The Suffering Servant
Mark 15:1-39
Pastor Brian
Fort Bend Community Church
Good Friday Message
2025.04.18
Introduction
Good evening,
church.
Today is Good Friday. It’s a heavy day. A holy day.
We’re here to remember the cross.
You see the wooden
cross over there?
We just put it back up this week.
A storm knocked it down last year.
But this cross
reminds us of something much greater.
It reminds us of what Jesus went through for us.
Jesus is Christ. He
is the Son of God.
He came into this world to save us.
And how did He save us?
By going to the cross.
By dying in our place.
If we believe Jesus
is the Son of God,
And if we believe He came to save us,
Then we are called to follow Him.
Even when it’s hard.
Even when it costs us something.
To follow Jesus
means we walk the road of the cross.
It means we suffer like He did.
But it also means we will share in His victory.
Because on the cross, we see pain, love, grace, and hope.
Our text today is
from Mark 15:1-39.
Mark describes the
events on the day Jesus was crucified in 12 daylight hours, from 6 a.m. to 6
p.m. Everything happened in these 12 hours.
Mark carefully outlined the day's events in three-hour intervals: 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. It is designed to be memorable.
The center of the passage's chiastic structure and emphasis are on Jesus’ crucifixion as the King of the Jews in verses 22-26. The climax is verse 39, when the centurion declares, “Truly, he is the son of God.”
This evening, I want
to share two points with you.
- We are
to follow Christ, the Son of God, in His suffering.
- We are
to follow Christ, the Son of God, in His victory.
1. We Are to Follow Jesus
in His Suffering
Read Mark 15:1–5
1 Early in
the morning, the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole
Council immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away
and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 Pilate questioned Him,
“Are You
the King of the Jews?”
And He
answered him,
“It is as
you say.”
3 The
chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again,
saying,
“Do You
not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”
5 But
Jesus made no further answer; so, Pilate was amazed.
At 6 am, Jesus was
delivered to Pilate, the governor of Judea, for trial. Pilate questioned Jesus,
“Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus is the king becomes a powerful truth that
holds the passage together. Jesus was called the king of the Jews six times in
the story. Jesus is mocked and crucified as the King. He is, after all, rightly
the King, but no one recognizes him as such, even if they address him as the
King of the Jews.
And He answered him,
“It is as you say.” The answer seems weak and noncommittal (15:2). Yes,
Jesus is the Messiah, Christ, the true king, alright. Jesus did not deny that
he was, but it is not in the sense that he was the king of an earthly kingdom
in competition with the authority of Rome. Pilate seems to understand this (15:4,
12). He was not mad. He understood.
Yes, Jesus is King.
But He is not like earthly kings. He came not to take power but to lay down His
life. His crown was made of thorns, His throne was a cross, and His victory
came through sacrifice. In His persecution and execution, Jesus showed us the ultimate
act of self-denial—He took up His cross and became the atoning sacrifice for us
all.
That’s the kind of
King we follow.
A King who lays down His life.
And if He did that, we must also take up our cross and follow Him—even when
it’s hard.
Read Mark 15:6–15
6 Now at the feast, he
used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 The man named
Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder
in the insurrection. 8 The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had
been accustomed to do for them. 9 Pilate answered them, saying,
“Do you want me to
release for you the King of the Jews?”
10 For he was aware
that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief
priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.
12 Answering again, Pilate said to them,
“Then what shall I do
with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back,
“Crucify Him!”
14 But Pilate said to
them,
“Why, what evil has He
done?”
But they shouted all
the more,
“Crucify Him!”
15 Wishing to satisfy
the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged,
he handed Him over to be crucified.
The man released
instead of Jesus was named Barabbas, which means “son of the father,” bar (son)
and abba (father). It’s deeply ironic. Barabbas—a guilty man, a rebel sentenced
to death—goes free. Jesus—the true Son of the Father, innocent and without
fault—takes his place and dies.
Even more striking, it wasn’t the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus. It was the crowd. A crowd of people, some of whom may have welcomed Him days before, now demand His death. Like a gladiator game, they call for crucifixion—the most brutal form of execution, even despised by the Romans themselves.
