The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible: Mark 15:25-47 - Book Report/Review Example

of the Exegetical Analysis of Mark 15: 25-47 The passage in which I will do anexegetical analysis is Mark 15:25-47.The main idea of the passage is to depict the suffering and crucifixation of Jesus Christ. The outline of Chapter 15 Verses 25-47 is as follows1: Verses 25 of Mark talks about the hour in which Christ was crucified. Verses 26 talks of the inscription written on the cross of Jesus Christ. Verses “27 to 28” talks of the fulfillment of the scriptures. Verses “29 to 32” talks of the sufferings of Christ through blasphemies. Verse “33 to 34” talks of the time in which Jesus Christ was about to die. Verses “35 to 36” talks of the belief in Prophet Elijah by the Jews. Verses “37 to 38” talks of the death of Jesus and the tearing on of the veil of the temple. Verses 39 talks of a centurion leader who believed in Jesus Christ. Verses “40 to 41” talks of the followers of Jesus Christ. Verses “42 to 45” talks of the death of Jesus Christ, the attitude of Pilate towards the death of Jesus Christ and arrangements for His burial. Verses “46 to 47” talks of the manner in which Jesus Christ was buried. Mark was an apostle of Jesus Christ and he was born in Cyrene, Pentapolis2. His parents were Jews who settled in Cana, near Galilee. However, after the death of his father, Mark was under the care of Peter who raised him up and educated him in classics and law. In this book, Mark generally talks of the life and the mission of Jesus Christ. The book identifies the mission of Jesus Christ as redemptive and he had to suffer and die for the sins of mankind. In this book, Mark talks of the life and the mission of Jesus Christ. The book identifies the mission of Jesus Christ as redemptive and he had to suffer and die for the sins of mankind3. Mark identifies the status of Jesus as the Son of God .This is witnessed by God Himself during the Baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist. Mark also identifies the various miracles performed by Jesus Christ, such as exorcism of unclean spirits, Mark Chapter 1 Verses 24 to 26. The author also describes the manner of teachings of Jesus Christ. He states that Jesus Christ taught with great authority and not as the scribes, this is depicted in Mark Chapter 1 verses 22. Chapter 14 of Mark describes the prediction of Jesus Christ on one of his own disciple. The said disciple will betray him and later on, he will be killed. Jesus predicted all this during the last supper. Mark Chapter 15 provides the description of how Christ was judged and later on killed by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He gives a detailed description of the death of Christ in Mark 15-25-47 and thus the fulfillment of the prophecies. Chapter 16 of Mark talks about the resurrection of the Messiah. The chapter gives an analysis of the resurrection of Christ and of his accomplishment of his mission on earth. The chapter also gives out a detailed description of the situation then and the work Jesus left for his disciples. Analysis Mark chapter 15 verse 25 to 47 describes the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Chapter 25 of Mark 15 explains the hour of crucifixion. The Jews divided the night and the day into four equal parts of three hours each. According to the Jews, the first hour of the day commenced at six o’clock in the morning and ended at nine. The second hour started at nine and ended at twelve. The third hour started at twelve and ended at three. In giving the time of Christ crucifixion, Mark wanted to emphasize on Jewish traditions of time management4. However, in my opinion, Mark emphasized on time in order to show that the crucifixion of Christ took place during the day and thus develop on verses 33 which talks of the miraculous emergence of darkness over the land at the sixth hour. Mark chapter 26 talks of the inscriptions written on the cross of Jesus Christ. The Inscription written was, this is the King of the Jews. The Jews from their prophets believed that a messiah will come to deliver them from their enemies. The messiah was described by the Old Testament prophets as a great king who will establish a peaceful kingdom5 and thus the inscriptions on the cross of Jesus was put there as a mockery to the Jews who believed that Jesus was the so prophesied messiah. However, in my opinion, the inscriptions were placed there by the Roman Soldiers on command of Pilate. In this, he wanted to mock the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were the religious leaders of the Jewish people. In the other gospels, these religious leaders protested at the inscriptions but the governor had his way. The Prophet portrayed the Messiah as an everlasting ruler whose kingdom will not have an end. The prophet prophesied of the Messiah as one who will bring peace and judge in righteousness6. The messiah was to be the King of all humanity and those who had their faith on God. Jesus is considered as the Prophesied messiah and he was not only the king of Jews but the king of all who believed in God. Verse 27 of Mark Chapter 15 depicts the kind of people crucified with Christ. Mark calls them two robbers. One was on the right and the other one was on the left. