is not just able to give life.  He is the source of all life and by definition could not be held by death, or Hades.  We might say that it would be impossible for God to truly die, and yet through the incarnation, it became possible for God to die a physical death.  Jesus took on the nature of a man so that he could truly die.  Thus, God could truly die and enter Hades, but Hades had no power to hold Him.  The Lord of Life could not stay among the dead.  Those righteous souls who had been held in the grave could now enter into God’s presence because Jesus had paid the price for their sins, for the atoning of their sins.  Jesus is quite unique among the righteous because he was the only one to enter into Hades who had never sinned.

We are going to press pause on Peter’s discourse for now.  Peter is going to point forward from the resurrection to the fact that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is the one who is responsible for this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they are witnessing.

Today, it may seem like this has no connection to our world, having happened so long ago.  However, we must ask what Jesus is doing now?  He is still pouring out the Holy Spirit upon those who believe upon him and want to serve him.  It is important for us as Christians to be focused upon the purpose and will of God, and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit he is giving.  However, if we are not expectant, repentant, and waiting upon the Lord, we can cruise through our life with a thin veneer of religiosity and not empowered by God’s Spirit.  Friend, don’t settle for being religious in your flesh.  Ask God each day to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and then share the good news of Jesus with a lost world that is in danger of judgment every day.

Peter Preaches II audio

Follow Me

Luke 9:23-26.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 26, 2021.

We are finishing the year of our Lord 2021 and headed into 2022.  As we do this, it is good for us to do some self-assessment that recognizes any personal challenges of this year that we need to work on, and then focus our living for Jesus in the new year.

The Twelve disciples were called to follow Jesus.  Of course, for them, it began by actually following Jesus.  However, they too had to learn to spiritually follow Jesus and not just follow him around physically.  The day came when Jesus left and wasn’t coming back at least not during their lifetimes.  This is our challenge today.  We cannot see Jesus and yet, we can still “look” like we are following Jesus.  May the Holy Spirit help us to follow Jesus in word, and in deed this coming year.

Let’s get into our passage.

Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds

“Follow me,” is an important theme in the Gospels.  Each of the disciples were called to follow Jesus, and this is specifically recorded of some of them.  We see it with Peter and Andrew who were fishing on the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 4.  It says that Jesus also “called” James and John, so it is most likely that he said the same thing.  We see it with Matthew sitting at the tax collection booth in Matthew 9.  We also see it with Philip in John 1.

There are those who balked at this command.  At the end of this chapter in verses 51-62, several excuses are given as to why people did not follow through on following Jesus.  Jesus had no place to lay his head, i.e., place to stay that was his or guaranteed.  To follow Jesus was no luxury for the flesh.  One man wanted to follow Jesus, but asked to bury his father first, and another man wanted to say goodbye to his family and friends.

Probably the most well know is the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18.  The rich young ruler wasn’t confident that he had eternal life.  Jesus pointed him to the 10 commandments and the man said that he had done those since he was a youth.  Why didn’t he trust that this wasn’t enough?  The answer lies in the area of relationship.  If the young man had a living spiritual relationship with God, then he would have never doubted God’s salvation.  Jesus tells him that he lacks one thing. 

It is interesting that Jesus tells him that he is missing something, but then tells him to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor.  He was not only missing something, but his material possessions were in the way of him getting it.  This man needed to get rid of his wealth so that he could find a real relationship with God through Jesus.

It is interesting that people will read these passages and focus on how harsh Jesus sounds when people give excuses.  We are told that Jesus loved the rich young ruler and was sad to see him go.  Listen, the emphasis is that there will always be something, it doesn’t matter what it is, that will get in the way of you and I having a relationship with God.  There will always be an excuse, an obstacle.  Following Jesus is not as easy as it sounds.

Our passage is addressed to those who desire to follow Jesus, to respond to his call.  He tells us exactly what a person needs, or must do, in order to follow him.  The first thing is internal, inside of us.  I must deny myself.  Following involves giving up the direction and the way of travel.  I will not always like, or agree with, where Jesus is taking me.  In fact, right before this passage, Jesus had told them that he was going to suffer many things, be rejected, and killed by the religious leaders of Jerusalem.  This is not what they wanted to hear, but it is exactly where Jesus was going.

