And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:37-39).
O sorrow dread! God’s Son is dead! The Lord Jesus drinks the cup which His Father has given Him to the dregs. After enduring injustice, torture, and ridicule at the hands of both Pilate and the Jews, Jesus is crucified. Mark records that even those robbers executed with Him reviled Him, along with the crowd of on-lookers. Come down from the cross, King of Israel! Descend from the cross that we may see and believe! But Jesus would not come down before His job was finished. Indeed, neither would the chief priests and scribes have believed in Him if He did. They saw Jesus perform many miracles. They saw Him perform signs as a witness to His teachings which identified Him as the Christ. These men were the teachers of Israel. They searched the scriptures diligently, but did not realize, or would not admit, that they testified of Jesus.[1] They did not believe the words of Moses; they could not then believe in Jesus, even if he performed a miracle. Now, though they do not know it, they witness what is perhaps the greatest miracle of all. The sinless Son of God becomes sin, forsaken of His Father on the cross, to save sinful man, His enemy.[2] At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus cries out, and breathes His last.
Oh sorrow dread!
God’s Son is dead!
But by His expiation
Of our guilt upon the cross
Gained for us salvation.[3]
Mark does not record all the signs which accompanied Jesus’ death. Mark tells us about darkness, and the tearing of the veil of the temple. Three hours of supernatural darkness came over the whole land as Jesus hangs dying on the cross. Darkness is often related to judgment in scripture; here it is a sign of God’s judgment against sin.[4]
Oh sinful man!
It was the ban
Of death on thee that brought Him
Down to suffer for thy sins
And such woe hath wrought Him.[5]
The darkness covering the land was God’s judgment against sin; the tearing of the veil of the temple was God ending the old covenant. The veil of the temple was no mere curtain, like the ones hanging from rods in front of your living room windows. It was a big, thick barrier between God’s presence in the Most Holy Place and the people. It was around four inches thick, 60 feet long, and 30 feet wide. Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place once a year, and only with the blood of the sacrifice for the people’s sin. When the veil was torn, God proclaimed that the ministration of the Jewish high priest was at an end; the divine High Priest, Jesus, had now come and had entered in to the Most Holy Place of heaven itself with his own all-atoning blood.[6] Christ, through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God. He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.[7]
Lo, stained with blood,
The Lamb of God,
The Bridegroom lies before thee,
Pouring out His life that He
May to life restore thee. Amen![8]
[1] John 5:39-47
[2] 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:10
[3] Hymn 261, “O Darkest Woe”, The Lutheran Hymnal, stanza 2. Author: Johann Rist. Translated: Catherine Winkworth
[4] Wicke, Harold E. People's Bible Commentary: Mark. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2004.
[5] Hymn 261, “O Darkest Woe”, The Lutheran Hymnal, stanza 3. Author: Johann Rist. Translated: Catherine Winkworth
[6]Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961; Hebrews 6:19; 9:3-15; 10:19
[7] Hebrews 9:11-15
[8] Hymn 261, “O Darkest Woe”, The Lutheran Hymnal, stanza 4. Author: Johann Rist. Translated: Catherine Winkworth
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