Mark 15 - Rome kills the Word of God
We update studies as the Lord Jesus leads us. You can find the latest update of this study at ChurchAges.net
The most religious people in the most spiritual city, destroyed in a most horrible way the greatest Man whoever lived
- Religious leaders bind the Word of God
- They wanted a man of death not the Prince of Life
- Thorns were a curse and they touched the Blood of Jesus
- Simon was forced to carry the cross against his will
- Wine is the stimulation of revelation
- False accusations were made against Jesus
- God is not the God of sinners
- A loud cry at the end like the cry for the 10 virgins
- The family of important men are not important
Religious leaders bind the Word of God
Jesus is the Word of God.
The way the Jewish religious leaders treated Jesus as a Man at His First Coming is the way the church leaders treat the King James Bible at His Second Coming.
MARK 15:1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
“Straightway”. Immediately.
When it came to binding the Word of God (Jesus) the Jewish religious leaders were very prompt.
Church leaders today deny that the King James Bible is the Absolute truth and they are very quick and prompt to bind the influence of that Bible so that people are inclined to reject and criticize the King James Bible.
They have illegally changed the King James Bible into over 100 different versions of the English Bible.
John saw four beasts around the throne in Heaven,
REVELATION 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
REVELATION 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
This represented four stages of church history. The Spirit of Christ was the Lion of Judah, King of the beasts, that established the truth in the first church age. Then came the long Dark Ages, where the Calf grew up into the strong Ox, the beast of slaughter, as millions of believers were killed by the Roman Catholic church.
Then Christ's Spirit blessed the scholarship of Man. Martin Luther restored salvation by grace through faith alone. John Wesley restored holiness and outreach, which led to the great missionary age.
Between 1604 and 1769, God blessed human scholarship with understanding so that they were able to produce the correct interpretation of Greek and Hebrew as well as knowing which documents to use. They translated and checked the King James Version of the Bible, just in time to form the foundation of the missionary age that sent the King James Bible around the world.
Then the Eagle-age of spiritual insight as William Branham showed us how to interpret the mysteries of Scripture so that we could return to the beliefs of the early church apostolic fathers of the first church age.
At the end of the church ages, just before the Second Coming, Jesus Christ as the Word of God (the King James Bible) will be treated the same way as the Jews treated Him as a Man at His First Coming.
The church leaders reject brother Branham's interpretation of Scripture but offer over 100 variations of brother Branham's message and over 100 different variations of the English Bible. It is impossible to find the full truth in that spiritual swamp.
The religious leaders had just done a thoroughly illegal nighttime arrest and trial of Jesus.
They wanted to kill Him for blasphemy because He had called Himself the Christ, the Son of man.
However, the Jewish leaders knew that the Romans would not kill Him for that reason, so they had to make up something different when asking the Romans to kill Him. Only the Romans had the authority needed to kill a person.
The “whole council” of all the religious leaders combined for one purpose only.
They “bound Jesus.”
That same spirit is unleashed again today. The church leaders unite today and have one obsession, and that is to bind the influence of the King James Version of the Bible. They refuse to admit that It is infallible as the perfect Word of God. Thus, they endlessly claim that It has mistakes, contradictions, myths, and irrelevant details that can be ignored.
Christians today cannot prove what they believe just from the King James Bible, which is the Word of God.
Jesus, the Word was handed over to Pontius Pilate, a political governor.
The churches today cringe in subjection to the opinions of political correctness. They must now allow gay same-sex marriages, and trans sex opinions where men think they are women and women think they are men.
The churches condone Evolution and the Big Bang scientific theories and agree with all the unscriptural ideas that people want concerning worldly dress and beat music.
MARK 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
The Roman governor Pilate usually lived in Caesarea.
The reason for him being in Jerusalem was because he was scared of the Jews rioting over some religious issue. If a riot got out of control, the Roman Emperor Tiberius would have him removed from office.
The Jewish leaders were aware of this and knew that if they could whip up the emotions of the Jews then Pilate would grant their request to kill Jesus in order to avoid a riot.
