Abide Together: Reflections on Mark 15

In Mark 15 Jesus is taken before Pilate and condemned to die, mocked by soldiers, mocked by the chief priests, mocked by scribes, mocked by the criminals being crucified with Him, He is crucified and then buried by Joseph of Arimathea.  The thing that strikes me most today in this passage is what the chief priests and scribes say to Jesus while mocking Him on the cross.  They say, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.”  They were right and wrong and right again.  They were right in saying that ‘He saved’ others physically from their diseases and disabilities, but they were wrong in saying “He cannot save Himself.”  He could have easily saved Himself physically from the horrors of the cross.  Yet, there was also a sense that the chief priests and scribes were right when they said, “He cannot save Himself.”  They were right without knowing they were right.  They were right, because His character would not allow Him to save Himself – because He came to die for the sin of people from every tribe, tongue and nation on earth.  In not saving Himself, He saved all those who repented and believed before Him and all those who would repent and believe after His death, burial and resurrection.  Lord, thank You for sending Jesus who “could not” save Himself, because of His love – so that He could and would save others from the penalty, power and ultimately the presence of sin.

– Bryan McKenzie