Behold

Behold the cross
The beauty of that rugged tree
Behold the Prince of Peace
The One who knew no sin
Behold the Bearer of Thorns
The One who took our sin
Behold the Prophesied One
The One they crucified

It was sin that resulted in Adam and Eve’s banishment from the Garden of Eden. It is sin that keeps us separated from God. Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, resulting in their separation from God. This transgression was so severe that not only were they banished from the Garden, but cherubim (angels) with flaming swords were stationed in front of the gates to ensure they remained outside (Genesis 3:24).

Fast forward to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is about to be arrested. Betrayed by His own disciple, the one He called friend. Jesus gives Himself over to the soldiers, and He is then taken to the high priest (he acts as an intercessor between God and His people; he is also the only one who can enter the Holy of Holies) and the Sanhedrin (the supreme council and tribunal of the Jews, meaning they served as a court of law) where He is questioned.

All these events happened during Passover. Passover is a reminder of the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt. During the first Passover, the blood of a lamb was smeared on the Israelites’ doorposts. It served as a sign to God to protect them from His coming wrath (Exodus 12). In the following Passovers, an unblemished lamb (perfect, without fault) would be sacrificed to commemorate the favour of God and the Exodus out of Egypt. The lamb that would be sacrificed was examined for any impurities; it is worth noting that Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was also under examination by the high priest.

Mark 14:55-65

55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree. 57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree. 60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65 Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

The next morning, the High Priest and the Sanhedrin decided to take Jesus to Pilate (the Roman Governor of Judea) to be judged. Ironically, the earthly judge was going to judge the Righteous Judge. Alas, Pilate found no fault in Jesus, yet he succumbed to the crowd.

Mark 15:12-15

12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. 13 “Crucify him!” they shouted. 14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Pilate handed Jesus over to his soldiers, and what follows shows the depravity of humanity. An innocent man was already sentenced to be crucified, yet the soldiers still mocked, flogged and humiliated Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus did not retaliate. Jesus could have easily cursed them like He did with the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14). Still, He took their mockery and the whip to His body so that we did not have to because by His wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Side note: Often, we read Jesus was whipped, but we don’t understand the magnitude of the pain He had to endure. The whips the Roman soldiers would use consisted of several strands of leather. Each strand had metal balls and sheep bone at the end, allowing skin to tear/bruise and pieces of skin and muscle to be torn out, exposing the bone underneath.

Mark 15: 16-20

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

At this time, crucifixion was already around for 300-400 years. It was initially invented by the Persians, but the Romans perfected it to form an instrument of torture. After being whipped and mocked, Jesus had to carry the horizontal beam of the cross to Calvary, where He was crucified.

Mark 15:33-39

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Two things worth noting. First, Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" What a profound and baffling statement. Jesus took our sin unto Himself. Remember, sin separates us from God. Jesus expressed His feelings of abandonment and suffering in that one statement, He could no longer feel the presence of God. Jesus could also refer to Psalm 22, where David starts the psalm with the same statement. In this psalm, David talks about the coming Messiah, and everything mentioned in that psalm is fulfilled by Jesus on the cross. Yet again, Jesus proves He is the Messiah.

Secondly, the torn veil is of significance. The veil was found in the temple of Jerusalem and separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. The Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant, symbolising Israel's relationship with God. Only the high priest could access it and do so once a year. On this day, Yom Kippur, the high priest would atone for his and the people's sins. The reason for the veil is that God said He would appear in the Holy of Holies (Leviticus 16:2), and there needed to be a separation from us sinners from God. It paints a similar picture to what was described in the Garden of Eden. The cherubim standing in front of the gates with flaming swords to prevent us from entering God's presence. Interestingly, the veil was embroidered with gold cherubim.

The moment Jesus died for our sins, the veil was torn from top to bottom. There is no more separation between us and God. We are washed clean by Jesus's blood and healed by His wounds. We can now enter God's presence and stand in awe before Him. Mark 15 ends with Jesus' burial; luckily, there is still Mark 16, which is titled perfectly.

“Jesus Has Risen”

Mary Magdalene (one of His followers), Mary (His mother), and Salome went to anoint Jesus but found two angels instead.

Mark 16:2-6

2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.

Death has no power over Jesus.

It was sin that separated Adam and Eve from God, and it is sin that continues to separate us from God. With sin comes death, but with the blood of Jesus comes life.

Jesus paid our debt, and we can run out of that grave.

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