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28 And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors, i 29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it In three days, 30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross. 31 Likewise also the chief priests mock ing said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself .he cannot save, 32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. 33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried uh voice, saying, Eloi, Slot;' lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, me? G° d’ my G0d’ Why hast thou forsaken ■ 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth-Elias. ° j e ran. an<* fhled a sponge full; of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him wh.thLnkt i Say n?.’ Let alonei let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. ’ i~3!..,/)nd. the v,eil of the temple was rent In twain from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God. LESSON T E X T : Mk. 15:22-39. . OOLDEN T E X T : “ But he was wounded Tor our transgressions, he was bruised for our Iniquities: the chastisement of our peace W8s upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). DEVOTIONAL READING: Isa. 53:4-12. Outline and Exposition I. T he P r o p h e c y F u l f il l e d (22-28) I N THESE few verses, at least six prophecies find their fulfillment. Moreover, the historical accuracy of the accounts of the crucifixion has never been successfully challenged. The accounts of the crucifixion con tained in the other Gospels should be carefully compared with one another. By so doing, the student w ill find in creasing assurance, not only of the truth of the Word, but also of the power of the death of Christ and the fullness of redemption wrought by Him.
B LACKBOARD LESSON
of stone when they should have, known He spoke of thè temple Of His body (cf. John 2:18-22). The chief priests also, together with thé scribes, revealed their hardness of heart, and indifference to humah agony by jeering at the sufferings of Jesus. He had given them signs in every . realm — physical, demoniacal, and even in the realm of death itself, but they cried for further evidence. ■The seeking of signs, then and now, is a mark of disobedience to God. III. T h e D e a t h A c c om plish ed (33-39) After long hours of jeering and mocking from the people, there came a three-hour period of darknèss over all the land. There is no way in which any human being can fathom that darkness. Jesus Christ alone could know the bitterness of those dark hours. We may well believe that many of the anguished cries heard through out the Psalms and othér portions of the Old Testament found thèir fui- • fillment at the cross. With a final word, as He found it in Scripture, He “ cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost” (v. 37). There was no coma, jnercifully dead ening the physical suffering, and no man took His life from Him. His life was “laid down" of His own free will. His life was under His control to the final moment, and that control en abled Him to yield His life as the ac ceptable sacrifice for sins and satis factory substitute for sinners. God immediately testified to the efficacy and sufficiency of the death of Christ. He testified by rending th e . templp veil “from the top to the bot tom” (v. 38), signifying that the way into His presence was now wide open for all who would enter by simple faith in this crucified Jesus. Man added, his testimony to the worth of JeSus when the centurion, beholding how Jesus died, cried,
The difference of wording in the ac cusation which was placed over the cross is easily understood. When the four accounts recorded in the Gospels are compared, it will be seen that no one of the evangelists reports the full superscription, but each tells what part of it has special application to the purpose of his narrative. The en tire wording of the superscription was: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” There are many important details in this passage: the giving to Christ of wine mingled with myrrh; His refusal of it; the parting of His garments among the soldiers; and the cruci fixion of the thieves with Him. But every jot and tittle of that which was written beforehand concerning His death saw its literal fulfillment during the dark hours at the cross. n. T h e W ick ed ness M an if e s t e d (29-32) Only a few days previous, to this time, the people had been miracu lously fed by the Lord Jesus; they had acclaimed Him as Messiah, and had been ready to make Him a king (cf. John 6:1-15). But now public opinion once again proved' its fickleness, and the natural wickedness of the human heart was revealed. The passing crowd scoffed at the sign He had given them at the beginning of His ministry, and persisted in taking His words literally, as though He referred to their .temple
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