Pilate would kill Jesus in order to save his job as governor.
Preachers will deny and contradict the King James Bible in order to keep their positions and salaries in the church.
The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of wanting to be the King of the Jews. That would be in opposition to the Roman Emperor who felt that he was king of everyone.
Jesus had never claimed to be King, even though on Palm Sunday He was hailed as the King.
It was thus other people who called Him King.
Thus He said the same thing to Pilate. “You are calling me King, I never said that”.
MARK 15:3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
The religious leaders then accused Him of many things but Jesus just ignored these false accusations.
Christians today twist things around and develop a lie to defend their unscriptural beliefs.
Tell them that a pastor was never put in charge of a church in the New Testament and they respond by saying that you are anti pastors.
That is not the truth. They cannot defend themselves with Scripture so they make a false accusation. Nobody is anti a pastor, just anti the idea that a pastor is the head of a church.
Elevating a man above the congregation or laity is the deed of the Nicolaitans. The same applies to a reverend, a minister, a priest, a bishop, archbishop, cardinal, or Pope who are elevated above the people.
Each local church should be run by a group of local elders. Not run by one person as the head of the church.
Jesus just ignored their false accusations.
MARK 15:4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
Pilate began to marvel that Jesus said nothing in His own defense.
MARK 15:5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
They wanted a man of death not the Prince of Life
There was a custom of releasing a condemned prisoner at the time of the Passover feast.
MARK 15:6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.
Barabbas comes from Bar Abba, meaning “son of his father.”
Barabbas was a murderer, which made him the son of the Devil.
MARK 15:7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Instead of choosing the Man of Peace, the Jewish multitude cried out that they would rather free Barabbas even if he continued to rob and murder them.
MARK 15:8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.
MARK 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Pilate preferred to release Jesus, Who was King of the Jews. Pilate knew that Jesus had committed no offense.
MARK 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
The Jewish leaders were deeply jealous of the supernatural power and the knowledge of Scripture that Jesus had.
MARK 15:11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
This is a very sad Scripture.
Left to themselves, the Jewish people had welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday as their King.
But their religious leaders influenced the people to reject Jesus.
ZECHARIAH 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
This prophecy was fulfilled on Palm Sunday.
Jesus has commanded two disciples:
MATTHEW 21:2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
Then the crowd welcomed Jesus as the Son of David. That is His title as the King.
MATTHEW 21:9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Pilate made a very shrewd offer to the people because he knew the Jewish religious leaders were at fault.
Pilate offered the Jews on Thursday morning (the day of this trial) the very King that they had praised on the previous Sunday, which was Palm Sunday.
But the same crowd that praised Him on Sunday was now crying for His blood on Thursday.
Such is the fickleness of mankind.
Such is the power that the Jewish religious leaders had over the people.
Even today, the people ignore the written Scripture to follow our modern church leaders. Yet none of the church leaders is able to prove all their beliefs just from the Bible.
Christians today refuse to criticize their church and refuse to criticize their church leader, but they willingly criticize what they think are faults in the King James Bible.
The Jewish religious leaders poisoned the Jews' minds until they demanded the death of Jesus.
Church leaders claim that there are mistakes in the King James Bible and thus get their people to criticize and reject this Bible, which is the Word of God as it tells us the thoughts of Jesus.
Parts of the Bible are rejected to make people happy
MARK 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Pilate had found nothing wrong with Jesus.
He now made the worst possible mistake. He decided to pacify the mob by asking them what he should do with an innocent Man. He reminded them that less than a week ago, they had called Jesus their King
MARK 15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
The corrupting power of the Jewish religious leaders had been so intense that they had taken a crowd that praised Jesus on Sunday and turned them into a blood-thirsty mob by Thursday.
This is very scary when we consider the present state of the church. There are 45000 different types of denominations and churches that are all different, yet each one believes that they are right. That is the final result of putting a man in charge of a church. Whether he is called a minister or reverend or priest or pastor, he has imposed his opinion on the people who happily ignore, contradict, and criticize parts of the Bible. Then these same people reject anyone who wants to be strictly Scriptural.
