Mark 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
Different people look at the world differently. Some people appreciate keeping up with what is taking place on the world scene. Others find it too depressing and they do not want to hear about it.
God gave us four Gospel accounts. All of them record the life of Christ. Some begin prior to His birth and others like Mark’s account, begin with His public ministry. God did not give us these accounts for us to become emotionally unbalanced. God recorded these events under current events because of their importance. All of God’s Word is significant. There are many things recorded that are not pleasant to the ear or the heart.
The crucifixion account is such an event. It is a rather gruesome account of the wickedness of lost mankind. It is also a continued record of the love of God. God allowed wicked men to abuse His only begotten Son in a manner that no human being would be able to endure. The sad reality is that even though those men vented their anger against the Son of God in such a violent manner, it did not empty them of anger. They were just as angry when they were done as they were when they started. They rejected the only source of help. That help was and is found in submitting to God and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
In our text we read of the journey that Jesus took from Jerusalem to Golgotha. Jesus had been beaten mercilessly by the soldiers. His body was in a severely weakened condition. He had lost much blood and that would have contributed to His weakened state.
On the way to Golgotha they compelled a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross. This man had no intention of doing so. He had not planned his day with this in mind. However, he was there and there was a need for someone to carry Jesus’ cross to its final destination. This man was not given a choice. He was compelled to do so. Unlike Judas, who willfully betrayed Jesus, and Peter who willfully denied Jesus, this Simon did not sin in submitting to the order given to him.
Golgotha had a fitting name. It meant place of the skull. It was a common place for the Romans to deal with those convicted of crimes worthy of death. Jesus was not worthy of death, but He would die there in our place.
The soldiers now tried to show some compassion by dulling the senses of Jesus. The Bible tells us the nature of alcoholic drink. It is designed to dull the senses of the recipient. Jesus was not looking for comfort in the midst of His persecution. He would continue to take the punishment meted out to Him. He would suffer in our place so that we could know the forgiveness of sin.
We read further of the hardness of the hearts of soldiers here. Having nailed Jesus to His cross and placing that cross upright in its place, they took his garments and divided them among them. They cast lots for them. We read in John’s account that Jesus’ coat was without seam. Thus they did not cut it into pieces among themselves, but one of the men won that as they cast lots.
The third hour would have been nine a.m. This was in the early hours of the day. We read as well that they had prepared a sign to place on Jesus’ cross. Golgotha was in a place where people would pass by. If the person would look at the crosses they would see this sign placed on Jesus’ cross. THE KING OF THE JEWS. That sign bothered the Jews. Pilate had mocked them by reminding them a couple of times that Jesus was their king. They had vehemently denied that claim. At one point they had insisted they had no king but Caesar. That of course was a lie. They despised being under the Roman government.
Pilate, being the governor of that region, had the authority to put on that cross what he wanted. We need to remember he was a politician. He had entertained the Jews by releasing a criminal to them and in having Jesus beaten mercilessly. Now he would put this sign up to spite them. He did not care about the people and he did not care about Jesus. This was his expression of power.
In verse 27 we read that they crucified two thieves, one on either side of Jesus. This is a fitting picture of Who Jesus is. We read in verse 28 that this was done to fulfil the Scriptures of Isaiah 53:9,12.
Jesus Christ was not a criminal. He was placed between two criminals to again depict the fact that He is the divider between the righteous and the wicked. Those two men were wicked men at this time. He was righteous. Salvation causes a division between the righteous and the wicked. It is foolish for those who are saved to try to be like the wicked. The CCM music and the ungodly atmosphere that dominates religions today is a mockery of the truth.
In verse 29 we see that the people passing by this area had no sympathy for Jesus. Many of them had heard Him preach and teach earlier. Some of them may well have been healed by Him. They might have been part of the five thousand men that were miraculously fed by Him. We read that those passing by knew of Jesus’ teaching. They particularly remembered His declaration that when they would destroy His temple, He would rebuild it in three days. We know that Jesus had prophesied regarding His body, not that stone structure sitting in Jerusalem. The Bible declares:
I Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Jesus Christ truly was a temple. He was a vessel that His Father could use to fulfill the purposes of God. The people scoffed at Jesus, and they taunted Him to come down off that cross. They did not perceive that if Jesus would have come down off that cross at that time, they would never have had the opportunity to be forgiven and saved. They were too blinded by their sin to think about that.
We read again that the chief priests, who prided themselves on being the religious leaders of the people, joined in the mocking along with the scribes. They certainly did not have the power to forgive sins. They were born in sin and their actions condemned them. They should have been walking very softly here because they were wicked sinners, yet they mocked the Only Saviour of mankind.
In verse 32 they challenged Him to prove He was the Christ the King of Israel. As we mentioned, had Jesus come down from that cross at that time, He would have proved He was not the Christ the King of Israel. Jesus had not come this far in fulfilling the will of His Father, to now spoil it all. He would carry the will of God to Its fulfillment.
We read here that those two thieves that were one on either side of Him, reviled Him at this time as well. Luke recorded that one of those thieves later realized the facts and turned to Jesus in repentance and was forgiven and saved.
God is certainly gracious. He gives man every opportunity to humble himself and turn to Him for salvation. A few will do so. Many will just blindly carry on with their wickedness. That is a great tragedy. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of mankind. If you are reading this and not saved, you would be wise to humble yourself today and be saved. Your final day is coming. Salvation is not just to avoid hell. God’s salvation is to provide life now that changes the heart and life of the recipient. Life will be different for all those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Pastor Bartel
