Transcript:
Jesus commanded Christians to make disciples of all the nations. This involves telling people that Jesus is God, He rose from the dead, and Jesus is Lord.
As part of our evangelistic efforts, we also ask people to read the Bible. When they do so they read about Jesus healing people and performing miracles. Miracles are called miracles because they break the laws of nature. It violates common sense to believe that Jesus performed the healings and signs ascribed to Him by the Bible.
Many times non-Christians will ask for proof that Jesus is who we claim He is, and that he did the things the Bible says He did. That is a reasonable request. We should do our utmost to provide answers. 1Peter 3:15 commands us to defend our beliefs.
However, the account of Jesus being crucified contains a warning that sometimes people will not believe the proof recorded in the Bible. Instead, they will demand that God authenticate Himself according to their specifications. When that happens, we must not get tricked into thinking that the verification we provide is not sufficient.
After Jesus acknowledged He was the Christ during His trial before the high priest, the Jewish leaders declared Jesus a blasphemer worthy of death. They sent Him to Pilate. Pilate understood Jesus was innocent, but the priests deceived the crowd into demanding the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he delivered Jesus over to be crucified. The soldiers dressed Him in purple, put a crown of thorns on His head, beat Him with a reed, and mocked Him.
Mark 15:20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.
Mark 15:21 ¶ And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.
Mark 15:22 ¶ Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
Mark 15:23 And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.
Mark 15:24 And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide who should take what.
Mark 15:25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.
Mark 15:26 And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Mark 15:27 ¶ And they crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.
Mark 15:28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”]
This is a reference to Isaiah 53:12. That chapter contains many verses that are an accurate description of what happened to Jesus when he was crucified.
Mark 15:29 And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days,
Mark 15:30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”
Jesus had performed many miracles to prove He was God. His proofs included healing deformities, casting out demons, feeding large crowds with only a few loaves and fish, giving sight to the blind, and raising people from the dead. He did these signs in public, so the people mocking Jesus knew of His miracles.
When Jesus said He would destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, the people who heard Him say that should have believed Him because He had proven He had the power to do that. However, once they had Jesus on the cross, they demanded He prove His power by coming down from the cross. Their mindset was that if he didn’t come down from the cross, then that was evidence that Jesus could not do what he said He would do and was not who He said He was.
Just because Jesus chose not to perform the sign the mockers demanded did not mean He did not have the ability to come down from the cross or rebuild the tabernacle. Furthermore, John 2:21 tells us Jesus was referring to His body when He talked about rebuilding the temple in three days. The people mocking Jesus failed to understand that by staying on the cross He was getting ready to rise from the dead, which was rebuilding the temple in three days. Proving His power over death was Jesus’ ultimate proof that He is God.
Mark 15:31 In the same way, mocking Him to one another, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.
Mark 15:32 Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
The priests and scribes claimed that if Jesus came down from the cross, they would see and believe. However, Jesus had already performed many miracles, but they still did not believe. Just because Jesus did not prove Himself using the signs they requested did not mean Jesus was not God.
Mark 15:33 ¶ And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.
The sixth hour was near the middle of the day. It should have been light. The fact that it got dark in the middle of the day should have alerted the skeptics that Jesus was not just a normal man.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Mark 15:35 And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Look, He is calling for Elijah.”
Mark 15:36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”
Mark 15:37 And Jesus, uttering a loud cry, breathed His last.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
The priests were the ones who stood at the cross and claimed they would believe if Jesus came down from the cross. The priests were also the ones who would have known first that the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The priests would have known the tearing of the veil was not done by human hands. The disbelief of the priests was not due to lack of evidence. Rather, the priests did not want to believe.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
The centurion observed everything and correctly came to the conclusion that Jesus was the Son of God.
Mark 15:40 ¶ And there were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome,
Mark 15:41 who, when He was in Galilee, were following Him and serving Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
Mark 15:42 ¶ And when evening had already come, because it was Preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent Council member, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
Notice the phrase “gathered up courage”. Joseph was not certain he would not be punished for asking for the body or revealing that he was waiting for the kingdom.
Mark 15:44 And Pilate wondered if He had died by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He already died.
Mark 15:45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
Mark 15:46 And when Joseph had bought a linen cloth and took Him down, he wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
Jesus commanded Christians to make disciples of all the nations. This involves telling people that Jesus performed miracles and rose from the dead. Many non-Christians ask Christians to prove our claims about Jesus. That is a reasonable request.
We should explain why we believe; however, the scribes and priests saw the miracles of Jesus. They saw that the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, but they still did not believe. Instead, they focused on what Jesus did not do.
When we engage with people who demand that God prove Himself by their criteria, we must not get sucked into thinking we have not provided sufficient evidence that Jesus is God. Instead, we need to understand that some people will simply refuse to believe in Jesus because they don’t want to believe.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”
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