1 Sunday, July 8, 2012 Mark Dispensatinally Cnsidered Mark 15:16-25: Father Frgive Them fr They Knw Nt What They D Mark 15:16-25 16) And the sldiers led him away int the hall, called Praetrium; and they call tgether the whle band. 17) And they clthed him with purple, and platted a crwn f thrns, and put it abut his [head], 18) And began t salute him, Hail, King f the Jews! 19) And they smte him n the head with a reed, and did spit upn him, and bwing [their] knees wrshipped him. 20) And when they had mcked him, they tk ff the purple frm him, and put his wn clthes n him, and led him ut t crucify him. 21) And they cmpel ne Simn a Cyrenian, wh passed by, cming ut f the cuntry, the father f Alexander and Rufus, t bear his crss. 22) And they bring him unt the place Glgtha, which is, being interpreted, The place f a skull. 23) And they gave him t drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received [it] nt. 24) And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lts upn them, what every man shuld take. 25) And it was the third hur, and they crucified him. Mark 15:15 last week we studied the trial f Jesus befre Pilate. Pilate was willing t let Jesus g because he culd find n fault in him. In the end, hwever, Pilate succumbed t the pressure f the peple, released Barabbas and turned Jesus ver be crucified. Mark 15:16 having received sanctin frm Pilate t execute Jesus, he is nw lead by Rman sldiers int what was called the Praetrium. Accrding t Strng s Cncrdance the wrd Praetrium carries the fllwing meanings: "head-quarters" in a Rman camp, the tent f the cmmander-in-chief the palace in which the gvernr r prcuratr f a prvince resided, t which use the Rmans were accustmed t apprpriate the palaces already existing, and frmerly dwelt in by kings r princes; at Jerusalem it was a magnificent palace which Herd the Great had built fr himself, and which the Rman prcuratrs seemed t have ccupied whenever they came frm Caesarea t Jerusalem t transact public business Matthew 27:27 cmmn hall cme frm the same Greek wrd. Ntice als that the entire band f sldiers was called tgether here. Pastr Bryan Rss
2 Mark 15:17-19 these verses recrd the mckery Jesus suffered at the hand f his Rman executiners. In these verses Jesus is given a crwn f thrnes, a reed fr a scepter and is spit upn befre he is falsely wrshiped and mcked. Matthew 27:28-30 Mark 15:20 after they had mcked him they put his wn clthes back n him and led him ut t crucify him. Matthew 27:31 Mark 15:21 accrding t this verses and its pertinent crss references, a man named Simn was plucked frm the crwed and cmpelled t carry Christ s crss thrugh the streets f Jerusalem. Matthew 27:32 Luke 23:26 Luke 23:27-32 Luke alne recrds this science and exchange between Jesus and the mrning wmen as they make their way thrugh the city t the place where Christ will be crucified. Jesus tells them nt t weep fr him but fr themselves and their children. Verse 29 there is ging t cme a day in Israel when it will be an advantage t have never given birth r nursed a baby (Matt. 24:19). Verse 30 during the tribulatin perid peple will plead with the muntains and hills t fall upn them t hide them frm the face f lamb (Hsea 10:8, Rev. 6:16-17). Verse 31 if they are willing t kill their Messiah as he stands befre hw much wrse will things be fr the children f Israel when he is nt. Verse 32 the tw thieves r malefactrs where als led thrugh the city with Christ t be put t death. Mark 15:22 this death march ends at Glgtha which is a Hebrew wrd meaning, the place f a skull. Matthew 27:33 Jhn 19:17-18 Luke 23:33 Jesus and the tw malefactrs were brught t Calvary where they were crucified with him. The wrd Calvary is the Latin equivalent f the Hebrew Glgtha, it means a skull, in Latin. Pastr Bryan Rss
3 Mark 15:23 Jesus is ffered wine mingled with myrrh t drink but refuses t d s. Charles F. Baker and Gerge William suggest in their cmmentaries that it was custmary t ffer wine mingled with myrrh t criminals. The elixir was suppsed t serve as a type f pain killer. Matthew 27:34 Mark 15:24 when Jesus was placed upn the crss the sldiers cast lts t see which part f Christ garments each ne shuld take. As we shall see in a few mments when we lk at Luke this cast lts upn vesture f Christ did nt happen until after the Lrd s first saying frm the crss. The divisin f the Lrd s clthing was predicted by David in the Psalm 22. Psalm 22:18 Matthew 27:35 Jhn 19:23-24 Mark 15:25 Mark alne tells us that Jesus was crucified n the third hur f the day. Baker infrms his readers that this wuld have been abut 9:00 AM, r three huse after sunrise. Virtually all cmmentatrs explain the apparent time discrepancy between Mark 15:25 and Jhn 19:14 as the difference between Hebrew and Rman time. Luke 23:34 tells us that befre the sldiers cast lts fr the clthing f Christ, Jesus issued his first f seven sayings frm the crss. The first saying frm the crss was Father frgive them; fr they knw nt what they d. Hw can this be? The first wrds frm the lips f the Lrd Jesus Christ while they crucified Him, while He hung n the crss, "Father, frgive them; fr they knw nt what they d," demnstrates the attitude f the Lrd Jesus Christ as He was beseeching and interceding t the Father fr His murderers. Christ was identifying where the crss stands in the prgram f Gd. There is a tremendus significance here abut what is ging n dispensatinally. Luke 4:17-19 Isaiah 61:1-2 Psalm 69:20-26 Gd's attitude and respnse in all f Scripture t the rejectin f His Sn was t pur ut His wrath and vengeance n the Christ-rejecter. Nw, when yu cme t Calvary, the first thing yu hear Christ say is, "Father, frgive them." Dn't pur ut yur wrath upn them "fr they knw nt what they d." S, as He lks ut ver them frm the crss and says, "Father, frgive them fr they knw nt what they d." That's an expressin f marvelus lve. Yu dn't find anything f a psitive nature in the peple standing at the ft f that crss t suggest that Pastr Bryan Rss
