Phil. 2:5-11, The Fullness of Humility

As we continue through Mark’s account of the cross of Christ we come to an event that was recorded by all four of the Gospel writers: the dividing of His garments.  Does that surprise you that by the Holy Spirit they all were led to include this story?  I was and wondered about it: what point do we gain from this story?  I remember as a child that a teacher said it was special for Jesus to have a robe of one piece of cloth, so that the soldiers didn’t want to tear it in pieces but gambled for it.  That has a ring of truth, and I can imagine that among the women, some of them wealthy, who followed Jesus throughout His ministry, might have given it to Him.  Most of that is not important since it involves the imagination and not Scripture.

When I read Psalm 22:16-18, where it is part of the prophecy of the crucifixion, and thus adds greater importance to the event, it seems to be that it is in a context that emphasizes the humility of Christ.  Dogs have surrounded Me … they pierced My hands and My feet … they look and stare at Me … they divide My garments.  To me it has a little bit of a circus show.  People staring at the gruesome sight, jeering, while soldiers are playing a game.  All at the feet of the Son of God. 

Let me remind you of the seven steps in Jesus’ humiliation from Phil. 2.

Being in the form of God … He emptied Himself … Taking the form of a bondservant … Being found in the likeness of men … He humbled Himself … To death … Even death on the cross.

It is what Rome always intended for crucifixion: pain but shame!  “Fun and games” while the Savior suffers for sin!  All this is part of “death on the cross.”  As Isaiah prophesied: He was despised, and we did not esteem Him (Isa. 53:3).

·       15:25: Here is a reminder of the timeline, given in Scripture.  Crucified the third hour (9AM).  Both the Jews whose Sanhedrin met at sun-up, and the Romans who received the Prisoner shortly thereafter, things moved quickly.  There were no seemingly interminable legal moves like we have in our courts.  From noon to 3PM there was darkness (15:33, 6^th to 9^th hour), after which He entrusted Himself to His Father in death.  By 6ish the Body was in the tomb.

·       15:27: He was crucified with two “robbers,” also called “malefactors” or “evil doers” in Lk. 23:33.  I have heard a senseless theory that there were five crucified.  As I say, senseless.  Robbers are evil doers.

·       15:29-32: The blasphemy, head-wagging and mockery are a big deal, prophesied and anticipated in Psa. 22:6-7; 69:5-12; 109:21-25.  Remember: there is respectful disagreement with people of every religion, but not with Christ or His followers.  Quit acting surprised.  If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. … If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (Jn. 15:18-20).

Heb. 4:14-5:11, The Fullness of Suffering (2)

Jesus paid the full price for a vicarious atonement, being fully counted as a sinner.  But in addition, here are two passages from Hebrews that tell us why He experienced the fullness of suffering.

·       Heb. 4:14-16: We love this passage because the Father invites us, no, entreats us to come into His presence in our time of need.  But what makes it so wonderful is that when we get arrive in His presence we find our “High Priest to the uttermost.”  Jesus was tested (that is the sense of the word “tempted”) in every way as we are.  Look in the following verses, 5:1-2, how the High Priest was chosen from among those He represented before God.  Since He has this connection eHHe can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.  His compassion comes from His identification with their weakness, not from the fact that He has gone astray.  Jesus never sinned.  But He was tempted to sin, meaning that He was tempted to the max because He did not yield to the sin.  But He could feel every bit of the temptation.  Thus, on the cross, He opted for the fullness of temptation.  He was there for the entire world.  No one can say “He doesn’t understand what I’m going through” because He has not forgone any of the test. 

·       Heb. 5:5-11: Furthermore, He is our “Savior to the uttermost.”  One of the many things that was “finished” on the cross was the “perfecting” of our Savior.  Let us remember the definition of perfecting.

