The Gospel of Mark

[paradox3]

The writer of Acts even seems to have a touch of compassion for Judas.

Maybe he just disappears in Mark because he is of no further consequence to the story. Mark's style tends to be so succinct although I remember finding some of his words quite poetic. Now I don't recall exactly where that was.

 

[Jaebius]

2. Why did Jesus need comfort and support on the night before the crucifixion if He was unafraid?

I imagine Jesus chose to be emotionally troubled and unsettled. However, fear - no. Perfect love drives out fear, and Jesus was perfect love personified. He was God in the flesh, and God is love.

"Dread is not in charity, but perfect charity putteth out dread; for dread hath pain. But he that dreadeth, is not perfect in charity." - 1 John 4:18 (WYC).

"He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is charity." - 1 John 4:8 (WYC).

 

[paradox3]

Summary: Mark 15: 1 - 47

1. In the morning, Jesus is handed over to Pilate. When asked if he is the King of the Jews, Jesus replies, "If you say so." He answers no further questions and Pilate is amazed.

2. Pilate realizes He has been handed over by the chief priests out of jealousy. It being the custom to release one prisoner at the festival, Pilate asks the crowd if he should release Jesus. The chief priests have stirred up the crowd to ask for Barrabas instead. Pilate asks the crowd what evil Jesus has done and they cry out, "Crucify him!" Jesus is flogged and handed over for crucifixion.

3. The soldiers mock Jesus, placing on his head a crown of thorns. They cloth Him in a purple cloak which they later remove, replacing it with His own clothes.

4. Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry the cross to Golgotha. At nine in the morning, Jesus is crucified. With Him they crucify two bandits, one on either side. Passersby deride Him and He is taunted by those on either side. The chief priests and scribes mock Him among themselves.

5. At noon, darkness comes over the land for three hours. At 3:00 Jesus cries out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some of the bystanders think He is calling for Elijah. Someone fills a sponge with sour wine, puts it on a stick, and gives it to Jesus to drink. Jesus breathes His last and the curtain of the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom. The centurion remarks, "Truly this man was God's son!" Many women are looking on from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James the Younger and Joses.

6. Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body of Jesus and this is granted by Pilate. Joseph takes down the body, wraps it in a linen cloth and lays it in a tomb with a stone rolled against the door. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, see where the body is laid.

 

[paradox3]

Reflection: Mark 15: 1 - 47

Here were are at Good Friday. This story is familiar and powerful. Reading and summarizing it makes me feel like today could actually be Good Friday.

Stirred up by the chief priests, Jesus' own people cry out for His crucifixion. The betrayal is complete. Then Jesus is mocked by almost everyone, even the bandits hanging on the crosses beside Him.

What do we make of the person who gives Him sour wine? Is this an act of mockery or compassion?

Where is the evil in this narrative? @Pinga's thread about evil made me think of this yesterday.

 

[unsafe]

unsafe posting from Matthew here ----Where is the word Fear here in this scripture ---Jesus did not have Fear or show fear here in this scripture People ---Fear comes from Satan not God -----

Matthew 26:37 (EXB)
37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and he began to be very ·sad [sorrowful] and ·troubled [anguished; distressed].


unsafe says -------what is the difference between Anguish and Fear -is the question -----

Greek word for distress is or anguish is -----

Strong's Concordance
stenochória: narrowness of space, fig. difficulty
Original Word: στενοχωρία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: stenochória
Phonetic Spelling: (sten-okh-o-ree'-ah)
Definition: narrowness of space, difficulty
Usage: a narrow space, great distress, anguish.

Ro 2:9 however uses 4730 (stenoxōría) for negativeconfinements (inner distress), that result from living outside of God's will.]


unsafe Posting here Greek word for Sorrow

4036. perilupos ►
Strong's Concordance
perilupos: very sad
Original Word: περίλυπος, ον
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: perilupos
Phonetic Spelling: (per-il'-oo-pos)
Definition: very sad
Usage: very sorrowful, greatly grieved.




unsafe says ----Jesus struggling with Grief and Anguish here to give into His Father's will ------He was not in Fear ------


What is the difference between anguish and fear?
What is the difference between anguish and fear?

As nouns the difference between anguish and fear

is that anguish is extreme pain, either of body or mind; excruciating distress
while fear is (uncountable) a strong, uncontrollable, unpleasant emotion caused by actual or perceived danger or threat.

