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Darkness, Death, Despair

March 30th, 2023

Mark 15:33-41

Mark tells us that “darkness came over the whole land,” (v. 33). Christ called out desperately: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v. 34). No one could have more heartbroken than these faithful women—Jesus’ own mother, Mary Magdalene, and Salome, the mother of James and John.

After one last anguished cry, the Messiah—God’s Love incarnate—died.

The crucifixion also hints at a new world already begun.

We have the startled proclamation from the same centurion who commanded Christ’s execution that, “Surely this man was a son of God!” But even more disturbing for religious authorities celebrating their enemy’s destruction was that the veil of the Temple—the very curtain shielding God’s symbolic dwelling place on earth—was torn in two. In an instant, the old system and cycles of death and sacrifice were overthrown; God’s very self was left uncovered and exposed.

Author: Aaron Bolerjack