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Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions and our look at Mark 15, Day 5, this last
day of our look at this chapter where we see Jesus Christ giving His life for us
on the cross because He loves you, because He loves you. As we look at verses 38
to 47 today, we're going to see what happens from the moment that Jesus dies.
Now most of Mark chapter 15, as you've seen, is not us looking at the cross,
seeing what happened with Jesus.

It is more looking from the perspective of Jesus, out from the cross, to see the
reactions of those who were there. And there are some incredible reactions from
the moment that Jesus dies. Beginning in verse 38, there's an occurrence that
happens and then you begin to see the reactions of people.

Let me read for you verse 38 to 47. "The curtain of the temple was torn in two
from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood in front of Jesus, heard
His cry and saw how He died, He said, 'Surely this man was the Son of God.

' Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary
the mother of James and the younger and Joses and Salome. In Galilee, these
women had followed Him and cared for His needs.

Many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem were also there. It was
preparation day, that is the day before the Sabbath. So as evening approached,
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council, who was himself waiting
for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus's body.

Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion,
he asked Him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that
it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

So Joseph brought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen,
and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the
entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw that this
was where he was laid.

" Here are the testimonies of those who were present, the testimonies of changed
lives already beginning. I'd like to work backwards through these verses,
beginning with where we just ended with a man by the name of Joseph, Joseph of
Arimathea, and talk about the different kinds of testimonies that we see that
day. In Joseph, you see a courageous testimony.

The Bible says he went and he boldly asked Pilate for Jesus's body. Now what was
so bold about it? Well, Jesus had been crucified because he was an enemy of
everyone in the country.

And here is Joseph, a member of the council who is standing with Jesus. Who
knows what's going to happen to him because he stands with Jesus that day, but
he boldly asks. Now you notice as I read through those verses that Pilate was
surprised that Jesus was already dead.

Remember a couple of days ago we talked about the fact that death on the cross
was death by suffocation, death by exposure to the elements, and it often took
days. So the fact that Jesus was already dead, it was a surprise to him. He did
not know that Jesus had given up his life.

In fact, because this was the day before the Sabbath, the celebration of the
Passover, they actually broke the legs of the others who were on the cross
because that would bring death more quickly. They didn't want people hanging on
the cross on their day of celebration. So he's surprised and he finds out that
Jesus has actually died and he says to Joseph, "You can take him, you can bury
him.

" And you have these, to me, almost tender verses. Joseph takes him from the
cross, he wraps him in the linen, he places him in this cool tomb that's cut out
of rock, and then he rolls this stone against the entrance of the tomb, this
huge stone against the entrance. Here is Joseph.

We don't know much about him, but we know that he has the courage in this moment
in Jesus's life to put him in the tomb, and what a place he has in the Gospel
story. This is the tomb that Jesus is going to be resurrected out of. This is
the tomb that's going to be empty.

Joseph didn't know this that day. He just knew that it was a tomb where he would
bury Jesus, but he becomes a part of the Gospel story because he had the
boldness to give testimony to Jesus when no one else would. As we walk backwards
through this story, there are also some women there, some women who are giving a
faithful testimony.

The Bible tells us that they looked from far off. They saw what was happening.
Why were they there?

These women were there because they were followers of Jesus Christ. They'd
followed him in much of his public ministry. The power of his life was what
caused them to be there even in his death.

The Bible tells us that many of these women were there. While the disciples, the
men, fled, these women were there, and they watched what happened from a
distance. In fact, a study of the Gospel show us that there were many women at
the cross who were specifically named.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there, mentioned by John. It's always amazed me
that Mary, Jesus's mother, Mary, who had heard Gabriel say, "A Savior's going to
be born of you. " Mary, who had been there in Bethlehem and seen what it meant
for the Savior to come into the world.

Mary, who had seen Jesus grow up as a boy, then become a man and begin to serve.
Mary's there that day to watch her son and to watch the Son of God give his life
on the cross. Mary Magdalene is also there, another follower of Jesus Christ.

Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, was also there. Have you noticed there's a
lot of Marys in this story? There's potentially five different Marys in this
story.

People didn't have a lot of creativity with names in that day. There are a lot
of Jesuses in Jesus's day. There are a lot of Marys.

