Nov 10 - Mark 15:39

And when the centurion,

who stood there in front of Jesus,

heard his cry and saw how he died, he said,

"Surely this man was the Son of God!"

Mark 15:39

Imagine that you'd never heard of Jesus. Listen to how the Gospel of Mark -- the earliest Gospel written -- begins: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God."

Mark makes four immediate claims.

1. In a world of bad news and pain, Mark is promising to tell a story of Good News and hope.
2. It is about a man named Jesus, a name which means "one who saves."
3. He is about to tell us about the Messiah, the long-expecting king and deliverer of Israel.
4. Finally and most remarkably, Mark makes the remarkable claim that this Jesus is ... "the Son of God."

"Son of God" is an absolute key to understanding this Gospel and who Jesus is.

• Immediately, as Jesus is baptized, we hear a voice from heaven, calling Jesus his "Son, the Beloved" (1:11) -- i.e. the holy side of the spiritual realm recognizes Jesus is king.
• Soon this Jesus starts confronting the demons. As he casts them out, one of the demons cries "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God" (1:24). This means that the darker side of the spiritual realm recognizes who Jesus is too.
• So far, however, no human has comprehended Jesus' full identity, including the disciples. Jesus asked them (see 8:27ff), "Who do people say that I am?" The crowds were guessing that Jesus was some sort of prophet. When Jesus asked the disciples, Peter was the first human to call Jesus the Messiah. Peter was one hundred percent right, but in about two minutes, he was also one hundred percent wrong. Peter -- and all of Israel -- expected the Messiah to be a conquering king. Jesus began to tell Peter -- and all the disciples -- that "the Son of God" must suffer and die. Peter was shocked by this idea, saying "God forbid."

Let's get this straight: Heaven and hell knew exactly who Jesus was ... but so far, no human comprehended Jesus' full identity yet.

Do you know then who the first human was who recognized Jesus fully as the Son of God? The answer is ironic. The King of the Jews is first recognized as the Son of God by a Gentile, a foreigner, a Roman soldier.

And when did he recognize him? It wasn't when the Messiah was riding on a white horse as a conquering king, it was when the Son of God was hanging humbly on a cross.

It is at this moment that the story of Jesus truly becomes Good News. Until now, this story has flashes of miracles and power, but it's not until Jesus conquered sin and death that momentary glimpses of good power becomes eternal Good News with the promise of eternal life.

It is Jesus' love and sacrifice that makes Jesus the Son of God.

In Christ's Love,

a Gentile who recognizes Jesus

as the Son of God, the Messiah