Father, we thank you for this time that we have to meet as your people and read your word, and listen to it. And we pray that you’ll work in our hearts to have an attitude of obedient children. To not let the noise of our lives distract us from the truth of your word. We thank you for all those that are here, for all those who’ve given to your work here. We pray that you may bless them generously that they may excel in all good things. For Christ’s sake and in his name, we’ve asked this, amen.

So, this evening we continue, last week you remember we went back to the book of Mark 8. And we’ve been studying the book of Mark under the title, ‘The King of a Kingdom.’ And tonight, we’ll be talking about the death of a kingdom. Of course, we talked about the word of the kingdom, the power of the kingdom, the identity of the kingdom. And tonight, we’re talking about the death of a king.

The symbol of the cross

When you walk into most churches, when you talk to most Christians, when you attend most Christian things, one thing you will notice is Christians tend to celebrate the cross. There’s a wood which is cuffed, there’s one like this and the other one like that- perpendicular. And they call it the cross. And they celebrate it. They wear necklaces with a cross on it. And they wear small things on their shirt with the cross on it, small little pins with their shirt with the cross on it. They wear rings like I do with a cross on it. And the question is, why do Christians celebrate the cross? Why do they use this symbol and rejoice over this symbol? Because ultimately what the cross represents is the death of Jesus. So then, who talks about death? If you are serious in any culture, people try not to talk about death. And when somebody is dead, they try not to talk about him as a dead person. So, nobody wants to celebrate the death of anything and especially of a person.

Why do Christians celebrate the death of Jesus?

And yet Christians celebrate the death of Jesus, and tend to rejoice and find pride in carrying the symbol of his death which is the cross. And so, the question is, why? And the answer is, it’s because the cross and the death of Jesus is central to the Christian message. Basically, what I’m saying is, you can’t understand the news, what we call the gospel, the good news of Jesus unless you understand the cross, unless you understand his death. And that’s why for Christians, the cross is such an important thing, it’s such a beautiful thing that they celebrate. This morning I was talking to somebody actually about the same topic and it’s interesting that this object of rejection, and wrath, and social shame became the object of pride and celebration for Christians. And why? Because of what it means and what it has done. And that’s what we will be studying tonight. My hope, and my prayer is that at the end of this evening, you will stop for a moment and ask yourself, is my life cross-shaped? Has it been influenced by the cross of Jesus? And if you say yes, well the question is, in what manner? How is your life influenced by this cross, by this work of Jesus on the cross, by his death? For some of you, it may just be the beginning of a new walk with Jesus. It may be for the first time you understand what he did on the cross. And you say, “From today onwards this is what I’m going to live. This is how I’m going to live; this is how I’m gonna do it. It’s gonna be cross-shaped.” For some of you it may be, “Well, I do know that Jesus did all these wonderful things for me. But they’ve never really impacted how I live my day-to-day life and maybe that’s where I need to start. The passage has two major sections. On the one part, Mark described to us how Jesus died. And on the other side he described to us what that means. And those are our two major points. And then the third one which is application. It’s the death of a king- a description of the death of Jesus, and of course the meaning of the death of the king.

The death of a king described. Mark 15:21, read with me, “And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).  And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.  And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour[d] when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also, the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.”