There are a lot of Josephs in Jesus's day. There's also a woman by the name of
Salome that's there. There's the mother of the sons of Zebedee who is there.

Mary's sister, who might be Salome, but might be another person. Mary, the wife
of Clofus, was also there. Clofus, who was probably Joseph's brother.

We don't know that some of these women might be the same women, but there's at
least five separate women specifically mentioned at the cross. Matthew tells us,
Mark tells us, many women were there. Here we're told specifically that many
women watched him die on the cross and that Mary Magdalene and Mary, another
Mary, saw him laid in the tomb.

This is important because these were the women that were the first to go and see
the empty tomb. So we're clear on the fact that they didn't go to the wrong
tomb. They saw the tomb in which he was laid.

They knew where to go on Easter morning and they saw the tomb that was empty. As
you walk through this story, there is this faithful testimony of the women who
followed Jesus Christ in his life, but also to watch him as he gave his life for
us. As you see the testimonies in this story, there's also the Roman centurion
who gives an unexpected testimony.

Here's the centurion who'd been assigned to Israel and an assignment to Israel
was not a good assignment. This is a country that's on the edge of the Roman
Empire. This is a country where a soldier was involved in police actions and
squabbles instead of real battle.

He has to feel that his life in some way as a centurion has become sidelined and
all of a sudden here he is in the middle of the most important event in human
history. Now what prompted this Roman officer who this was just a day on the job
for him to see how Jesus died and to say truly this, this is the son of God.
This is a man who had possibly seen hundreds die in this day and for him, the
way that Jesus died, he saw something he had never seen and the way that Jesus
died.

The only thing he saw of Jesus is the way he died. He didn't get to see the way
that he lived. He didn't get to see the way that he taught.

He didn't get to see the way that he healed. He didn't get to see the way that
he loved as he lived. He just saw the way that he died, and when he saw the way
that he died, he knew this is the Son of God.

This is someone. This is something that I have never seen before. Now, as you
walk through the testimony of this day, there's the testimony of Joseph, a
courageous testimony, the women, a faithful testimony, the centurion, an
unexpected testimony.

But to me, the greatest testimony of all is the testimony of God the Father. It
is a powerful testimony. It's in verse 38.

The moment Jesus died, here's what happened. The curtain of the temple was torn
in two from top to bottom. What a miracle.

To me, this is my favorite event in this entire week. This curtain in the temple
is the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the outer part of the
temple. The Holy of Holies was the portion of the temple into which no one could
enter, just the high priest, just once a year to offer for the sins of the
people.

Other than that, no one could enter because it was the place of God's presence,
and human beings could not endure being in God's presence. He was too holy. We
were too imperfect.

Jesus is dying on the cross, and the moment he dies, the temple curtain is
ripped. And it's from top to bottom. It is God reaching down from heaven, taking
that curtain, and he is saying joyfully, ripping that curtain.

The presence of God is now with men. It's not trapped in a temple anymore. It's
not put in a place anymore.

It's in human hearts. Because Jesus died on the cross, paid the price for our
sins, he has made us holy. And because he's made us holy, his Holy Spirit can
now live in our lives.

Now, I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. I'm not sinless.

You're not sinless. But you are made holy by what Jesus did for you on the
cross. The price has been paid.

And because the price has been paid, God can live in our hearts now. And God, in
this moment, does the miracle of tearing this curtain in two so that no longer
is the presence of God held behind the curtain for no one to see. It's in the
hearts of men.

It's in the hearts of women. The presence of God is now in our hearts. The
presence of God is now in your heart.

That is something to rejoice in. Even before the resurrection, we've got things
to rejoice in. Let's tell God about our joy right now.

Jesus Christ, thank you. Thank you that in dying for us on the cross, you are
present with us in our daily lives. We don't have to go to some temple somewhere
to see a building where your presence resides, but we can never really
experience it.

We can have the daily experience of relationship with you because of what you
did for us on the cross, because you died for us. We can have the daily
experience of life with you because you gave your life for us. And so thank you.

Thank you for your presence in our hearts, your presence in our lives. And as
we've looked this week at what you did for us in your death, we look forward
next week to look at what you've done for us in your resurrection, what you do
for us in our daily lives. Thank you, Jesus, for Easter.

In your name we pray. Amen. And we'll see you next week.

Do not miss next week. It's the end of the story. It's the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.