Ryle on Mark 15:33-38

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 15:33-38.

Source Text

36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the 33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani? which is, be- ing interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he j bottom, calleth Elias. We have in these verses the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. All deaths are solemn events. Nothing in the whole history of a man is so important as his end. But never was there a death of such solemn moment as that which is now before us. In the instant that our Lord drew His last breath, the work of atonement for a world's sin was accomplished. The ransom for sinners was at length paid. The kingdom of heaven was thrown fully open to 345 all believers. - All the solid hope that mortal men enjoy about their souls, may be traced to the giving up the ghost on the cross.

Let us observe, in these verses, the visible signs and wonders which accompanied our Lord's death. St. Mark mentions two in particular, which demand our attention. One is the darkening of the sun for the space of three hours. The other is the rending of the veil which divided the holy of holies from the holy place in the temple. Both were miraculous events. Both had, no doubt, a deep meaning about them. Both were calculated to arrest the attention of the whole multitude assembled at Jerusalem. The darkness would strike even thoughtless Gentiles, like Pilate and the Koman soldiers. The rent^x veil would strike even Annas and Caiaphas and their unbelieving companions. There were probably few houses in Jerusalem that evening in which men would not say, " we have heard and seen strange things to-day/'^ What did the miraculous darkness teach ? It taught the exceeding wickedness of the Jewish nation. They were actually crucifying their own Messiah, and slaying their own King. The sun himself hid his face at the sight - It taught the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the eyes of God. The Son of God himself must needs be left without the cheering light of day, when He became sin for us and carried our transgressions.

It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the darkness which covered the heaven on the day of the crucifixion, could not possibly have been occasioned by an eclipse of the sun, because the passover ■was always held at full moon. It is evident that the darkness was miraculous, and caused by some special interference with the course of nature. 15 What did the miraculous rending of the veil mean ? It taught the abolition and termination of the whole Jewish law of ceremonies. It taught that the way into the holiest of all was now thrown open to all mankind "by Christ's death. (Heb. ix. 8.) It taught that Gentiles as well as Jews might now draw nigh to God with bold- ness, through Jesus the one High Priest, and that all barriers between man and God were for ever cast down. May we never forget the practical lesson of the rent veil ! To attempt to revive the Jewish ceremonial in the Church of Christ, by returning to altars, sacrifices, and a priesthood, is nothing better than closing up again the rent veil, and lighting a candle at noon-day. m May we never forget the practical lesson of the mi- raculous darkness ! It should lead our minds on to that blackness of darkness which is reserved for all obstinate unbelievers. (Jude 13.) The darkness endured by out blessed Surety on the cross was only for three hours. The chains of darkness which shall bind all who reject His atonement and die in sin, shall be for evermore.

Let us observe, secondly, in these verses, how truly and really our Lord Jesus Christ was made a curse for us, and bore our sins.

We see it strikingly brought out in those marvellous words which He used at the ninth hour, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me " It would be useless to pretend to fathom all the depth of meaning which these words contain. They imply an amount of mental suffering, such as we are unable to conceive. The agony of some of God's holiest servants has been occasionally very great, under an impression of God's favor being withdrawn from them. What then may we suppose was the agony of the holy Son of God - when all the sin of all the world was laid upon His head - when He felt Himself reckoned guilty, though without sin - when He felt His Father's countenance turned away from Him ? The agony of that season must have been*" something past understanding. It is a high thing. We cannot attain to a comprehension of it.

We may believe it, but we cannot explain and find it out to perfection. One thing, however, is very plain, and that is the im- possibility of explaining these words at all, except we receive the doctrine of Christ's atonement and substitu- tion for sinners. To suppose, as some dare to do, that Jesus was nothing more than a man, or that His death was only a great example of self-sacrifice, makes this dying cry of His utterly unintelligible. It makes Him appear less patient and calm in a dying hour than many a martyr, or even than some heathen philosophers. One explanation alone is satisfactory. That explanation is the mighty scriptural doctrine of Christ's vicarious sacri- fice and substitution for us on the cross. He uttered His dying ffly, under the heavy pressure of a world's sin laid upon Him, and imputed to Him.

Let us observe, lastly, in these verses, that it is possible to be forsaken of God for a time, and yet to be loved by Him. We need not doubt this, when we read our Lord's dying words on the cross. We hear Him saying to His Father, " Why hast thou forsaken me " and yet addressing Him as " my G-od." We know too, that our Lord was only forsaken for a season, and that even when forsaken He was the beloved Son in whom, both in His suffering and doing, the Father was " well pleased." There is deep experimental instruction in this, which deserves the notice of all true Christians. No doubt there is a sense in which our Lord's feeling of being u forsaken" was peculiar to Himself, since He was suf- fering for our sins and not for His own. But still after making this allowance, there remains the great fact that Jesus was for a time " forsaken of the Father/' and yefc for all that was the Father's " Beloved Son." As it was with the Great Head of the Church, so it may be in a modified sense with His members. They too, though chosen and beloved of the Father, may sometimes feel God's face turned away from them. They too, some- times from illness of body, sometimes from peculiar affliction, sometimes from carelessness of walk, some- times from God's sovereign will to draw them nearer to Himself, may be constrained to cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me " It becomes believers who feel " forsaken," to learn from our Lord's experience not to give way to despair. No doubt they ought not to be content with their position. They ought to search their own hearts, and see whether there is not some secret thing there which causes their consolations to be small. (Job xv. 11.) But let them not write bitter things against themselves, and hastily con- clude that they are cast off for ever, or are self-deceivers, and have no grace at all. Let them still wait on the Lord, and say with Job, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." (Job xiii. 15.) Let them remember the words of Isaiah and David, " Who is among you that feareth the Lord - that walketh in darkness, and hath no light ? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." " Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me \ Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him." (Isaiah 1. 10. Psalm xlii. 11.