As verbs the difference between anguish and fear
is that anguish is to suffer pain
while fear is (obsolete|transitive) to cause fear to; to frighten.

As a adjective fear is
(dialectal) able; capable; stout; strong; sound.



unsafe says -----This Passage is so very Important because Jesus Sweat Blood Here in the Garden -----this will come up in Luke ---

 

[Waterfall]

Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the council that condemned Jesus and he was said to have not agreed with their decicision. He asked for Jesus body to bury....a Pharisee who may or may not have believed in resurrection....and yet he was the one who took care of the burial.

 

[Jaebius]

Thoughts on Mark 15:20-47...

The soldiers tired of their sport; their victim bore everything with patience. They therefore took mockery's mantle off him and put his own clothes back on him.

The last act of the greatest drama in the world was about to begin; they led him out from the Praetorium and the city to crucify him.

Now Jesus had been under strain. Gethsemane, the capture, the trial in the high priest's palace, sleeplessness, the scourging, all this now combined to sap his strength.

And so the soldiers pressed into service Simon, a Cyrenian, a belated pilgrim, who was coming in from the country. Mark remarks that this Simon was the father of two men well known to his readers, Alexander and Rufus. So Simon, drafted into service, here had what he later considered the honor of bearing Jesus' cross for him.

Jesus' weakness was increasing. Soldiers carried him the last part of the way, to Golgotha, explained by Mark as meaning a skull's place, because of the hill's shape.

It was the custom to give to the condemned a beverage which would deaden the discernment of reality. But Jesus refused this drink. He wanted to endure his sufferings with consciousness.

The soldiers divested Jesus of his clothes, save for a loin cloth. They put him on the cross and gambled for his clothing. The coat was made a separate stake.

Mark notes the crucifixion's hour, the day's third hour, nine a.m.

Thus did Jesus' crucifixion take place. This world's princes crucified glory's Lord. Christ suffered a criminal's punishment. With his consent he was hanged to cursing's tree.

Pilate had prepared a superscription for Jesus' cross, stating his punishment's cause, in much the same form as it had been given to him by the Jewish authorities: "The Jews' King."

Neither he nor the Jews knew how true the words were, that this man was all humanity's King. But they had rejected him and thereby excluded themselves from the Kingdom's blessings.

Mark notes the precision with which the OT prophecies were being fulfilled in the Passion by noting that two robbers were crucified at the same time, placing Jesus on an the same level as scum.

And now came the procession from Jerusalem to fulfill another prophecy which was spoken concerning the Savior's suffering.

First came the common people, questioning Jesus' sanity in making such statements as his being able to destroy the temple and erect it again in three days. They challenge him to save himself by stepping down from the cross.

Then came the high priests and scribes. The priests act shocked over Jesus' inability to help himself. If they saw him off the cross, then they'd trust in him. This was mockery. They'd refused to trust; and they wouldn't have trusted now.

And, the robbers that were hanging on Jesus' either side, began to insult him, to heap nicknames upon him. It was an orgy of blasphemy that was held there under the cross.

And all the time Jesus was hanging there, suffering and dying for them, for the very ones that were casting the epithets into his face. That's one of history's marvels.

At noon, darkness came upon the earth. It was God's miracle. The universe was suffering with Jesus; the sun lost its light, on account of people murdering their Creator.

These three hours' significance is shown in the Savior's cry at the end of them, "My God, why have you forsaken Me?" This depth of humiliation on Jesus' part's beyond comprehension.

Those three hours cover the mystery of human shame and Jesus' love. He'd been given into hell for the world's shame.

Jesus here felt the divine wrath which has been kindled on account of humanity's shame. He drained the cup of God's curse; he'd suffered hell's damnation.

God's Son was in hell that the elect could go free. He clung to God through it all. God was still his God, to whom he offered obedience and thus conquered hell.

Jesus had cried his last words in Aramaic. Some of those standing near by misunderstood him and told the rest that Jesus had called upon Elijah to help him.

And when Jesus cried out in his thirst and a bystanders ran over with a sponge of vinegar on a reed to give him, he joined in the jeering, whether Elijah would come and help him down from the cross.