Jesus was crucified

Mark is very clear in his description. It’s a short description so it doesn’t take long. It’s roughly ten verses. Where he described what had happened over a period of six hours. And what do we see over a period of six hours? Is that Jesus died but he died crucified. See, there’s many kinds of deaths. You may die in a car accident, you may die at your house because you were sick, because you were getting old. You may die in a hospital. There are many ways to die. But he just didn’t die the way anybody dies. He just didn’t die the way normal people die. He died crucified. He died crucified, mocked by everybody even the worst people of society. Mark 15:27, that’s what you see there, “And with him they crucified two robbers.” Now, you see that in Mark 15:24-26, you see all those coming back to the fact that he was crucified, and crucified. What was the crucifixion? Well, the crucifixion was the worst form of punishment that was given in that time to criminals. Like today, we have laws in the country and if you steal something, you go to the judge. And the catch you, they take you to the judge, there is a certain punishment they’ll give you. You kill somebody, you go to the court, there’s a certain punishment they’ll give you. Now, if you were the worst offender, if you were the worst of all the bad people ever lived, in that time, well, they didn’t just put you in prison, they crucified you. They publicly put you on this wood so as everybody else would look at you and decide never to do what you did again. It was such a bad punishment that one of the well-known Romans called Ciceron said that, Roman citizen should never be crucified no matter what he did. They would rather cut his head than put him publicly on display for everybody to laugh at him, for everybody to shame him than die a very slow death. Jesus didn’t just die a very very shameful death, he died being considered to be the worst of all human beings. Even the robbers reviled him. Mark 15:32 at the end, “Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.” Who are these people? Mark 15:27, “They crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.” So, even the robbers were shaming him. Even the robbers were laughing at him. He died the worst death that anyone could have ever died. And when he died, was he acclaimed by people? No, he was reviled even worse. Look Mark 15:29, “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also, the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” You know, some people, some leaders of movement-they die and everybody celebrated their death. Everybody says, “You died for the good cause.” Just two three days ago, we were celebrating our martyrs, our national heroes, there’s two of them that we celebrated this past week. They were dead, they died. But they had people when they were dying that were cheering them. While when Jesus died, there was no one cheering him. There was no one saying, “You are doing a good thing.” Everybody was laughing at him, everybody was deriding him, everybody was reviling him. And then, he was not just dying a normal death, he was not just being shot. He was put publicly on display to be shamed by everyone. But why did they do that? Well, that’s where Mark goes isn’t it? Mark 15:33, the meaning of the death of a king. “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”  And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Events that happened when Jesus died

Mark tells us that there were three things, there’re three events that Mark brings on to the scene. And the reason Mark brings on to the scene these three events is because these three things that happen will help us understand what was happening. Why did the king, why did Jesus who was the son of God-who didn’t have a problem with anyone, who actually was a good man, never did anything wrong? Why did he die the worst death ever? Like the worst of criminals. Mocked, and reviled, and derided even by the worst of criminals. Mark tells us three things.

There was darkness when Jesus died

First, he says, there was darkness. Now, remember from earlier on, they brought him to be crucified round about the ninth hour. Well, what is it saying? It says here, at the sixth hour there was darkness. Now, earlier on they talked about…. Where is that I’m trying to find it. Mark 15:25, this is what it says, “And it was the third hour…” that’s like 9am in the morning. So, they take Jesus and they crucify him round about 9am. At 12, which is the sixth hour, three hours later there’s darkness over this place. It’s full of darkness. And it’s not darkness for an hour, it’s darkness for three hours until the ninth hour-3pm. Well, Mark says, this isn’t natural, this doesn’t happen. There’s surely something. Why would there be darkness for three hours. And when this man at the ninth hour cries out, and dies, all the darkness is gone. And Mark says, there’s something. Well truly there’s some natural explanation to this. But Mark sees behind it, something that is happening in heaven. Now, what is happening in heaven that creates such a clear picture of spiritual reality to human eyes? Well, we find the answer in Mark 15:34, “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Now it’s clear, isn’t it? Now it’s clear. The reason there’s darkness, it is a symbol of God’s anger and God’s judgment over the earth. But why is that? Well, it’s because this Jesus is carrying the sin of every single human being ever lived. At that point in history, the past sin, the future sin, everything was funnelled into this one man. And that one man was carrying the sin of every single human being that has ever lived. Therefore, God was so angry that there could be very visible sign of the anger and the judgement of God over the earth.

