Mark 15 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Mark 15

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

15:1 And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4 And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

6 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged¹ Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters),² and they called together the whole battalion.³ 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour⁴ when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.⁵ 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

33 And when the sixth hour⁶ had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.⁷ 34 And 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?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he⁸ breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son⁹ of God!”

40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.¹⁰ And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph¹¹ bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Footnotes

[1] 15:15 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal
[2] 15:16 Greek the praetorium
[3] 15:16 Greek cohort; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men
[4] 15:25 That is, 9 a.m.
[5] 15:27 Some manuscripts insert verse 28: And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “He was numbered with the transgressors”
[6] 15:33 That is, noon
[7] 15:33 That is, 3 p.m.
[8] 15:39 Some manuscripts insert cried out and
[9] 15:39 Or a son
[10] 15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died
[11] 15:46 Greek he

Commentary

This chapter describes the crucifixion; 1 Cor 1.17-25; Gal 2.20; 2 Tim 4.3-4; in Christ's suffering and death, there is victory and salvation. The reality is not always obvious from the appearance, but the N.T. explains more fully what happened.

v1: The Sanhedrin had reached its decision. However, under Roman law, only Pilate could condemn a man to death; John 18.31. From His arrest onwards, Jesus stood alone before the schemes of ungodly men, "lawless hands" (Acts 2.23); no ordinary man could have endured this with the grace and composure that He did.

v2-5: Jesus remained silent before Pilate; again, He would not answer the ravings of the religious leaders.

Pilate was amazed, his mind in turmoil; there were the warnings from his wife's dreams, the pressure from the Jewish leaders, and the testimony of the Christ who stood in silence before him.

v6-8: The custom of the feast, to release one condemned man, could have provided Pilate with his solution. 'Barabbas' simply means 'son of the father'; Christ was the Son of the Father; in contrast, many were children of the devil (John 8.44).

v9-14: Pilate addressed his question to the crowd that had gathered. The chief priests, not interested in justice and truth, wanted to have Jesus destroyed.

v15: Pilate failed; he crucified a man he knew to be without fault; he considered his reputation before his conscience; he considered Jesus to be expendable; he too laid aside justice and truth. We can be tempted to disown Christ, so as to maintain our own popularity and reputation (John 5.44).

In contrast, Barabbas who deserved death received life. All who receive Christ as Saviour have a similar experience; we deserve death, but receive life in Him.

v16-20: The hardened, uncaring soldiers were totally ignorant of the Christ who stood before them. We may be appalled that the Son of God should suffer such mistreatment at the hands of wicked men; but we see a perfect dignity in dreadful humiliation. He did not criticise those who abused Him.

v21-25: In stark words, Mark describes how Jesus was led to Calvary (Golgotha). He refused the cup of wine and myrrh, which would have acted as an anaesthetic; the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel (Prov 12.10); He did accept the cup of God's wrath.

The chief priests did not want Jesus to die on the road, so they compelled a passer-by, Simon, to carry His cross (v21); clearly Jesus was already weak, having already suffered dreadfully since Gethsemane. It was the third hour (v25), i.e: 9.00 a.m. Jesus would endure the heat of the day for the next six hours.

Again the Scriptures are fulfilled, as people gambled for Jesus' clothes, His only belongings; at the same time we see an utter contempt for the Saviour of the World.

v26: The inscription was written in three languages, so that everyone present could read and understand. We are reminded that the Lord's own command was that His disciples take the message of the cross to every nation and people.

v27-28: Jesus died for sinners, and with sinners; the NIV puts v28 in the margin, but the Scripture (Is 53.12) was certainly fulfilled.

v29-32: The mocking continued, the crowd, chief priests, scribes, thieves; all "set Him at nought" (Luke 23.11 AV); they treated His with contempt, and utterly despised Him; the same word is used in Acts 4.11 ("rejected"). The word is used elsewhere of Christians, for we share in the suffering and rejection. The world has no compassion for those who truly love God.

v33-41: The emphasis changes from the physical description to something of the spiritual reality.

v33: Christ was on the cross for a total of 6 hours, compare v25; for the latter three hours there was darkness over the whole land; this pointed to a time of judgment and death (Matt 25.30); the ninth hour was the time of the evening sacrifice.

v34: At the ninth hour came the loud cry of victory; see also v37, Luke 23.46, John 19.28-30.

v35-36: The Jews believed that Elijah would help a righteous man who was suffering; not only did they distort Jesus' words, for He had not called for Elijah, but they accused Him of being unrighteous.

v37-38: A crucial sign, which happened when Jesus died; here was hope for the sinner, access to God through Christ, the new veil, through whom we approach the Father. This also was a sign of God's approval and vindication of Christ, His Son.

v39: The centurion had seen how Jesus had died, and declared that this was indeed the Son of God. Doubtless this man had seen many die, but there was something about Christ that made Him distinct.

v40-41: The devotion of the women; the gospel writers (especially Luke) record that women followed with the Twelve. But here they stood watching, doubtless in sorrow. But here too were those who were to become witnesses to His resurrection; they knew He had died, and they were soon to know that He had risen.

When His male followers had largely fled, many women looked on. Christ had holy and healthy relationships with women.

v42-47: See Deut 21.22-23; Roman practice was to leave the bodies to rot.

v42: It was now the day of Preparation, Thursday evening; Jewish days started at 6.00 p.m. our time. There was an extra Sabbath, John 19.31, as it was Passover. Thus, 'Friday' and 'Saturday' were Sabbaths, and Christ was rose to life again on the Sunday.

v43: Joseph of Arimathea; see John 12.42, where many amongst the leaders did not declare their faith in Christ; now he did, see John 19.38. He was not only ready to speak out for Christ, but he rejected his old religion, and identified with Christ, "bearing His reproach" (Heb 13.13).

v44-46: The centurion confirmed that Jesus was dead. This, with other testimony, was clear that He had died; the 'swoon theory' that says that Jesus did not die, is clearly unsupportable.

v47: The women (v40-41) observed where Jesus' body was laid. This was important, since they were the first to the tomb of the Sunday.