Toward Jerusalem: The Cross

The last lesson ended with the disciples asking, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41) In this lesson Jesus asks them that question himself; and when he has asked it, he sets out for Jerusalem.

Jesus asked his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29) Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” (Mark 8:29) That was the right answer. But Jesus went on to say that the Son of Man “must suffer many things … and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31) Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him; Jesus rebuked Peter: “you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:33). The disciples recognized that he was the Christ, but they never imagined that the Christ’s road would be a road of suffering.

Three times Jesus spoke of how he would suffer, be killed and rise again. The disciples “didn’t understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him” (Mark 9:32), and on the road they “disputed with one another on the way about who was the greatest” (Mark 9:34). “Jesus was going in front of them” (Mark 10:32) on the way to Jerusalem, and he told them that the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

As they drew near to Jerusalem, Jesus called Lazarus, four days dead, out of the tomb, and said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). “So from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death” (John 11:53). A few days later he rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey, while the crowds shouted, “Hosanna to the son of David!” (Matt 21:9).

On the night of the Passover, Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples. The text says that, “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He got up and washed his disciples’ feet. He took bread and said, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19); then he took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). The Lord’s Supper that the church keeps today comes from this night. The meaning of the Lord’s Supper and how it is kept are things churches understand differently; please ask your own church.

After supper, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire” (Mark 14:36). Then he was betrayed and arrested, and “They all left him, and fled” (Mark 14:50). Peter followed him into the courtyard and three times said he did not know him; the rooster crowed, and “When he thought about that, he wept” (Mark 14:72).

Jesus was tried, mocked and flogged, and nailed to a cross between two robbers. He prayed for those who crucified him: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34); and to the robber beside him who repented he said, “today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). At the last, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) and “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30) At that moment “The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom” (Mark 15:38), and the centurion standing opposite him said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).

Why did it have to be this way? The New Testament’s own answer is: “But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The body of Jesus was laid in a tomb, and a stone was rolled against the entrance. The disciples were scattered; Peter had wept. The story seems to stop here—the next lesson begins early on the morning of the third day.