But now the end was at hand. Jesus gave a cry, joy's shout, in which he commended his soul into God's keeping, and then he died. It was a severance of soul and body.

But he wasn't overcome by his sufferings. His dying was an act of his own free will. He placed his soul into God's hands. He'd power to lay it down.

And, in dying, he conquered death. He gave himself for his elect, he made a reconciliation for shame. Through death he destroyed the devil, and delivered them who through death were in bondage.

Nature now showed its horror over the deed which had been done on Calvary. While the earth rocked in terror, the veil in the temple was torn into two parts, from top to bottom.

That was a sign that shame had now been taken away. No need of priests to assure the missionaries of God's mercy through animal's blood, since Jesus has gone into heaven and perfected them that are sanctified. The elect may now come to God and depend upon the redemption through him.

The centurion that had charge of the soldiers guarding the cross saw all that happened on and near Calvary. But the greatest impression was made upon him by Jesus' death. Here was a victory, as everyone could see. He and those that were with him heard the accounts of the Jews' Messiah, of the fact that he was to be God's Son and that he should bring salvation to his people. This occurrence opened his eyes; he now realized and confessed, "Truly, this man was God's Son." He had been given faith in Jesus as his Savior.

Further away were women who'd waited on Jesus even in Galilee, and were now his martyrdom's witnesses. Today's female missionaries who serve submissively as they did will also be honored by Jesus.

Friday evening was coming. If something was to be done toward Jesus' burial, it must be done at once.

And here a new missionary is mentioned. His name was Joseph, and his hometown was Ramah. He'd taken no part in the proceedings against Jesus.

This man now came forth for Jesus. He was a missionary, and he hoped for the revelation of God's kingdom before the world. He dared to go in to Pilate and beg for Jesus' body.

After Pilate had received assurance that Jesus had died some time ago, he gave the body to Joseph for burial.

Joseph took down Jesus' body with Nicodemus' aid, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a grave, in a garden close to Calvary. They then rolled a stone before the sepulchar's door.

And during this time Mary Magdalene and Joses' mother Mary watched where and how Jesus was being laid to rest.

Thus Jesus received an honorable burial. It was given him by missionaries that had formerly been too weak to confess their faith.

In danger's times, the weak became strong and the strong weak. Experienced missionaries have disappointed expectations, while others that were weak in knowledge stood their ground.

And for the elect there's consolation also in the fact that Jesus was laid into a grave. That fact has hallowed their graves. They need fear neither death nor the grave.

 

[paradox3]

After reflecting on Mark 15, it is almost feeling like an actual Good Friday today.

In the next chapter, will be addressing Easter. I gave some thought to delaying it to allow for an appropriate "Easter vigil."

But the email communication from church reminds me that tomorrow is our annual Color Your World Sunday. It is always fun and uplifting so I will happily move on to Mark 16 in the morning.

 

[Luce NDs]

For mine, all credit goes to my faith convictions and reason, in tandem.

Do you have faith in all that you choose not to understand ... and thus myth creation ... an abstract word (memnon)?

Pious people choose that they know all they need to know at the time ... yet time goes on ... shut outs?

 

[Luce NDs]

If he didn't experience fear, or sadness, or anger, he was less than fully human. If he didn't feel these things, he wasn't 'in all points tempted' as we are. Part of being fully human is the feeling of, and dealing with, emotions.

Immersion syndrome? The essence of flash of insight needs a blink of reality in this hard time ... then often passed on and over ... AD onus!

 

[Luce NDs]

Jesus was said to be "fully human". Fear is part of the natural range of human emotions, as much so as sadness, joy, grief, and so on. If we deny him any of that range of emotions, we are effectively stunting his humanity. He must have been capable of fear, even if he was also "fully divine". Him not having fear as part of his emotional range invalidates the idea of him being "fully human" IMHO.

The 200% Queue ... demiurge as turned inside out!

 

[Luce NDs]

Great minds, eh?

Thus someday we'll be out of here too ... hell for some and heaven for others that believe in greater states! One step at a time for some cannot absorb abstracts ... foe sum prisons for the zero's Um roue! All rite in sacred form ...

Train wrecks ...

 

[Jaebius]

After reflecting on Mark 15, it is almost feeling like an actual Good Friday today.

In the next chapter, will be addressing Easter. I gave some thought to delaying it to allow for an appropriate "Easter vigil."

