Now we turn in the word of God to Mark 15. We're looking at these verses 27 to 32. Now in the previous section we have the scourging of the Lord Jesus Christ where his kingship was rejected. The Savior is now hung upon the cross where he is scorned and reproached. Psalm 22, verse 6, I am a reproach of men and despised of the people. Psalm 31, 11, I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors. Striking, isn't it? His neighbors reviled him. and reproached him. Psalm 69, 9, the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. The hatred for God is given visible, concrete expression in hating Christ. That's an important point that the Lord makes. He is hated, for they hated the Father also. So what are these verses teaching us this evening? When we look at them under this heading, scorning the priesthood of Christ, scorning the priesthood of Christ, we note first of all the symbol of Scorn in verses 27 and 28. The Lord Jesus Christ is crucified between two thieves. Now the soldiers who did this probably didn't know the significance of what they had done. I mean there were probably many who were being crucified at the same time. And they, perhaps a soldier just gathered them all up and hung them on a cross one after the other. But Mark tells you, verse 28, it was so done to fulfill scripture. They didn't have to know the order. They just had to do it. And in Providence, this is the way it was done. But Mark tells you, the prophetic significance of even the order of the crucifixion, the thief, the saviour and the next thief. In other words, God makes the wrath of man to please him. That's a soul humbling point, isn't it? The wrath of man used by God to please Him. How often we are afraid, we worry about the wrath of man. How often we are concerned and alarmed as to what may happen, what could happen. Yet the cross is a reminder. The wrath of man will please him. As far as the soldiers are concerned, just another series of criminals. Scripture, however, uses the word transgressors. He was numbered with the transgressors, not only destitute of the moral law, but a wicked and lawless person. The Saviour numbered with such people, transgressors. That word is translated for you elsewhere in our authorised version, without law, 1 Corinthians 9.21. To be lawless, 1 Timothy 1.9. And also to be wicked, Acts 2.23. So these various translations that we have reinforce the significance of this term to be a transgressor. Without law, wicked, lawless. So this is the visible message that they wanted to give to the world. All these are transgressors. That the Savior was numbered with them as though he was one of them, like them. I am credible that he was without sin. He did no sin. He knew no sin, was actually numbered with the transgressors on either side, these thieves, these malefactors. Yet remember the words of Pilate, what evil have he done? He knew that Christ was not lawless, was not wicked. In Luke 23, Luke records Pilate saying, I find no fault in this man. As we noted last evening, no one wanted to hear. The mob cried, crucify him, crucify him. And in the course of all these executions, this prophecy is fulfilled. The symbol of scorn said before all. But then secondly, we note the instruments of scorn. Let's follow Mark Kerfoot. First of all, we note, they that passed by, verse 29. And they that passed by reeled on him, wagging their heads and saying, ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, see it thyself and come down from the cross. Now these crucifixions were obviously in a public place. day that passed by, so it must have been a main road of public thoroughfare going from one place to another. Here are these travelers, they're on their way to somewhere else, day that passed by. And as they see these crosses, as they see all these people being hung on a cross, they pass comment. It's interesting how they comment on the Lord. They're obviously familiar with the Lord's teaching. Or perhaps His teaching simply had spread across the whole community and was widely known anyway. But however they come to know these things, there they are throwing it all back at Christ. They're not ignorant concerning Christ because they refer to him directly, the. So in some way of understanding, as they pass by, they take notice of the Savior. And him, they ridiculed, not the thieves, but Christ, they that pass by. And secondly, we note the chief priests and scribes, verse 31. Now they are talking among themselves, but obviously sufficiently loud for everyone else to hear. We often meet these kind of people. They can't speak quietly to one another, but they have to shout out everything they say. And there are these loud conversations. The whole world can hear what they're talking about. Well, that's obviously what's happening here. And their conversation is recorded. Mark tells you their whole attitude to Christ. So you have those that pass by. Then you have the chief priests and the scribes representing the entire ecclesiastical body of the Jews. That's whom they represent. They speak for the church. It's a sad commentary, isn't it? On the state of the church in the Lord's day. The chief priests, the scribes, all the rest. and they too reviled him. So they're another instrument of the scorn. The third instrument, verse 32, and they that were crucified with him. How astonishing, these things. So you have the passers-by, you have the scribes, The chief priests who are standing before the cross having this conversation. Now we listen to the thieves on the cross on either side. Criminals who deserve their punishment. Yet they revive Christ too. And the ugliness of what they are saying is contained in that word, reviled. It is translated in Matthew 27, cast the same in his teeth. Or in Romans 15, three, reproach. The word that the psalmist uses. The reproach that fell on Christ. Thieves. reviling Christ. The fourth one, however, we know it comes from Luke 23. Luke 23 and verse 36, and the soldiers also mocked him. So what Mark has done, as he describes the whole scene for you, I know I've added in Luke But what Mark