The Power of an Image



Mark 15:16–32
16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 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, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 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.

I’ve often wondered about the handful of people who were present at the death of the Savior. The text tells us that there were a few soldiers and “the women” who had followed Jesus. This small number of people were present at the most important and momentous event in the history of the world. They were there to witness the salvation of the world. Did they know what they were seeing? Of course not. There were suspicions and confusion but none of them understood in the moment that Jesus had just died an innocent death for their sins. It is also to be noticed that Jesus dies before an audience of both Jew and Gentile. His death is for all of us.

At 9:00 a.m. the soldiers crucified Jesus. None of the evangelists describe the act of crucifixion. To crucify the Son of God was almost unthinkable. His suffering included a great deal more than nails driven through his hands and feet, the heat of the burning sun, a raging thirst—physical pain. He was bearing the wrath of the holy God, his own heavenly Father, against all the sins committed from Adam’s day to that of the last human being to be born into this world. Each sin merited eternal damnation. That’s why he hung on the cross, naked and fully exposed to the taunts of men and the wrath of God hour after hour.
Wicke, H. E. ©1988. Mark (p. 224). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

These few humans had the images of this death in their minds for the rest of their lives. I wonder how many times they told the story or discussed it with others. Perhaps it was just too gruesome to recount. Or perhaps after Jesus’ resurrection it was the main topic of their conversation. We don’t really know but I still wonder about them and the way their lives played out because of what they had seen.

We live in an incredibly visual culture and I’ll bet you can mentally call up pictures of the tragic, miraculous, or magnificent events even now having seen them on TV or the internet. Those images have power in our lives and shape who we are. There famous pictures from historical events that have taken place during my lifetime that I can still call up and still feel the emotions that those images evoke. The same was most certainly true for the people who watched Jesus die. That emotional impact must have lived with them all their lives.

We weren’t there to see it, but the death of Jesus has the same power over our lives. He died for each one of us and while we only have our imaginations to work with as we read these words, the emotional impact is still great. The sacrifice was still made on our behalf and we are saved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more