Sermon Tone Analysis

07-04-01.02

vv                              07-04-06.02

*Title:           *“Now it was the third hour…”

*FCF:            *missing the depth of Jesus’ suffering

*D-Theme:   *there is suffering in every step—word—act

*M-Thrust:   *bow before his provocative innocence

*App:*           Since our Savior had to suffer we must bow before his provocative innocence

*Comment:  *most said afterwards that it was a good sermon—but the crowd was small…!

*Subject:     *Christ’s crucifixion

*Date:          *0F99EB2568DF4DC19536715CF9727B79

*Text:           *Mark 15:22-33                          *CTW:* Isaiah 53:1-7

 

22And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

23Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take /it./ 24And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.

25Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

26And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.

28So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “/And He was numbered with the transgressors.”/

29And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! /You/ who destroy the temple and build /it/ in three days, 30save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.

32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe.”

Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

33Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

• Introduction

•   This service began @ the 6th hour… noon by our reckoning…

•   …and Jesus had already been on the cross…

•   …for a full three hours…

•   …hanging naked and ashamed for the entire world to see…

•   …numbered with common criminals…

•   …condemned to die…

•   His ordeal began the night before…

•   …as he knelt in the garden…

•   …as the mob came to arrest him…

•   …as he was before the high priest…

•   …as all manner of false charges were brought against him…

•   …as he was dragged before Pilate and Herod…

•   …as he was mocked by the soldiers…

•   …as he was beaten, spit upon, had his hair torn out…

•   If we don’t even consider the time before the crucifixion…

•   …but only the time spent on the cross…

•   How much of the prophecy from Isaiah 53 is fulfilled…

•   …by Jesus on that cross…?

•   Did he bear our griefs…?

•   Was he acquainted with grief…?

•   Was he afflicted…?

•   Was he bruised…?

•   Was he chastised…?

•   …despised—rejected—oppressed—smitten—stricken…?

•   It may seem easy to answer the question in the affirmative…

•   But how was it that he was oppressed and afflicted…?

•   How was he despised and rejected…?

•   How was he smitten and stricken…?

•   Sometimes we are too quick to move to the empty tomb…

•   To get past the agony of Friday to the glory of Sunday…

•   …missing the depth of Jesus’ suffering on the cross…

•   When there is suffering in every step—word—act…

•   How did he suffer…?

Let’s look first at…

• The Soldier’s…

•   Passive Indifference......................................... v. 22-25

•   Did you notice the matter-of-fact manner the text takes…

•   …to the work of the soldiers as they do their job…

•   …they brought him to the place of execution…

•   …they offer him a sedative for the pain that is coming…

•   …they gamble for the garments he will no longer need…

•   …/and they crucified him/…

•   …missing the depth of Jesus’ suffering…

•   Their attitude was “Who cares…?

We just have a job to do…”

•   Indifferent to his passion—indifferent to his claims…

•   Uninvolved with the goings on…

•   Unmoved by his agony…

•   Should we expect anything different…?

•   …other than the professional detachment of a soldier…?

•   …that of the one who had crucified many before…?

•   …had the heart grown so cold that they didn’t care…?

•   Was Jesus despised—rejected—oppressed…

•   By the soldiers passive indifference…?

•   How did he suffer…?

Let’s look next at…

• The Governor’s…

•   Pensive Impotence................................................. v. 26

•  26And the inscription was written: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

•   And John’s gospel tells us that it was Pilate who…

•  …wrote a title and put it on the cross…

•   When the Chief Priest objected to that accusation…

John 19:22

22Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

•   And so, in one moment he seems to be a strong leader…

•   …determined to do what he wants to do…

•   …determined to do what is the right thing to do…

•   But in the next he accommodates the people…

•   Releasing Barabbas to them… the guilty for the innocent…

•   Even though he had sought to release Jesus…

•   Knowing that the crowd envied Jesus…

•   Even though John’s gospel tells us his wife said to him…

•   Have nothing to do with this righteous man…

•   Even though you sense from reading the gospel accounts…

•   That he wanted to release him…

•   Even though he had the power of life and death over Jesus…

•   He stood powerless in his presence to do anything other…

•   …than condemn him to death and satisfy the crowds…

•   …parading Jesus in front of them to hear them say…