Jesus is a man of peace, but he is also a man of Truth (he is Truth).  It is precisely this aspect about him, that will get you killed in this world.  Jesus knew that they would hate him, and kill him.  He knew that his disciples would be tempted to stop it, or stop following him.  They would be tempted not to stand with Jesus, and in so doing they would be choosing to stand with themselves, their thoughts, fears, and decisions.  If they wanted to follow him, they would need to fight this temptation to stand away from Jesus, and deny themselves.  In the crunch, Peter denied Jesus instead of denying himself.  Later, he would be restored and learn the lesson.  Your flesh will not, cannot, follow Jesus.  It will always balk when following Jesus becomes painful and difficult.  Jesus or me?  That is our question.  To follow Jesus is to say of yourself, “I swear that I don’t know that man!”

The second thing a person needs in order to follow Jesus is a cross.  Denying yourself represents an internal battle that must be fought and won, but picking up our cross is when that internal victory walks it out in life.  The cross can be literal.  The disciples all faced a world that eventually put most of them to death.  However, it is more than being willing to die for Jesus, to be a martyr.  You can see this by asking this question.  How can a person actually lay their life down for someone else?  The answer is that they have to have conquered the internal battle first, and then they readied themselves to do what they had to, even die.  The cross represents the very thing that my flesh is afraid of and is running from, or seeking to save.  It represents all the different ways that I am going to have to die to myself in order to keep following Jesus.  Regardless of whether I will be an actual martyr or not, I must learn to put myself to death daily, my purposes and desires, and then get up and do what it is Jesus is calling me to do (or not to do as is the case).

Once you have denied yourself, and readied yourself for daily dying, now you are ready to follow Jesus, and not a second sooner.

Many people have started following Jesus over the years.  However, not all have been willing to fight this battle, and take seriously that following entails giving up where you are going and how you will travel.

Only a person who has crucified themselves repeatedly, and is ready to do it again, can follow Jesus, because, in truth, he crucified himself out of love for the purposes of God the Father.  I know it sounds strange to hear it said that way, but that is what he said.  “No one takes it [his life] from me, but I lay it down of myself.”   Jesus simultaneously paid the price for my sins and showed me the path to salvation.  “Follow Me!”  Only Jesus can lead us to the Father and eternal life.  All other paths are dead ends, boxed canyons of self-destruction.

I am my own worst enemy

My worst enemy is not the Russians or the Chinese.  It is not the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.  It is not progressives or conservatives.  It is not even the devil himself, though he is a powerful enemy.  No, the worst enemy is myself.  I am my own worst enemy.

Jesus highlights this in verses 24-26.  The first thing we see is the problem of self-preservation.  “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

This preservation can be physical in that none of us wants to die.  It is also metaphorical.  I worry about preserving a way of life, or particular things that I like such as: an economic station, social standing, positions of influence, fame, and the list goes on.  It is the fear that we have of losing something because we are following Jesus.  Jesus is both warning and encouraging us here.  You will tell yourself that you are saving your life by not following Jesus.  The irony is that our sinful self can’t save itself because the path of true salvation requires the sacrifice of self, the very thing that your flesh doesn’t want to do.  This is about holding onto things versus letting them go, and trusting God.  If you don’t trust God, then you will be lost eternally, but if you simply let it go…, then and only then will you find eternal life.  No one makes me selfish.  It is what I am by nature.  If I choose not to be selfish, it is because I have disciplined my nature and chosen something better.

In verse 25, we see that the fear of losing something is enhanced by our selfish-ambitions.  “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”  There are things that I desire for myself: things that I want to see, things that I want to experience, and things that I want to accomplish.  We see this in the disciples before the cross.  They often argued about which of them was the greatest disciple.  Jesus rebuked them for this and showed them the path of serving others.

