Mark: Utter Abandonment
As we focus on the crucifixion as described by Mark, Jesus was utterly abandoned by everyone on the cross, including His Father... so we will never be!
Death by crucifixion was one of the cruelest and most degrading forms of punishment ever conceived by human perversity, even in the eyes of the pagan world.46 Josephus described it as "the most wretched of all ways of dying", and the shudder caused by the cross as an instrument of execution is still reflected in the English word "excruciating". Yet in the Roman provinces crucifixion was one of the customary means of preserving public order, and the history of turbulent Judea is punctuated by accounts of men being crucified.
46J.Blinzler cites Cicero... "Even the mere word, cross, must remain far not only from the lips of the citizens of Rome, but also from their thoughts, their eyes, their ears." Elsewhere Cicero calls crucifixion the grossest, cruelest, or most hideous manner of execution.
William Lane The Gospel According to Mark
Sermon discussion topics for parents to use with their children:
What was it like for Jesus before He came to earth?
Who were all the groups or individuals who abandoned or rejected Jesus?
Why was He utterly abandoned?
What are the implications of this for us?
