Day 1 Read Mark chapter 15 and 16:1-8
Chapter 15 through to 16:8 is bringing us to the heart of the Gospel where our Lord is tried and crucified.This is an awesome time for Jesus and indeed for the whole world for without the outcome of these events there would be no hope for us or the world. Read the whole passage through as often as you can to get a clear grasp of the story.
(NOTE: I am omitting 16:9-20 because these verses are omitted in the oldest documents and are not original to Mark.)
Day 2 Read Mark 15:1-20
How can a man who knows another to be innocent possibly allow him to be put to death? Political expediency and not justice governed Pilate's decisions about Jesus - how often justice and truth are sacrificed on the altar of expediency! The priests and the mob are really no different and have no concern for righteousness. The soldiers too show remarkable cruelty to an innocent man. So little has changed in our world today. Notice the dignity and grace of the Lord throughout all this injustice and cruelty.
Day 3 Read Mark 15:21-32
No compassion. This is an ugly scene where people are allowed to let rip their emotions and anger at Jesus. The criminals being executed with Jesus mock him - you would think they had more to deal with than to behave in this manner! The soldiers do not wait for him to die but cast lots for to see who got his clothes! The priests and religious leaders mock and ridicule Jesus - not satisfied that they have achieved their goal, they rub it in and saturate the scene with ugly abuse. Jesus takes it all and he receives all of this with grace, dignity and compassion for his mockers.
Day 4 Read Mark 15:33-41
This passage still sounds awesome to me no matter how often I read it. I cannot help linking verse 34 to Mark 14:33-36 and 2 Corinthians 5:21. Look these passages up and get a glimpse of what Jesus was enduring. What I find staggering is the number of people who still hang around to watch this macabre event and treat Jesus with such disdain and cruelty. What strikes you most about this passage as you and I remember that it was out of the most profound love for us that He hung and suffered there?
Day 5 Read Mark 15:42 to 16:8
As the lamb had been eaten at Passover, so the Lamb was sacrificed. Notice that it is not the disciples who go to give Jesus the dignity of a burial but a secret disciple, Joseph, and Nicodemus [as we are told elsewhere]. The women did stay in order to find where Jesus would be taken. The events of chapter 16 change everything! Here is the heart of the Christian Gospel - the Resurrection. Jesus has become our sacrifice, but a living one and with it He brings the hope of eternal life.