In a way, this is a type of loss as well.  I am afraid of losing the potential of having the things that I desire.  It is not that we can’t follow Christ and have things.  It is not about the things.  It is about something inside of you, an ill-attachment to those things.  We can have things and do have things.  The problem is precisely when following Christ threatens something that we have, or hope to have.  I’m reminded of Baronelle Stutzman, the florist in the Tri-Cities of Washington State who refused to do the wedding of a homosexual couple.  She did not plan on having the Attorney General of Washington taking her to court and even seeking to take her personal assets.  She could have balked and said, “Fine, I’ll do it!”  Instead, she stuck to Jesus.  What is your ambition in life?  Be careful that it is not more important to you than following Jesus.

Finally, we see in verse 26 the issue of shame, which is a symptom of pride.  “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory…”  There will always come a time when my pride will be threatened by following Jesus.  Today, it is things like these.  “You follow ancient teachings over modern enlightenment?”  “You don’t believe that this activity I am doing is moral?”  “You associate with the Church that is responsible for so much evil throughout history?”  Leaders and lay people of the Church have made plenty of errors, not to mention some who were flat out apostates.  They were not following Jesus.  However, that is precisely the issue.  Are we following Jesus, or are we following an institution, erudite scholars, and charismatic leaders?

For some odd reason, Jesus was not too proud to be associated with the Church.  Don’t get me wrong.  He will correct, and judge, those in his Church who abuse the station he has given them.  Still, he is working within and through his Church.  He is standing with us, but will we stand with him?  Let’s make the determination to stand with Jesus moving forward, by getting ourselves internally and externally prepared to lose some things because we are dead set on following Jesus.

Follow Me audio

Putting Life to Death

Mark 15:33-47.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 21, 2021.

In our rush for progress, there are many things that society appears to be trying to jettison.  It is true that there are often obstacles that I need to remove or find away around in order to progress in life.  However, the influence that Jesus Christ has upon many people throughout the world, has been moving to the top of the list.  The argument is being developed that Christians and the Bible are holding back the USA, even the world, from creating a society that is truly Utopia.

Now to be clear, it isn’t Christians and the Bible per se.  The challenge will come against “those kind of Christians” who interpret the Bible “in that kind of way.”  O, how ancient is the human tendency to tell itself that if we just rid ourselves of “those people” then we can be a greater society.  Of course, this is impossible.  The type of person who would think such a thought, and go along with it, is twisted already.  Such people cannot build a true Utopia, no matter how much science they follow.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is not only the Truth, but the Life of men.  “In him was life and the life was the light of men.  And, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”  (John 1:4-5 NKJV).  Think about how all life on this planet eventually dies, while new life rises up to take its place.  This is bad enough.  Humans must die, while others take their place.  However, there are situations in life in which life is purposefully extinguished.  The devil led Adam and Eve into an act that extinguished something of the life in them, that is why Jesus called him a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).  Cain also extinguished something of the life in his brother Abel.  Yet, it is in Jesus that we see the true heart of humanity.  All people murdered by other humans up to that point were imperfect, and we can always tell ourselves that we were justified by their imperfections.  In Jesus, we didn’t just put to death a life.  In Jesus, we were putting to death The Life, the One who gave life to us in the first place (at least we were attempting to do so).  This is our problem.  We want God to go away, disappear, pretend that He doesn’t exist…, even die, so that we can do what we want, but with His stuff.  “God, go away, but leave your stuff for us to play with.”  This is a horrendous definition of Utopia because it believes it can exclude the giver of life and still have life.

When Jesus was put to death on the cross, he was offering us a way back to the Fullness of Life and we tried to snuff that out.  Newsflash: True Life cannot be snuffed out.  Yes, they killed his mortal life, but not his eternal life.  God knew our hearts and had incorporated such evil in His plan of salvation.  Know this; if the life of Christ dwells in you, you too cannot be snuffed out.  Yes, you may be killed, but they cannot snuff out eternal life, and this is the joyful inheritance that God has given to all of humanity who will turn from their sins and believe in what Jesus has done, and what he is telling us to do.

The death of Jesus

In our passage, we come to the point of the death of Jesus.  He will be on the cross from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, six hours.

