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Truly this Man was the Son of God! On the night before His crucifixion, just 18hrs previously, Jesus shared the Passover meal with His disciples the Last Supper.
He broke bread and said, “This is My body,”
and took the cup, saying, “This is My blood of the new covenant, shed for many.”
He was establishing the New Covenant through His coming sacrifice. After singing a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed in deep anguish, yet fully surrendered:
“Not what I will, but what You will.
Judas then betrayed Him with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested.
The disciples fled.
Through the night, Jesus was tried before the Jewish leaders, falsely accused, condemned, and mocked.
Peter denied Him three times. Early in the morning, He was brought before Pilate. Though found innocent, the crowd demanded His crucifixion.
Barabbas was released instead.
The innocent was condemned so the guilty could go free.
Jesus was then scourged and handed over to be crucified. And this brings us to Mark 15:16 — where the soldiers take Jesus and begin to mock the King Mark 15.16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.
17And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. 21Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
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. 25 Now it was the third hour , (9am) 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. 28 So 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, 30 save 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.
32 Let 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.
33 Now when the sixth hour (12pm) had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3pm).
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”
which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me ?” 35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” 36Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. 38Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39So 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!”] What True Love Did For Us Christ demonstrated great inner strength and endurance. He was not strong in the way the world measures strength —
not a bodybuilder, powerlifter, or strongman —
but He possessed strength from within, enabled by the Holy Spirit, to finish His race and endure such hostility.
He did not rely on human strength alone. Consider what He went through physically. In all of this, we see what love does for us.
Jesus was scourged — brutally whipped by Roman soldiers, causing deep wounds before He was crucified.” “A crown of sharp thorns was pressed onto His head, and as they struck Him, those thorns would have been driven in, causing deep pain and bleeding.” He – stripped naked to: maximise shame, to publicly humiliate and to degrade the person completely.
What a horrendous act He Struck on the head with a staff Spat on Mocked bowing in false worship. He was unrecognisable.
Isaiah prophesied [“Isaiah 53:2–3 He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men…” His appearance would be so marred beyond any man — so beaten and disfigured that people were astonished at Him. While at the lowest point, He was nailed to the cross for all to see and THEN mocked again by those He came to save and to bring the message of salvation.
“He did not look like a king on that cross — He looked broken — yet He was the Saviour of the world. The Final 6 hours of Christ. What took place in those six hours — from the third hour to the sixth, and to the ninth — changed eternity for the whole world.
The Son of God gave Himself for the sins of mankind.
The power of sin, guilt, and condemnation was paid for in full. Now, every person is faced with a choice: to reject and mock Christ , or to follow Him and walk in the freedom He has made available —
freedom from the power of sin,the power of the devil and the fear of death.
Acts 26.17 Jesus talking to the apostle Paul [I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Through all the terrible things done to Christ, He was not changed or broken. Even from the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
(Luke 23:34)
This is the unconditional love of God revealed through Christ —
a love that desires that none should perish, but that all would come to repentance For Us Today What Can We Understand A time of great internal strength . Through what Christ accomplished for us on the cross, He has given us the perfect example of how to endure and overcome hostility.
Whether we face pain in our bodies, trials in our minds, or mocking and persecution from others because of our faith, we can draw from Him. Like Jesus, we must remain faithful to the will of God and finish our race. He understands more than anyone the struggles we face, for He carried the cross for us, because of us, and in our place.
Just ending now. Truly, this Man was the Son of God. This is key. He was not merely a prophet or a good man —
it took the Son of God to change the whole world forever. And through Him, we too have been made sons and daughters of God. Our identity is found in Him, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we have access to the same strength to keep walking by faith, just as He did.
This is our new identity in Christ. A time of prayer and reflection. John 12.31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
33This He said, signifying by what death He would die.