34. Mark 15:29-32
Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
We are near the end, and it’s time to return to Isaiah. Recall we noted earlier how deeply Mark’s account of the Passion is shared by the “songs of the suffering servant” in Isaiah. Here we do well to remember one of the key passages:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people (Is. 53:7-9)
It’s not difficult to trace the arc of Jesus’ rapid descent. At the beginning of the week he is hailed by cheering throngs as the promised Messiah. Six days later he is utterly alone. Similar crowds have cried for his death and now deride him as he suffers it. His opponents hurl derision at him. Even those who suffer his fate manage still to taunt him. He is at the end. Or, even more, the bottom. He has drank the cup of what it means to be human to the dregs.
Why?
Isaiah points the way. Jesus, like the suffering servant of whom Isaiah sings, is cut off from all that makes life sweet and good and pleasurable and a joy…he is entirely and utterly alone.
And it’s here that Mark spends his ink. He offers so little detail, we noticed, about the grim elements of Jesus’ crucifixion. Yet in describing Jesus’ isolation, his utter abandonment by all, friend, foe, and fan alike, Mark gets graphic. Jesus is alone, all alone.
And so the next time you feel like that…. Or the next time you see someone feeling like that…. We are invited – called, really – to remember that Jesus, God’s own Son, has felt like that, too. We may be near the end, but we are not alone.
Prayer, Dear God, remind us, we ask, that you understand our ups and downs, our hopes and fears, and beautiful memories and deepest regrets, for you shared them in the person of your Son. Remind us that we are not alone, and draw us closer together in your love. In Jesus name, Amen.
Post image: Jesus Alone on the Cross, James Tissot (detail)
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