What Does the Cross Mean?
Mark 15:21-32 ESV
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. 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 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.
1st Miracle: Darkness
Mark 15:25 NLT
It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
Mark 15:33 NLT
At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.
John 1:9 NKJV
“True light that gives light to every man.”
Luke 2:32 NIV
“A light for the Gentiles.”
John 8:12 ESV
"I am the light of the world."
2nd Miracle: Separation
Mark 15:34 NLT
Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Mark 15:34a NLT
Then at three o’clock Jesus called out…
Mark 15:34 NLT
Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice…
Mark 15:34 NLT
Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Mark 15:35 ESV
And some of the bystanders hearing it said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah."
Mark 15:36a ESV
And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink…
Mark 15:36 ESV
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."
Psalm 22:1-3a NIV
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One…
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
God made him who had no sin to be sin…
3rd Miracle: Strength
Mark 15:37 ESV
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.
Mark 15:37a ESV
And Jesus uttered a loud cry…
John 19:30 ESV
“It is finished.”
Luke 23:46 ESV
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
Mark 15:37 ESV
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.
John 10:17-18 NIV
“I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”
John 15:13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
4th Miracle: Access
Mark 15:38 ESV
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
“This veil, which was the thickness of a palm breadth, was sixty feet long and 30 feet broad, and separated the Holy and the Most Holy Places. This veil was of such tough fabric and so woven that it could not have been rent in twain by an earthquake or the falling of a lintel.”
-Alfred Edersheim, Historian
5th Miracle: Resurrection
Matthew 27:51-53 ESV
And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Matthew 27:53 ESV
…and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Mark 15:39 ESV
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!"
Mark 1:1 ESV
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark 15:39 ESV
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!"
Mark 15:40-41 ESV
There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.
