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This is our look through Mark chapter 15 in Daily Drive Time Devotions, Day 3.
We're looking at verses 25 to 32 today. As we look at these verses, we're going
to be looking at those who looked at Jesus that day that he died on the cross.

Let me begin with the last half of verse 24 and read through verse 32. Dividing
up his clothes, they cast lots to see which each would get. It was the third
hour when they crucified him.

The written notice of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews. " They
crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who
passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So!

" "You were 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. " Let this Christ, the
King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. Those
crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

As we've walked through this Gospel of Mark, we've seen again and again that he
gives us just the facts. Mark's Gospel is in some ways the bullet point Gospel.
And you see it no more clearly than here.

A lot of the other Gospels fill in exactly what happened this day. Mark just
goes through the facts. Here's what happened with the sign.

Here's what happened with the soldiers. Here's what happened with the crowd.
Here's what happened with the priests.

As we walk through this, we are in essence looking out from the cross at those
who are surrounding the cross. What did the people who surrounded the cross do
this day? Well, let's just walk through what Mark tells us.

The soldiers cast lots. Now, the Bible tells us that this is a fulfillment of
prophecy. That the soldiers or some group was going to cast lots for his
clothing that day.

It's an exact fulfillment. One Jesus could not have control. Well, the most
powerful fulfillment is that day to me.

The casting of lots was a gambling game whereby they said, "Here's Jesus' best
garment. We don't want to rip it into a lot of pieces and divide it amongst
ourselves, so let's gamble for it. " It was still a game to them this day.

Still a game. Pilate put up a sign. While the soldiers are casting lots,
Pilate's putting up a sign.

The other Gospels tell us that this sign, the King of the Jews, was put up by
Pilate. Here he is still trying to seem in control, but he clearly had no
control over what was happening. And then there are the two robbers, one on the
right and one on the left.

The other Gospels tell us more. Tell us that one of the robbers eventually turns
to Jesus Christ and puts faith in him. But remember, Mark is focused on just a
simple explanation of the facts.

There were two robbers that were there. He also explains to us that there was a
crowd. There was a crowd that insulted him.

That's what everybody did during crucifixion. That was part of the humiliation
of it. As crowds walked by and saw those who were being crucified, they would
regularly throw humiliation at them.

They would just say whatever they wanted, and those who were being crucified
would regularly curse those who were humiliating them on the cross. Not Jesus.
He was silent.

But the crowd insulted because they didn't understand his love. And then there
are the priests. They mocked him also because they didn't understand his
salvation.

They said, "We want you to save yourself. " If he'd saved himself, he could not
have saved others. They didn't understand it at all.

They said they wanted him to come down from the cross so that they could see and
believe. Not understanding that it was the very cross that helps us to see and
believe. They just didn't understand.

Now, by the way, since this is the last time that we'll see these priests, these
priests who were to send Jesus to the cross, I want to let you know they are not
the enemy of this story. They're just showing themselves to be in need of God's
love, just like I am, just like you are. In fact, in the end, many of these
priests were to believe in Jesus Christ.

If you look a little ahead in the story, Acts, the book of Acts, which tells the
history of the early church, Acts chapter 6 verse 7 says, "So the word of God
spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large
number of priests became obedient to the faith. " A large number of these very
people that condemned Jesus because of their envy came to Jesus Christ later and
became obedient to the faith. So anyone who paints these priests as the enemy of
the story doesn't understand the story at all.

Anyone who paints the soldiers as the enemy of the story doesn't understand the
story at all. Now, sometimes I hear people talk as if the story of the
crucifixion is a story that says that the Jewish people were the enemy of this
story. Not at all.

The disciples were Jewish men. Jesus was a Jewish man. No, they're not the enemy
of this story.

They're just part of the story like you and I. We're just doing what you and I
would have done if we had been there that day. You see, the real question is,
who sent Jesus to the cross?

Was it the soldiers? Was it the Romans? Was it the priests?

Was it the crowd? Was it Pilate? Who sent Jesus to the cross?

And the answer is, I did. My sin sent Jesus to the cross. The answer is, you
did.

Your sin sent Jesus to the cross. We all did. He died for our sins.

And those who were caught up in this story that day, he died for their sins too.
D. L.

Moody, the famous preacher, wrote years ago about the heart of Jesus toward
those who were at the cross. And he imagined Jesus gathering with his disciples
after the resurrection and saying, "Go find those who were there at the cross. "
Just like he said after the resurrection, he really did say this, "Go find my
disciples and let them know I'm going before you.

" Moody imagined what would have happened if Jesus had sat down and talked to
his disciples about those who were at the cross. And knowing the heart of Jesus,
you know, this is exactly what would have happened. Jesus would have said, "Go
find those who insulted me while I was on the cross and let them know that I
still love them.

Find the priests who said he cannot save himself and let them know that if I
didn't save myself, it was only so that I could save them. Find Pilate. Go find
Pilate so locked in a prison of political fear and tell him I can give him real
freedom.

Find Pilate who asked, "What is truth? " and tell him, "I am the truth, the way
the truth and the life. " Find the soldiers who gambled for my garments and let
them know that I have a much greater treasure to offer them.

And look for those in the crowd who were throwing insults at me and let them
know that there is nothing that could make me stop loving them. " And Jesus
would have said to these disciples, "Also remind yourself, although most of you
deserted me while I was on the cross, I will never fail you. I will never
forsake you.

" Let's talk to him together. Jesus, as we look at this day that you gave your
life for us on the cross, on this day there were some that were cruel torturers,
there were some that were seeming instigators, there were many that were
spectators, some were suddenly involved bystanders, some were just workers, some
were profiteers. Jesus, you died for us all.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, that you allowed yourself to be crucified,
to pay the price for my sin. But remind me today that it's not just my sin, it's
the sin of every person I'm going to meet today, whether they agree with me or
disagree with me, whether they act like my enemy or they act like my friend.

Every person I meet today, you died for their sin. Jesus, help me to treat every
person I meet today as a person that you died for, that you love. Help me to see
the people in my life today through the cross and what you did for us all there
on the cross.

I ask this, Jesus, in your name, amen. Tomorrow, we're going to look together at
what Jesus said while he was on the cross.