The fundamental idea in this word is the bringing of a person or thing to the goal fixed by God. The word speaks here of Messiah having reached the end which was contemplated in His divinely appointed discipline for the priesthood. This consummation was reached in His substitutionary death on the Cross. (Kenneth Wuest)

“Perfecting” is not talking about sinlessness, though Jesus was sinless.  Rather it is about finishing the race, coming to the end successfully.  Heb. 12:1-2 fits here perfectly.  We are called to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  In other words, we need to come to completion.  And what is our goal?  Christlikeness!  We were predestined for this (Rom. 8:29-30).  When God chose us to be “holy and blameless” His plan was that this would come about through our adoption as sons (Eph. 1:3-6).  Heb. 12:2 tells us about Jesus’ perfecting: He endured the cross.  Therefore, in Heb. 5:8, we learn that He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.  As Wuest pointed out, this was finished on the cross.  Having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.  Do you wonder if “all” includes you?  Yes, it does, if you have exercised the obedience to the faith (Rom. 1:5).  You know because Jesus did not shun the suffering on the cross.

Psalm 98

Here is yet another Psalm of Victory in the “90’s” that exalts YAHWEH with new, joyful and loud songs of praise.  It’s likeness to other nearby Psalms is emphasized by the almost exact duplication of Psalm 96:11-13 in 98:7-9.  It is not that the Psalmist is short of ideas; it is that he has in mind the same exaltation of the Messiah when He comes to judge the world.

Consider this Psalm and its message in three contexts: past, present and future.

v  The impetus for this exaltation likely came from one of Israel’s victories, a victory when God especially showed Himself to be Israel’s Savior.  A prime candidate would be the victory over Israel’s eastern neighbors Ammon, Moab and Edom in the days of King Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20).  After God’s marvelous deliverance, in answer to the King’s great prayer, the people blessed God in the Valley of Berachah (Blessing) before returning to Jerusalem with great fanfare of instruments, harps, trumpets and so forth (2 Chron. 20:26-30).  The result for the nations was that they feared God when they saw how He delivered Israel.

v  The Church feels the same call to praise today for the same reason.  Through the victory of Christ in the cross and resurrection (Col. 2:13-15), the “Church on Earth” is assured to become the “Church Triumphant” (Heb. 12:22-24).  We shall be raised victoriously for death is swallowed up in victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and for this reason we are called to give thanks to God (1 Cor. 15:50-58).  The King is in waiting but the victory is already won!  This is reality for God’s people today.  To Him (the One who does exceedingly, abundantly above all we ask or think) be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever (Eph. 3:21).  For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever (Rom. 11:36).  And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.  To Him be glory forever and ever (2 Tim. 4:18).  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Pt. 1:3). 

v  The day will come when the King will no longer be in waiting.  He will leave the right hand of the Father and will ride victoriously out of heaven, with His hosts behind Him, and will come to claim His throne, the throne of Zion.  There is no more glorious and hopeful picture than that which is described in Revelation 19:11-21.  Everything about His revelation speaks of victory.  And His first action upon arrival at the Mount of Olives is to subdue His enemies, all His enemies, including the most formidable: Satan, the Antichrist and his false prophet!  All of mankind, yes, all creation are called to give this praise for He is coming to judge the earth … the world … the peoples with equity.

Phil. 3:8-16, The Fullness of Suffering (1)

What about “the fullness of suffering?”  Jesus refused the “wine mixed with myrrh” that would have reduced the pain.  The first thing we should consider is what Paul said in Col. 1:24: I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.  The Catholic Church has taken this as the basis for many heresies in my view.  It is particularly the reason for the constant re-enactment of Jesus’ death in the “mass.”  We are always needing to “make up for our sins” by repeatedly crucifying Christ “under the bread and the wine.” 

Certainly, you cannot take Paul’s words to mean that Christ’s suffering on the cross were incomplete.  Paul is speaking of his sufferings (“my sufferings;” “my flesh”).  Paul has in mind the fact that he is a follower of Christ and thus bears his own cross.  Every follower of Christ feels this (Mk. 8:34).  In Mt. 16, when Jesus called His disciples to take up the cross, He had also announced that He was building His Church.  When we obey the command to “make disciples” (Mt. 28:19-20), we, like Paul, are serving through our sufferings for the sake of the church, those who will come to Christ.  Paul’s longing in Phil. 3:10 is the same: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.  On the cross Jesus embraced everything having to do with death; that was His ministry.  That is not our ministry.  We have already, once and for all, been crucified with Him and raised to eternal life.  But now we carry our cross, and as He leads us, we are being “conformed to His death,” not completing or adding to His death.  As Jesus said, the work is FINISHED!