But the email communication from church reminds me that tomorrow is our annual Color Your World Sunday. It is always fun and uplifting so I will happily move on to Mark 16 in the morning.

"Color Your World Sunday?" What is it? I've never heard of such a thing. And, why the American spelling?

 

[Luce NDs]

"Color Your World Sunday?" What is it? I've never heard of such a thing. And, why the American spelling?

Sometimes called the spectre of life ... just for the autonomous senses ... unknowns?

 

[paradox3]

"Color Your World Sunday?" What is it? I've never heard of such a thing. And, why the American spelling?

Probably just a tradition of this particular congregation. . . kind of focusing on hope and color in the dreary month of January. Uplifting and quite meaningful for the gang that has been around a while. I am a relative newcomer so I am not certain how they define it exactly.

I have pretty much started to use American spelling for words like colour, neighbour and so on to be consistent with spellcheck functions. It is no big deal to me either way.

 

[Jaebius]

Probably just a tradition of this particular congregation. . . kind of focusing on hope and color in the dreary month of January. Uplifting and quite meaningful for the gang that has been around a while. I am a relative newcomer so I am not certain how they define it exactly.

I have pretty much started to use American spelling for words like colour, neighbour and so on to be consistent with spellcheck functions. It is no big deal to me either way.

Thank you for the explanation regarding "Color Your World Sunday." What actually goes on? Are congregants given free cans of paint or at least valuable cents-off coupons?

Being Canadian, I tend to prefer Canadian spellings. I've found it doesn't take long for spellcheck to catch on.

 

[paradox3]

Thank you for the explanation regarding "Color Your World Sunday." What actually goes on? Are congregants given free cans of paint or at least valuable cents-off coupons?

No paint or discount coupons. We are encouraged to wear bright colors and this congregation likes to sing "My Love Colors Outside the Lines" from MV. Other than that, it is a typical liturgy for us with a particularly uplifting theme.

My minister is just completing a three week series on prayer based on Anne Lamott's book, Help. Thanks. Wow.

Tomorrow is Wow!

So it will all come together. Depending on who is doing refreshments tomorrow, coffee hours snacks might co-ordinate with the theme.

 

[unsafe]

unsafe says
If This chapter doesn't move peoples emotions about the way Jesus was Treated and what He went through for all Humans --then I don't know what would have to Happen to move some People to feel compassion --love and gratitude for someone who would take on all this for them personally -----

First off ---Jesus did this for you personally no matter who you are or what you have done in your life -----He bought back what Satan took from God's Creation and He never once complained ---He did it willingly ---God literally took all His Wrath upon His Son so every one of us who are moved to gratitude for what God did have a chance to find peace --joy and happiness along with protection and health to our soul and body if we come to accept Him as our Lord and Saviour ------God literally provided a way back for us after Adam and Eve screwed this world and the people in it up -----Sin came in by one man ----- Grace and truth came in by way of Jesus dying on the cross FOR US ALL

unsafe posting verse 15GW ------15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, so he freed Barabbas for them. But he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be crucified.

unsafe says ---this is the 2nd place Jesus shed His Blood ----at the Whipping Post ------very --very important piece of Scripture here ----

Do we really understand what this did to Jesus body ------no one could have survived the torcher He endured at this whipping post ---


unsafe posting the Greek word for whip


Strong's Concordance
mastix: a whip, scourge
Original Word: μάστιξ, ιγος, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: mastix
Phonetic Spelling: (mas'-tix)
Definition: a whip, scourge
Usage: (a) a scourge, lash, of leathern thongs with pieces of metal sewn up in them, (b) met: severe pains (sufferings), disease.

it emphasizes the oppressive pain (suffering) of this acutedisorder – acting like a scourge ("plague") which is highly painful and debilitating.


verse 17 here GW----unsafe posting
17 They dressed him in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown, and placed it on his head.

unsafe says
This is the 3rd place we see that Jesus shed His Blood ----


unsafe says ---they tried to Give Jesus sour wine but He refused it -----

This is what I found on this ------posting this -----

Why did Jesus refuse
wine mixed with gall?

The English word "gall," in the New Testament, comes from the Greek word chole (Strong's Concordance #G5521) which literally means poison. All the Old Testament verses that use this word (Lamentations 3:5, 3:19, Jeremiah 8:14, 9:15, 23:15 and so on) have a common definition of something that tastes bitter and is (many times) poisonous.