I TIMOTHY 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
A woman is not allowed to be a Bible teacher and tell a man what to believe. Yet today, women have now become church leaders and claim to be the pastor of a church.
But contradicting the Scripture means that the church defies the Word of God. Just like the Jews were taught by their religious leaders to defy their Messiah.
MARK 15:14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Pilate asked them to explain what Jesus had done wrong. They did not answer the question. They just became more intense in their condemnation of Jesus.
MARK 15:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
Pilate was terrified of upsetting the people. His job was at stake. He was willing to give them anything they demanded.
Church people today want gay rights, transgender rights, women preacher rights, and dress-how-you-like rights. Anything that contradicts the Bible is allowed and thus kills the faith of people in the Bible. Church leaders are desperate to give the people permission to do anything they like. That way the church leaders stay in charge because they say nothing that will disturb the people.
But they condemn Bible verses like Acts 2:38.
ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
This Scripture is rejected by the churches. They claim that it is a mistake. But the Bible is the Word of God. Thus they are saying that God made a mistake.
Thorns were a curse and they touched the Blood of Jesus
MARK 15:16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.
This gets scary. Suddenly justice is handed over to a group of soldiers. The soldiers who performed the horrible work of crucifying prisoners were usually the scum of the Roman Empire.
The Praetorium hall was part of the Roman governor’s headquarters when he stayed in Jerusalem. So, the governor was well aware of their illegal treatment of Jesus. The governor never found Him guilty. The people just demanded His death without any proof of crime, and the brutal soldiers now humiliated and tortured Him.
MARK 15:17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,
Purple was the colour worn by the Emperor. So, this purple was just a mockery that He was King of the Jews.
An olive is green, and when it ripens, it turns purple and then black.
Green is the colour of life that we see in grass and plants and tree leaves. Green absorbs sunlight and turns it, miraculously, into food. So, green was the colour represented by Jesus as He taught people about eternal Life. But then, in Gethsemane, He agreed to take on our sins. The olive turns purple as it ripens. Olive oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit that was pressed out of Jesus by His sufferings so that the Holy Spirit could come into our repentant hearts.
Clothing Jesus in purple was this necessary step. He was carrying our sins that He had to die for.
It was still early in the morning. At nine o’clock (our Gentile or Roman time) they would crucify Him. Then, at midday, the whole world went black as the sun refused to shine for three hours. This was not an eclipse, as the longest eclipse of the sun is just over 7 minutes. This was the struggle between Life and Death as the Spirit of Christ strove with the forces of Darkness.
A king wears a crown. So, three strands of thorns were plaited into a cruel crown and forced into His scalp until it bled.
The curse of sin on the earth was to make it bring forth thorns.
GENESIS 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
Now the thorns were touched by the Blood of Jesus, which removed the curse. Someday, in the Millennium and the New Earth, there will be no more thorns.
So, in mocking and torturing Him with thorns, they were actually unknowingly serving God’s Will.
Simon was forced to carry the cross against his will
They did the right thing by saluting Him as King, but they did it in a mocking way.
MARK 15:18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
Jesus is the Word of God, the Bible.
Christians today take the Bible to church which is good, but then they readily believe that there are mistakes in the Bible, which mocks the Word of God as being inferior to human opinions.
MARK 15:19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
Hitting Him on the crown of thorns was to hurt Him. They mock-worshiped Him. Their spitting on Him was significant. Jesus is the Bread of Life. You cannot swallow and digest bread without first covering the bread in spit. Being covered in spit just meant that Jesus was the Bread of Life that we could spiritually digest by believing in the Word of God. Jesus is the Word.
But claiming that there are faults in the King James Bible means that they are saying that the King James Bible is not the infallible Word of God. Thus they bow the knee in mock worship because whatever you say about the King James Bible, you are saying about Jesus. You cannot separate a man from his thoughts, and the King James Bible tells us the thoughts of Jesus. If there is a mistake in His thoughts, then he is not God. God is infallible.
