Mark

Mark 15:1-15

The Sanhedrin bound Jesus and led Him away to Pilate who could condemn Jesus to death.  It appears the charge of blasphemy had been modified to the claim of being 'King of the Jews'.  This was a title given by Rome to Herod the Great nearly forty years before; a title not extended to his son.  Rome moved quickly against any and all who claimed a kingship that interfered with the rule of Caesar.  It is interesting that while the priests attempt to spin the charge to offend Rome and move Pilate to condemn Him, they inadvertently brought more truth to the charge and more condemnation for putting to death an innocent man.  The charge of blasphemy was a false charge and a lie.  The charge that He was King, was in fact truth, a truth we have the luxury of knowing and responding to. 

The answer Jesus gave to Pilate's question sound like an affirmation in the KJV; the NIV has a little better feel to what the language reveals.  Jesus neither confirms or denies, "You have said so."  It's as if He were saying, 'You, Pilate, need to consider that.'  After all, Jesus testimony of Himself only has an affect if that becomes our testimony. 

This custom of releasing a prisoner was not known officially outside of what the bible says.  However, there is some indication it happened from time to time as a political maneuver to win points with the people.   The choice was set before the people:

• Barabbas (meaning son of abba); a convicted murderer, a notorious criminal, he deserved his punishment, so it was just for him to die.  Some ancient texts record Barabbas first name as Jesus.  If you have an NIV, consider Matthew 27:16 where he is called Jesus Barabbas. 
• Jesus (meaning Jehovah is salvation); condemned by the hatred that existed against Him, a notorious healer and teacher, He deserved no punishment.  He was just and righteous in all He did, therefore any punishment was wrong by law, but right by God's plan (Romans 5:8).  Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man.  

Pilate knew the charges were trumped up.  He knew it was envy that motivated the chief priests, Jesus was more popular and widely known than the priests were.  So, Pilate leaves the decision to the crowd, "Which Jesus do you want?" 

• Jesus, the Son of God.
• Jesus Barabbas, the son of the father,

If Jesus, the Christ, is one choice, then the other Jesus seems to be a picture of anti-christ.  We make choices all the time, Jesus or another.  This is no different.  Remember what we saw earlier:

Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁶ For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many. ^[1]

There should have been nothing tempting about the offer to free Barabbas.  This wasn't a vote of confidence in him, it was a mob mentality vote of popularity against Jesus driven by the chief priest who held sway over the people.  They cried out for his crucifixion.  Pilate asked again knowing Jesus innocence.  Pilate just wanted to stay out of trouble so he released Barabbas and had Jesus scourged and turned over for crucifixion. 

Pilate's main function was to keep the peace.  An uprising or riot of any kind got him in trouble quicker than anything.  It appears you could do anything in that time as long as you did it orderly. 

We can relate to Barabbas in that we are guilty but set free from our punishment because of Christ accepting the punishment.  The cross He was nailed to was the cross of Barabbas; but also our cross.  Barabbas stands as a type of anti-christ, a type of sinful man in which we can each place our self. 

Mark 15:16-20

The Roman garrison was 1/10 of a legion; from 600 to 1000 men.  They held a mock coronation.  They crowned him with thorns (representing sin and the curse of Genesis).  They dressed him in purple (color of royalty).  They spit on him, beat him and mocked him.  How these men must have felt when they found out the truth?  How do we feel when we've mocked him in our past and come to know him later?  How should we feel when we take lightly the things of God, then remember Jesus died to pay the wrath for my sins? 

            He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

⁴           Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

⁵           But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

⁶           All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6)

Scourging alone often killed a man.  At this point Jesus had been scourged, paraded around, punched, spit on and mocked.  Many would die from loss of blood and never make it to the cross.

Mark 15:21-26

Weakened from His beating, Jesus was unable to carry the cross, Simon was conscripted to do this work.  By Roman law, a soldier could grab a citizen this way and legally force them to bear a load.  There were legal limits to how far they could ask them to go.  We know little or nothing of Simon.  We know there was a Rufus in the early church that Paul greeted in Rome (Romans 16:13).  We also know there was a man from Cyrene present at the birth of the church (Acts 2:10). 

Golgotha was the Place of the skull.  The exact site is unknown.  There a couple prominent theories; Gordon's Calvary is a likely site as opposed to the traditional site to the west as designated as traditional by Constantine's mother.  Wine mixed with myrrh was used as a pain killer.  When Jesus tasted it and realized what it was, He did not drink it.  He chose to bear the all the agony of the cross.

McArthur believes the gall was given to them so they would hold still while they were nailed to the cross, not out of any compassion.  There was no compassion built into crucifixion.  It was allowed to be the most cruel and painful form or punishment.  Crucifixion means excruciating; at the border of intolerable leading to madness and unconsciousness. 

And then they crucified Him.

Psalm 22:18 was brought to fulfillment when they cast lots for His clothes.  The possessions of the crucified became part of the payment for the soldiers crucifying Him.  The crucifixion was at 9 am based on the Jewish method of time (the 3^rd hour was 3 hours after 6 am – the beginning of the day). 

The sign placed on the cross was normally the charge brought against the criminal.  Pilate didn't agree with the Jewish leadership.  He put on the sign "The king of the Jews".  The Jews demanded the inscription be changed but Pilate refused (John 19:22). 

Mark 15:27-39

In the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12 Jesus was crucified between two thieves.  Here was the perfect sinless man, the Son of God, nailed to the cross between two common criminals.  And if His agony was not enough, those who passed by added insult to injury.  These are evil words they speak, coaxing Christ from the cross.  They are clearly rooted in evil and we thank the Lord they were not successful.  The priests joined in noting that Jesus saved others but couldn't save Himself.  They, too, joined in this evil thought.  If Christ was really who He said He was they coaxed Him from the cross to prove it.  Then they would believe, they said.  However, being on the cross was proof itself, it just wasn't the proof they expected or understood.  Even the thieves reviled Him.  He was dying for all those who mocked and reviled Him. 

Darkness encompassed the land.  All the weight of sin and shame, all the spiritual darkness descended on Christ as He became sin for us, the Father looked away.  There was darkness 3 hours after he was crucified.  The cried out in Aramaic, Mark translated the cry.  It is, in essence, a quote of the Psalm (Psalm 22:1).  As Jesus experienced God's wrath poured out on him (2 Corinthians 5:21), He cried out and breathed his last. 

The veil of the temple was torn in two.  The tear was from top to bottom.  This seems very symbolic of the rending open of the way, access to the Holy of Holies by the work of the cross.  A centurion, a gentile soldier, stood near Jesus and witnessed His death.  His testimony revealed that upon the death of Jesus the eyes of this gentile were opened.   

Mark 15:40-47

Joseph was a prominent member of the council.  This prominence is apparent in His access to Pilate.  This took great courage for him to openly ask for the body of Jesus.  Joseph was a believer.  When Pilate was convinced Jesus was dead the body was given to Joseph, this was normally the job of family.  Why Joseph?  Did Joseph know he was only loaning the tomb out for the weekend?  This was preparation day, the day before Sabbath, and there wouldn't have been anywhere to buy grave linens.  Was Joseph prepared ahead of time to bury Jesus? 

©2018 Doug Ford