Mark 15

Mark 15:1

M. Morning Trial Before the Sanhedrin (15:1) This verse describes a morning meeting of the Sanhedrin, perhaps convened to validate the illegal action of the night before. As a result, Jesus was bound and taken to Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine.

Mark 15:2

N. Jesus Before Pilate (15:2-5) 15:2 Up to now, Jesus had been on trial before the religious leaders on a charge of blasphemy. Now He was taken before the civil court on a charge of treason. The civil trial took place in three stagesfirst before Pilate, then before Herod, and finally before Pilate again. Pilate asked the Lord Jesus if He were the King of the Jews. If He were, He was presumably dedicated to the overthrow of Caesar, and thus guilty of treason. 15:3-5 The chief priests poured out a torrent of charges against Jesus. Pilate couldn’t get over His poise in the face of such overwhelming accusations. He asked Him why He didn’t defend Himself, but Jesus refused to answer His critics.

Mark 15:6

O. Jesus or Barabbas? (15:6-15) 15:6-8 It was the custom for the Roman Governor to release one Jewish prisoner at this feast timesort of a political sop to the unhappy people. One such eligible prisoner was Barabbas, guilty of rebellion and murder. When Pilate offered to release Jesus, taunting the envious chief priests, the people were primed to ask for Barabbas. The very ones who were charging Jesus with treason against Caesar were asking the release of a man who was actually guilty of that crime! The position of the chief priests was irrational and ludicrous but sin is like that. Basically they were jealous of His popularity. 15:9-14 Pilate asked what he should do with the One whom they called the King of the Jews. The people chanted savagely, Crucify Him! Pilate demanded a reason, but there was none. Mob hysteria was rising. All they would shout was, Crucify Him!15:15 And so the spineless Pilate did what they wantedhe released Barabbas, flogged Jesus and delivered Him over to the soldiers for crucifixion. It was a monstrous verdict of unrighteousness. And yet it was a parable of our redemptionthe guiltless One delivered to die in order that the guilty might go free.

Mark 15:16

P. The Soldiers Mock God’s Servant (15:16-21) 15:16-19 The soldiers led Jesus away into the hall of the Governor’s residence. After assembling the whole garrison, they staged a mock coronation for the King of the Jews. If they had only known! It was God the Son they clothed with purple. It was their own Creator they crowned with thorns. It was the Sustainer of the universe they mocked as King of the Jews. It was the Lord of life and glory they struck on the head. They spat on the Prince of peace. They mockingly bowed their knees to the King of kings and Lord of lords. 15:20, 21 When their crude jests were over, they put His own clothes back on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. Mark mentions here that the soldiers ordered a passerby, Simon of Cyrene (in North Africa), to carry His cross. He may have been black but was more probably a Hellenistic Jew. He had two sons, Alexander and Rufus, who were probably believers (if Rufus is the same one mentioned in Rom_16:13). In bearing the cross after Jesus, he gave us a picture of what should characterize us as disciples of the Savior.