MARK 15:20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
Mocking Jesus was not enough. They had to kill Him. So, the churches do their best to destroy any confidence that the people may have that the King James Bible is perfect as the absolute Truth. Hence, Christians no longer try to prove their beliefs just from the King James Bible.
Criticizing the King James Bible from the pulpit is simply the crucifixion of Christ in our day. Their claim that there are faults in the Bible is just the modern-day nails that crucify Christ again today. The people no longer believe in the portions of the Bible that they think are wrong. This unbelief means that Jesus cannot help them to find the truth.
63-0707 THE INDICTMENT
Let's see now. Yes, sir. Call to repentance, and my indicting now.
This new Calvary is the church, so-called, most holy places, great pulpits, Catholicism altar, Catholic altar, called their pulpit. The Methodist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Pentecostals, the most holy places, there He receives His hardest pierces. A new Calvary! Where is it found at? In the holy places, the church.
Where is He crucified at? From the pastors. You hypocrites, you know better than that!
I'm not angry, but something inside of me is stirring. God has been thoroughly identified among you.
Where did He get His spears at, in His side? Where did He get His pierces? On Calvary. Where does He get it today? In the pulpit. Where did they come from? Jerusalem. Where do they come from? The denomination. The ones who claimed to love Him, that's who did it. That's who does it today. His second Calvary, where He receives His pierces against the Word, that's what pierces Him. Who is He? He's the Word. He is the Word.
Where is He pierced the hardest from? The pulpit in the holy places, just like it was then.
MARK 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
Mark is the second Gospel. The calf is the second beast around the throne in Revelation Chapter 4. The calf grows into a strong Ox which is a burden bearer.
This is a sad Scripture. Simon did the right thing in helping Jesus when He needed help. But he had to be forced to do it. It means that we humans have no natural desire to do the will of God. God has to force us to do His Will which is contrary to our self-will.
In other words, we cannot really serve God unless we die to our self-will.
MARK 15:22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
A skull is an ominous symbol of death.
Wine is the stimulation of revelation
MARK 15:23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
This was another torture for a Man who had lost much blood and would thus have a raging thirst. Myrrh has a pleasant smell but imparts a very off-putting taste to the wine, making it undrinkable.
Myrrh is the symbol of death as it is used to embalm dead bodies.
Wine is the symbol for the stimulation of revelation.
Wine, ruined by myrrh, symbolizes the pagan Romans doing their best to kill the stimulation of revelation. Roman Catholicism developed man-made theories like Trinity and Christmas, which were pagan ideas. This kills the development of the stimulation of Bible revelation. This makes us accept unscriptural ideas as truth, and thus we are inspired by unscriptural ideas. That leads us to oppose and reject Scriptural ideas.
The Trinity God has no name as you cannot find one name for three People. You then deny the water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) as you end up believing the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is a name instead of being three Titles.
ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Matthew 28:19 requires us to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. So you must find a name for these three Titles.
Believing in the Trinity means you will not find a single name for God.
Especially as the Holy Ghost has no name in Scripture.
In the Old Testament, there is no mention of “God the Father.” All the names of the Father in the Old Testament are never mentioned in the New Testament.
There is no “God the Son” in the Bible.
There is no “God the Holy Ghost” in the Bible.
“God the Father” is only mentioned in the New Testament. The Trinity God cannot explain these basic facts.
We were never asked to celebrate Christ’s birth in the Bible.
25 December is the birthday of the pagan sun god that was announced in AD 274 by the pagan Roman Emperor Aurelian.
The Roman Catholics adopted this date around AD 350 as the birthday of the Son of God.
Because the Protestant churches came out of the Roman Catholic Church in the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church regards itself as the mother church.
Having absorbed the pagan mysteries of Babylon, the Roman Catholic Church is referred to as Mystery Babylon. But she has passed her pagan doctrines like Trinity and Christmas onto the non-Catholic daughter churches.
EZEKIEL 16:44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
REVELATION 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
This is a stunning indictment of our modern churches who have ceased to prove their beliefs from the King James Bible.
MARK 15:24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
The cruel deed was done. Then came a pathetic scene of self-greed.
