Twenty-Two” Mark 15:16-41 9 December 2018
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“Twenty-two” Mark 15:16-41 9 December 2018 There’s an episode of The Twilight Zone called “Twenty-Two” about a woman who was overwhelmed by stress and work that she ended up in a hospital… and began having a recurring nightmare. Here’s the opening narration by Rod Serling- This is Miss Liz Powell. She's a professional dancer and she's in the hospital as a result of overwork and nervous fatigue. And at this moment we have just finished walking with her in a nightmare. In a moment she'll wake up and we'll remain at her side. The problem here is that both Miss Powell and you will reach a point where it might be difficult to decide which is reality and which is nightmare, a problem uncommon perhaps but rather peculiar to the Twilight Zone. So this woman, Liz Powell, is hospitalized for exhaustion. And she keeps suffering a vivid, recurring nightmare in which she wakes up in her hospital room and takes the elevator down to the basement, to the hospital morgue, Room 22. A nurse then emerges from the room and says, “Room for one more, honey.” * INSERT 22 MORGUE PIC Liz screams, flees to the elevator, and the dream ends. And this keeps happening over and over. She goes to the basement of the hospital, and a nurse pops out of the hospital morgue, Room 22, and says, “Room for one more, honey.” Liz is eventually discharged from the hospital and she goes to the airport, buys her ticket, and is told that she will be on Flight 22. This freaks her out, but she crosses the tarmac to board her plane and she climbs the boarding stairs. As she reaches the top, a stewardess, who the nurse from her nightmares, emerges from the cabin of the plane. Then the stewardess says, “Room for one more, honey.” * INSERT 22 AIRPLANE PIC Screaming, Liz stumbles down the stairs and races back to the terminal. Concerned airport staff try to calm her. And outside the window, Flight 22 taxis to the runway, takes off— and then explodes in midair. Closing narration by Rod Serling- Miss Elizabeth Powell, professional dancer. Hospital diagnosis: acute anxiety brought on by overwork and fatigue. Prognosis: with rest and care, she'll probably recover. But the cure to some nightmares is not to be found in known medical journals. You look for it under 'potions for bad dreams' - to be found in the Twilight Zone. It may be today, it may be tomorrow, it may be next week, it may be next year, but at some point in the future, you are going to go through such immense trials and sufferings that you may begin to think that God has abandoned you. Acute anxiety brought on by your circumstances. Life will feel like a nightmare. Wave after wave of suffering. Life will feel like a bad dream. And you may even begin to entertain the thought that God has deserted you and doesn’t love you. And you may even begin to think that you are losing your mind. Well, the truth that we’ll see today in God’s word rings true whatever we are going through in life, even if life feels like a recurring nightmare. We may not always know what is going on in our life, or why God is allowing what is going on in our life, especially when life feels like a bad dream, but can always have hope and say- JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW. Such a simple phrase. Such a simple song. But there is an ocean of meaning in those words. We celebrate Advent because of those words. We can come into God’s white-hot holy presence because of those words. Everything about the Christian life hangs on those words. Everything that we are hangs on those words. Everything that we love about God hangs on those words. Everything about Advent hangs on those words. Listen, if you’re looking to get a tattoo some time in the near future, this would make some pretty sweet ink. Just get these words tatted on you: JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW. And that’s exactly what we’re going to see in Mark’s gospel today. So turn in your Bibles to Mark 15. Jesus loves me, this I know. Why? Because the Bible tells me so! It’s all over the Bible. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. And that’s exactly where we need to turn our attention right now. To the Bible. To God’s word. LOOK AT VERSE 16… And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. After Jesus endured the horrible scourging that we saw last week, He is led away and the Roman soldiers began mocking Him. They put a purple robe on Him and a crown made of thrones and began mocking Him. And then they began hitting Jesus with a reed and spitting on Him and bowing down before Him. Such a humiliating, degrading scene. And all done by people Jesus loved. It’s one thing to be mocked and ridiculed, but to be mocked and ridiculed when you are dying man, that’s cold. And yet, Jesus, in this moment, is loving these people and giving His life for them. Who does that? What kind of God are we dealing with here? One who has mercy on and compassion for His enemies, even when they are laughing in His face as He dies for them. Incredible. I mean, if you cross me, my nature is to attack. I’m not gonna let you get away with hurting me. I’m not gonna let you hurl insults at me. I will fire back. But, Jesus? What does He do? He dies for His enemies, even when they mock Him as He is dying. This should make us bow in adoration. What kind of God are we dealing with here? Not one that we would create. Not one that acts like we do. So they led Jesus away to crucify Him and by this point, He was too weak to carry the crossbeam of His cross. And they compel Simon of Cyrene to carry it for Jesus. And notice that they offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, likely to dull the pain, but Jesus refused. And then they crucified Jesus along with 2 robbers, who were on His right and left. And that’s when the mocking and ridicule commenced. It’s been nothing but mocking and ridicule and accusation for the past 12 hours or so for Jesus. His last day on earth was non-stop mocking. People laughing in his face. People spitting in His face. Ridicule. Insult. Accusations. People saying mean things like, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself. You’re no Savior. BOOM. ROASTED. He said He could tear down and rebuild the temple in 3 days and yet He can’t get off the cross. BOOM. ROASTED.” Everyone that passed by made of fun of Jesus. They roasted Him. They would wag their heads and mock Him. The crowds mocked Jesus, the chief priests mocked Jesus, the soldiers mocked Jesus, even the 2 thieves on either side of Him mocked Jesus. All of this, of course, is Jesus fulfilling Psalm 22. Everything that is happening in this chapter was already recorded by David in Psalm 22. Listen to David and see how Jesus is fulfilling Psalm 22 as He is mocked and then crucified- Psalm 22:12–18 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.