Mark 14 & 15

I'm trying very hard to not type Mary instead of Mark these days.  As you can imagine, I'm very used to typing Mary and K happens to be my middle initial so I end up with Maryk instead of Mark alot.  I catch them most of the time.  Now that the reading of Mark is almost over I probably could have gotten away without mentioning this, but I'm tired and I'm afraid it's going to happen again and I'm not going to see it.

A few passages from Mark 14 & 15 that "speak" to me:

Mark 14:72 "...'Before the rooster crows twice you will deny three times that you even know me.'  And he [Peter] broke down and wept."  

I wonder how much anguish Peter is in at this point.  Jesus has been arrested and on top of that, Peter finds himself denying the Son of Man.  Scared, lonely, not yet understanding what was to happen.  I feel for Peter, no wonder he broke down and wept.

Mark 15:34 "Then at three o'clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabach-thani?' which means "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?'"

I found a writing on this passage in Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses by Ron Rhodes.  It was very enlightening and I'm going to quote it.  "Jesus' statement reflects that fact that His greatest suffering on the cross was not physical, but spiritual.  He bore the guilt of the entire world on Himself.  Christ became sin for us ( 2 Corinthians 5:21).  And that moment brought an agony of the soul that was unparalleled.  Christ had become the object of His Father's displeasure, for he became the sinner's substitute."   And He did that for us.  That's a very humbling thought.

 Mark 15:37-39  "Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.  And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, 'This man truly was the Son of God!'"

I have to imagine that a very intense sense of dread may have fallen over those who witnessed this and realized what had just happened.  This passage always sends chills through me.