September 14th, 2024

This Sunday is called the “Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost”. The Gospel reading jumps to Mark 9:14-29, since some of those intervening verses in chapter eight appeared as the Gospel reading before this Sunday. In the writings of this website, we are not jumping ahead of things. We are going in the way in which the writer has laid things out. And we getting ever closer to the very end of the same gospel account.

In the previous section of these writings, Jesus was crucified. The verbs to crucify, when referring to Jesus and to the others next to him, were given in the historical present (that is when a verb is expected in a past tense, but it appears in the present). One may notice no historical presents in the text below. There were a lot of historical presents in this gospel account. They came and went. But they will not appear again until the next chapter, when discussing the resurrection.

In the following section [Mark 15:33-41], Jesus dies. For minds that have been shaped by the natural occurrences in the universe, it is hard to conceive the Son of God as dead. Why this happened is because of sin. How this happened has not yet been made clear, given our limited perspective because of that sin. But we have enough to go on in faith.
And having happened, hour, sixth, darkness happened over whole, the land, until hour, ninth. And the ninth hour, he shouted, the Jesus, with a voice, mega, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” Which is being interpreted, “The God of me, the God of me, into what did you forsake me?”

And some of the ones standing by, having heard, they were saying, “Behold, Elias he calls.”

Now having run, a certain one, and having filled a sponge of vinegar, having put around a reed, he was giving to drink, him, saying, “Allow, let us see if he comes, Elias, to take down him.”

Now the Jesus, letting go, a voice, mega, he expired. And the veil of the temple was torn into two from top until bottom. Now seeing, the centurion, the one standing by, from opposite him, that he expired, he said, “Truly this, the man, Son of God, he was.”

Now there were also women, from afar, beholding, in whom, both Maria, the Magdalene and Maria, the Jacob, the micron, and of Joses, mother, and Salome, who, when he was in the Galilee, they followed him, and they served him, and others, many, having come up with him, into Jerusalem.

Much could be said about the statement of the centurion. The description of Jesus as the Son of God is a significant one.​

Jesus as the Son of God was given at the very beginning of the work, at least in some of the ancient manuscripts. It may be seen as a title for the entire work. And the first time in the text, at Mark 1:11, with the events of Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is starting with his baptism, and the voice from heaven says, “You are the Son of me, the beloved; in you I was well pleased.” The second time, at Mark 9:7, you could say that Jesus is at a highpoint, a midpoint (feel free to count up the verses in the entire account and to find the middle one).  Jesus is on what has been called the Mount of Transfiguration. And the voice from cloud that was overshadowing them said, “This is the Son of Me, the beloved; listen to him.” And the final time is given above; if you would like its exact reference, that is Mark 15:38. The beginning, the middle, and the end are significant points. And hopefully the point continues to come across.