Mark 15:21-32
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.
I think all believers would like to meet our Messiah...We are not told if Simon from Cyrene was a believer, but he got to meet Jesus...He was on his way, just passing by, and was forced to carry the cross of Jesus...Simon was a foreigner from Cyrene, Libya...What a meeting that would be, even under those most unusual circumstances...Simon from Cyrene got to meet Jesus on His way to His death...Everyone who meets Jesus sees something in Him...He somehow is different...Jesus always did God's will...God was the center of Jesus' life...Simon from Cyrene would have noticed that Jesus was different immediately...He would have felt the charisma, His Divinity,his power, and divinity from our LORD...After all, Simon was right beside our LORD...What a feeling he must have had, being so close to the LORD...
The Roman guards and officials taking Jesus to Golgotha offered Him wine and myrrh, but Jesus did not want the drink...The officials crucified Him...They divided up His clothes, and cast lots to see who would get His clothes...He was arrested at night and it would be morning when they nailed Him to the cross...The time was nine in the morning when they crucified Him...The notice on the charge against Him read KING OF THE JEWS...
There were two rebels with Jesus who were also on crosses beside Him...The people watching Jesus insulted Him...Jesus had told the people that He would destroy the temple, and re-build it in three days...Others mocked Him and said He saved others, but cannot save Himself...They said let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down from His cross, so that we may see and we may believe...They did not understand that He could have at anytime saved Himself...
Those opposing Jesus, even though they know He is somehow different, just couldn't believe in Him, didn't want to believe, and did not know who He was...Let us pray that we are not like His opposition...The miracle of the Sign of Jonah would happen in three days...When He was resurrected, that would be the Sign of Jonah..The temple analogy is His resurrection...We no longer have to worship our Father in the temple, but we are to worship Him through Jesus...In the next three days, after the resurrection, we would no longer have to worship our Father on the sacred mountain or in the temple (John 4:21)...Jesus would be resurrected in three days...
Jesus met His death on the cross...But He was not guilty...He is the Perfect Man...He is sinless...We are the ones who are guilty...We are the ones who have fallen from grace...We are the ones who rebelled against God...We are the ones who have dishonored our Father, it was not Jesus...Jesus died for us...We are the sinners...When we think about the cross, and His terrible crucifixion on the cross, we must think and remember, that is what my sins did...But Jesus gives us hope...He could at any time came down off the cross and not have suffered like He did...Jesus died for us on the cross...God sent Him to save sinners...Most people won't die and don't want to die for the best of men...But God would have His own Son die for us...How many people would have their son or child die for someone else, knowing that you know what God knows about us (that we are sinners and rebel against Him)...God sent Jesus to die for our sins...Jesus did God's will and died for us....Jesus was crucified for us...This shows God's love for us, Him sending His Son and having Him die for us...