And still, Jesus does not resist. He goes to the cross willingly, not just in place of Barabbas, but in place of all of us. This is the love of our King, taking the judgment we deserved so we can go free.
And the judge says,
“You’re free to go.”
You’re confused.
“What? How?”
And then you see
someone else step forward and say,
“I’ll take the
punishment. Let them go.”
That’s Jesus.
Read Mark 15:16–20
16 The soldiers took
Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together
the whole Roman cohort. 17 They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a
crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him,
“Hail, King of the
Jews!”
19 They kept beating
His head with a reed, spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20
After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own
garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.
The entire scene of mockery
is carefully structured to emphasize the degradation.
Jesus was humiliated to the maximum degree. First, they dressed him up like a fake king and shouted, “Hail, King of the Jews,” mocking him.
Second, He was shamed in front of a big crowd. A Roman cohort typically consisted of around
600 soldiers.
Third, He was stripped twice in front of everyone. The first time, he was
stripped naked and put on the purple role, shaming him on purpose. The second
time, he was stripped naked again and nailed to the cross. For six hours, Jesus
was hanged on the cross naked and died naked.
Everything they did
was meant to humiliate him, to shame him.
Even the criminals
crucified next to Jesus joined in the mocking (Mark 15:32), and when Mark
describes the actual crucifixion, he uses just three words: “He was crucified.”
That’s it—no drama, no details—just the cold, painful reality.
Why so brief? Mark wants us to focus not just on the fact that Jesus died but also on how He died—with suffering, shame, and sacrifice. This is the King we follow. He gave everything.
And yet, He stayed
silent.
He took it all.
He could’ve stopped
it.
But he chose the cross.
He chose to suffer.
For us.
So again I ask—can
we follow Jesus without cost if our King suffered like this? To follow Jesus is
to walk the way of the cross. To follow Jesus, even if it costs us.
Have you ever been
laughed at for your faith?
Maybe you were at
school or work, and someone asked what you did over the weekend. You said, “I
went to church.” And then came the eye rolls. The awkward silence. Maybe even a
mocking, “Oh, you're one of those people?” That sting of being misunderstood or
seen as “too religious” — Jesus knows exactly what that feels like.
When Jesus stood
before the Roman soldiers, they didn’t just arrest Him — they mocked Him. They
laughed at Him like He was a joke.
Have you ever felt alone because you chose to do what’s right?
She was a Christian
in her workplace, and all of her colleagues had been divorced at least once or
twice. She was laughed at and ridiculed when they asked why she stayed in her
marriage, one man, one woman, for life. And instead of being celebrated for doing
the right thing, following Jesus, you were left out, ignored, and alone.
Jesus knows that
loneliness.
When He stood on trial before Pilate, His disciples were nowhere to be found. The very people He loved and led for three years ran away. Peter, one of His closest friends, denied Him three times. Jesus knows what it’s like to do the right thing and be completely alone.
To follow Him means
we will sometimes suffer too.
There’s a cost to
discipleship. It’s not always popular. It’s not always easy.
Sometimes, following
Jesus means choosing silence when we want to fight back.
Have you ever been
accused of something unfairly, and your first instinct was to shout, “That’s
not true!” Or to clap back in anger? But the Spirit nudged you to stay quiet —
to trust that God sees and will make things right?
That’s precisely
what Jesus did.
Mark 15:5 says, “But
Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.”
Even when He could
have defended himself and had the right to speak, He chose silence. He chose
the path of peace.
It means choosing
love when we want revenge.
Maybe someone hurt
you. Lied about you. Betrayed your trust. Every part of you wanted to get back
at them — post something, say something, make them feel the pain they caused.
But instead, you forgave. You prayed for them. You chose to love like Jesus.
That’s what Jesus
did on the cross.
As people hurled
insults and nailed Him to the wood, He said, “Father, forgive them.”
That’s not weakness
— that’s the strongest kind of love.
It means saying,
“God, I trust You,” even when life hurts.