So now we ask, why did Jesus need to know the fullness of suffering?

·       Mk. 15:28: So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.  The term “numbered” is an important and familiar doctrinal term in the NT.  It means to “consider” or to think in a certain way.  In Rom. 4:3-5 it is used of Abraham believing God and it was “counted” to him as righteousness.  In Rom. 6:11 we are told to “reckon” ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God.  In 2 Cor. 5 it is translated “impute.”  Abraham was not considered partially righteous.  We do not halfway consider ourselves dead and alive in Christ.  Sin is not partially imputed.  So we must recognize, that when Jesus was counted or reckoned as a sinner, this was total.  He truly and fully became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).  He was not just an observer of our sins; He bore them in His body on the tree (1 Pt. 2:24). 

·       Isa. 53:6: The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  The doctrine of vicarious atonement figures into this as well.  Again, as Isaac did not have to die for sin because there was a substitute, so our substitute has provided full atonement.  Remember the Barabbas illustration in Mark 15: Barabbas was totally free and Jesus paid in full.  (More on this in the next post.)

Mark 15:21-32, The Passion of Christ (4)

We have spent a long time at the cross of Christ, which, of course, is a good thing.  The cross and the empty tomb should be part of daily meditation.  And we are still at the cross as we return to our verse-by-verse study through Mark’s Gospel.  We are under the same title, “The Passion of Christ,” picking up where we left off just over a week ago.  (There might be some duplication.)

·       15:22: “Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.”  Golgotha is from the Hebrew/Aramaic term; Skull is from the Greek.  The Greek term was became “Calvary” in Latin.  Why did this location have this name?  1) Possibly it was littered with skulls from previous executions, an explanation with very little evidence.  2) Possibly it looked like a skull, a thought that captured Gen. Charles Gordon who popularized the site in the 1800’s.  3) Possibly because Adam’s skull was at the base of the cross, which is the Catholic tradition behind the location inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  4) Possibly because Goliath’s skull was in the area, having been brought to Jerusalem by David (1 Sam. 17:54).  As you should know by now, I favor the sight that Gen. Gordon identified, not because it looks like a skull although that is possible, but because it fits Gen. 22:14, that salvation would be provided in “the land of Moriah;” and because it aligns with Leviticus where all the sin offerings involving a lamb were to be killed on the north side of the altar (cf. Lev. 1:11, etc.); and because it is outside the city (Heb. 13:12); and because it was by a busy road where many could see (Jn. 19:20).  The exact location is not important, but the truth of God’s word IS important.

·       15:20-22: “led … brought.”  There is an interesting possibility here.  They “led” Him out to Golgotha, but He was unable to bear His cross so they enlisted Simon to help.  Then it says they “brought” Him to the place.  “Led” means to be “led.”  “Brought” is a Greek term that clearly means to “carry.”  It is possible He was so weakened by all that had already taken place that He had to be carried.  In God’s plan, Jesus would not die somewhere short of the cross.  He must be lifted up.

·       15:23: “wine mingled with myrrh.”  We have already noted that the point here is that Jesus was not interested in this anesthetic that would reduce His pain.  This took place when Jesus was first on the cross; it was the only hint of Roman mercy for those being crucified.  You will remember that later, Jesus said “I thirst.”  In terms of the “seven sayings of Christ” from the cross, He only said “I thirst” after the darkness, after “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me,” and shortly before He would pronounce, “It is finished” and then “into Thy hands I commit My spirit.”  We refer to this as “the fullness of suffering.”  Why did Jesus want to endure all the suffering?  This sounds like someone with a “martyr’s complex.”  It is not, of course.  Let’s continue this in our next post.

Mk. 8:34; Lk. 9:57-62, The Privilege of the Cross

Mark 8 is “pivotal” in the literal sense.  There is a pivot in Jesus’ training of the twelve.  The pivot first comes in Jesus’ life when He tells them that He is heading to Jerusalem where He will suffer at the hands of men and then be raised from the dead.  The pivot in the twelve is that following Him so as to be made “fishers of men” has now come to, “if you want to follow Me as I go to Jerusalem and the cross, you must deny yourself and take up your own cross, and continue in My footsteps.”