The temple curtain tore into two

But it didn’t stop there. Mark says in Mark 15:32, “And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” There’s darkness, because all the sins were poured on to Jesus. At that time in history Jesus was carrying the sins of the world. And in result of that, God his father was removed away from him. And so, he says, “Why have you left me? Why have you abandoned me?” Well, because he’s carrying your sin, he’s carrying my sin, he’s carrying the sin of everyone. Does it stop there? No, when he cries out his last, the curtain of the temple is torn. Now, what was that curtain for? Now, you may not remember, or you may remember, or you may not know this, but in the Old Testament there was a temple. God asked Solomon to build a temple for him. And the temple was a place for meeting. God would come, and the people would come from all Israel and converge to this place. And bring their offering and their prayer to God. And he says, “When you pray to me in this temple, I will answer you. Why? Because I will dwell in this temple.” So, in this temple there were many courts. But in the centre of the temple, there was this place called the holy of holies. In that place there was the ark of the covenant and many other things. And around that table there was a thick curtain, probably my hands, these hand kind of large. It was thick curtain. Probably a meter thick. It wasn’t just simple curtain like you have in the house, it was really really thick. And the reason that curtain was there, it was a clear reminder that no human sinful human being could enter into the presence of God, of a holy God whichever way he likes. So, who went into the holy of holies? It was one man. It was the high priest. He went in there once a year. And when he went in there, before he went in there, he had to go through a whole process of purification to make sure that he had attorned for all of his sins. And that was not enough. He would wear a small little bell on his feet. And every time he walked that thing would make noise (makes bell sounds). And they would tie a rope on one of his feet. And so, when he’s in there, in case he did something wrong, and the wrath of God, and the holiness of God fell on him, and he died, people would hear the bell not ringing anymore. But nobody would rush in there. So, they would pull him. So, nobody went into that place the way they liked. And yet, Mark says to us, when Jesus carries the sins of the world and he takes them to his father, the consequence is the curtain is torn. What is the meaning of this? Well, now there’s access. Now the holy of holies can be entered by anybody. Because he has removed the curse. He has removed the sin. Now, people can approach God. Now, almost anybody can approach God. So now you understand why did the son of God, why did Jesus die the worst shameful death ever possible? Well, he died the worst ever shameful death possible so as he can take the sins of the world upon him. And in return he can open the way for human beings to see God. There was a transaction on that cross. Paul reminds us, 2 Corinthians 5:21, he says, “…he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” That’s what happened on that cross. On that cross, Jesus carried my sins, your sins. He carried them on himself and that’s why he said, “Father, father. Why have you forsaken me?” Because he was carrying your sins and my sins. And if the curtain opened it was a consequence of what he had done. His sacrifice was fully accepted before he fully even rose from the dead, God had already agreed to free people, to let people come to him. In Hebrews he even says, since now we have access to the most holy of holies. Now we have clear access to God. Because we’re good? No. Because he dies and was rejected.

Two reactions to the death of Jesus on the cross

So, now, notice, when Jesus is dying, there’s two groups of people. There’s the bystanders. And the bystanders what are they saying? We find that in Mark 15:29, “you said you would destroy the temple in three days. Well, why don’t you calm down from the cross? You said you will save many people. Well, they saw how you saved many people. Why don’t you save yourself? You said you are the king, why don’t you come down from there? And then there is the Centurion. Did you notice? Mark 15:39, the Centurion is an experienced killer. He’s killed many people. He’s a soldier, professional soldier. And yet he looked at this man who was dying, and he says, “I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve killed many people before; I’ve watched many people die. But I’ve never seen anyone die with something around them. Surely this man is not no one. Surely this man is the son of God.” You see, confronted with the death of Jesus, Mark says there’s only two ways you can respond; You can look at it and realise how bad you are and how great God is. And say, “I accept that this is the son of God who died for me.” You can respond in faith like the Centurion did or you can pass by and still not see what he did on the cross. You can walk past Golgotha. You can see the most important event in all history, the most important event in all eternity and you can pass by and mocking what just happened. There’s actually an irony here, right. I don’t know if you notice the irony. Do you think Jesus couldn’t get out of the cross? Of course. This man we read together, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he stopped the water to move, he brought bread out of nowhere-takes 5 loaves and turns it into thousands and thousands of loaves. I mean, how hard was this for this man? He’d just say to the nail, “Get out of my hand and I walk down.” How hard was it? It wasn’t. But the reason he’s stuck on that cross is because it was meant for those very same people who were laughing at him. You see, if he did not stay on the cross, those people and me, would never be saved. So, he had to stay on that cross. And yet the same people are mocking him. So, my dear friends, there’s two ways you and me can respond to what Jesus has done; We can mock him and say, nothing. Or we can bow down and respond in faith like the Centurion did. What will that look like if we bowed down and responded in faith like the Centurion did?

