Lent Gospel is a campaign for people to read through the whole of Mark’s Gospel during Lent, in 40 short readings. Helpful notes on each day's reading are available from www.usefulbible.com/lent-gospel; and you can download the whole series in PDF or Kindle format (it's free - just right-click on the links then select ‘save as...’ to download). Of course, it doesn’t have to be for Lent... why not begin now?
Last part: Mocking – Day 36 – Mark 15:21-32
· Read: Mark 15:33-41
‘The curtain of the temple was torn in two.’ Mark clearly considered this event very important – he mentioned it immediately after his report of Jesus’ death. But the temple was several hundred yards away from the site of the crucifixion. So why did Mark mention it at all?
That curtain had a very important role in ancient Judaism. It separated the holy place in the temple – which priests entered for daily worship – from the most holy place, where God had his dwelling. Those two rooms had always been separate, as if to say that sinful humans could never enter God’s presence. That is, until Jesus’ death changed everything.
And how did Jesus achieve this? The clue is in his cry from the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ As Jesus took on himself the sins of the world, he separated himself from God the Father. And, like the sacrifices of animals at the temple, Jesus, the innocent and perfect ‘lamb of God’ took the punishment for that sin.
As the hymn says:
‘He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by his precious blood.’
All that God asks us to do is to confess our sins, and to believe and trust in him.
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Next part: Burying – Day 38 – Mark 15:42-47 |
© 2012, Keith Simons.