விரிவுரை தற்போது ஆங்கிலத்தில் மட்டுமே கிடைக்கிறது. தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு நடைபெறுகிறது.
Mark 15 — Truly This Man Was the Son of God
Jesus is delivered to Pilate, who finds no fault. The crowd demands Barabbas; Pilate releases Barabbas and delivers Jesus to be crucified. The soldiers mock and crown Him with thorns. Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry the cross. They crucify Him at Golgotha between two thieves. Darkness falls from the sixth hour. Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani — He cries out and dies. The veil of the temple is rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The centurion at the foot of the cross: Truly this man was the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathaea lays Him in a tomb.
“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.”
— Mark 15:39
- v.1-15 Before Pilate; Barabbas released
- v.16-20 The mocking of the soldiers
- v.21-32 The crucifixion
- v.33-39 Darkness, the cry, the veil, the centurion
- v.40-47 The burial
The act stated in three words — they crucified him — without sensational elaboration. Mark refuses to make the crucifixion a spectacle. The horror is greater for the restraint.
Parted his garments... casting lots — the fulfillment of Psalm 22:18. He who clothes the world is stripped; the soldiers gamble for His coat. Even the small details were written long before.
The opening verse of Psalm 22, prayed by Christ on the cross. The Psalm ends in vindication and global worship; He prayed the whole Psalm even by uttering its first line.
The forsakenness is real and shocking. The Son who had always known unbroken communion with the Father bears the curse in His place. The cry is the price of our being able to say with confidence — I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5). He was forsaken so that we never would be.
The thick curtain dividing the holy place from the most holy was torn — from the top to the bottom, indicating God's hand, not man's. The barrier between God and man was opened by the death of Christ at the very moment it occurred.
The system of priests and sacrifices and approach-by-proxy is finished. The way into the holiest is open. The Christian comes directly through the torn flesh of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22), the new and living way.
The first confession of the Son of God by a non-Jew in Mark — and the title with which the Gospel opened (1:1). The Gentile soldier closes the inclusio. The confession the chief priests refused is given by the executioner.
The centurion had nothing to gain. He had run crucifixions before; he had not said this before. Something in the way Christ died forced the truth out. The cross convinces those whom polished argument cannot.
Read verse 34 slowly, and let the gravity settle. Christ was forsaken so that you would not be. That is the gospel in one sentence. When desolation rises in your heart and you wonder if God has left you, return here: He has not, because of this verse. The forsakenness Christ bore is the reason you cannot bear it. The next time the lonely fear comes, answer it with Hebrews 13:5 — and remember the cross that bought you that word.
Mark's whole Gospel converges here. The Son of God announced in 1:1 is confessed at the cross by a Roman centurion in 15:39. Between those two declarations the Lord of glory has been mocked, scourged, crucified, forsaken, killed, and buried. The veil is torn; the way is open; the gospel begins to spread. Every reader is now asked the centurion's question — to look at the One on the cross and say what he said.
A picture of the gospel concealed in injustice. The innocent is condemned; the guilty walks free. Barabbas — whose name means son of the father — leaves with his life because the Son of the Father takes the cross prepared for him.
Pilate willing to content the people — political calculation over righteousness. He knew Christ was innocent (vv.10, 14). The verdict was a managed compromise. The man-pleaser becomes the cross-administrator.