Mark 15 records the details of Jesus’ crucifixion from the moment that the Sanhedrin binds Him and hands Him over to Pilate to the moment when His body is laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. This is the last 12 hours of Jesus’ pre-resurrection life but it is also the last 12 hours of the unfulfilled Law, the last 12 hours of the “Old Covenant”, the last 12 hours of temporary atonement provided through the blood of bulls and lambs, of one man having annual access to the presence of God and of one nation having possession of the promises of God. When we read and study Mark 15 I believe it’s important for us to understand, this is the end of many good things so that it can be the beginning of many better things. These last 12 hours are God’s plan, they are God’s purpose and they are for God’s glory and our good. Paul wrote of love that he would show us “a more excellent way”, the author of Hebrews wrote that Jesus mediates a covenant that is better because it is founded on better promises. I hope that we take this as it is, but these last 12 hours are very familiar to us, we know them well but I don’t believe we understand them fully. These last 12 hours should be difficult for us to read, they should prick our hearts anew each time but in all their difficulty they should also life our spirits, they should show us a new layer, a new depth of the love of God and they should also reveal to us that the difficulty, the pain, the suffering and even the sorrow of Jesus the Messiah was counted and chosen; like childbirth, Jesus knew that these last 12 hours were as much as He could possibly bear but that they were bringing forth more joy, more goodness, more hope and more life than anyone watching or even any of us reading could ever imagine. Tonight we will begin to move through these 12 hours, we will move slowly and we will move carefully and I hope that we will see that each minute was purposed because each movement finished something good and opened the door to something better.