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ among the two robbers symbolizes the nature of people whom Jesus came to save. Jesus came for sinners and that’s why he was sandwiched between the two robbers. In this the prophecies of Old Testament prophets came into a fulfillment7. He was numbered with transgressors. The situation also depicts the kinds of crime that was meted on people who committed crimes such as robbery, death by Crucifixion. Thus Jesus was considered, by leaders of Jewish religion as to have committed serious crimes by teaching the actual facts of God’s word. Verses 29 of Chapter 15 talks of the blasphemies that Christ suffered . They talk of the teachings of Christ which he said that he can rebuild his temple in three days if it is destroyed. The Jews thought of the physical temple in Jerusalem which was built by Solomon and later rebuilt by Ezra the scribe8. However Jesus was speaking of a spiritual temple. On the crucifixion of Jesus, his disciples scattered but after three days, when Jesus resurrected, he was able to gather back all his disciples and commission them to teach people the Christian values as he taught them, this was the temple Jesus spoke about. Mark Chapter 16 verses 9 to 18. The blasphemies against Jesus Christ was not only limited to passersby but also to the religious leaders .Verses 31 of Chapter 15 talks of the chief priest sarcastically saying that Jesus Christ saved others and he cannot save himself. The priests never believed that Jesus was the messiah9. According to the prophecies, the Messiah was to die and after three days resurrect. The mission of the Messiah was to save mankind from sin and he was not to come as a warrior but as a lamb10. Based on his ignorance, the Chief priest engineered the death of the Messiah and thus mocking him on the cross without having sufficient knowledge of who actually he was. Verse 33 of Mark Chapter 15 talks of the miraculous sign of darkness on the land, this occurred up to the ninth hour. The scriptures say that at the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. The notion of darkness symbolizes an important theme in the verse. Jesus called himself the light of the world but in this verse, on his Crucifixion, the miracle portrayed during daylight is the emergence of darkness. Darkness symbolized sin and thus during that period, the devil was seen as winning the war against righteousness. In my opinion, darkness symbolized the nature of Christ’s mission. During that period, Jesus Christ was suffering for the sins of mankind and thus the emergence of darkness at the sixth hour, symbolized the cause of Christ suffering, sin. Verses 34 of Mark Chapter 15 talks of the time in which Christ finally died. Before Jesus Christ died, he called on his father. He asked why God had forsaken him. Some scholars argue that it was weakness on the side of Jesus Christ. Jesus showed his weaknesses by crying out loudly to God. However, in my opinion, this depicted the dependence of Jesus Christ to God the Father. Jesus dependence on God is also depicted in the scriptures when he says that he cannot do anything without God the father. If Jesus was weak, he could not accept to be crucified for His faith. He could have ceased teaching the new Christian faith and submit to the religious leaders of the time. But Jesus chose to do the opposite. He taught on the synagogues, on the streets and he boldly criticized the Jewish religious leaders. Verses 35 and 36 depict the reactions of spectators to the cry of Jesus Christ. Because they could not understand the language that Jesus spoke, some thought that Jesus was calling Prophet Elijah. Acting on that Knowledge, one of the individuals filled a sponge full of sour wine and gave it to Christ and others mocked to see whether the Prophet will come. According to this verse, the Jews could not understand the language of Christ and thus some commentators have argued that Jesus spoke the heavenly language brought about by the Holy Spirit. I will agree on this line of reasoning and further add that Jews had knowledge of Prophets and thus their fear of