At noon, a darkness comes over the land that lasts until Jesus dies three hours later.  This cannot be an eclipse for two reasons.  First, Passover always occurs during the full moon.  By definition, solar eclipses can only happen during the new moon.  Lunar eclipses can happen at the full moon, but they do not darken the whole land during the day, which leads us to the second point.  Solar eclipses only last minutes for the totality, not hours.

Through the years, many conjectures have been made for what caused this darkness: a sandstorm, a volcanic eruption in the region, storm clouds, etc.  Whatever the cause of this darkness, it is strange enough by itself, but when added to the crucifixion of Jesus, it gives an ominous picture.  The literal event becomes symbolic of a spiritual event.  God had sent them light and they tried to snuff it out.  Therefore, God sends a spiritual darkness upon them.  This is prophesied throughout the Old Testament.  The Apostle Paul refers to it when he says, “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.  But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.”  (2 Corinthians 3:14-15 NKJV).

Simultaneously, the darkness becomes symbolic of the dark night of the soul of Jesus, as the Father must abandon his son to a punishment he didn’t deserve.  By the way, it is interesting that Amos 8:9 prophesies of a time when it will be dark at noon by God’s doing.

Mark then tells us that Jesus cried out with a loud voice in the Aramaic language, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  This statement of Jesus has at least two purposes.  It stands to let us know how he feels in that moment as he approaches his death.  The Father is not stepping in and protecting him from injustice.  The Father is also placing all of humanity’s sins upon him.  The separation of relationship in the moment is something that even the eternal Son of God had never known.  Most likely, this was the most horrible part of his crucifixion.

Secondly, Jesus is actually giving a direct quote of the first verse of Psalm 22.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that he is directing our attention to that passage.  What Scripture verse would you quote when you were being executed unjustly?  It would be one that would fit the situation well enough to highlight the injustice.  When you read Psalm 22 (a great homework assignment by the way), it sounds as if it was written by Jesus on the cross.  For 20 verses, David describes a horrible plight of oppression and torture at the hands of others.  Verse 21 has a clear change.  “Save me from the lion’s mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!  You have answered me!”  The rest of the psalm then goes on to praise God.  Clearly, Jesus intends for us to make the connection.  He is going to die, and it will look like God has not heard him, but has forsaken him.  However, Psalm 22 promises that the moment will come when God will answer him.  It wouldn’t be the case for Jesus and it won’t be the case for you!  No matter what injustice you suffer, even death, God has not abandoned you and will resurrect you to keep His promises.

Mark then tells us that Jesus gave a loud cry and gave up his last breath.  He doesn’t tell us what that cry was, but from the Gospels of John and Luke, we have at least two sentences Jesus spoke as he came to his death. 

“It is finished!” (John 19:30).  The task that Jesus had been sent to do had been accomplished.  He could now die and bring the torture to an end.  However, the word Jesus uses for being finished was also one that would be stamped on a bill to show that the transaction has been finished.  In modern parlance, we would say, “Paid in full!”  Jesus had paid the price for our sins completely, through his suffering of our penalty.  The wrath of God is poured out upon him and he dies.

Luke 23:46 also tells us that Jesus says, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.”  Whether this last part is also cried out or not is immaterial.  Even in a moment of feeling forsaken, Jesus teaches us the wisest thing ever.  When you have nothing left, don’t turn your back on God.  Instead, commit yourself into His hands.  He can be trusted even when it doesn’t look like it.  Much of our problem comes from not speaking these words each day as we approach our own daily crucifixion (metaphorically).  Every day for the Christian is crucifixion day, a day when I will put my own flesh to death.  My flesh won’t like it, but we must commit our spirit into the Father’s hands and trust His way, trust the Savior Jesus that He has given us.

Jesus spoke at least seven things from the cross and they are all worth meditating upon.  You will have to look through all of the Gospels to find them, but take the time this week to do that (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19).

As Jesus gives up his last breath, the darkness over the land comes to an end.  In truth, this is the moment of most spiritual light for the earth.  God is dead on a cross.  Jesus has perfectly shown us the love of the Father despite all of our accusations against Him.  Light is about to be sent out to the ends of the earth through the apostles and disciples of Jesus.