When the prayers
don’t get answered the way you hoped.
When the healing
doesn’t come.
When the door slams
shut.
When the people you
counted on let you down.
This is what it
means to follow the King who stayed on the cross.
Not the king who
escaped pain, but the King who endured it for us.
And when we follow
Him — even when it’s hard — we’re not just walking in His footsteps.
We’re walking with
Him.
Mark says, “Whoever
wants to follow me and lose their life for me and the gospel will save it.” 8:35
A student stands up
for a classmate being bullied, even though it costs her popularity.
A young man refuses
to cheat on an exam, even when everyone else does—and fails because of it.
A teenager chooses
to say no to a party where they know people are doing wrong, and spends Friday
night alone.
These moments hurt.
But in those
moments, you’re walking with Jesus.
You’re walking the
way of the cross.
2. We Follow Jesus,
the Son of God, in His Victory
Mark carefully chose
the details of the narrative to evoke the picture of the triumphal march of a
victorious general.
The triumphal procession of a Roman military victor The
sequence of events in 16-21
Commencement at the Praetorium 16
Attendance of the whole cohort 16
Clothing of purple 17
Crown 17
Formulaic accolades from soldiers 18-19
The procession 20
Read verse 21.
21 They pressed into service a
passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and
Rufus), to bear His cross.
They forced a man
named Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’s cross.
This wasn’t random.
Simon plays a special part in this story.
In Roman parades,
when a bull was led to be sacrificed,
A man would walk beside it, carrying the weapon for the sacrifice.
Simon plays that role here—walking with the one who will be sacrificed.
Read Mark 15:22-27
at 9 a.m.
22 Then they brought
Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 They tried
to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they
crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for
them to decide what each man should take.
25 It was the third
hour when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him
read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”27 They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His
right and one on His left.
They took Jesus to
Golgotha (gowl·guh·thuh)—“The Place of the Skull.”
It echoes the Roman “Ca-p-ito-line Hill,” the “Place of the Head,” where
victors were celebrated.
In those parades, a
sign would show who had been conquered.
Over Jesus’s head, a sign read: “The King of the Jews.” He was crucified on the
third hour, at 9 a.m.
Jesus was lifted
between two criminals.
Not in glory—but in suffering.
But don’t miss this:
This was not a defeat.
This was Jesus’s triumph.
This was His victory
parade—just not the kind the world expected.
Now Jesus is
crucified between two robbers. The two crosses, one on the left and one on the
right.
Do you remember when James and John asked to sit at Jesus’s right and left in
His glory?
Well, here’s the
irony:
Jesus is lifted, but not on a throne.
And at His right and left are not faithful disciples, but criminals.
The ones who said
they would follow Him to the end?
They’re gone.
Only the “stand-ins”
are left.
Simon carries the cross.
The robbers hang beside Him.
The authentic disciples are missing.
And Jesus suffers
alone.
Mark wants us to see
how deeply Jesus was abandoned. He is a King on a cross, with no followers, no
glory, and no comfort. Even the light disappears at noon. Darkness begins at 12
p.m. And soon, even God will turn away.
This is the depth of Jesus' suffering. He was left utterly alone, so we would never have to be.
Read Mark 15:29–32
at 12 p.m.
29 Those passing by
were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying,
“Ha! You who are going
to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come
down from the cross!”
31 In the same way,
the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among
themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. 32 Let
this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may
see and believe!” 33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole
land until the ninth hour.
As Jesus hung there,
people walked by and mocked Him. The second round of mockery. This time it is
everyone.
They said,
“You said you would rebuild the temple—save Yourself!”
The priests and scribes said,
“He saved others—He can’t save Himself.”
Even the robbers
insulted Him.
But here’s the
truth:
He could have saved himself.
But if He did—He couldn’t have saved us.
If I were Jesus, I
would jump down and slap them on the face and then go back to the cross
But he stayed on the
cross.
He
chose to suffer.
He chose not to escape.
He came to do this, and this is the path He calls His
disciples to follow.
“If we share in His
sufferings, we will also share in His glory.”