Characteristics of a cross-shaped life

Well, it is I would say a life that would be characterised by four things. The first is, humility. A cross-shaped life, somebody who understands the meaning of the death of Jesus, somebody who’s taken what Jesus has done as good news-as news that saves him from death and brings him to life. From judgement into liberty. He becomes, she becomes humble. Humble not only toward men, but toward God. She recognises how bad, or how sinful she or he is. She recognises that the nature of men is sinful. That I’m worse than I thought I am. I’m actually very, very bad and capable of very very bad things. They don’t have a too big picture of themselves, they understand how bad they are. And my friend, if God had to die for you, how good do you think you are? No good at all. You had to be really, really bad for God to die for you and to endure the worst death ever. You see, Jesus took my place and your place. We were meant to be reviled by everybody even the worst people in society because that’s who we are, we’re bad people. So, when we understand the cross it pushes us to be humble people. But at the same time, the gospel, when we understand the gospel and we understand the cross, it doesn’t just make us to be very humble people, it makes us to be very secure people. We are not looking for identity in what people think of us. We are not looking for identity in whether we are approved in society or not. We are secured in the love of God. Why? Because we say, if he could die for me, he surely loves me. Paul in Romans says, “If God could give us his son, what else can he not give us?”

Who would you die for? Just in your mind, look at people you like, people you love, and decide, who would you die for? Who would you agree to die for? I’ve seen parents who wouldn’t even want to die for their children. I always tell the story; you know we are very thankful for artists. And you know in Africa we have artists in Nigeria and they have these Nollywood movies. I don’t know if you’ve seen them. And one of these Nollywood movies I saw a clip on WhatsApp. There’s a thief who goes into the house, he’s a robber with a gun. He walks into the house, he finds the husband and the wife, they’ve been watching TV and talking, you know nice like, “Sweetie, sweetie, sweetie. Cherie, Cherie, Cherie.” And then, he walks in and he bumps in and says, “Now, someone is gonna die tonight. You choose which one it is.” And the husband looks and goes. Then he says, “Here’s a gun. I’m doing you a favour, you shoot her.” And the man is shaking, he can’t shoot. “No, no, no. It’s going to be me. I’m ready to die.” And then this guy takes the gun and gives it to the wife and she just pulled the trigger. But it’s not loaded, right. And then of course he leaves and let them figure out what just happened there. But what I’m saying is, he was like, “Oh, I can die for her.” She can’t die for him, right. Who would you die for? You see, sometimes you’re like, “I can’t die for anyone.” Even people I like, even people I love. Well, would you die for your enemy? Would you die today for someone who comes today and shoots you in the foot? Paul says, “While we were yet sinners and enemies, Christ died for us.” You see, Jesus was ready to die for us even when we were his enemies. And so, when we understand that it is for us that he did this, we can stand secure in his love. We know, like Paul says in Romans 8, that’s why in Romans 8 you have Paul’s very last part of Romans 8. People don’t understand that when Paul said what he said, nothing can separate us from the love of God. We sang that here. It’s because he understood what happened on the cross and it gave him security. When I don’t have food, I still know that God loves me. When I don’t have friends, I still know that God loves me. When I’m about to die, I still know that God loves me. And I’m secured in his love. I’m not insecure. You know, there’s lots of Christians who go around and they’re like, “Does God love me? Does God not love me? Does God love me? I’m not sure that God loves me today.” Well, my friend, if you have put your trust in Jesus, you can rest secured. Because you know he loves you. It humbles us, but it gives us such security because sometimes people think that we are proud. The third thing it does, is that it helps us live a life of sanctification. Because we know that the problem of sin has been dealt with forever. You see, we have a new identity, John 1:12 says, “To those who believed in him he gave the right to