33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).a]
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,b] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:33-40
Jesus, thank You that You suffered for us. Thank You that You died on the Cross. Thank you that You are the eternally begotten Son of God. Lord open our eyes to see that we are the ones worthy of punishment. We deserve that Cross.
But You don’t treat us as our sins deserve. Jesus, the Beloved Son, took our place. He took our sin and shame in exchange for forgiveness and righteousness and eternal life. Lord, how can we begin to thank you? Take our lives as living sacrifices to your praise and glory for everything You’ve done.
Amen.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:4-6