4 they wuld merit mercy f any kind. With wicked hands they were crucifying the Lrd f Glry (Acts 2:23). In the face f the evidence, they were crucifying Him. They lied and cnnived a mck trial with false witnesses t gain their end. They used plitical chicanery and pressure f the mst blatant kind t have the Rman gvernr crucify Him. They weren't even ging t d the deed themselves. Deuternmy 21:22-23 They weren't satisfied just t kill Him. They wanted Him held up as rejected and cursed f Gd. And it was thse peple whm Christ asked, "Father, frgive them, fr they knw nt what they d." Yu and I lk at that and think that they d knw what they are ding. But Christ says: N, they really dn't knw. They sit in the blindness f unbelief. Jhn 12:35-40 They culdn't believe. They had the evidence and chse nt t believe. They heard the Wrd and rejected it ; they heard the Wrd and rejected it, ver and ver. Finally, there came a pint where Gd said: Okay, yu dn't want it? I'll fix it s yu can't have it. I'll give yu yur will. Then He blinded their minds s they wuld nt, culd nt see. He just gave them their wish s there's n way they culd cmplain abut nt being able t see. The wrst judgment that Gd culd give yu, in yur life in human time, is t leave yu t yurself, t be abandned by Gd t yur wn devices. The judgment f Gd that is prphesied t fall upn Israel because f their rejectin f Christ is pstpned, and an extensin f mercy is given t Israel. There is smething wnderful ging n here, fr while there is nthing in them f a psitive nature that wuld call frth r require, r even suggest, the extensin f mercy, the Lrd Jesus Christ uses a lphle in the Law which is fr sins f ignrance. A sin f ignrance is n excuse, but it des make a difference in the penalty under the Law. Christ is claiming it fr them. They were nt seeking it. He claimed it fr them. Acts 3:6-8 This is a perfect example f what Christ sent the apstles t d fr Israel. Here, Israel is lame and unable t walk; he can't g in and wrship Gd. Thrugh what Christ has prvided, the apstle restres and heals him, and he ges with them int the temple, praising Gd. Acts 3:12-17 Gd Himself, thrugh Peter (filled with the Spirit, speaking as the Spirit gives him utterance), claims the lphle in the Law. Ignrance des nt excuse the crime. What it did d under the Law, was t make a difference in the sentence. Numbers 35:6, 11-12, 15-27 In Numbers 35, under the Law, when smene caused the death f anther thrugh ignrance, the avenger f bld (the nearest f kin t the slain) wuld cme t get vengeance n the killer. But because it was dne in ignrance, there were cities f refuge where that man culd g. He wuld g t the judge r the cuncil f that city and say, "I killed smene, but it wasn't murder; it was manslaughter." He culd stay in that city until the high priest died, and the avenger f bld culdn't get t him. He was safe as lng as he stayed in that city. Pastr Bryan Rss
5 Acts 3:18-26 That's what is ging n here fr Israel: an pprtunity fr repentance and fr Israel t respnd t Gd's pleading and Gd's changing the verdict frm murder t manslaughter. He ffered Israel a place f refuge frm the wrath that is ging t cme. He was giving Israel a renewed pprtunity fr salvatin. He invited them t that place f refuge in Christ, their Messiah. He lifts the blindness that had been placed upn them because f their unbelief. When yu start listening t Christ frm the crss, it is critical fr yu t understand that the first thing He said is: I'm nt setting Israel aside because f this. Luke 13:6-9 The Father sends Christ, and He seeks fruit frm Israel. They dn't bring frth any fruit in the three years f His earthly ministry. The Father says: All right, let's cut them dwn, and let's d smething else. Jesus says: Wait. Let's give them ne mre year. I'll dig abut it and fertilize it. I'll put sme extra effrt int it. He sends the Hly Spirit upn them, and nw there is nt just ne man in their midst ding miracles, there are a whle hst f peple ging ut ding these wnderful signs, cnfirming the Wrd, between Acts 2 and Acts 7. D yu knw hw lng that is? One year. The nature f the early part f the bk f Acts is defined fr yu by the very first wrd that Christ speaks frm the crss. That may nt sund t exciting t yu right nw. If yu dn't grasp this, the significance f Calvary will never sink int yur sul the way Gd intends it t. The great blunder that the Church, the Bdy f Christ, has made fr almst the last tw thusand years, has been t think that Gd set Israel aside at the crss, and that n the day f Pentecst smething brand new started; that is, the Bdy f Christ. Acts 7:51-60 d yu ntice that Stephen des nt say, "Father, frgive them, fr they knw nt what they d?" Stephen culd nt plead ignrance fr them any lnger. He culd nt plead ignrance fr his murderers. Rather, his prayer expses their guilt. It was sin they were cmmitting, and they knew it. At Calvary, Christ secured fr Israel an extensin f mercy. That mercy extended int the early part f the bk f Acts. The first saying f Christ frm the crss defines the nature f the ministry that is being carried n in early Acts. That which is ging n has nthing t d with Gd setting Israel aside and frming the Church, the Bdy f Christ. That first wrd frm the crss tells us that Israel was nt yet fallen, that there was this renewed pprtunity fr her repentance. The wrath f Gd tward Israel was delayed while Gd extends mercy. Pastr Bryan Rss