Mark 15:22

Q. The Crucifixion (15:22-32) The Spirit of God describes the crucifixion simply and unemotionally. He does not dwell on the extreme cruelty of this mode of execution, or the terrible suffering it entailed. The exact location is unknown today. Though the traditional site, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is inside the walls of the city, its advocates contend that it was outside the walls at the time of Christ. Another supposed site is Gordon’s Calvary, north of the city walls and adjoining a garden area. 15:22 Golgotha is the Aramaic name meaning skull. Calvary is the Latin name. Perhaps the area was shaped like a skull or received the name because it was a place of execution. 15:23 The soldiers offered Jesus wine mingled with myrrh. This would have acted as a drug, dulling His senses. Determined to bear man’s sins in His full consciousness, He would not take it. 15:24 The soldiers gambled for the clothes of those who were crucified. When they took the Savior’s garments, they took just about everything material that He owned. 15:25-28 It was 9:00 a.m. when they crucified Him. Over His head they had put the title THE KING OF THE JEWS. (Mark does not give the full inscription but contents himself with the substance of it; see Mat_27:37; Luk_23:38; Joh_19:19.) Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on each side just as Isaiah had predicted that He would be associated with criminals in His death (Isa_53:12). 15:29, 30 The Lord Jesus was mocked by the passers-by (vv. 29, 30), the chief priests and scribes (vv. 31, 32a), and the two robbers (v. 32b). The passers-by were probably Jews who were ready to keep the Passover inside the city. Outside they paused long enough to hurl an insult at the Paschal Lamb. They misquoted Him as threatening to destroy their beloved temple and to rebuild it in three days. If He was so great, let Him save Himself by coming down from the cross. 15:31 The chief priests and the scribes scorned His claim to save others. He saved others; Himself He cannot save. It was viciously cruel, yet unintentionally true. It was true in the Lord’s life and in ours, too. We can’t save others while seeking to save ourselves. 15:32 The religious leaders also challenged Him to come down from the cross if He were the Messiah, the King of Israel. Then they would believe, they said. Let us see and we will believe. But God’s order is, Believe and then you will see.Even the criminals reproached Him!

Mark 15:33

R. Three Hours of Darkness (15:33-41) 15:33 Between noon and three o’clock the whole land was shrouded in darkness. Jesus was then bearing the full judgment of God against our sins. He suffered spiritual desolation and separation from God. No mortal mind can ever understand the agony He endured when His soul was made a sacrifice for sin. 15:34 At the close of His agony, Jesus cried out with a loud voice (in Aramaic), My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? God had forsaken Him because in His holiness He must dissociate Himself from sin. The Lord Jesus had identified Himself with our sins and was paying the penalty in full. 15:35, 36 Some of the cruel mob suggested He was calling for Elijah when He said, Eloi, Eloi. As a final indignity, one of them soaked a sponge in sour wine and offered it to Him on the end of a reed. 15:37 Jesus cried out with strength and triumphthen breathed His last. His death was an act of His will, not an involuntary collapse. 15:38 At that moment, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was an act of God indicating that by Christ’s death, access into the sanctuary of God was henceforth the privilege of all believers (see Heb_10:19-22). A great new era had been ushered in. It would be an era of nearness to God, not of distance from Him. 15:39 The Roman officer’s confession, while noble, did not necessarily acknowledge Jesus as equal with God. The Gentile centurion recognized Him as the Son of God. No doubt he had a sense of history being made. But whether his faith was genuine is not clear. 15:40, 41 Mark mentions that certain women remained at the cross. It deserves mention that the women shine brightly in the Gospel narratives. Considerations of personal safety drove the men into hiding. The devotion of the women put love to Christ above their own welfare. They were last at the cross and first at the tomb.

Mark 15:42

S. The Burial in Joseph’s Tomb (15:42-47) 15:42 The Sabbath began at sunset on Friday. The day before the Sabbath or other festival was known as the Preparation. 15:43 The necessity for prompt action probably emboldened Joseph of Arimathea to ask Pilate for permission to bury the body of Jesus. Joseph was a devout Jew, perhaps a member of the Sanhedrin (Luk_23:50-51; see also Mat_27:57; Joh_19:38). 15:44, 45 Pilate could hardly believe that Jesus was already dead. When the centurion confirmed the fact, the Governor granted the body to Joseph. (Two different words are used for the body of Jesus in this section. Joseph asked for the body of the Lord Jesus and Pilate granted the corpse to him.) 15:46 With loving care, Joseph (and NicodemusJoh_19:38-39) embalmed the body, wrapped Him in the linen, then put Him in a new tomb belonging to himself. The tomb was a small room carved out of the rock. The door was sealed with a coin-shaped stone which could be rolled into a groove carved out of stone. 15:47 Again the women, that is, the two Marys, are mentioned as being present. We admire them for their unflagging and fearless affection. We are told that the preponderance of missionaries today are women. Where are the men?