The Last Temptation of Jesus: Mark 15:25-32

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Year of the Cross – Episode 44: While His ministry was filled with challenges and temptations, leading up to the cross, one of the biggest temptations Jesus faced was abandoning the mission of the cross. However, after being nailed onto the cross, Jesus faces a slightly different temptation, and one that determines our ultimate destiny.

Read the transcript:

When we began moving our way through Jesus’ final week, we’ve seen how every one of the four gospels has been building up to the moment Jesus is hung on the cross. For most of the other episodes this year, I’ve picked one or two of the gospels to focus in on, but since this entire year has been leading up to the point when Jesus is hung on the cross, it seems like we should take a little more time on this event. Also, all four gospels share unique details regarding the time Jesus spent on the cross.

While we don’t have enough time left in the year to devote an episode to each gospel for this event while also concluding the year with Jesus’ resurrection, let’s take the next couple of weeks and focus in on some big themes we can learn about Jesus and about God through what is shared about Jesus’ time on the cross.

Since Matthew and Mark are the most similar, let’s group them together in this episode, then in the following two episodes, let’s look at Luke and then John respectively.

With that said, let’s read Mark’s version of Jesus’ crucifixion to discover how he describes Jesus’ time on the cross. Our passage is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 15, and we will be reading it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 25, Mark tells us that:

25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the Jews.

27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [[28]  Some manuscripts add a verse here that says: “And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was numbered with the transgressors’”] 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

In Mark’s version of this event, we discover that Jesus faced a different type of temptation during the last hours before His death. Up to this point, the temptation Satan has thrown at Jesus the strongest is the temptation to abandon both the cross as well as the human race. However, now that Jesus is on the cross, the temptation Satan throws at Jesus is one challenging Jesus to come down from the cross.

The only way this temptation makes sense is if it was within Jesus’ power to do. The fact that Jesus received hostility and insults from all angles suggests that this was prompted by Satan because Jesus could come off of the cross if He wanted to. Out of the challenges Jesus receives, the one Mark chose to include hits all the angles of a solid temptation.

Mark quotes the challenge by saying in verses 31 and 32, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”

The first part of the temptation hits on pride. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding His ability to come down, and it suggests that Jesus doesn’t come down because He cannot come down. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that while Jesus can come down, He chooses not to because the cross and death was His mission and the way we can be saved.

The second part of the temptation hits on Jesus’ mission. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding the mission and role He came to the earth to fulfill. Jesus came as the Messiah that was promised, and Satan challenges Jesus that His death is a failure of His role – especially in the eyes of the Old Testament scriptures and the current generations understanding of these scriptures. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that the Old Testament describes Jesus’ rejection, betrayal, and death, and that His death was part of the Messiah’s master plan for humanity’s salvation.

The third part of the temptation hits on Jesus’ divinity. This angle of temptation challenges Jesus regarding His right to receive worship as a member of the Godhead. Satan challenged Jesus through this temptation that if the Messiah dies, He is not worthy of receiving worship. In contrast, if Jesus displays His divinity by coming down from the cross, He will receive worship and praise from those present. Satan ignores the detail, hoping we will ignore the detail as well, that while Jesus is worthy of our worship, Jesus isn’t interested in receiving our worship or praise. Jesus would rather point all praise and worship to the Father, and Jesus didn’t come with the goal of being worshiped.

Also, it is significant to note that any praise or worship Jesus would have received would mean nothing if He came down from the cross. Either the worship itself would be empty because it was from shallow, unrepentant hearts, or it would be empty because Jesus would have failed His mission and He would have failed humanity.

Jesus overcame this big temptation because His mission was to redeem humanity. Jesus triumphed over every temptation Satan threw at Him from the temptations at the start of His ministry after His baptism, to this last temptation Satan was saving for Jesus’ time on the cross. Jesus overcame temptation and sin to make it possible for us to accept the gift He offers to each of us.

Mark’s gospel tells us that not only did Jesus receive insults and challenges from the religious leaders and soldiers who were present, but also from those who were crucified with Him. However, not all those who were crucified with Jesus were convinced that Jesus deserved these insults or challenges, but we’ll wait until our next episode to discover what happens when one of the people near Jesus decides to ask Jesus for a favor when they are both about to die.

As we come to the end of this episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Be sure to always seek God first. Know that Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that when we are tempted, we can lean on Him for the power to resist temptation in our own lives as well. Also, we can know and trust that when we have failed God, He is more than willing to accept us back and forgive us because that is one of the big reasons why Jesus came.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with Jesus. Through a personal relationship with Jesus, He helps us overcome temptation in our lives and He helps us live the life He created us to live.

Which leads us into the challenge I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!