Mark 15
-A consultation was held early on that fateful Friday
morning as the chief priests, elders, and scribes all consorted together. They
bound Jesus and led Him away to deliver Him over the Roman authority, Pilate,
with the hopes of capital punishment for this Man believed to be a blasphemous
imposter. Pilate questioned the Messiah asking Him if indeed He was the King of
the Jews. Jesus replied that it was as he said. The chief priests began to
again accuse Him harshly. Christ did not respond to their accusations, which
led Pilate to wonder why He made no defense for Himself. This amazed the Roman
leader (Mark 15:1-5). At the feast, the Romans had a tradition of allowing one
prisoner to be released. There was an insurrectionist named Barabbas, who had
committed murder, that came up for release along with Jesus. Pilate was aware,
the Bible says here, that the Jewish leadership had handed Jesus over because
of their envy more than anything else. So, he made attempts to peacefully
release the Lord, but the chief priests were successful in stirring up the
crowd gathered for this event to release Barabbas rather than Jesus. Pilate
asked plainly what he should do with Jesus then, who was referred to as the
“King of the Jews.” They shouted, “Crucify Him!” The biblical commentary paints
a very sad tale for Pilate as he released Barabbas instead of Jesus wishing to
satisfy the stirred up crowd. An injustice was served. Jesus was whipped and
then handed over to be crucified by asphyxiation on a cross (Mark 15:6-15).
-The Roman soldiers quickly took him into the Praetorium,
which was a part of the Antonia Fortress on the northeast side of the Temple
Mount area. The whole Roman cohort (battalion) was called together for this
occasion as they dressed the Lord in purple and placed a crown woven out of
razor sharp thorns on him in mockery. They jeered, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
They beat His earthly Head with a reed (or staff) of wood. They were spitting on
Him in derision, and kept kneeling down in sardonic worship of Him to humiliate
the Messiah. When this was finished, they undressed His purple robe and put His
own garments back on. Then they led Him out to crucify the Lamb of God (Mark
15:16-20).
-Along the route to the crucifixion site, they pressed into
service a passer-by from the country. Mark names this man as Simon of Cyrene
and the father of Alexander and Rufus. This implies that this family ended up
becoming Christians due to the fact that much was known about them in the early
church. Simon of Cyrene bore the cross of Jesus, more than likely since the
Lord was at this point too physically weak to carry it on His own. He was
finally brought to the place, Golgotha, or place of the Skull, outside the city
walls of Jerusalem. He was offered wine mixed with myrrh as an antiseptic, but
He refused to take it. “And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments
among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take
(Psalm 22:18, Mark 15:21-24).”
-Jesus historically was put on the cross at 9:00am local
time. The charge against Him by the Roman government who was in dominion over
Judea at that time read, “The King of the Jews.” They crucified at the same
time, two other thieves to either side of the Lord. Thus the Scripture was
further fulfilled that He, the Messiah, would be “numbered with transgressors (Isaiah
53:12).” Those going back and forth into and out of the city along what was
probably a busy thoroughfare were hurling abuse at Him in mockery and disgust.
They had hoped for a political savior, but it seemed their hopes had been
dashed by what they considered to be yet another imposter and deceiver. They
tempted Him, “save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” In other words, “prove
You are who You say You are by doing things our way, not God’s!” Thankfully,
our Lord knew better and endured the insults casted so venomously at Him during
His passion. Even the religious leaders were getting into the act as
insensitive-abusive manipulators. Lastly, the two thieves condemned to die with
Him were also insulting the King of Glory, but in another gospel at least one
came around to salvation after truly observing the scene (Mark 15:25-32, Luke
23:39-43).
-By noon, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth
hour (3:00pm). In this afternoon hour, Jesus cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My
God, why have You forsaken Me?” Bystanders misheard Him in this plea. They
falsely thought He was calling for Elijah the prophet. After another sponge
with sour wine was offered to the Lord for a drink, He uttered a loud cry, and
breathed His last breath on earth as the Suffering Servant. The veil of the
Temple was immediately torn in two from top to bottom ushering in a new era of
God’s mercy and grace upon the earth for all mankind. The centurion who had
witnessed all the miraculous and incredible events of the crucifixion right in
front of the Lord admitted, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome were listed
as some of the prominent women looking of from a distance as these events
unfolded at Calvary. These used to follow Him in Galilee and ministered to Him.
They, along with others, had come up with Him to Jerusalem as witnesses of the
greatest event in human history (Mark 15:33-41).
-Now when evening had already come, because it was the
preparation day before the Sabbath, immediate action had to be taken to bury
the Savior. Joseph of Arimathea (a tribal town of Benjamin in Judea about three
miles northeast of Jerusalem), who was indicated as a “prominent member of the
Council” and one who was “waiting for the Kingdom of God” gathered incredible
courage to go before Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus after His death.
Pilate indeed wondered how the Christ could have been killed so quickly, so he
beckoned for the centurion and questioned him on the matter. Ascertaining the
facts of the Lord’s death, Pilate granted Joseph of Arimathea His deceased
body. Joseph bought a linen cloth, the Bible says, and took Him down from the
cross. He then wrapped the body of the Lord in the linen cloth and laid Him in
a nearby tomb which had been hewn out in the rock. Joseph then saw to it that a
stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb for protection. Mary
Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see the exact spot
where the Lord was laid. They would come back after the Sabbath day of rest to
anoint Him in His proper burial (Mark 15:42-16:1).
-*Application* The death of One on behalf of the many, still
draws us to excitement and passion today. Jesus changes lives. His sacrifice on
the cross mattered. It is altogether the worst and the best thing that has ever
happened in the history of the world all at the same time. A paradox, it is the
perfect demonstration of courage and love for a hopeless case. When we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us, the Just for the unjust (Romans 5:8, 1 Peter
3:18).
Verse to Memorize:
Mark 15:37
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