The story of the crucifixion is not just about pain—it's about promise.
It reminds us that
the road Jesus walked—a road of suffering, obedience, and love—is the same road
we are called to follow. But the destination is glory.
The glory of Resurrection.
The glory of Peace.
The glory of Hope.
Let’s look at what Jesus’s suffering brings us:
Example 1: Jesus’s
suffering brings forgiveness.
Have you ever
carried guilt like a backpack full of bricks? Maybe it was something you said
you wish you could take back. Or something you did in secret, hoping no one
would ever find out. That feeling of shame? Jesus came to carry that. You can
have victory.
On the cross, with nails through His hands, Jesus looked at the very people who were killing Him and said,
“Father, forgive
them.”
That moment wasn’t
just for them—it was for us too.
The blood that ran down the wood wasn’t just a tragic scene—it was the price of our pardon.
Because He suffered,
we can be washed clean.
Because He stayed on
the cross, we don’t have to stay stuck in our sin.
When Peter denied Jesus three times, he thought his failure had disqualified him forever. But after the resurrection, Jesus met him on a beach and restored him with love, not shame. That’s what forgiveness looks like.
Think about the criminal on the cross next to Jesus. He had no good deeds, no time to make things right. But with one sentence—“Jesus, remember me”—he received a promise:
“Today you will be
with Me in paradise.”
That’s what the death of Jesus does: it throws open the gates of heaven to the unworthy, the broken, and the desperate. It opens eternity to anyone who says yes.
His pain brings us peace.
Jesus didn’t just
suffer physically. He suffered emotionally. He was betrayed by friends,
abandoned in His greatest need, mocked and misunderstood. Maybe you’ve felt
that kind of pain too.
But here’s the miracle: because Jesus took on our pain, we don’t have to carry it alone.
He understands
anxiety, grief, loneliness, and loss—because He lived it.
Imagine someone who has walked through the exact fire you're going through—then reaches back to walk with you. That’s Jesus.
He is the wounded
healer who meets us in the middle of our chaos and whispers,
“Peace. Be still.”
This is our King.
Not one who escapes
the cross.
But one who stays on
it.
He didn’t come down because His love held Him up.
He stayed—for you.
He suffered—for you.
He rose—so you could
rise too.
So when life gets hard, when suffering comes, remember:
If we share in His
sufferings, we will also share in His glory.
The cross isn’t the end of the story.
It’s the doorway to
something eternal and glorious.
Read Mark 15:34–39 3
p.m.
34 At the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA
SABACHTHANI?”
Which is translated,
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 35 When some of the bystanders
heard it, they began saying,
“Behold, He is calling
for Elijah.”
36 Someone ran and
filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink,
saying,
“Let us see whether
Elijah will come to take Him down.”
37 And Jesus uttered a
loud cry and breathed His last. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two
from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front
of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son
of God!”
And at 3 p.m., Jesus
cried out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Mark recorded the original sound of
the cry in Aramaic, Jesus’s spoken language, to bring us close to the original
scene. We could hear it. The sound of a loud voice in total darkness. The earth
shook. The ground was moving. The Son of God had died.
He breathed His
last.
And when He died,
something amazing happened:
The curtain in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The curtain was
60 ft. tall, 30 ft. wide, and 4 inches thick. It was the curtain that separated
heaven and us, separated the people from the presence of God. His death opens
heaven to us.
Remember the
beginning of the Gospel of Mark? Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” “the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove
descending upon Jesus… and a voice came out of heavens: You are My beloved
Son.”
Now in Mark 15:38,
right after Jesus breathed His last, the Bible says,
“The curtain of the
temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”
When Jesus died, He
made a way for anyone to come to God—directly, freely, fully.
Now it’s gone. It is
done.
Because Jesus opened the way.
He was abandoned, so
we would never be.
Then something even
more amazing happened.
The Roman centurion—the soldier in charge—saw how Jesus died.
He just saw the way
Jesus died.
And he said,
“Truly, this man was the Son of God.” Recognized who Jesus is and what he had
done.
