Mark 15:22-25
Darker Still
Mark 15:22 And they bring him unto the place
Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place
of a skull.
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with
myrrh: but he received it not.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted
his garments, casting lots upon them, what every
man should take.
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified
him.
\\#25\\ It was the third hour, the nine o’clock hour. The sun would
be plenty high enough to brighten the area by now, but it was still
very dark. I have used the word DARK to describe our study through
this section of Scripture, and it is.
Most everything that is recorded through these verses is a work of
the devil, a work God used to bring glory to Himself and to redeem
mankind, but a work of the devil none-the-less. The lies, the
treachery, the miscarriage of justice, the violence, the brutality,
the cruelty—these are all the works of the devil.
I. There was the place of the Devil.
A. \\#22\\ Mark told us both the name of the place where Jesus
was take, Golgotha, the meaning of that name, "the place of
the skull."
1. We do not know for certain where Golgotha was.
2. No one tried to pinpoint the location until the 4th
century, over 300 years after the death of Jesus.
B. If you go to Israel today, you will likely see two possible
place.
1. The traditional site is located inside an ancient church
that was built in the fourth century, making it around
1800 years old.
a. It is called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and it
was and is the accepted site by many.
b. Some question whether that area was inside or outside
of the walls of Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified,
but most accept that it was outside the walls at that
time.
c. Unfortunately, nothing of the original surroundings is
left from the days of Jesus.
d. In fact, except for a few enshrined boxes, you will
not see the natural earth in or around the church.
2. In the mid-to-late 1800’s, a hillside, which is outside
even the newer and expanded walls of Jerusalem, was
suggested as Golgotha.
a. It is sometimes called Gordan’s Calvary or Skull Hill.
b. The hillside resembles that of a skull in shape and
has what appears to be two sunken eye sockets.
c. It is hard to imagine a rock formation called the
place of the skull that does not look like a skull,
and it seems unlikely that there would be two such
locations so close to one another; but who knows.
C. One thing seems certain.
1. Even the name of this place reeks of darkness and the
devil.
2. It sounds like a place reserved for the devil to do his
evil—and I believe it was.
II. There was the practice of the Devil.
A. Where the devil goes, his practices follow.
B. There are several practices which seem to me to be of the
devil.
1. There was gambling.
Matt 27:35 And they crucified him, and parted
his garments, casting lots: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They
parted my garments among them, and upon my
vesture did they cast lots.
a. Gambling is not expressly condemned in the Bible.
b. To be honest, as a child, I admired the fictional
gamblers that I saw in television; and even tried it
a couple of times.
c. But I was blessed to realize early that I was the mark
and not the master in games of chance.
d. After coming to Christ, I came to see that gamblers
usually play their games in the devil’s places, like
the foot of the cross, with the devil’s people, like
the sin-sick Roman soldiers, and they are gambling
over someone else’s possessions, like Jesus’
garments.
e. d I decided it was not for me.
f. Gambling seems to be one of the practices of the
devil.
2. There was the gazing ( hazing), people passing by to see
and mock our Savior.
a. There came by the common men, just passing by.
Mark 15:29 And they that passed by railed on
him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou
that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in
three days,
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
(1) This would be the Jews on the way to Jerusalem
for the Holy Day.
(2) Is it possible that they have never seen or heard
Jesus?
(a) It doesn’t seem very likely.
(b) Jesus had been from one end of the country
to the other.
(c) These would be the men that had heard Jesus
preach, been helped by Jesus, and even been
healed by Jesus.
(3) Is it possible that they did not recognize Jesus?
(a) Absolutely, but I would think they would
ask, especially seeing so many religious
leaders standing about—and on a holy day!
(b) I would also think being would be talking,
for miles before you came upon the cross.
(c) It is almost impossible for me to think they
did not know who was being crucified on
that middle cross.
(4) It seems much more likely that while the Jews
inside the city may have been the ones who
insisted Jesus be crucified, that it was the
Jews on the way to the city that mocked Jesus.
b. And there were the religious leaders.
31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said
among themselves with the scribes, He saved
others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now
from the cross, that we may see and believe. And
they that were crucified with him reviled him.
(1) These had paid for their seats, both coins from
the treasury and their souls for eternity.
(2) So they stayed to watch.
c. \\#27\\ Mark mentioned the thieves, but does not tell
us that they too mocked Jesus, until one repented and
was saved.
