The Central Event of God’s Mission

Luther Classic College, Casper, WY

March 27, 2026

Text: Mark 15:33-47

In the name of Jesus, Amen!

As we are traveling from place to place in the United States to visit congregations, I have been preaching in a series of sermons about the Mission of God, because Christian Mission is God’s Mission to save sinners. The Mission of God comes from the loving heart of God, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. We talked about God’s salvation history and the overall picture of how God carries out His mission by His Son and through His people. We talked about why Jesus’ overcoming the temptations is an important part of God’s mission. We talked about how declaring sinners righteous and granting us new life that shall never die are the work of God, not the work of man, nor work of the Law, and therefore are the core of His mission. Today, we will talk about the central event that defines the Mission of God to save sinners, namely the Cross event. The main character of this event is God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are other characters on the scene: The centurion with his soldiers, some women who followed Jesus to come to Jerusalem, chief priests and the scribes, some bystanders and Joseph of Arimathea who later took down the corpse of Jesus and laid him in a tomb with the approval of Pontius Pilate.

This event is a historical event that is testified by human history and confessed in the words of the Creed, Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” The day of the event is the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Passover, when the paschal lambs were slaughtered, which makes the dying Jesus the true Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. At the sixth hour, which is noon, “there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.” It signifies that the love and the glory of God in Christ Jesus on the Cross was covered by the darkness of unbelieving hearts and the darkness of the sinful world. At the cross of Jesus, the devil seems to have the upper hand because the darkness of death seems to have prevailed, but God will soon turn the tables. God’s mission in Jesus and His cross is not only to show the world the wrath of God against sin, but also to solve the problem of sin and death by laying on Jesus the sins of you and me and crushing Him to death so that by the death of Jesus death itself is finally conquered and the light of new life undying will pierce through the darkness of sin and death by the power of His resurrection.

At the cross, people were looking on and some of them were mocking Jesus saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” Jesus’ Body is the true temple of God where the Great Priest sacrifices Himself once for all for the forgiveness of sins, and which is rebuilt by the power of resurrection to establish His mystic body — the church. At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” Jesus is not calling Elijah to come and save him from the cross. He is fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22, where the salvation of God would be achieved through the coming Christ who was mocked and suffered. The forsakenness from God the Father expresses the wrath of God against sins born by His begotten Son. The nineth hour of the cross event is Jesus’ hour which the Apostle John has been talking about in his Gospel. Jesus came exactly for this hour, the hour when “the son of man will be lifted up from the earth, and will draw all people to Himself. (John 12:32)” Jesus fulfills yet another prophecy in Psalm 69 when someone filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. After that, “Jesus having uttered a loud cry, yielded the spirit”. The Holy Spirit coming down upon the disciples on the first Pentecost came from the cross of Jesus. At the same time, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” The book of Hebrews in 10:20 says, “through the body of Christ, God has consecrated for us the new and living way to enter the holy places.” Having seen all of these the centurion says “Truly this man was the Son of God”. The confession that came from a Roman centurion indicates the era of justification of all sinners including the gentiles has begun.

Now, how should you view the cross of Jesus and be part of this central event of the mission of God? Just like people around the cross of Jesus at that hour, most people don’t believe and ridicule Jesus and His cross as powerless defeat, scandal and folly. Most disciples had fled for fear of the Jews. However, John and some women looked on and treasured all the things that had happened and remembered what Jesus said on the cross. Some who used to be secret believers came out and showed their courage to be His followers like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Now the deed has been done. Jesus died and was buried. God has rested in Jesus Christ, quietly waiting for the ultimate realization of redemption. People had to wait to see what would happen and what kind of new reality they would have to live with. Are you going to be in total despair like some of Jesus’ disciples because the Gospel movement has been crushed, or in great joy for what God in Christ Jesus has promised us will come true?

In the Gospel reading of last Sunday, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and life.” After Good Friday comes Easter Sunday. The other side of the coin in Jesus’ cross event is the resurrection. Christ is risen from the dead! God turned the precious blood of Jesus into a sin offering for all of us to be reconciled with Him, making Jesus’ death a turning point for humanity and the beginning of a new life. Therefore, rejoice and be excited and active in faith in everyday life for your sins are forgiven, and God has given you a life that shall never die. The centerpiece of God’s mission through Jesus and His Cross has been accomplished. Even now, God continues His mission to save people from their sins through the Word and Sacraments that come from the cross event of Jesus Christ. Today, as a fellow forgiven sinner and a child of God, I invite you to be part of this exciting journey of mission of God to save sinners here and around the world.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, Amen!