Reading 19: A Savior who redeems by losing

Read Mark 15:1-47

These 47 verses are an important part of the Passion history which follow Peter’s threefold denial of his Lord. The following scenes seem to escalate the chaos begun by Peter’s faithless denial. With every cluster of seemingly unredeemable bad news that follows Jesus shows his ability to share a good news that redeems and saves us from ourselves.

As Peter later noted in one of his epistles even though we can deny our Lord he cannot deny himself. And so even when a criminal named Barabbas is saved by the will of a confused crowd our Savior willfully gives his life to save and truly set free Barabbas and all of us.

Jesus’ quiet non-response to the authority of Pilate is his way of announcing, without a word, that despite the current chaos he is in control and will always have the final authoritative word.

Our Lord as revealed in these verses is utterly forsaken by his closest associates—his friends. He is put at the merciless mercy of the Roman authorities—the state. His very own Jewish religious leaders condemn him with false accusations and deceitful intentions—the church. If we are honest we see ourselves in all of these faithless infidelities from those closest to those furthest from our Lord—us.

To be our true Savior and Redeemer we need one who loses all in order to find us; to be one who is abandoned by all in order to claim us. Not only are our hearts claimed as we turn to this one who gives all to redeem us but he is the one who, by going through betrayal, denial, rejection, and death, gives us the saving knowledge that whatever we face, even death itself, he has been there and will be with us. By the end of this chapter the faithful women are still as clueless as those who came before them and, as we are sometimes, trusting that in the present darkness and death there will arise light and life.

How in your life do you see your active and passive faithlessness to our Lord?

Why is it so important to know that our Lord intentionally laid down his life for us and went through all for us? How does such an understanding change us and how we live life and trust him for the future?

Gracious Lord, as we hear your passion story again we realize that we could not call you gracious if you had not graciously refused to give us what we all deserve. We could not call you Lord if we did not experience your compassion. Thank you for emptying yourself for us that we might know the true fullness of your cross-shaped love. Amen.

Pastor Michael Stone of Mt Pisgah, Hickory, has 32 years of experience serving parishes primarily in Florida. Married 38 years to Laura, they have two grown boys. His claim to fame is that he is uncle to actress Emma Stone.