Scotth1960
Member
Friends, Mark 15:37-41 (Lawrence R. Farley translation):
"37 And Jesus, having released a great cry, expired. 38 And the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, 39 And when the centurion, who stood by opposite Him, saw that He expired thus, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
40 Now there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalne, and Mary the mother of James the little and Joses, and Salome, 41 who when He was in Galilee, followed Him and served Him, and many other women came up with Him into Jerusalem".
"Having moistened His lips, Jesus was able to release and utter a final great cry, lifting up His voice in a mighty sound of triumph. His work had been finished; darkness had been taken away from the heart of the world. he cried out, "It is completed! Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46; John 19:30). Then, having said these words, immediately He expired and died. This was significant. To all others dying on crosses, death came slowly, as life gradually ebbed from their bodies. Their final audible words were curses, which came in a continuous stream until exhaustion rendered them too weak to speak further. But here was something different. This One was alive and articulate until the end, and His final words were not futile curses, but words of victory and of serene confidence in God. He committed His life to God and then immediately died, as One who had power over life and death, and whose death was somehow voluntary.
"More than that, the divine response to that death was instantaneous and dramatic. The curtain of the Sanctuary (the large curtain separating the Sanctuary from the forecourt, visible to all in the Temple) was torn in two from top to bottom. This was a clearly supernatural rending. A man might somehow tear that veil (standing high above the heads of all) if he seized the bottom and ripped it up to the top. But the veil was ripped in two from top to bottom, and no man could be tall enough to seize it from the top. It was if God were rending His garments, desecrating His own Temple at the catastrophe of the death of His Son. The violence in the Temple (a foreshadowing of its final destruction in AD 70), coming at the same time as Jesus' death, revealed Him as the true Messiah.
"Even the pagan centurion who stood by opposite Him, and so was able to watch Him as He expired thus (that is, triumphantly and voluntarily), recognized that He was Messiah. The centurion had no doubt heard of Jesus' claims to be the Son of God, and also witnessed the tauntsof those who derided Him for those claims (Matt. 27:43). The Roman soldier concluded then that he truly was what He claimed to be, even if he did not appreciate all that was meant by this title. By narrating this confession of the pagan centurion, St. Mark means to foreshadow the coversion of all the Gentiles in the Church, and to rebuke Israel for their unbelief. If even the pagan centurion could see that Jesus was truly the Son of God, why couldn't Israel see that too?"
[pages 261-263: THE GOSPEL OF MARK: THE SUFFERING SERVANT. The Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series. Fr. Lawrence R. Farley. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, Copyright 2004.
Conciliar Press, PO Box 76, Ben Lomond, CA 95005-0076 ].
God bless all of you who read St. Mark's Gospel. And Luke, Matthew, and John 's Gospels, too! In Erie Scott Harrington
"37 And Jesus, having released a great cry, expired. 38 And the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, 39 And when the centurion, who stood by opposite Him, saw that He expired thus, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
40 Now there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalne, and Mary the mother of James the little and Joses, and Salome, 41 who when He was in Galilee, followed Him and served Him, and many other women came up with Him into Jerusalem".
"Having moistened His lips, Jesus was able to release and utter a final great cry, lifting up His voice in a mighty sound of triumph. His work had been finished; darkness had been taken away from the heart of the world. he cried out, "It is completed! Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46; John 19:30). Then, having said these words, immediately He expired and died. This was significant. To all others dying on crosses, death came slowly, as life gradually ebbed from their bodies. Their final audible words were curses, which came in a continuous stream until exhaustion rendered them too weak to speak further. But here was something different. This One was alive and articulate until the end, and His final words were not futile curses, but words of victory and of serene confidence in God. He committed His life to God and then immediately died, as One who had power over life and death, and whose death was somehow voluntary.
"More than that, the divine response to that death was instantaneous and dramatic. The curtain of the Sanctuary (the large curtain separating the Sanctuary from the forecourt, visible to all in the Temple) was torn in two from top to bottom. This was a clearly supernatural rending. A man might somehow tear that veil (standing high above the heads of all) if he seized the bottom and ripped it up to the top. But the veil was ripped in two from top to bottom, and no man could be tall enough to seize it from the top. It was if God were rending His garments, desecrating His own Temple at the catastrophe of the death of His Son. The violence in the Temple (a foreshadowing of its final destruction in AD 70), coming at the same time as Jesus' death, revealed Him as the true Messiah.
"Even the pagan centurion who stood by opposite Him, and so was able to watch Him as He expired thus (that is, triumphantly and voluntarily), recognized that He was Messiah. The centurion had no doubt heard of Jesus' claims to be the Son of God, and also witnessed the tauntsof those who derided Him for those claims (Matt. 27:43). The Roman soldier concluded then that he truly was what He claimed to be, even if he did not appreciate all that was meant by this title. By narrating this confession of the pagan centurion, St. Mark means to foreshadow the coversion of all the Gentiles in the Church, and to rebuke Israel for their unbelief. If even the pagan centurion could see that Jesus was truly the Son of God, why couldn't Israel see that too?"
[pages 261-263: THE GOSPEL OF MARK: THE SUFFERING SERVANT. The Orthodox Bible Study Companion Series. Fr. Lawrence R. Farley. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, Copyright 2004.
Conciliar Press, PO Box 76, Ben Lomond, CA 95005-0076 ].
God bless all of you who read St. Mark's Gospel. And Luke, Matthew, and John 's Gospels, too! In Erie Scott Harrington