Mark 15, verses 35 to 47, veil of the temple rent

 

Mark 15:35  And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. 36  And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.

 

Psalm 69:21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

The Jews were looking for Elijah to come back.

 

Malachi 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

 

But they didn’t know that a type of Elijah had already come but he wasn’t received.

 

Matthew 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Mark 15:37  And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

 

John 10:18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

 

Mark 15:38  And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

 

The Holy of Holies is open to all of us now. It was not torn from bottom to top by a man but by God from top to bottom. This is a religious sign for the Jews. Both nature and the temple have revealed Him.

 

Mark 15:39  And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

 

This person was saved at this point. The acknowledgement, responding to what he hears, understanding that Jesus is God in the flesh, is what is necessary for salvation.

 

Mark 15:40  There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 41  (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

 

Women played a prominent role in Jesus’ earthly ministry but are not given a command to lead. They are not responsible for what the apostles are given. This does not imply inferiority. There are several Marys other than His human mother.

 

Mark 15:42 ¶  And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,

 

Here is why everyone says that Christ was crucified on Friday because the Sabbath would have been Saturday even though it is said in different places that he spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

Matthew 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

 

But this isn’t a regular Sabbath but a special Sabbath. This was a special high Sabbath.

 

John 19:31  The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

 

Read Leviticus 23 carefully.

 

There was 12 hours in a day and 12 hours in a night (John 11:9). The 24 hour day began with the evening before which is why creation in Genesis 1 is described as the evening and the morning of a day. Jesus spent parts of three days and nights in the grave and at some point on Saturday night after 6pm but before 6am Sunday He arose. I don’t want to get into an argument about which day of the week Christ was crucified on as we celebrate His resurrection, sometime on Sunday morning.

 

Mark 15:43  Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. 44  And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

 

It was very common for a person to stay on a cross for a long time before they died but usually not ripped to shreds like Jesus was. People under crucifixion often stayed up there and slowly died.  It was a brutal death.

 

Mark 15:45  And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

 

Here, he gives permission.

 

Mark 15:46  And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.

 

Isaiah  53:9  And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

 

Mark 15:47  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.

 

Luke 8 tells us that Mary Magdalene had seven devils removed from her. The Bible does not say she was a prostitute, which is another Pagan/Christian myth.