Dr. Luke had this pivot in mind giving us the same message in Lk. 9:23-26.  Then, in v51, Luke says He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.  The pivot was first in the heart, but not only in the heart; it became evident in the trip planning!  All who would follow Christ were/are privileged to bear the name of the Messiah.  But what privileges or benefits accrue to those who follow Christ?  Here are a few!

·       Lk. 9:57-58: discomfort and inconvenience.  “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”  Material blessings are not guaranteed.

·       Lk. 9:59-60: a strong sense of urgency.  “Let the dead bury their own dead but you go preach the kingdom of God.”  Someone else will set your daily schedule.

·       Lk. 9:61-62: commitment.  “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

Before we move on, note that all three of these things you can see in Jesus’ life and ministry.  If you follow Him you must “follow Him.”

·       Mt. 8:23: storms.  The disciples “followed Him” into the boat, and suddenly they were covered with waves.

·       Mk. 6:1: opposition.  They follow Him to His own country where the local synagogue rejected Him.

·       Lk. 22:39: temptation.  They followed to Gethsemane and encountered temptation.

These are real “privileges,” in that you only get them by following Christ.  But let us note some other benefits promised to those who follow Him.

·       Mt. 19:27-30: rewards, now and later.  Peter asked and Jesus answered: all who have left all to follow Me shall receive and inherit bountifully.

·       Mt. 28:20b: the presence of Christ.  As we make disciples as He did, He promises to be with us in power for that ministry.  What a blessing!

·       Rev. 19:14: In this passage, the moment of Jesus’ return to earth, those who have followed Him are still following Him.  That’s pretty amazing to think about.

I am reminded of the words of Jim Elliot: “He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  And then there are the words of Paul: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.  (2 Tim. 4:7-8)

Luke 23:35-49, At the Cross (B)

 (The conclusion of meditations on those who were "at the cross" when Jesus died.  What did they think? or say?)

·       v47: The centurion glorified God.  He had seen the entire event.  He had seen Jesus’ attitude and heard His words.  Father, forgive them.  Today you will be with Me in Paradise.  Into Your hands I commit My spirit.  He had experienced the three hours of darkness in the middle of the afternoon.  And he watched as Jesus breathed His last.  In a Pastoral role, and as a father, I have seen people breath their last, as did this centurion.  No matter how you approach it, or try to make it “normal,” it is a profound event, a deeply emotional moment.  The man put his faith in Christ.  Certainly, this was a righteous man.  Those words and that heart glorified God!

·       v48: The remaining crowd beat their breasts.  They mourned.  The crowd knew of Jesus.  They knew of His message, His claims, His miraculous signs.  Perhaps they stayed because they were sure He would “come down from the cross.”  But He didn’t come down.  He stayed on the cross, shedding His blood for the sins of all who were gathered there that day, and all who ever lived and would ever live, and you and me.  But the crowd did not understand this.  For them, whatever hope Christ was to them, He died and they lost all hope.  They mourned, and then the next day would get up and trudge on.  They would leave behind the death of the One who claimed to be the Son of God!

·       v49: His acquaintances stood at a distance.  They were filled with confusion.  They had seen His greatness in the miracles and teaching.  But they had not understood His humility.  Nor could they make sense of He will rise again (Lk. 18:33).  That would come later.  For now, those who had followed Him from Galilee, and had been close to Him, stood at a distance.  Wondering.  What in the world has happened?  What do we do now?

All these people saw the same event.  But the thoughts varied.  Two believed in Jesus that day.  As for the rest, don’t think that many that day were not, as two men later put it, hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel (Lk. 24:21).  Honest men who think deeply know something is not right.  Their conscience tells them that.  They know, as one criminal put it, that they are under condemnation!  Death is always a reminder of this.  Which is why people need to come to the cross of Jesus.  They need to get close to death, His death.  They need to hear that this Man has done nothing wrong.  But through this Man’s death, sinners have been “redeemed.”  The price has been paid for sin.  (God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).  Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).  Through this Man’s death, you too, the day you die, can be with Him in Paradise.  You too can glorify God!  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.