Several other things occur at his death that serve to underscore the gravity of what is happening.  Mark mentions that the veil in the temple was torn in half.  Mark leaves out that there was a powerful earthquake, which serves as the mechanism of ripping the large veil (about 4 inches thick).  The veil separated the area called the holy place.  It had the menorah, the table of bread representing the tribes of Israel, and the altar of incense.  Priests came into this area each day.  However, behind the veil was the ark of the covenant, which served as the footstool of the presence of God on earth.  This was the most restricted place in all of Israel.  Only the High Priest, on only one day of the year, and only observing the correct rituals, could enter into this space where God’s presence dwelled.  The ripped veil represents that the way into the presence of God has been opened up by the great High Priest Jesus.  Believers would no longer need an earthly priest to mediate for them every year.  They could go directly to God, and His “throne of grace.”  The next time someone complains to you about the restrictions on foreigners, women, common men, and common priests, remind them of this moment.  We want God to be all-powerful, but not dangerous.  That is because, we want a god that we can control, that is safe.  God is holy and just.  None of us dare approach him without the wisdom of how to do that.  However, in Jesus God opens up the way so that every man, woman and child can approach Him through repentance and faith.

At this point, the centurion, whose job it is to make sure Jesus dies, is overwhelmed by what he sees.  “Surely, this man was the son of God!”  Luke adds, “a righteous man.”  He had seen many rebels and murderers put to death, but the death of Jesus was something altogether different.  The manner of Jesus and the spectacular events surrounding his death convinced this Roman soldier that Jesus was a righteous man who was the Son of God!

Mark tells us that there were also many of the female followers of Jesus watching all of this.  In Luke, we are told that the crowd disperses, beating their breasts in a show of anguish and grief.  They too are shocked by what they have seen.  This was a tragic day, a day when the lights went out in Jerusalem, a day when they crucified an innocent man.

The burial of Jesus

Jesus has expired in his physical frame around 3:00 PM, and the Sabbath quickly approaches.  It is at this point that a rich man named Joseph, from the town of Arimathea- it was northwest of Jerusalem by approximately 8 miles- asks Pilate for permission to bury the body of Jesus.  Joseph was member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling elders of Israel.  He had dissented to the council’s actions earlier that morning.  This is who he is.  We are also given information about Joseph’s spiritual condition.  He lived waiting for the Kingdom of God.  He wasn’t giving it lip service, but actually looked for it to happen.  The Apostle Peter gives a similar exhortation to believers in 2 Peter 3:11-12.  Knowing that all the things of this earth and the universe are going to be dissolved by fervent heat, what sort of people ought we to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the Day of God?  We need to be a people who are waiting and looking (even hastening) the coming of the Day of God, the Second Coming of Jesus.  It was people who had given up on the Kingdom of God that gave themselves to crucifying Jesus.  Don’t give up spiritually on God.  Those who wait on Him will be glad that they did in the end.

When our hopes go beyond this world, and are not desperately seated only in the material plane, then we are spared the desperate acts that, in trying to grasp at life, actually put true life to death.  Jesus warned us.  “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NKJV). 

Pilate then confirms that Jesus has truly died and gives Joseph permission to remove the body and bury it.  We are told that Joseph wraps the body in a new, expensive linen and lays it in a new, rock tomb that is sealed against intruders by a large stone.  No doubt, this tomb had been intended by Joseph to be for his family, but now was given in service to the Lord.

All of this is observed by the women mentioned earlier.  They witness where Jesus is buried, and eventually go home for the Sabbath, preparing spices for his body, to bring when the Sabbath is over.

It is good that we pause in this valley of death, at the moment when all seems lost, and life seems dead.  Part of what Jesus is showing us is that the Life of God cannot truly be extinguished.  I’m not saying that Jesus didn’t actually die, but that this cannot be the final word.  We are more than bodies, and Jesus is more than a human spirit.  In Christ, we are given assurance that our exit from this world is not the final word on our life.  Those who put their faith in God will rise again as Jesus will soon show us in the next chapter.  The life of God will cause us to shine like the stars.  However, no amount of “following the science” can do anything but lead us into dead ends.  Only God can give us what we seek.  Put your faith in Him today!

