Mark 15:29-36-- Fellowship of Suffering

Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, "Behold, He is calling for Elijah." Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down."

Crucifixion is a successful propaganda machine.  Those who see one crucified assumes that they are terrible criminals.  

Those passing by either had been at the Sanhedrin’s council or had heard of Jesus’ statement that he would raise the temple in three days (John 2:19).  So they made fun of Jesus, saying that his words were of no account as he claimed that he could do a miracle with the Temple, but he could not save himself from humiliation by taking himself from the cross.  Members of the Sanhedrin themselves were there making sure Jesus was properly mocked.  They also claimed that a miracle should come from Jesus to take himself off of the cross.  

The sixth hour after sunrise was about noon, but it became unnaturally dark, and this darkness lasted for three hours.  But those mocking were not looking for the miracle of the judgement of God, but his own salvation would be the only miracle they would recognize.  

In response to the whole situation, Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  In crucifixion, one can only speak short sentences, for one’s breathing is limited (one dies of a lack of oxygen in crucifixion).  He was not saying this because he felt rejected by God—rather he was quoting the text to indicate what he was experiencing.  Often a quote of a single verse is not just one verse, but the whole context.  In Psalm 22, David was speaking about his oppression and rejection, especially being mocked and sarcastic comments about salvation.  Yet, David claims that even though God is leaving him alone temporarily to be abused (which is what the verse Jesus quotes is about), God is faithful and will vindicate him before his enemies.   (for more on Psalm 22, check out my commentary on that passage--http://livingpsalms.blogspot.com/2007/11/david-and-jesus-suffering-psalm-221-18.html
http://livingpsalms.blogspot.com/2007/11/anawims-deliverance-psalm-2219-32.html    )

So Jesus is not only speaking of his suffering and God’s temporary absence, but also about his eventual deliverance, even in the face of death.  His words were misunderstood, however, perhaps due to his Galileean accent.  They thought that the Aramaic “Eli” was speaking about Elijah, not God.  So they made fun of him about calling for Elijah.  

The sour wine was also mockery, for at times someone wanting to be merciful would give one wine while up on the cross, but sour wine was like vinegar, and tasted horribly.

Abel, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David, Jeremiah, Esther and numerous others had to suffer for doing what is right.  Many even had to die for the sake of others.  Jesus put himself at the head of this mass of sufferers, accepting what they did not have to, for the sake of doing good for the sake of God's love.  

When we suffer for God's love, then we stand with this crowd.  When we endure hardship and suffering, but respond with love and humility, then we are in this fellowship of sufferings, this cloud of witnesses, this communion of saints. When we love through the suffering others put us through, when we are guilty by association instead of by deed, when we are blamed instead of rewarded for doing as Jesus would do, then we join the group of saints that are the family of Jesus.

That group of saints are why God created resurrection.  To join in that group is to be guaranteed a place in God's kingdom.