He saw the truth
that the others missed.
Not because Jesus came down from the cross.
But because Jesus stayed on it.
Mark uses his
confession to bring to the climax of his gospel: Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.
“Truly, this man was
the Son of God!”
Mark 15:32-39 is
also carefully crafted: the motif of "sight" is constantly repeated
in the unit.
A Mockers: " ... that we may see and believe" (15:32)
B First judgment: darkness for three hours
(15:33)
C Cry in a great voice; forsaken by the Father
(15:34)
D Bystanders: "Behold He is calling
Elijah" (15:35)
D' Man giving wine: "Let us see if Elijah
is coming ... " (15:36)
C' Cry in a loud voice: the departure of the
spirit (15:37)
B' Second judgment: rending of the sanctuary
curtain (15:38)
A' Centurion
sees and believes (15:39)
The religious
leaders at the cross mocked Jesus. They said, “Let the Messiah come down now
from the cross, so that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:32). They were looking
for a sign—something spectacular, something powerful. They wanted Jesus to save
Himself, to prove His identity through escape.
But contrast that with the Roman centurion. He saw the very opposite—Jesus not saving Himself, but suffering and dying. And he saw and believed.
This is one of the most surprising moments in the Gospel of Mark. A Gentile soldier, likely in charge of the execution, stood facing Jesus and saw how He died. And at that moment, he declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39). No religious training. No background in the Scriptures. No miracles. Just the cross. Just Jesus crucified.
And yet, this soldier becomes the first human in Mark’s Gospel to speak the truth of who Jesus is—with conviction. Others had said it—demons, the voice from heaven—but now a human heart, a pagan soldier’s heart, is opened to the truth.
This moment shows
the heart of the Gospel. It’s not in signs of escape or displays of power. It’s
in Jesus’ willing suffering. The centurion didn’t believe because Jesus came
down from the cross—he believed because Jesus stayed on it. He saw the courage,
the love, the surrender. And something in that death said, “This is no ordinary
man. This is the Son of God.”
Meanwhile, the
disciples—the ones who should have been there—are gone. They had once claimed
they would never leave Him. But in His greatest hour of need, they’re nowhere
near. It is a Roman soldier, not a follower, who stands in front of Jesus and
sees the truth.
Mark is teaching us something important here. Faith doesn’t come from signs or safety but from seeing Jesus rightly. And sometimes, that sight comes not in moments of glory but of pain. That kind of vision is a gift from God.
The centurion
becomes a model for us. He didn’t see miracles, hear parables, or see Jesus
crucified, but that was enough—that was all he needed to believe.
This is the call of
discipleship: to see Jesus for who He is, even in suffering. Stand with Him,
not just in the victories, but at the cross. We should follow this not just
when it’s easy but when it costs us something.
This means being
faithful in the "morning watch"—remaining with Jesus when the world
mocks, when the sky grows dark, and when God feels silent. The one who hung on
the cross and died is the Son of God. And to follow Him is to walk the same
road of love, sacrifice, and victory through surrender.
The cross is not the
end of the story. It is the beginning of a new journey—a renewed mission of
discipleship, in which Jesus still invites His followers to walk with Him, take
up their cross, and follow the suffering King.
Application:
As we saw in
Christ's suffering, he is the Son of God. What is your response to his
invitation to walk with him and follow him, even if it costs you?
Conclusion
This is the Jesus we
follow.
A King who chose
suffering.
A King who died so
we could live.
A King who opened
the way to God.
So what does it mean
to follow Him?
It means picking up
our cross.
It means choosing
love over hate.
Truth over lies.
Faith over fear.
It means staying,
even when it’s hard.
Because one day, we
will share in His victory.
One day, we will
rise with Him.
And we will say,
just like that soldier did:
“Truly, this man was
the Son of God.”
So today, will you say yes to Jesus?
Not just to admire
Him from a distance—but to follow Him up close?
Even if it leads
through suffering, because it also leads to resurrection.
This is our King.
Not one who escaped.
But one who stayed.
And now He calls us
to follow.
Will you answer?
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