has done is to lay before you the general attitude to the Lord Jesus Christ. The attitude of all these people to Christ and his death. And this, my friends, is part of the humiliation of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean for Christ to be humiliated? What did it mean for him? What says the inspired raccord? Scripture tells you. They that pass by, the chief priests and the scribes and the thieves also. And as I say, look, regarding the soldiers who were obviously present. Psalm 22.6. I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despise of the people. If we were to ask all these people, what think you of Christ? They would say that a worm and no man, totally insignificant, completely irrelevant to us. A reproach of men, despised of the people. All of us hate him, despise him, reject him, so we all vilify him. That's what they're doing. The instruments of scorn are the very ones whom the Savior made. The world was made by him. That's a soul humbling point, isn't it? That these little specks of dust, these instruments, standing before the Lord who made them, reproach Him, despise Him. But then let us note, thirdly, the language of God. We need to take time just to study exactly what they said. How did they scorn him? Well, let's go through the section once again. And there are four things that you notice. His words were scorned. Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days. They heard him say it. It was quoted at his trial. They're all familiar with his words. So they take his words that mean nothing to them, and they threw it back at Christ. They scorn his word. You know, every time we open the Bible, The preacher might say, the word of God reads in your hearing. That does have an importance in itself, by the way. In your hearing, you have heard the word of Christ. How do you respond to that word? Do you hear it? Do you follow it in the reading? Do you believe it? All these people heard the word of Christ. Yet they scorn his words. His words have no meaning. Words of no relevance. Words we don't understand. So they threw it back at him. And secondly, his person is scorned in verse 30. save thyself and come down from the cross. That he came to save others is rejected by them. In Moderate, they call to him to come down from the cross. They don't understand the very person of Jesus Christ. Who he is, why he came, what his mission was in this world. Save thyself. As if that's all that's impure, just getting off the cross. And thirdly, his work is scorn. Verse 31, he saved others, himself he cannot save. You will notice, of course, that they concede that others were saved. And that, of course, includes all the miracles which he did, where he delivered people from death and disease. So in John 11, 47, The Pharisees, the chief priests, the Pharisees, they hold this council and said, what do we? For this man doeth many miracles. There's no denying what Christ did. They acknowledge the miracles he performed. But these miracles had no real significance for Christ. There's no meaning beyond the immediate. They fail to see what the gospel writers tell you, the spiritual significance. Why did he heal, raise from the dead? As a demonstration of the sufficiency of Christ that he came to save sinners from their sins. To that insult they add another, himself they cannot save. Here they are actually denying the sovereignty of Christ. they see him as a helpless victim. Whereas the Lord Jesus Christ clearly taught, I lay down my life, no man taketh it from me. But they, by contrast, see him as powerless, any factor, for them. This man is finished. His work, they scorn. But fourthly, verse 32, his Messiahship is scorned. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe They call him now Christ the King of Israel. They know that the name Christ in and of itself refers to the Messiah. The Savior was confessed as the Christ. Remember some of those testimonies that we have in the gospels. Matthew 16 verse 16, Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And of course, this was the point that Andrew testified to in John 1 verse 41. We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted, the Christ, It was also a general testimony, according to John 7, verse 41. Others said, this is the Christ. Then of course, there was that wonderful testimony. In John 11, Martha said, yea, Lord, I believe. that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Christ is the Messiah. He is also King, so they put it all together. Let Christ, the Messiah, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross. But all of this, of course, they don't believe, even though they say that we may see and believe. Now let's pause for a moment to grasp the significance of what they are claiming. What they are claiming is, unless he does what we want, we will not believe. If he does not come down from the cross, then it means he is not Christ the King. In Matthew's account, in Matthew 27, there's something else we need to add. Verse 43, he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. They deride his faith, they deride his trust, and astonishingly, they quote Psalm 22 for good measure. They're using the scripture to scorn Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Messianic King of Israel. And it makes it all the more significant that it is the religious, the chief priests and the scribe who knew the scriptures. We are now twisting the scriptures against Christ. In their scorn of the Messiahship, they twist the scriptures and claim it. We want to believe, we will believe. If he does this for us. Well, let's come to some points of application. First of all, let me say to you, beware of agreement in sin. Beware of agreement in sin. Verse 30 and 32. The passers-by, verse 30, the chief priests in 32, the thieves and the soldiers. Here is complete agreement by all these people, but it is an agreement in sin. And the sin is opposing Christ, scorning Christ. Here's the danger of agreeing with the world when it comes to spiritual things in relation to Christ. If you are a Christian, You cannot agree