Daily Lesson for Tuesday 17th of September 2024

At this point in the Passion Narrative, Jesus is a silent victim, controlled by people who are bent on His death. Throughout the Gospel, up to His arrest, He was the master of activities. Now He is acted upon. Though He was a robust itinerant preacher, the beating He had received and the lack of food and sleep wore Him down to where a stranger had to bear His cross.

At the cross His garments were removed and became the property of the soldiers, who cast lots to see whose they would be (compare with Psalms 22:18). Crucifixion was a fairly bloodless method of execution. The nails used to fasten a person to the cross (compare with John 20:24-29) were likely driven through the wrist below the palm where no major blood vessels run. (In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “hand” can refer to both the hand and the forearm.)

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

The palm of the hand itself does not have the structures necessary to carry the weight of the body in crucifixion. The median nerve runs through the center of the forearm and would be crushed by the nails, causing excruciating pain up the arm. Breathing was difficult. To get a good breath, victims of crucifixion had to push against their nailed feet and flex their arms, again causing agonizing pain. Exhaustion asphyxia was one of the possible causes of death.

Jesus received tremendous mockery and humiliation during His crucifixion. The Gospel of Mark has a revelation/secrecy motif in which Jesus typically calls for silence about who He is. Consequently, such Christological titles as “Lord,” “Son of God,” or “Christ” do not appear often in the narrative.

This element changes at the cross. He cannot be hidden. It is ironic that it is the religious leaders who use these titles in mocking Jesus. How these men are condemning themselves!

One of their mocking statements stands out. In Mark 15:31, they say, “ ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself’ ” (ESV). To make their point about His helplessness on the cross, they indicate that He did help others (the Greek verb can mean “save,” “heal,” or “rescue”). Thus, ironically, they admit He is the Savior. The irony goes further—the reason He could not, or would not, save Himself was because at the cross He was saving others.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-12-the-crucifixion/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr. Thomas R. Shepherd, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “The Beginning of the Gospel.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/12-tried-and-crucified-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of Tried and Crucified in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.  
Click on the image below to view the video:

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/12-tried-and-crucified-hope-sabbath-school-discussion-video/

Daily Lesson for Monday 16th of September 2024

The Romans utilized a severe form of beating to prepare prisoners for execution. The victim was stripped of his clothes, tied to a pole, and then lashed with leather whips to which pieces of bone, glass, stones, and nails were tied.

After Jesus was whipped, the soldiers tasked with His execution continued His humiliation by clothing Him in a purple robe, placing a crown of thorns on His head, and mocking Him as king of the Jews. The group of soldiers is called a battalion, in this case anywhere from 200 to 600 men.

Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com

The irony in the scene is evident to the reader because Jesus really is the King, and the mocking words of the soldiers proclaim this truth. The action of the soldiers was a parody of how soldiers hailed the Roman emperor with the words “Hail, Caesar, Emperor!” Thus, there is an implicit comparison to the emperor.

The actions of the soldiers in mocking Jesus are “striking” His head with a reed, “spitting” on Him, and “kneeling down” in mock homage. All three of these actions are expressed in Greek with the imperfect tense. In this setting, this tense has the idea of repetitive action. Thus, they kept striking Him, kept spitting on Him, and kept kneeling down in mock homage before Him. Jesus takes all of this in silence, not responding at all.

The typical pattern of Roman execution by crucifixion involved having the convicted person carry the cross naked to the place of execution. This pattern, again, was to humiliate and shame the person completely before the community.

But the Jews abhorred public nakedness. Mark 15:20 notes that they removed the purple cloak and put His own clothes back on Him. Thus, this appears to be a concession that the Romans made to the Jews at that time and place.

Think about all the irony here. Their bowing and paying “homage” to Jesus as King was all in mockery even though Jesus really was the King, not just of the Jews but of the Romans, as well.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-12-hail-king-of-the-jews/

It is wonderful to travel through John Mark’s life and see the beautiful story climax with 
Christ The Lord Is Risen Today – Hymn 166, therefore 
Go, Preach My Gospel – Hymn 378. These two hymns give us a purpose all during this quarter to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus. May you enjoy these hymns for your theme hymn from which to choose.

This week’s study is full of sadness about what happened to our dear Lord Jesus, but next week will be such an uplifting and amazing week.

Monday’s title of “Hail, King of the Jews!” is the total opposite of what is sung in
Hymn 202 – Tell It To Every Kindred And Nation where the refrain is full of “Hail Kim the King of glory”.

Tuesday is our saddest day with “The Crucifixion” giving us so many hymns from which to choose:
Hymn 154/155 – When I Survey The Wondrous Cross,
Hymn 156 – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,
Hymn 157 – Go To Dark Gethsemane,
Hymn 158 – Were You There?,
Hymn 159 – The Old Rugged Cross,
Hymn 161 – Throned Upon The Awful Tree,
Hymn 162 – Wondrous Love,
Hymn 163 – At The Cross, and
Hymn 164 – There Is a Green Hill Far Away. 

At the end of Tuesday’s study, we can find a hymn that is the total opposite to “He saved others; he cannot save himself” Mark 15:31 –
Hymn 340 – Jesus Saves. Hallelujah!

With our study week ending with Jesus in the grave, He is left to rest here until next week’s study when we are able to rejoice in His resurrection.

 Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed and to bless many others.

 To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

 Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

  2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/12-tried-and-crucified-singing-with-inspiration/