Big Idea - The early Church, up until the time of the reformation, practiced meditating on the cross and contemplating the suffering and death of Jesus at great length. This often involved looking at an image of Jesus on the cross, often for hours at a time. Many wrote their reflections into poems and books, for example On the Passion of Christ by Thomas A Kempas, and O Sacred Head Now Wounded, a poem of over 300 lines by Arnulf of Leuven (died 1250). But, most modern Christians, outside of Catholicism, no longer practice this kind of deep reflection and meditation on the cross of Christ and His suffering. Why don't we? Is the suffering and death of Jesus not that important to us? Is His death so insignificant that it doesn't warrant our most focused attention and serious contemplation? The loss of this spiritual practice goes back to the reformation and reaction against the use of images in worship based on the second commandment in Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Many of the reformers rejected any and every kind of use of an image of God in worship, including images of Jesus, including representations of Jesus on the cross. Now whether or not the reformers were correct in their understanding of the first commandment is conversation for another day, but it is unfortunate that when they took the images of Jesus off the cross, they also stopped the practice of long reflection on the price that Jesus paid when He died for us on the cross. The argument is also made that Jesus is no longer on the cross, He is risen! That is true, but if the result is that we no longer think very much about His death or His resurrection, then we have lost something that is, I believe, essential to the Christian life and faith! Paul made a huge deal of Jesus and His death on the cross. He writes to the Corinthians "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" 1 Corinthians 1:22–23. And again, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 (Corinthians 2:2). Why does this matter? The great danger is that when we fail to give serious thought to the cross and to contemplate the wonders of all that took place through Jesus' suffering and death, the Gospel gets over simplified and shallow. The truth is, many Christians in the modern Church have a trivial view of the Gospel and the result is a very shallow and weak faith. So, as we come today to Mark's depiction of the cross, let us take the time to reflect deeply on all that happened to Jesus, and how all that took place had a deep and profound purpose in making salvation possible and complete for those who believe! How does the suffering and death of Jesus save us?

There are no less than 12 declarations that Mark makes in these verses that portray all that Jesus experienced on the cross which were necessary to obtain our salvation. Jesus became sin and each of these statements can be connected with the devastating results of sin that are reversed by His death and suffering. That is, the eternal consequences were erased and done away with, because Jesus suffered those consequences in our place. 1) He took our place, 2) He experienced death so that we might have life, 3) He suffered torment to bring an end to suffering and pain, 3) He was punished so that we might be blameless, 4) He was naked and poor so that we might be clothed and rich, 4) He lost all honor and glory so that we might receive honor and glory, 5) He was the King who suffered total defeat so that we could have complete victory.