Mark 15:21-41
The Crucifixion of Jesus
21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?”(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
John 16:33
Jesus Overcame Death
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 15:9-17
No Greater Love, than to Die for Friends
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
It is said that five to seven inch nails were driven into Jesus' wrists and feet...Then He was hung on the cross for several hours to die...This is suffering...There was much pain for Him...There would be much blood from being nailed to a cross and then being allowed to hang from it for several hours...A suffering, painful, graphic and deathly sight it would be...
One wonders, why would a Father allow this?...He is a Son...He is the Son of God...And this is hard to believe, yet life in itself has inherit suffering in it...I mention this, because just having a son or a daughter can cause pain...When a loving family brings a child into this world, they know in the end they are going to die...A loving parent does not give this much thought, but they know that a life begins with a birth and ends with a death...Suffering is a part of life...Life brings not only suffering, but death...Suffering which is a part of life we do not like, and we often avoid or try to avoid as much suffering as possible, but we know in the end that death will be there haunting us...God knew this, when He sent Jesus to us through Mary...And though God is God, and could have saved His Only Son, He did not...God let Him suffer and die on the cross...So God is not immune to suffering and the pains of this world (and He could have been, because He is God)...God did not exempt Himself from pain and suffering...And so we can relate to the cross when our family and to our children in this respect, when suffering does happen to us...We can very much relate to the cross in life's different sufferings...Because when a loved one does pass and leave us, we know that God suffered and lost a Son through death...Who happened to die on a cross...
So when Jesus died on the cross, believers in Him can look at life a little bit different...Happiness is a part of life, but so are the tears of suffering...Love in life and a life in love shows us that we will suffer...Who does not suffer, when they lose someone they love?...
When we look at why Jesus came, the simple answer is LOVE...One of Jesus' last command maybe was telling us to Love one another...God LOVES us and the world...Yet, He continues to allow us to have free will and do what we wish to do...So with birth comes both life and great hope...Jesus birth, is when hope was born...And I believe that in death rebirth is born, and hope raises its divine head again...Hope in the resurrection, because Jesus overcame life, suffering, and death...We know by His Words that, "In this world you will have trouble...In this world we will have trouble...But take heart!...I have overcome the world."...Jesus' death on the cross, in some unusual way, brings us to peace...Jesus did not die for Himself, but He died for us...He said He died for friends...There is no greater LOVE...He died for our sins...Somehow and in someway suffering brings us hope...Jesus brings us hope...Hope in birth, so hope in life...Hope in death, so hope reborn...Hope in eternal life, so hope resurrected...