Putting Life to Death audio

The Lifting up of Jesus

Mark 15:21-32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 14, 2021.

During the last week before the crucifixion, Jesus had said, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”  He uses a verb that literally describes the crucifixion, but also has a metaphorical use that meant exaltation to a place of honor.  The people of Israel would lift Jesus up, one way or another.  We typically take this verse in the sense of exaltation.  However, we are told that Jesus was speaking of the way in which he would be executed.

The world was going to crucify Jesus, but it would ironically be his exaltation.  It would set in motion his power to draw all manner of people unto himself.  They would be drawn to him spiritually, but not forcefully.  The world will soon drag mankind into worship of a system and a god-man that will employ force.  However, this is not the way of the omnipotent God of the universe.

If we are to exalt Jesus before the world, we must be careful of separating him from the cross in people’s minds.  Yes, Jesus is coming back in power and great might, but he broke the might of our enemy at the cross.  We live in the face of a backlash against Jesus and his people that is growing every day.  It is a backlash against his word, the Bible.  It has already been happening in people’s hearts, even some who profess to be Christians.  This is being drawn to the surface through the events and social issues of our day.  Satan will seek to cancel the truth about who God is, who Jesus is.  Who will you stand with in this testing time?  I pray that you will stand with the one true Jesus faithfully revealed to us in God’s Word.

Jesus is taken to the place of crucifixion

In verse 21, it is time for Jesus to be crucified, and thus, they begin to lead him to the place of execution.  Jesus is a “dead man walking,” as they say.  It was typical for the victim to carry the crossbeam of the cross with the vertical member generally left standing in the same place between executions.    The physical condition of Jesus is so bad that he is unable to carry his crossbeam all the way to the place of death.  It is at this point that a man who happened upon the scene is forced into service.  Simon of Cyrene is force to help carry the cross of Jesus.

Cyrene was a city in Africa, what we would call the coast of eastern Libya today.  With a name like Simon, he is clearly a Jew who has made the long journey to participate in the Passover proceedings.  The mention of his sons, Alexander and Rufus, seems to indicate that the original readers would recognize the names.  They had most likely become a part of the early Christian community.

It is interesting that sometimes we are compelled to do things that we do not want to do, but they end up marking our life for good, and for God.  Where Simon Peter had failed to stand beside Jesus, the Father supplied another Simon to help His Son to complete the mission.  May God help us to do less complaining about the lot that we have received, and to do more praying about how we should respond to those difficult times. We must seek to discover what He is saying to us through it.  Simon of Cyrene had a close encounter with Jesus as he went to the cross.  This would mark him forever.

The execution site is named Golgotha, an Aramaic term meaning “place of a skull.”  There are two sites that are contenders today for this location.  The idea that it was a small hill that was shaped like a skull cannot be traced back to the first century, so it is unclear how dependable it is.  However, all of Jerusalem in those days would know exactly where Golgotha was.  It was the place that was just outside of the walls of Jerusalem, either to the west of the temple mount, or to the northwest of it.

Upon arrival at the execution site, Jesus is offered a mixed drink to help numb the pain.  Proverbs 31:6-7 tells us to give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart.  It was common for the Jews to offer such to those being executed.  However, Jesus refuses this, not so much because he loves pain and suffering, but because he must fully identify with our suffering in order to serve as a merciful High Priest, as the book of Hebrews details (Hebrews 2:17). 

There is a certain amount of suffering that we must embrace in this life, not because of some masochistic desire, but because it helps us to identify with Jesus.  It helps us to understand that his sufferings brought us life that our sufferings cannot neutralize.  We should not seek to make ourselves suffer on purpose, but neither should we run from it when it comes knocking.  Weep with those who weep, and know that, this too, Jesus shall overcome in the resurrection.

