Mark 15 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Mark 15:29-31

Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked Him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save Himself!

Oh, the temptation Jesus must have faced in these moments. The temptation to give up, knowing full well that with just a whisper of a word, this all could be over, and He would be revealed as the Son of God. That He could prove all the doubters and blasphemers wrong in an instant and be glorified in their presence.

Yet, for the sake of you and me, He didn’t. He knew what they didn’t; to save Himself was to forfeit us, but to forfeit His life was to open the door to salvation for all who would choose to enter. His heart is beyond words, His heart is beyond beautiful, He heart is beyond what we deserve, and yet He gave completely and gives it to us continually because that’s Who He is!

Imagine a Gospel that rested upon us instead of Him, a Gospel in which we had to earn this kind of love and acceptance. That, my friends, would be no Gospel at all but rather a nightmare that no one would succeed in escaping. But our God chose to humble Himself, be degraded by the very ones He came to save, and persevere on the cross to save you and me.

We truly can’t fathom how great His love is, but we can see how much He paid for us. And since He loved so greatly and completely, we must do the same. Those who have been set free by Christ have no debt except the continuing debt to love one another to the glory of God. We have a choice each and every day. The choice is, do we honor the God who paid for us by giving as He gave? Loving as He loves? Serving as He served? Or will we put all that aside to serve the glass things of this world and the enemy that controls them? Christ said who the Son sets free is free indeed. Are we experiencing that freedom in Him today? If not, then let us examine our lives as we lay them at His feet and truly rejoice and walk in His freedom today!

John 19:30- When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Romans 13:7,8- Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

God bless! I love you all, but His love not only bore the cross but endured it and all that it threw at Him to save a wretch like me! Like us! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Mark 15:32

“Let this Messiah, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.

Have you ever felt like you have done too much to be forgiven, or ran too far to come back to Him? Today, let’s be encouraged by the thief on the cross. The thief who probably deserved to be there, the thief who may or may not have ever worshipped or served God, the thief who had joined in ridiculing and insulting Christ. The thief was all these things and probably so much more, but he was also the thief who made it into Heaven!

Luke 23:42,43- Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This thief was transformed into a redeemed child of God that day. Not by works or deeds but by faith, repentance, and a humble heart-posture before the Lord. He didn’t win any converts, preach any sermons, or serve in any soup kitchens, but he is dancing on the streets of gold today!

Most would have said that he could never be saved; most would have written him off, but not Christ! I believe He is teaching us something that we can all be encouraged by; that He can save the worst of us, and as long as there is breath in your lungs, there should be hope in your heart! That He will not despise or reject us if we come to Him with a broken and contrite heart.

Come to Him; He is waiting. You may have been lost, but now you are found! You may have just cursed Him yesterday, but don’t let that stop you from repenting and worshipping Him today! His mercies are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness!

Lamentations 3:22,23- The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.

God bless! I love you all, but His love saved even a wretch like me! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!