Prophet Elijah. The death of Jesus Christ is captured in Verse 37 of Mark Chapter 15. Mark notes that Jesus Christ cried in a loud voice and breathed his last. The death of Jesus Christ is a significant aspect in the lives of humanity. It was the divine purpose of God for Christ to suffer and later die in order for mankind to be redeemed from sin. The death of Christ was prophesied by Old Testament Prophets and thus it was fulfilled during the days of Apostle Mark. In my opinion, the death of Christ symbolized defeat of sin and showed the mercies of God. For he sacrificed his only begotten Son for the sake of Mankind. Verse 38 talks of the veil which was on the temple being torn apart. The veil in the Temple separated the holy of holies section of the temple from other sections. The Jews believed that the holy of Holies section is where God was and it was only the High Priests who were allowed to visit the Holy of Holies section and commune with God11. However, with the death of Jesus Christ, this changed. The tearing of the veil signified that the presence of God was accessible to anyone who wished to seek his face. I will further add that the presence of God will only be manifested on those who believe in Christ as the promised Messiah and it was not limited to the Jews alone as Gods people. The coming of Christ and his death changed all this. Verses 39 to 47 talks of the burial arrangements of Jesus Christ . In Verses 43, Joseph of Arithmathea offers to take the body of Christ and bury it. Joseph was a prominent member of the council of Pharisees. Among the Pharisees, the teachings of Jesus were appealing, but however, due to their greed, they were unable to accept the teachings of Christ since it challenged their status in the Jewish Society. I would agree with this notion, however, we have to note that it was only Joseph of Arimathea who believed in the teachings of Christ. For in the earlier verses, he sought Christ secretly in order for Jesus to explain to him the Secrets of the heavenly Kingdom. Application of Mark 15:25-47 This passage can be applied in our day to day Christian lives. For instance, this passage can be encourage Christians who are facing persecutions and challenges not to lose hope but soldier since. This is because Jesus Christ was also persecuted and he suffered on our behalf. This message is important in teaching the fundamental values of giving. God gave his son Jesus Christ to come on earth and die for our sins. This was in accordance to his redemptive plan of mankind. This passage can also be used to teach Christians to trust on God and on his promises. God, through his prophets, prophesied the coming of the Messiah and he fulfilled this promises through Jesus Christ. God has made many promises in the bible and because He is faithful, he will fulfill all the promises he has given to mankind. This passage can also be used in evangelism and winning of souls for God. Non believers can be encouraged to submit their beliefs in Christ since he came for the purposes of saving the world from sin. His death and resurrection was the climax of his mission. This passage can also be used to encourage people to help in the time of need. For instance, Joseph of Arithamea identified the need of Christ to be buried and thus he used his influential position in the society to facilitate the burial of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christians who have the ability to satisfy the needs of others should use their positions to do so. In conclusion, this passage depicts an important history event in the history of Christianity. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pillar that holds the religion of Christianity. For instance, the teachers of the law and religious leaders tried to prevent the apostles from declaring the resurrection of Christ. Mathew Chapter 28 Verses 11 to 12. Works Cited Buttrick, George Arthur. The interpreters dictionary of the Bible: an illustrated encylopedia. Pennslevenia: Abingdon Press, 1962. Demarest, Gary W. The communicators commentary. Dallas, Tex.: Word Books, 1990. Print. Douglas, J. D., and N. Hillyer. The Illustrated Bible dictionary. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press ;, 1980. The Broadman Bible commentary. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Pr., 1969. The New Interpreters Bible: general articles & introduction, commentary, & reflections for each book of the Bible, including the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books.. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 19942004. Wiseman, D. J.. Tyndale Old Testament commentaries. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity, 1964. Read More