They tore his garments into four pieces because there were four Roman guards. What use is a quarter of a garment? Very little.
Driven by a gambling spirit, they cast lots for His outer robe or coat.
JOHN 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
:24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
MARK 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
There were two ways of telling time.
The Roman day started at midnight.
The Jewish day started at sunrise which is around 6 o’clock in the morning.
So they nailed Jesus to the cross on the third hour after sunrise in Jewish time, which is 9 o’clock in Roman time.
The Gospel of John used Roman time to show when the Roman Governor Pilate handed over Jesus to be crucified.
JOHN 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he [Pontius Pilate] saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
This would be six o’clock in the morning.
Thus the trial had been held before daylight which was illegal because you cannot hold trials during darkness.
MARK 15:26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
On the top of the cross, over His Head, was the sign “The King of the Jews.”
So sad. The Jews demanded the crucifixion of their own King.
MARK 15:27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
As Joseph was in prison in Egypt with two criminals, a baker who died and a butler who lived, so Jesus was on the cross between two criminals. One thief rejected Jesus and died and went to hell, symbolized by the broken bread of the baker. One thief accepted Jesus and went to paradise, symbolized by the spirit or life in the wine.
MARK 15:28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
ISAIAH 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death:
and he was numbered with the transgressors;
and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
False accusations were made against Jesus
MARK 15:29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
This was a false accusation. Jesus had never said that He would destroy the Temple.
Jesus said if the Jewish leaders destroyed the Temple of His Body, then He would raise It up in 3 days.
JOHN 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
JOHN 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
MARK 15:30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
The Jews had it all wrong. Jesus did not want to get off the cross to save Himself. He wanted to stay on the cross to save us.
MARK 15:31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
The chief religious leaders, like those of today, were just obsessed with saving their elevated positions and their financial incomes. (They killed Him on Thursday because He had twice kicked over their money-making tables. On Palm Sunday and then on the next day again, which was Monday).
The Jewish leaders thought that salvation was all about Jesus saving Himself.
MARK 15:32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
Getting off the cross would defeat the salvation Plan of God. So the Jewish religious leaders were preaching ideas that would condemn the people. People could only get saved by Jesus staying on the cross.
Today, church leaders preach many unscriptural ideas that destroy the faith of people in the written Word of God.
Consider the following unscriptural church traditions and beliefs:
Trinity. Christmas. 25 December. One God in three Persons. God the Son. Second Person of the Godhead. Jesus is in the Godhead. Celebrate the birth of the Lord. Good Friday. Easter Monday. Easter eggs. Easter bunnies. Hot-cross buns. A pastor is the head of the church. Same-sex marriage. You can now choose your gender. What you believe is "your truth."
Churches believe that you can legally marry, then divorce and re-marry.
Explaining the 7 Thunders that are not written in the Bible is a classic example of unscriptural preaching.
The new name of Jesus and the mystery of His Second Coming are also not written in the Bible. Church leaders who preach on those topics are simply outside the Bible and thus unscriptural.
Unscriptural doctrines fool saved Christians and condemn them to a ghastly death in great Tribulation although, being saved, they will enter heaven on the Day of Judgement but not as members of the Bride.
MARK 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Jewish time starts the day at sunrise at 6 o’clock.
The sixth hour means adding another 6 hours. This will be midday or 12 o’clock.
The ninth hour will be three hours later, which is 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
The sun simply refused to shine while the forces of darkness were killing Jesus. It was three hours of intense darkness. Destroy the Light, and you end up in Darkness which is simply the absence of Light.
This was not an eclipse. The longest possible eclipse of the sun is just over 7 minutes.
Three hours of darkness was God supernaturally not letting the sun shine. There is no scientific explanation for that supernatural miracle.
The Jewish religious leaders and the Roman politician had had their say. The final product of their self-will was the destruction of the Word of God (Jesus is the Word) and the entire world in total darkness. So much for human leadership.
God is not the God of sinners
MARK 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Jesus was carrying our filthy sins in order to pay the price for sin.