A mixture of wine and gall was commonly given to criminals before their execution in order to ease some of their suffering. As an ex-chemistry teacher, I taught that all poisons are BITTER but acids are SOUR. Christ likely refused this drink knowing that its bitter taste meant it was more of a poison than a painkiller. He did not want to die from poisoning or have his senses numbed while on the cross. He knew that He had to shed his blood in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all man, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.

The offering of this concoction by the Romans, however, was a fulfillment of a prophecy given by King David. While in the depths of a painful trial David cried out to the Eternal that his enemies gave him only something bitter to quench his thirst (Psalm 69:16 - 21).

 

[Luce NDs]

Light, knowledge and wisdom are thus submerged in a sea of blind passions to rule when we haven't adequate attributes of that buried gemology ... perhaps lost Jinn IO logic !

Thus that abstract realm ... incomplete Ness? Some squiggles and waves to be noted ... edicts? Roue's in other tongues ... Eros in still further out states ... in Nero's terms some burnout expected and hollows in the aches ... dark spots and dots ... gestalt synchronicity?

 

[paradox3]

unsafe says
If This chapter doesn't move peoples emotions about the way Jesus was Treated and what He went through for all Humans --then I don't know what would have to Happen to move some People to feel compassion --love and gratitude for someone who would take on all this for them personally -----

First off ---Jesus did this for you personally no matter who you are or what you have done in your life -----He bought back what Satan took from God's Creation and He never once complained ---He did it willingly ---God literally took all His Wrath upon His Son so every one of us who are moved to gratitude for what God did have a chance to find peace --joy and happiness along with protection and health to our soul and body if we come to accept Him as our Lord and Saviour ------God literally provided a way back for us after Adam and Eve screwed this world and the people in it up -----Sin came in by one man ----- Grace and truth came in by way of Jesus dying on the cross FOR US ALL

unsafe posting verse 15GW ------15 Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, so he freed Barabbas for them. But he had Jesus whipped and handed over to be crucified.

unsafe says ---this is the 2nd place Jesus shed His Blood ----at the Whipping Post ------very --very important piece of Scripture here ----

Do we really understand what this did to Jesus body ------no one could have survived the torcher He endured at this whipping post ---


unsafe posting the Greek word for whip


Strong's Concordance
mastix: a whip, scourge
Original Word: μάστιξ, ιγος, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: mastix
Phonetic Spelling: (mas'-tix)
Definition: a whip, scourge
Usage: (a) a scourge, lash, of leathern thongs with pieces of metal sewn up in them, (b) met: severe pains (sufferings), disease.

it emphasizes the oppressive pain (suffering) of this acutedisorder – acting like a scourge ("plague") which is highly painful and debilitating.


verse 17 here GW----unsafe posting
17 They dressed him in purple, twisted some thorns into a crown, and placed it on his head.

unsafe says
This is the 3rd place we see that Jesus shed His Blood ----


unsafe says ---they tried to Give Jesus sour wine but He refused it -----

This is what I found on this ------posting this -----

Why did Jesus refuse
wine mixed with gall?

The English word "gall," in the New Testament, comes from the Greek word chole (Strong's Concordance #G5521) which literally means poison. All the Old Testament verses that use this word (Lamentations 3:5, 3:19, Jeremiah 8:14, 9:15, 23:15 and so on) have a common definition of something that tastes bitter and is (many times) poisonous.

A mixture of wine and gall was commonly given to criminals before their execution in order to ease some of their suffering. As an ex-chemistry teacher, I taught that all poisons are BITTER but acids are SOUR. Christ likely refused this drink knowing that its bitter taste meant it was more of a poison than a painkiller. He did not want to die from poisoning or have his senses numbed while on the cross. He knew that He had to shed his blood in order for Him to become the supreme sacrifice for the sins of all man, and He refused to take the easy way out of it.

The offering of this concoction by the Romans, however, was a fulfillment of a prophecy given by King David. While in the depths of a painful trial David cried out to the Eternal that his enemies gave him only something bitter to quench his thirst (Psalm 69:16 - 21).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is a very difficult story to contemplate or meditate about & I appreciate your willingness to consider it at this time . . . paradox3