A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.”
Mark 15:21-24 NIV
Mark’s carefully crafted report has many details. However, unlike Isaiah’s prophecy, he offers no interpretation except a reference, here and there, to prophecy fulfilled. After all, he was telling the story of a servant! The Servant’s feelings, emotions, suffering, are not the issue. What matters is how He took His punishment…rebelling or submitting? For our salvation, this was the crux.
In His extreme weakness after taking a beating to within an inch of His life, Jesus had a moment of reprieve. The soldiers had pity on Him, or did they? Was it compassion that made them force Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross, or was it impatience?
The crucifixion was carried out with military precision. The soldiers had done it before…many times. They were merely carrying out the instructions of their commanding officer. They were hardened to the screams, the cries for mercy, the writhing in pain, even the swearing and cursing from the lips of the condemned…but this man?
“Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me…Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.”
Psalms 22:12-13, 16-17 NIV
Not only was He condemned but also treated in the cruellest way possible, with the jeers, taunts, and insults that could have crushed His soul.
“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.”
Psalms 22:14-15 NIV
The Son of God, this Servant of Yahweh, felt it all in the most intense of suffering!
Body battered and beaten, flesh flayed to the bone, hands and feet pierced with huge iron nails, naked and exposed, taunted, mocked, and insulted, He was eerily quiet. No sound came from Him, not a word of abuse, not a threat or protest of innocence, not a cry for mercy…only a flicker of pain across His face that spoke more loudly than the agonising cries of the guilty. And one soldier took note!
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
Isaiah 53:7 NIV
Did they drop the upright into the hole with a little more care than they did for the other two criminals? Did they treat Jesus a little more gently, kindly than normal? I think not! They were possibly even rougher, even more cruel, to force a sound from this unusual man… and at least one of the co-crucified took note!
With practised indifference, the soldiers did what they always did. They crouched on the ground at the feet of the condemned and gambled for the discarded clothing. Some garments were in tatters, hardly worth a second glance but….
Jesus’ garments were unusual, His outer garment, a seamless robe, as Mark took pains to mention, the evidence of His office as High Priest…was highly symbolic and significant…
Google explains…
“In Jesus’s day, the most prominent figure, who wore a seamless robe, was the Jewish High Priest. This sacred, one-piece garment was part of the high priest’s priestly vestments, symbolizing unity and holiness, and was an integral part of his ministry when performing rituals in the Temple.”
“Jesus’ seamless robe holds significance as a symbol of divine unity, Jesus’ unified and perfect character, and the unity of the Church, representing the indivisible body of Christ. Its un-torn nature symbolized the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, highlighting Jesus’ role as a perfect high priest whose divine mission could not be fractured.”
And so, the soldiers, callous and unaware, unwittingly fulfilled yet another prophecy,
“They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”
Psalms 22:18 NIV
As the spectacle of this crucifixion unfolds, darkness and light clashed, with darkness the seemingly undisputed winner except for one thing…
Peter, the traditionally recognised source of Mark’s gospel, put this pinnacle moment in history, and its eternal outcome, into its divine perspective…
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
1 Peter 2:23-25 NIV
God’s story was conceived in eternity, written in prophecy, and fulfilled in time. It reached its climax at 3pm on that Passover day when Jesus and the Passover lamb took their last breath together, sealing forever the fate of darkness and releasing on mankind the era of grace!