become children of God.” What’s your new nature? Who are you? Well, I am a child of God. There’s a great song we sing here sometimes, ‘Before the throne of God’. And somewhere it says, “When Satan tempts me, and shows me all the guilt within, up there I look and I see him who died for me.” You see, it will happen for you to fall. It will happen for you to dwell in sin now and then. And at that time the devil will look and say, “Hey, look you said you’re a Christian.” Well, my dear friend you look at the cross and you say no, I’m not. I may have sinned but I’m not a sinner anymore. That’s not who I am. Why? Because Jesus dealt with it completely on the cross. You see, on that cross, Jesus finished that problem of sin forever. What is left is whether it will be a reality in your life or not. But for God, that’s finished. It’s like being in prison, right. You’re in prison and you have all the shackles and they’ve tied your hands and your feet. And somebody comes and cuts all the chains and makes you free. You have a choice, you can stay in your cell and still pretend and say, “I’m still a prisoner.” Or you can walk out and say, “I’m not a prisoner anymore.” Well, Jesus has broken the chains of sin. Jesus has freed us from sin. The question is, are we now going to live as children of God or not? You see, sanctification is not, “Oh well, I need to do this to please God.” Sanctification is, I am doing all these things that the Bible says I must do because that’s who I am. It’s not so I can earn favours with God. It’s because that’s who I am. And I know it’s difficult because that’s change of identity. It’s something we’re not used to. But it’s something we have to learn to be and we better be. And the cross is a reminder again, every time I fail, every time I sin, I look at the cross and say, “That’s not who I am.  am a child of God. I may have sinned. But I’m not a sinner anymore, that’s not my nature. I’m a child of God.” And Jesus’ death dealt, he’s dealt with the power of sin over my life. Lastly, and that’s where I’m gonna end, it is a life of sacrifice. A cross-shaped life is a life of humility, it’s a life of security in the love of God, it’s a life of sanctification because of our new identity and it is a life of sacrifice. Jesus dies on that cross. Why did he die on the cross? For him? No, for you and me. And he calls us to live our life for others. He took the ultimate sacrifice-he died for you and me. And he asks you and me today, not to live for ourselves, but to live for him and for those around us. It is shocking sometimes to see people who call themselves Christians, people who call themselves redeemed by Jesus, disciple of Jesus and yet there’s nothing in their life that testifies to the sacrifice of Jesus. That’s shocking. And I know we live in an environment where we are lied to. People say, “Come to Jesus and you’re gonna get cars. You’re gonna get houses. You’re gonna get…… everything will be stable. That’s what we call the gospel.” My dear friend that’s not the gospel. The gospel is what Jesus says. You come to him; he makes you right with God. But from there onward, you live as a child of God. Not for yourself, but for God and others-a life of sacrifice. You’re working hard, you’re earning a lot of money. But it’s not for you to eat and use as you please. It’s for the kingdom and those in need. Your time is not your time, it’s God’s time to use for those in need and for the kingdom. Everything is not cantered on you, it’s for others. No, you come to church, you don’t come to church so that you can sing nice songs and you can walk out of here you’re rejoicing. You come to church so that you can also be a blessing to others. You see, it becomes a life of sacrifice. Because it is the great sacrifice of Jesus that has made us well. Now, we can live for the greater glory of him and the good of others. Let’s bow our heads.

Jesus died the worst death, so you can be reconciled with God and Mark says that’s good news that changes lives. Has he changed your life? You see, you can choose today to reject it, or you can choose to embrace it in faith. What will be your choice? Father, we come to you this evening and we do acknowledge that many times we don’t choose to respond in faith. Many times, we are like the passer by. We mock you; we deride you; we revile you. Forgive us. Thank you that your Spirit will help us today. Not only take what you’ve said and apply it in our life, but also, take it and share it with others. For Christ’s sake and in his name, amen.