God the Father dwelled in the Son of God. (There is no “God the Son” in the Bible).
COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
The supernatural Spirit of God indwelled the human Man Jesus. Now that Jesus was carrying our filthy sins, the supernatural Father hid His face from the Man Jesus and refused any communication with Him. Jesus had to die as a Man, an abandoned sinner.
Jesus was abandoned by the in-dwelling supernatural Spirit of God Who refused to communicate with Him. God is not the God of sinners.
Sinners have no claim on God other than to accept God as their personal Saviour.
God is only the God of the repentant sinners.
The Man Jesus became sin for us, and as He died, He longed to speak to the in-dwelling supernatural Father.
This is an intense warning to sinners. When they die, they will wish that they had repented and communicated with God.
As an analogy.
You have a conscious mind (the son) and a subconscious mind (the Father) that can communicate with each other. When your conscious mind forgets something, your subconscious mind will track down the idea in your memory, and the information suddenly pops into your conscious mind unexpectedly.
Your conscience is part of your subconscious mind, and we have all experienced the argument as our conscious mind tries to justify some error in a debate with our unimpressed conscience.
ISAIAH 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
MARK 15:35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
The Jews totally misunderstood Jesus. He was saying, “My God.” They misinterpreted this as Him calling for Elijah the prophet.
Towards the end of the seven church ages the church people will totally misunderstand the revealed mysteries of the Word of God.
MARK 15:36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
One soldier showed a bit of mercy by offering Jesus some vinegar to drink.
The rest said, “Let alone.” Leave Him alone. Let Him be, and we will see if Elijah will come to help Him.
MATTHEW 27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
:49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Offering vinegar was done to fulfill the Scripture.
PSALM 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat;
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
A loud cry at the end like the cry for the 10 virgins
MARK 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
The end of His ministry was a loud cry. Then He died.
The end of the Bride’s ministry will also be a loud cry that wakes up the sleeping wise virgins and tells them to go out of whatever church that they are in.
MATTHEW 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
MARK 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
God now declared the Old Testament Law to be over.
All the animal sacrifices ceased now that Jesus had made the ultimate sacrifice.
In the Old Testament, the sin of the Jew crossed over onto the sacrificial animal, and the innocence of the animal crossed over onto the Jew. But the life of the innocent animal could not cross over into the Jew and thereby take away his or her desire to sin.
When Jesus died, then our sins crossed over onto Him so that His Holy Spirit could take them down to hell to dump them on the Devil. Then His innocence crossed over onto us to secure our righteousness.
Because Jesus was a Man, His Spirit could cross over into our hearts to live within us and take away from us the desire to sin. Thus, the Holy Ghost baptism is the real Sabbath of rest. The rest from sin and unbelief.
It was actually Caiaphas the High Priest who ended the Law by tearing his garments. This broke the Law.
Then God recognized that the Law had ended by tearing up the Temple veil.
MARK 14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
LEVITICUS 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron [the first high priest], and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people:
A high priest was not allowed to tear his clothes.
MARK 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
The Roman officer was not a great soldier. It was the scum of the Roman army that carried out the execution of criminals. Yet even this hardened pagan soldier recognized that there was something special about Jesus. Consequently, all the atheists and skeptics are without excuse when they cannot recognize that there was something very exceptional about the life and death of Jesus.
The family of important men are not important
MATTHEW 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.
Zebedee’s children were two of the three main disciples, James and John.
MATTHEW 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Andrew was the only disciple of John the Baptist who became one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus. But Andrew never became one of the top three disciples of Jesus.
So, being a great follower of the prophet William Branham does not necessarily make you a great follower of the revealed Word of God. Jesus is manifest today as the revealed King James Bible. The mystery of God is that the last church age must get back to the first church age beliefs of the apostles. It does not depend on how close we were to William Branham as a man.
In Matthew 27:56, Mary Magdalene is mentioned first, and she is not related to any apostle. Then Mary the mother of James, who was also the son of Alphaeus. So, the second Mary was the wife of Alphaeus.
