Mark 15

He stands before Pilate

And in the morning the chief priests immediately held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and they bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

15:1 Matt 27:1-2. Matthew records the suicide of Judas, but Mark ignores it.⚜

2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And answering he said to him, “It is as you say”.

3 And the chief priests accused him of many things, but he gave no answer.

4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, “Will you give no answer? See how many things they testify against you”.

5 But Jesus still gave no answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

6 Now at that feast he used to release to them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas. He was imprisoned with those who had rebelled with him, and who had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 And the crowd began to cry out and ask Pilate to do as he had always done for them.

9 But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?” 10 For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over out of envy.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the people, so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.

12 And Pilate answered and said again to them, “What do you want me to do to the one whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” And they cried out all the more, “Crucify him!”

15:14 See in Matt 27:25 the terrible thing the Jews now said.⚜

15 And so Pilate, wanting to satisfy the people, released Barabbas to them. And after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified.

He is mocked by Roman soldiers

16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall called the Praetorium. And they called together the whole Roman garrison. 17 And they dressed him in a purple robe, and wove a crown out of thorns, and put it around his head, 18 and began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they beat him on the head with a stick, and spit on him, and bowing their knees, they worshipped him.

20 And when they had mocked him, they removed the purple robe from him, put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.

He is crucified

21 And they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. He was passing by, coming from the countryside.

15:21 Evidently Alexander and Rufus were two individuals known to many of the readers of this Gospel in that day. We know nothing of them. A Rufus (possibly the same one) is mentioned in Rom 16:13.⚜

22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being translated, The Place of a Skull. 23 And they gave him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it.

24 And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes, casting lots for them to determine what each one should take. 25 And it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

15:25 The third hour was nine – in Greek the third hour, that is, the third hour after sunrise.⚜

26 And the inscription of the accusation against him was written like this:

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

27 And they crucified two thieves with him, the one at his right hand, and the other at his left. 28 And the Scripture which says, “And he was numbered with the transgressors” was fulfilled.

29 And those who passed by hurled abuse at him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Aha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross”.

31 In the same way the chief priests also, together with the scribes, mocking him, said among themselves, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let Christ the King of Israel now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe”. And those who were crucified with him insulted him.

33 And when it was twelve noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

34 And at three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” This is, being translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

35 And some of those who stood near by, hearing this, said, “Look, he is calling Elijah”. 36 And one of them ran and filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down”.

37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and expired.

38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.

39 And when the centurion who was standing opposite him, saw that he cried out like this, and breathed his last, he said, “This man really was the Son of God”.

40 There were also women watching at a distance. Among them was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome 41 (when he was in Galilee, they also followed him, and performed service for him), and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

He is buried

42 And now when evening came, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

15:42 At sunset the Jewish Sabbath began and continued until sunset on the following day. During this period no work could be done (see Ex 20:8-11). Therefore Joseph wanted to get the body of Jesus down from the cross and bury it before sunset. The Sabbath mentioned here was undoubtedly the special Sabbath which began the seven day feast of Unleavened Bread, and not the regular Sabbath that came on Saturday. Some scholars suggest that Jesus died on Wednesday. Others have suggested Thursday. Clearly the day was not Friday even though that has become the tradition. It is not a matter of the greatest importance, and we should not be dogmatic about it.⚜

43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honoured member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, arrived and went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

44 And Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. And calling the centurion, he asked him if he had been dead for some time. 45 And when he found this out from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.

15:45 Jesus died six hours after being crucified. Often those crucified remained alive on the cross for two or three days. So before giving Jesus’ body for burial he made absolutely certain that Jesus was dead. The Jewish leaders were also sure he was dead – see Matt 27:62-66.⚜

46 And Joseph bought fine linen, took Jesus down and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he had been put.