with the world in its estimation of spiritual things. You cannot agree with the world when they try to work out an explanation for all that is happening. You cannot agree with the world when they try to describe even the task and the duty and the mission of the church, or even why Christ came into the world. Beware of agreement in sin. And secondly, do not rest your faith in what you demand, but in Christ alone. Believe the word of God. Believe what it teaches. Believe what the Bible teaches regarding sin, the fall, Christ, salvation, the cross. The word of God is enough. It is sufficient in itself. And you have a very solemn description of that in Luke 16, verse 30. Verse 29, Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. In other words, all the evidence that they needed was already there. As you go through the Gospels, they all testify to his supernatural knowledge, to his supernatural miracles, the supernaturalness of his person and his work. All the evidence is there. But these people are saying, just give us one more piece of evidence. Just give us this proof and we will believe. The reality is, even if the Lord came down from the cross, they still would not believe. Because immediately then they would have objections and further questions. And this is how sinners think. They say, if only we had the evidence. And you say, you have the evidence. They say, ah, but that's not enough. We want something more. You say, well, how much more evidence do you want? They don't know. They say, well, perhaps if this happened, we'd believe. They say, if that happened, you will not believe, because you don't believe the Bible already. If you don't believe the revelation we have, it wouldn't matter how much evidence is said before, you still will not believe. And of course, the assurance of all this is Christ did not meet their demand. He knew their hearts. All the evidence was there. So do not rest your faith in what you demand of Christ, but rest your faith in Christ revealed, the Christ who came into the world, who died upon the cross and rose again. That is enough. And of course, any and every true, sound-hearted believer says Christ is there. I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded. I don't need anything else. The Lord, who died and rose, is sufficient. But then thirdly, let me say to you, beware of misjudging Christ. Verse 32, that Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. What is the heart of their demand? Let's tease out for a moment the significance of what they're demanding. What they are demanding, the heart of their claim is to put the offices of Christ and variance If thy be the Christ, if thy be the King, then come down. In other words, they're saying of the Lord, deny your priestly office by giving to us more of your messianic office. They're putting the offices of Christ at variance. You're a king, you are Christ, come down from the cross. What would happen? It would be a denial of his priestly work. They want to put the offices of Christ at variance, one against the other. The point here is, you must take Christ on his terms, not yours. You take what Christ is and gives, not what you demand. You must bow to him in all his perfection, and not according to your own imperfection. You see the implications of Christ if he were to come down from the cross. Christ, the King of Israel, His messianic office, his kingly office, his prophetic office, all that variants with his priestly office. To die on the cross, he dies as a priest. And I think if we see more of the other, then we'll believe. We do not have the right or the authority to come to Christ and say, We want to see more of this. We want to see more kingly work, regardless of the priestly work. Fourthly and finally, beware of excusing your own belief with the spurious claim about evidence. These people demanded more evidence, more proof. Were they actually serious? Well, the answer is no, they weren't serious. They were actually lying. How do we know that they lied? Even as they stood there and said, if you come down from the cross, we will believe. How do we know they lied? Because the Bible tells us. What was their response to the resurrection? In Matthew 28, verse 11, now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, showed it on to the chief priests and all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money on to the soldiers saying, say ye, His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and secure you." So they took the money, did as they were taught, and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. The soldiers, the tea priests, and the elders all conspired to falsify the resurrection. The soldiers were bribed by the chief priests and the elders. The very ones who stood at the cross and said, come down and we will believe. When he rose from the dead, the very same people bribed the soldiers to deny the resurrection. To tell a lie, the disciples came and stole the bottle. My dear friends, don't you lie. Don't you pretend. If only I had some more evidence. It's not more evidence you need. It is trust. These people, with all their religiosity, are a warning to all of us. They demanded more. When they got it, in the resurrection, they lied. The ones who said, we will believe. What Luke records in chapter 16, if they believe not Moses and the prophets, they will not believe, though one rose from the dead. Beware of excusing your unbelief with the spurious claim that I need more evidence. We have all the evidence. So I leave you all with this question. Do you believe? Do you believe the word? Do you believe in Christ? Do you believe all that the scripture teaches concerning the Lord from heaven who died and rose again? Do you? Did you come, and I trust you did come as a professor and Christian, as one who does trust Christ? Or perhaps someone here didn't come like that. Do not go home without trusting Christ, taking him for yourself. Forget all these spurious reasons, all this spurious argumentation that only has all been answered, all lies before you. And the Lord bless these words to you.