Mark 15:33-47
The Crucifixion of Jesus
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.
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.
Isaiah 55:8-9
God's Thoughts are Not our Thoughts
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The symbol of the Cross of Jesus is the symbol for followers of Christ...It is a graphic symbol, and it is a symbol of pain and suffering...If I were choosing a symbol, I might have chose differently...It is not in my nature to want to view graphic and suffering scenes, but that is our symbol that we have...When I think about how Jesus was first tortured before they nailed Him to the cross, and then how He suffered and died on the cross makes me uncomfortable...
If God would chooses to be hidden or remain hidden He could, with His complete knowledge of creation, He certainly could do that...But we know He sent us His Son years ago to earth, so He does come to us and does allow us to see some of His ways in glimpses and slices...Dietrich Bonhoeffer brought up a good point, in seeking God and where God is to be found...If how we seek God and where we personally think we might find Him is one thing and is in our way of thinking...Or does God seek us, and does He determine where He is to be found?...Where I might choose to find Him, would be completely different place than He might choose...I would choose to look in comfortable places, and a pleasing place...I might choose these places because it is in my nature where I would want to find Him, while He would choose someplace in His nature for me to look...And yes, I think Bonhoeffer is probably right, they are two different places...
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: "If it is I who determine where God is to be found, then I shall always find a God who corresponds to me in some way, who is obliging, who is connected with my own nature...But if God determines where He is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me...This place is the Cross of Christ...And whoever would find Him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands...This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it...But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New Testament but also in the Old Testament."...