Mark 15:35-39 - The Centurion's Confession

Mark 15:35-39
35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” 36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Message: The Centurion's Confession

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface - Jesus is on the cross being crucified. He came to the cross already weak from the beatings, having the pain of the crown of thorns, the name calling, the belittling, the mocking. He had already endured much and then he had the cross and the pain of being nailed to this cross, though Mark doesn't mention these details. He talks about the people that mocked him while he was on the cross, the passerby's, the chief priests, and the robbers on either side of him. After he endured all darkness fell on the face of the earth from 12 to 3pm and then he voiced to God a fear of rejection plea in saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"

When some of the bystanders heard Jesus call out to the Father, "Why have you forsaken me?" they said, "Behold, He is calling for Elijah."  The fact that Elijah did not die, but God took Him directly to heaven resulted often led to speculation among the Jews of the day. Elijah became a man that could provide supernatural assistance to their lives in times of need because he was thought to be a supernatural being. But, this was a misunderstanding of who Jesus was, focusing on the man instead of the God who did the work. And even in this moment of Jesus on the cross, it seemed that some bystanders thought they heard Jesus calling out to Elijah, but he wasn't, he was calling out to God. Again, in life, we often hear what we want to hear.

And the mystery of Elijah continues when someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.” There are differing details regarding this account. But Mark simply follows that someone saw that Jesus needed a drink. Perhaps his remark at the time of feeling forsaken, feeling thirsty, meant that someone felt compassion for Him in that moment and provided Him one last drink before He would die. Because after this Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. Mark again is not specific on the words of the cry, but that Jesus uttered this loud cry which signified a culmination, an ending for he then breathed His last. He bore a pain and a torment during the 3 hours of the earth being darkened and now he dies And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Crucifixions happened but it becoming dark in the middle of the afternoon with Jesus on the cross was different and now this veil of the temple torn in two was something else different, almost supernatural signs of what Jesus had accomplished on the cross, dealing with sin and then removing the veil or curtain and giving everyone the same access to Jesus.

Then there is what appears to be the first favorable response of someone after witnessing this act from Jesus. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Though others had misunderstood Jesus' words, thinking Elijah, the centurion guard heard something different and responded with the confession that Jesus was the son of God. It was that recognition that He was who He said He was. It was the job of the centurion to watch the crucifixion and confirm that it has been carried out correctly, and obviously in Jesus' crucifixion he witnessed things different. This was no ordinary crucifixion. He confesses him not as the Son of Man which was the name Jesus often referred to himself as, but instead states that He is the Son of God. He is God. He is divine.

Summary - Upon Jesus at the end of His life, He has endured the wrath of God and the divine judgment of sin and he cried out that it was finished. People misunderstood Him and some thought He was calling out to Elijah, but after crying out and breathing His last, one of the Centurion guards, tasked with watching and making the crucifixion makes a confession that Jesus is the Son of God. He is divine.

Promise: RC Sproul says, "The Centurion was the first to realize that something of cosmic significance was happening that afternoon outside Jerusalem." God revealed Christ to this man - wisdom to the unlikely.

Prayer: O Lord, My Lord, How majestic is your name in all of the earth. You conquered death and purchased my sin on the cross of Calvary. You went to the cross free from sin and gave all of yourself. You withstood the pain of the wrath of God and did it all. And immediately people were affected and saw you as you rightly are, the son of God, divine, holy. Help me to keep looking to You and trusting in your Salvation. You are my Savior. You have rescued me. I am free, free indeed.