3. There was gloom.
a. With all that the devil was doing, I would think you
could feel the gloom and darkness against your flesh
like a blanket.
b. But at noon, the darkness became more than a feeling.
(1) It became a sight.
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the
ninth hour.
(2) This event lasted too long for an eclipse and was
too dark for a cloud.
(3) God either allowed or commanded the sun’s light
not to shine in that area.
(4) Perhaps creation look no longer look on the what
the devil’s minions were doing to the Creator,
so the sun stopped lending its light to that
scene.
4. There was gall, pain and suffering which no human should
ever have to bear.
a. The suffering had started hours earlier but
intensified with each passing moment.
b. From slapping and spitting, to beatings, then
scouring, the pain grew worse and worse.
c. For a time, the scourging must have been the worst,
have the skin ripped and torn off you body.
d. But then to add to that pain the bleeding out, the
suffocating, the pushing up on the cross to exhale,
the sinking down with your weight on those spikes,
for six hours, six long and excruciating hours.
III. There was the plan of the devil, the death of Jesus.
A. It became imminent around 3 PM.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama
sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they
heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to
drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether
Elias will come to take him down.
1. Was it mercy the men showed when they fetched the sponge
with vinegar for Jesus?
2. No.
a. It was curiosity and the desire for entertainment.
b. They wanted Jesus to stay alive a little longer and to
pray a little louder to see if God might send the Old
Testament prophet, Elijah, to help Him.
c. Little did they stop to think that if God sent
Elijah—or any other entity to deliver His Son—he
likely would have come in a ball of fire to destroy
them all!
d. That had to be a Jewish voice that uttered those
words!
(1) Who but a Jew would have known who Elijah was?
(2) But that Jew also had to at least think it was
possible that Jesus was indeed the Messiah!
3. But…
Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice,
and gave up the ghost.
B. Jesus’ death was on a time table. Jesus was on the clock,
both God’s and man’s.
1. As far as God’s clock, the Passover Lamb was to be slain
in the afternoon of the Passover day, then prepared, then
to be partaken of, and it was never to be left to the
next morning.
a. What was not eaten was to go into the fire
\\#Ex 12:10\\.
b. Jesus was slain on the Passover day at the time the
Passover lambs were being slain.
c. His body was not to be left out overnight.
d. Some preparation was required to get Him in the grave
before sunset.
e. So Jesus gave up His spirit, allowing Himself to die,
and His body to be prepared for burial.
2. As far as man’s clock, I believe this was Thursday the
Passover; but the next day was another High Sabbath, the
first day of Unleavened Bread and the day to eat the
Passover lamb.
a. These were Jews, and their new day started at sunset.
b. It appears that Pilate crucified on Jewish holy days.
(1) No matter whether you believe Jesus was crucified
on Thursday or Friday, they were both holy days.
(2) Pilate was a Gentile and a Roman who conducted
Roman business pretty much as usual unless there
was a Roman reason not to do so.
(3) I suspect to accommodate the Jews, Pilate never
started a holy day with someone on the cross.
(4) That might explain why they hung the victims on
the cross early and broke their legs on the
evenings BEFORE a holy day \\#John 19:32-33\\.
c. So in having Jesus crucified on Thursday, the
religious leaders had already violated one holy day,
but they would not leave Jesus alive into the next
day violate a second holy day.
d. To that end, all of those on the cross would have
their legs broken in time for them to die and be
removed from the crosses before sunset.
e. But if Jesus had waited until His legs were broken,
some evil men might have taken the credit for Jesus’
death, saying that they had done it.
f. So Jesus gave up His spirit BEFORE the Romans came to
break His legs, thus fulfilling what Jesus had said:
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life, that I might take it
again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself….
C. So the devil’s plan was carried out.
1. Jesus died.
2. But no man took His life.
3. He gave it.
D. Mark went on to summarize the preparation of Jesus’ body for
burial.
1. \\#Mark 15:39\\ Mark spoke of the centurion who
acknowledged that the rumor of this Man was true. He
was the Son of God.
2. \\#Mark 15:40, 47\\ He recorded the women who watched
Jesus die and followed to His grave.
3. \\#Mark 15:43\\ He recorded Joseph of Arimathaea, a brave
follower of Jesus, who went and asked for the body of
Jesus.
4. \\#Mark 15:46\\ He described the hasty preparation and
burial of Jesus.
Then for three full nights and parts of four days, the darkness
engulphed the world. The body of Jesus, God’s Son, lay still in a
tomb, but the light was soon to shine.
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