Passage: Mark 15:22-32

The Big Idea

At Golgotha, everything happened just as the Scriptures had foretold: the drink, the gambling for His clothes, the criminals beside Him, the mocking, the pierced hands and feet. Jesus refused the drugged wine so nothing would cheapen the price He was paying. And every voice around the cross said the same thing: “Save Yourself!” But Jesus didn’t save Himself. He gave Himself. That’s the heartbeat of His love, and it’s the love He pours into us.

Written Beforehand

Look how precisely the cross fulfilled Scripture:

Prophecy	Fulfillment
They gave Me sour wine to drink in My thirst (Psalm 69:21)	They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, and later sour wine (Mark 15:23, 36)
They divide My garments among them and cast lots for My clothing (Psalm 22:18)	They divided His garments, casting lots for them (Mark 15:24)
He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12)	They crucified two robbers with Him (Mark 15:27)
All who see Me mock Me; they wag their heads: “He trusts in the LORD; let Him rescue him” (Psalm 22:6-8)	Passersby wagged their heads, and the leaders mocked: “He saved others; He can’t save Himself” (Mark 15:29-32)
They pierced My hands and My feet (Psalm 22:16)	They crucified Him (Mark 15:24)
I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight (Amos 8:9)	From the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 p.m.) (Mark 15:33)
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (Psalm 22:1)	“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34)
They made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death (Isaiah 53:9)	Joseph, a rich man, laid Him in his own rock-cut tomb (Mark 15:46; Matthew 27:57-60)

Golgotha (Mark 15:22-23)

They brought Him to the place called Golgotha, which means “Place of a Skull.”

“Calvary” comes from the Latin word for skull.
It was outside the city walls, near a public road. The Romans wanted as many people as possible to see what happened to those they condemned.

They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He didn’t take it.

This was a kind of painkiller.
Jesus refused it.
He wanted nothing to dull the suffering that was the price He paid, the dowry for His bride.
His suffering is our treasure. It’s the price paid by the One who loves us. How could we ever measure it?

You can measure how much something is worth by how much it costs to give. “I love you this many dollars’ worth.”

So suffering alongside your spouse or your kids, carrying their burdens, is precious to our Father in heaven.
Our natural instinct is to take the easy way out.
Jesus didn’t. And when we’re filled with His love, we’ll be able to endure pain for one another too.
He refused the cup that would have numbed Him so He could fully drink the cup of our sin.

The Third Hour (Mark 15:24-26)

They crucified Him and divided His garments among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was the third hour (9 a.m.) when they crucified Him.

This was prophesied. The Roman soldiers who did it had no idea. That’s evidence!
He was nailed to the cross at nine in the morning and hung there for six hours.

The inscription of the charge against Him read: “The King of the Jews.”

That’s why Jesus was put to death: because He was the promised King, the Messiah, the very reason the Jewish people existed. God had promised Abraham that through his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:16).

With Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left.

Again, prophesied. “He was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

“Save Yourself!” (Mark 15:29-32)

Those who passed by insulted Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” The chief priests and scribes mocked Him to one another in the same way: “He saved others; He can’t save Himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross so we may see and believe.” Those crucified with Him also reviled Him.

“Save Yourself!”

That same advice is whispered to us every day: “Take care of yourself. Think about your own needs first. Put yourself first.”

Jesus heard it His whole life:

The devil said, “Serve Yourself: turn these stones into bread” (Matthew 4:3-4).
Peter said, “Spare Yourself: this will never happen to You” (Matthew 16:21-23).
His unbelieving brothers said, “Show Yourself to the world” (John 7:3-4).
His accusers said, “Defend Yourself,” but He was silent (Mark 15:3-5).
At the cross they offered a drug to numb Himself, but He refused (Mark 15:23).
And the crowd at Calvary said, “Save Yourself,” but Jesus stayed on the cross and finished the work His Father gave Him (Mark 15:30).

Jesus turned a deaf ear to all of it and gave Himself.

Self-sacrificing love.
Humble love.
Deny self! That’s the way, the heartbeat of Jesus.
He always gave, and gave more, every day and in every situation. He just poured out!

He Gave Himself

As a baby, He gave Himself. He didn’t have to leave heaven.
In His perfect life, He gave Himself. He didn’t have to spend time with sinners.
On the cross, He gave Himself. He didn’t have to go there.
Today, as our Mediator and Intercessor, He still gives Himself. He doesn’t have to hear our prayers or pursue a relationship with us, but He does (Hebrews 7:25).

Paul says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).

Jesus showed us what humility is:

He made Himself nothing: no thought of self-image.
He took the form of a servant: no thought of self-will.
He was born in human likeness: no thought of self-importance.
He was obedient to death: no thought of self-preservation.

Jesus lived in perfect humility before God. And Paul says this mind is already “yours in Christ Jesus.” His self-giving love isn’t a burden laid on us; it’s His life given to us, to flow through us.

Grace Takeaway

Everyone at the cross had the same advice: “Save Yourself.” If Jesus had listened, no one else could have been saved. Instead He refused even the painkiller and gave Himself completely, just as the Scriptures had promised. That’s how to give a gift: all of yourself, at full cost, for someone who doesn’t deserve it. He did it for you. Receive it, and let His self-giving love start flowing through you.

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