November 5, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 15:21-28
Good morning and the LORD'S richest blessing be with you today and always.
Thank you for all of your prayers over the past months of our online Bible studies, but more than that I thank God for your partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today the Gospel of Mark shares with us in his inimitable style, a precise description of what each criminal was facing in terms of how their individual cross was to be moved to the site of their crucifixion. It even included the Roman soldiers grabbing by-standers to aid a particular criminal in getting the cross hauled to the place of their death. I started right away today to address the passage, because I have been thinking about how often we really appreciate the faceted glass in our worship space, or on the Sunday's when we arrive are we too busy for any time for contemplation about the symbols which the artist included in the windows? I know, their colors alone enhance our worship time, drawing us into giving praise to God, and to the Son. Paraments on the altar are also meant to draw us into the color and symbols of our Christian faith and our worship journey. There is one more too. The Stations of the cross are meant to be a way to reflect every time we come to church, on the sacrifice, the burden of not only the cross Christ was carrying, but also the burden of the sin of God's children, a weighty burden of unimaginable mass which our Savior carried for all of us. I implore you to take the time when you come to worship to offer your prayers of confession and amazement at the immeasurable love of God for each one of us as you contemplate the altar, the cross, the windows, and the stations of the cross.
As I said above, Mark, in almost all things, meets the criteria for being the first of the Gospels to be written, perhaps as early as 50 through 70 in the Common Era. It is the shortest and most precise of all the Gospels. We see it on the face of things, that Mark seems to be the source for Matthew's Gospel, and then both are sources for Luke and John as each of the other Gospels adds to Mark's text, their own special emphasis and knowledge. Jesus, beaten, and weakened by the sleep deprivation of His time with the Roman cohort. The visual picture of what Christ endures during His bearing of His cross. Simon of Cyrene was the first to be drawn in to help Jesus in the bearing of His cross. If we turn to The Acts of the Apostle's 13:1 there is a list of the men of Antioch which included a Simeon, which is another way of referring to Simon, and also the fact that Simeon's other name was Niger, which indicates that he was dark skinned. Simon was from Cyrene, which is in Africa, which should show to us that he was likely dark skinned. This particular way of searching for the identity of the man who would aid Christ, is really all that we have. Maybe it is enough, but for you, there needs to be something more concrete, but this is what scholars are left with, it is what we have. Interestingly enough this may all be a sign that Simon's life was transformed by helping Christ as He came to Golgotha. Were there words shared, or was it just the power of Christ's presence with him? I think today how the power of Christ transforms lives today, and are those transformations any less powerful in our times than in Jesus' time? So maybe Simon begins to travel in Christian circles and ends up being one of the saints who helps Paul and Barnabas to get on their way to spread of Gospel.
This reading finds us wanting more than Mark gives us. Thankfully, we have the other Gospels to use as added resources. However, Mark shares with us the vivid picture of Christ being offered a drugging combination to alleviate the pain of His crucifixion. But He was having none of it. At this point, Christ is only looking forward to being present with His Father once more. It is not uncommon for a dying person to refuse drinks and food. It is the body's way of moving on to death. Forcing water and/or food only causes the individual more pain. I know, it's' tough for us to understand, and we often press forward to try to get our loved one to take some hydration or food because we want them not to leave, and to show signs of normalcy. In our reading for today, we are like Christ's disciples. We want this story to end differently, but without this story, our sins would not have been forgiven once and for all. Jesus is crucified between two criminals, ending his life in the same place for which He came, to bear the sins of us all, that we might be ready for life with God for ever, being found not guilty for our sin, so that we will be received into Christ's heavenly Kingdom.
I will be back on Thursday as we work in the OT Book of Esther.
With love in Christ, Pastor Kim
Comments