A list of the disciples says:
MATTHEW 10:3 James the son of Alphaeus,
Mentioned last is the mother of James and John. Her name is not even mentioned. So being the immediate family of two of the three main apostles gave her no importance.
The mothers of the apostles are mentioned in reverse order. The mother of the two important apostles is mentioned last, and her name is not mentioned. Before mentioning the unnamed mother of the important apostles James and John, Matthew mentions the name of Mary, the wife of Alphaeus, who is the mother of the less mentioned apostle James and the unimportant man Joses who was not an apostle. (Two apostles had the name of James). (Two apostles had the name of Judas).
The name of the mother of the less important men is mentioned before the nameless mother of the more important men.
So, how important are you if you are the immediate family of an important man of God? Obviously not much.
And mentioned first, both first name and surname, was Mary Magdalene who was unrelated to any apostle.
MARK 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
Mark puts the emphasis on Christ as the Servant, the Calf that grew into the strong Ox that could carry our sins far away down to hell to dump them on the Devil. Thus Jesus was also the Scapegoat.
As a result, Mark puts the emphasis on Service to God.
Mentioned first is Mary Magdalene who is unrelated to any apostle. Then comes Mary the mother of the apostle James who is less mentioned than the important apostle James.
“The mother of James the less and of Joses.” Mark emphasizes that he is mentioning the mother of a less important apostle. So much so that Mark mentions Mary as the mother of Joses who was not an apostle. The mother of a less important apostle is more important than the mother of the more important apostles because the mother of the important apostles James and John is not mentioned at all by Mark. He prefers to mention Salome, an unknown woman, who is only mentioned twice by Mark.
So, it is the unknown and unnoticed believers that God keeps a record of. They play a role at the end.
These women (representing churches) stood afar off. But at least they were there.
The modern-day churches have moved far away from the Word, refusing to get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to Acts 2:38. But many are saved, so they have some truth.
God’s most useful service is not done by the immediate family of God’s important man.
Family connections do not make us more useful
MARK 15:41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
The other women had followed and helped Jesus. We do not know who they were but it shows that Jesus always has followers who served and helped but sought no fame and moved through this life unnoticed.
Self-importance plays no part in this list of names that Mark mentions. That is one of the secrets of successful service.
MARK 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
The 10th day of choosing the Passover lamb was Palm Sunday. The killing of the Passover lamb was on the 14th day, which would be a Thursday. That was the day of preparation when the lamb was killed and hastily roasted.
At 1800 hours (our time) or at 6 o’clock on Thursday evening, the day changed for the Jews and their Friday began. Friday was the Feast of Passover as well as being the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was the first day of the seven days of unleavened bread.
Unleavened bread symbolized the holiness and perfection of Christ during the seven church ages. There was a special emphasis on the first day, the first church age, as that was the only age that had the full truth. Thus, the seventh church age has to return to the first church age beliefs if we are to have the full truth.
The Jewish day began in the evening.
GENESIS 1:5 And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Spiritually, the evening light at the end of the seven church ages, when the revelation of the mysteries of the King James Bible are made known, will take the Bride to the Second Coming. The Bride then leaves the earth for the Wedding Supper in Heaven.
Thus the Bride does not see the dark night of great Tribulation.
The Bride then returns to earth to set up the beginning or morning of the Millennium day, which lasts 1000 years.
MARK 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Amongst the corrupt Jewish religious leadership, God still had one honourable man who could offer godly counsel. Joseph knew that Jesus was more than a man, and thus, he wanted to be of service by giving Jesus a proper burial.
MARK 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Pilate could not believe that Jesus as the Word of God could have died so quickly. He knew that the Romans took Jesus away to kill Him, so he checked with the Romans to ensure that Jesus was dead. Similarly, today it is the centralized man-made denominational church traditions of the Roman Catholic Church that are to spread to the non-Catholic churches and kill the influence of the revealed King James Bible.
It is difficult to believe that they have got the Protestant churches to reject the King James Bible so quickly.
MARK 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
That is one thing that the Romans can hand over. A dead body. Killing the truth is their focus.