Author: Bill Hall

Mark 15:40 “There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,”

   These women were there because they too were involved with the Lord in His ministry. They did not have the role twelve did and could not. But, they were important to Christ. And they were, for the most part, friends of His mother Mary. He was caring for her at this point as it seems Joseph was already dead. The fact that the women were there is a great testimony to their significance in the church. We need everyone, male and female.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the great group of people we get to work with. It is wonderful to be a part of the body of Christ. You are wise and gracious. Your blessings are better than we could ask for. You are worthy of the praise! Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Mark 15:39 “So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

   On what does this centurion base his statement? What caused him to make it? Why would a man of the world say this? Well, several things need to be kept in mind here. First, many of the common folk who rubbed shoulders with Christ were impressed with Him. It was the elites and leaders that tended to have a hard time accepting His exceptional nature. This centurion was among the commoners. Secondly, many in that day were very superstitious. Now, I am not trying to make the centurion’s words simply the remarks of ignorant superstition. But, superstitious persons will often start out on the path to faith with their superstition dragging along behind them. In other words, though I believe this man did indeed move on to true faith, it was likely his superstition that pushed him towards this particular outburst. As his mind thought on thew truth of what he had said, and as he witnessed other special circumstances of the death of Christ first hand, his faith grew beyond the ignorance of superstition. Finally, I am sure many present that day were thinking much the same. The circumstances of the crucifixion were quite compelling. They were impressed by the One on the middle cross.

Heavenly Father, we tend to think only of our own future and greatness. We want ourselves to be the most important thing in our lives. We keep people dear to us only because they are dear to us. But, You have given us a different way. We are to live all because of Him. That third cross is to be our whole focus. Our importance and all that we know should be measured by Him Who hanged there. He is the theme, the song, the cause of our lives. He is of the utmost importance. He is Your Son, He is our connection to eternity. He is our Future and Hope. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Mark 15:38 “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”

   This begins an age of great mercy and grace, the age we are now in. The Spirit of God is no longer limited to the Holy Place. He no longer comes and goes from the hearts of only a select few. Now He is available. He is loose. He inhabits the hearts of a vast multitude of every tongue and people, and nation. He energizes that great worldwide organism, the Church of the Living Christ.
   And, the power of the Spirit, His influence in this world, grows all the time as we reach the time of the end. The Church marches on and on. And it cannot be stopped. The enemy is powerless to prevent it. This is why Christ Jesus is so hated. This world’s program is on hold, waiting till the God from behind the veil gets through choosing out a people for His Name. But, the time of the end will come. And there will be another change. And God will work to close men’s minds rather than open them. And the lie of the evil man will be believed. Even then, God will have those who are His.

Heavenly Father, thank You for helping us understand the supernatural. This world goes on its way acting as if all has continued the same from the beginning. But, it has not. Change occurs in Your world. And they act as if You have changed, but You have not. You do not change as Your world does. Man thinks God must change to be better. God knows man must change, for man is wicked. Being changeless is not to be lifeless. It is to remain true to the Nature that is always there. You alone are wise, oh Lord! You have taken us in our own net, and we find ourselves in awe. Can we stop singing to You? I love You Lord! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Mark 15:37 “And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.”

  We are tempted to take issue with the translation here. This is not the last breath of Christ. The gospel record makes that quite plain. But, the translation I can assure you is quite accurate.
  But why? Why would Mark make it sound so final? Because it was final. Mark couldn’t make it anything but what it was. Jesus died, period. He didn’t swoon, go into a weird coma, fake death, or anything of the kind. He actually died. It was final.
   So then how can we move forward from there? Isn’t that the end of the story? No, because finality doesn’t stop Almighty God. That was it, but it wasn’t. As Revelations tells us He was alive, and He was dead, and He is alive forever. It’s not doubletalk, it is just plain fact. Praise God!

Heavenly Father, thank You for Christ. His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension, all are a great blessing to us. We can never praise You enough! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Been sick, no post today.

Mark 15:36 “Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

  Would we believe the gospel accounts more of they were identical? No. They would be less authentic. So, we see the order of things a bit different in the accounts only because each leaves different things out. Mark here leaves out the fact that Jesus had said ‘I thirst’ and that this is why the person took the sour wine to Him. This person then makes the statement recorded here in Mark.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your great loving kindness, and for Your truth. You have done wonderous works. I will proclaim Your great goodness for all of my days. You alone are worthy, and You have given me an eternal song to sing for You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

I will be taking a vacation from posting this week. I hope to resume next Monday.

Mark 15:35 “Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!”

   They misunderstood what Jesus said. In His condition, that’s not very surprising. He would have been difficult to understand. They thought He was calling Elijah to help Him.
   We must keep in mind that the religious elite among the Jews thought Jesus was possessed by the devil. They likely thought He wanted to speak to Elijah in much the same way as Saul spoke to Samuel. And, they expected the message to be the same. Jesus had already met with Elijah, but through the power of God, and not the devil. And Elijah had discussed with Christ His plans concerning the crucifixion.

Heavenly Father, thank You for planning all of this and telling us about it. We are amazed as we think of Your role in history. You have loved us with an everlasting love. You are worthy of our praise for ever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:34 “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

   We generally do not hear any incredulity in connection with this statement. But, it is quite difficult to understand. God will not look upon sin. All of the sins of all of mankind were there on the cross. Jesus took them upon himself. This was all in the plan.
   Then why would Jesus ask a question? Didn’t He understand what was going to happen? His other words on the cross show us that He understood it all very well. But the question was asked rhetorically. He did not receive nor expect an answer. It serves to show the depth of our sin. It was a exclamation in the form of a question. How much would be necessary to cause the Father to ‘forsake’ the Son? We don’t even completely understand what this means. What we do know is that it was something awful, and Jesus endured it for us.

Heavenly Father, we will praise You forever for the Son! Jesus is our Hope, our Joy, the love of our souls. Thank You for the cross! It isn’t pretty, but it is beautiful to us who were lost forever without it. All praise be to You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Mark 15:33 “Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

  This would be about three hours, from about noon to about three in the afternoon. We don’t know the exact extent of this darkness. It seems it covered at least the region of Judea. And, given the wording here, it was evidently not just due to a regular thunderstorm. There was something more ominous about it. It was clear to those in attendance that it was connected to the location of Christ on the cross.
   Many these days would, as the ancient Jews, see a sign. But, signs are not always what we might want. The Lord chooses what He will for signs. They are portents of His plan, not simply shows to impress. It is best to already believe in and know God before these signs come, so that we may know what they mean. Though we have the last book of the Bible, there will be many unprepared and surprised on that day. And, those many signs will not produce belief on the scale we might imagine.

Heavenly Father, You love us so much and have given us so much. May we never digress from Your Word! We will cherish the relationship we have with You. It is so good to have a God Who communicates to us not only through signs in the heavens. We praise You for Your plan is perfect! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.