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?”).[b]
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,[c] 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,[d] 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.
Question 1
What do Jesus’ last words show us?
Question 2
Why do you think Mark draws our attention to Jesus’ cry in verse 34?
Perhaps by now you hope that Christ’s sufferings are almost finished. Since those hours he spent praying in the garden he has suffered so much. He has been spat on, mocked, whipped, dressed with a thorn crown, nailed to a piece of wood and hanged to die. As all this has happened the people around him have been laughing, swearing and shouting at him. But believe it or not, the worst is yet to come.
All his life Jesus had spoken of the special love that existed between him and his Father. But now, as he suffers, and his nearest disciples have run away, God himself is leaving him too. For the first time ever, Jesus doesn’t feel God’s blessed presence. Not only does God hide his face from him, but he punishes Jesus for the sins of the world. As he was killed, God was punishing Jesus for all the bad things we’ve done. Though he was absolutely perfect and did not deserve death, he sacrificed himself in order to deal with our sins.
Jesus’ work is brilliantly conveyed as we hear that the curtain of the temple has torn from head to bottom. The purpose of this thick, huge curtain was to hide the special place where God had promised to be present; to show that there is no access for people to come straight to God because of their sin. The only person allowed to enter was the high priest, once a year in order to sacrifice for the sins of the people. But now the curtain has been torn, from the top down. God himself has acted in order to open a way for us to come into his presence. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, sacrificing himself for his people. He endured the pain of hell himself, and was rejected by his Father, so that we could have a relationship with him.
Question 3
What do you think it meant for Jesus to be rejected by the Father?
Question 4
In what ways can we come into God’s presence?
Pray
thank Jesus Christ for being willing to suffer such a horrible death so that you could have life by believing in Him.