Jesus is crucified

At last, Jesus is nailed to the crossbeam and lifted into place.  Mark tells us that this happens at the third hour.  The Jews divided the day as hours counting from what we would call 6:00 AM.  Thus, the third hour would be the hour beginning at 9:00 AM.  Later in this chapter, we will be told that Jesus dies just after the ninth hour, or 3:00 PM.  This would put him on the cross for six hours total.  The Roman reckoning of time was as ours.  John’s Gospel must have been using this when it refers to Jesus being before Pilate at the sixth hour, or 6:00 AM.

Mark tells us that an inscription, or sign, is put above Jesus.  Typically, this would be the charge for which the person is being executed.  However, Pilate words it in such a way as to slight the Jews, or at least their leaders.  “King of the Jews,” is what it says.  John’s Gospel adds that it also said “Jesus of Nazareth.”  It was in Greek, Hebrew, and in Latin.  Though the Jewish leaders complained that the sign made it look like Jesus actually was the king of the Jews, it was fitting that the Savior of all peoples, of every language, should be declared in the main languages of the day.  Here is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.  Of course, Jesus is much more than this.  What Pilate does out of spite, God allows to drive home the point to the Jewish onlookers.  We have crucified the king that God has finally sent us.

Mark mentions that Jesus is crucified between two robbers.  Only Luke mentions that one of the robbers ends up putting his faith in Jesus while he was on the cross.  Mark’s gospel implies that both of the robbers mock Jesus at first.   Mark points us to Isaiah 53:12, which tells us that the suffering Messiah would be numbered among those who are transgressors.

Jesus was executed as if he was the same as these two robbers, worthy to be executed and cast out as a dead branch.  Yet, Jesus is eternal life!  Even today, this world will control the narrative by castigating believers as transgressors.  It is not what this world says about you that is most important.  It is what Jesus will say about you when you stand before God the Father.  May we be found as faithful in this generation.

Jesus is blasphemed and mocked

We talked about the mocking of the soldiers last week.  Now, Jesus is opened to further public mocking.  The terms blaspheme and mocking are used.  They can serve as synonyms in this situation, but essentially to blaspheme is to speak a falsehood about someone, especially God.  Whereas, mocking is more about the ridicule of a person and what they stand for.

The common people and the chief priests are all blaspheming and ridiculing Jesus.  It is unclear why these priests would be here when there are clearly duties to be done at the temple.  It can only be chalked up to their vitriol towards Jesus.

The first statement mentioned is blasphemy and mocking.  “You who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days…”  Jesus never said that he would destroy the temple, but here they ridicule the idea that a man who is powerless to stop his own execution would have the power to rebuild the temple in three days.  What of your wild claim now, Jesus?  Of course, it is they who are destroying the temple of his body, and on the third day, Jesus would raise it up in his own resurrection.  It is not an honor to mock things that you do not understand because you end up being revealed as a fool in the end.

This is followed up with mocking his ability to save.  Save yourself and come down from the cross.  In a sense, they throw down the gauntlet for him to prove himself, but on the other hand, it is not something they expect him to do.  To them, Jesus has been checkmated and there is no way out.  He is proven to be a false prophet in their eyes.  Jesus was famous for saving people from the death sentence of hideous diseases.  Yet, he is powerless in the face of crucifixion.

They even add the twist that if he does come down from the cross then they would believe that he is the Messiah, and the rightful king of Israel.  The sad thing is that Jesus did have the power to save himself, but if he saved himself, he would be damning all mankind.  The logic goes like this.  “God, do this thing and I will believe.” However, if God does that thing my belief would be to late to help me.  I would be trapped forever in guilt, knowing that he was right and I failed to believe when I should have.

This is the great wisdom of the world.  It seems so powerful and wise, but in the end, it is folly.  It foolishly tells God how to run the universe, or ridicules the idea of God because the universe is not running in a particular way.  Imagine God at the beginning of creation, looking ahead and writing down a list of every demand from every human being who ever existed as to what he must do to prove Himself to them.  God is not a dog to jump through all the hoops we demand that He must jump through.  Yet, He does love us and demonstrated it powerfully on the cross.

So, I end with this.  Save yourself from this stubborn and wicked generation, by putting your faith in the crucified Lord who died for your sins, and rose up from the grave to give you eternal life!

Lifting up Jesus audio