Mark 15:29-32: Wrath and Justification
Friday, April 11, 2025
As we explore the ways in which Jesus is the resurrection, we consider what we might do with our anger and our desire for revenge.
We looked at Mark 15 a little more than a year ago to reflect on the power we will find in offering our sacrifices for others and holding tightly to our trust in God. Today we see Jesus execute the greatest act of mankind: he hangs in pain from a cross while the crowds jeer at him and use his very acts of mercy as taunts against him. This reminds me of MAGNIFICAT’s Evening Prayer from Isaiah 53: Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.
By his wounds we all are healed.
This is a tremendous act of self sacrifice and one that we will likely never have to make, again from MAGNIFICAT: Not all opposition to faithful Christian belief and life comes from the violent. Many voices, loud and subtle, argue against the idealism of the Gospel. Resisting the familiar, popular values and viewpoints which would undermine our discipleship can cause as much pain as enduring the more dramatic forms of persecution.
Jeremiah 18:20: Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.
The Wrath of God. We see it in the Old Testament narratives and in the Psalms so often. The calling down of God’s power against the wicked, the petition for annihilation of our enemies, and all of this ugliness turns to justification with the singular sacrifice made by Christ. All of the anger and fear are transformed through Christ into love. In his final moments, Christ does not feel his mother’s comforting caress upon his face. There is no warm bed, clean sheets or clothes. There is grinding, relentless pain. And then there are the jeers from the crowd, from the people he has come to save. But Christ is held by hands that are great enough and powerful enough to hold and comfort us all, the hands of God.
The MAGNIFICAT Evening Intercessions are apt.
To the God who delivered Jesus from death through resurrection, we pray: O God, hear our prayer.
For those who hate goodness and good people: grant them conversion of heart. O God, hear our prayer.
For those who suffer for their goodness: grant them strength to persevere. O God, hear our prayer.
For those who have died for their fidelity to the Gospel: grant them eternal life. O God, hear our prayer.
And we might add . . .
For ourselves, as we struggle to move away from wrath and revenge, may we move toward resurrection and light. O God, hear our prayer.
For our enemies, as they harbor fear and live for the thrill of pain, may they come to know the comfort of authentic love and passion. O God, hear our prayer.
For our loved ones, as they accompany us in our pilgrimage, may they always find protection and guidance in you who have loved us so well. O God, hear our prayer.
2 Samuel 2:6: May the Lord be kind and faithful to us.
And may we be kind and faithful to Christ as we see him in all of God’s creation. May we move from God’s wrath to justification. Amen.
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Evening.” MAGNIFICAT. 3.12 (2009). Print.
A favorite from March 12, 2009.
Image from: https://beyondtheborderlinepersonality.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/until-theres-nothing-left-self-sacrifice/
The Noontimes 