Mark 15
McGeeCHAPTER 15THEME: The trial of Jesus; the crucifixion of Jesus; the burialWe are now in the study of the crucifixion of Christ. I know that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is profitable (see 2Ti_3:16), but this portion that describes the death and resurrection of Christ has particular meaning for us today. We closed the last chapter with Jesus in the hands of His enemies. His own are scattered. One has betrayed Him. Another has denied Him. Sin is the issue this night in two different ways. Sin is trying to destroy Him. And He is doing something about sinHe is dying for your sin and my sin. I suppose it can be said that the Cross is one of the many paradoxes of the Christian faith for that reason. It is at once the greatest tragedy of the ages and the most glorious victory of earth and heaven. Therefore, we should not come to this chapter with a feeling of defeat or sympathy for the Sufferer. We should walk softly and reverently through these scenes with a heart welling up to God in thanksgiving for providing so great a salvation (see Heb_2:3). The tragic note is inescapable in these scenes with the cruel injustice and bitter suffering inflicted upon Jesus. It is no wonder that Clovis, the barbarian, when he first heard the Gospel read, exclaimed, “If I had only been there with my soldiers.” But remember, it is not our sympathy that the Son of God wants. He wants our faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom_10:9-10). He wants the faith of your heart, not the sympathy of your heart. Mark is the Gospel of action, and this fifteenth chapter sets forth the supreme nature of the action. The Crucifixion is the climactic point and crowning event of this action. It is the Crucifixion toward which all creation and the purposes of God were moving from all eternity, for He was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The gospel is now translated into action! Paul could say later on,“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1Co_15:3-4). You see, the gospel is what He did. It is not what God is asking you to do. It is His action, not your action or mine. You and I are in no position to do anything that would be acceptable to God. Your righteousness and my righteousness are not acceptable for salvation. God must, and does, provide that righteousness in Christ. He “…was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification,” for our righteousness (Rom_4:25). Now I will give an outline for this fifteenth chapter:
- Jesus carried before Pilate (vv. Mar_15:1-6).
- Jesus condemnedBarabbas released (vv. Mar_15:7-15).
- Jesus crowned with thorns (vv. Mar_15:16-23).
- Jesus crucified (vv. Mar_15:24-41).
- Jesus committed to Josephnew tomb (vv. Mar_15:42-47).
Mark 15:1
THE TRIAL OF JESUSThe reason that they did this was that the Sanhedrin could condemn Jesus to die, but they could not carry out the execution. Only Rome could do that. Therefore, this body had to appeal to the Roman court for the execution of the death penalty that they had decided upon. Now the charge which they had brought against Him in the Sanhedrin would never stand up before Pilate. So they met early the next morning to formulate charges that would stand up before the Roman court and would make legal the illegal action of the night before. You see, Pilate is the Roman governor who is in Jerusalem at this time. His headquarters were down at Caesarea because he liked that placeit was on the seacoast and had a delightful climate. He didn’t like Jerusalem. He came up there only at feast times to keep down any riots. The Roman government didn’t permit riots and protest marches and that type of thing, which is one reason Rome stood for about one thousand years as a great world empire. I think that present-day nations need to take note of this. Pilate was a politician. Expediency rather than Roman justice was the motivating force in his life. He actually sought to release Jesus when he discovered He was innocent, but at the same time he wanted to please the religious rulers. Yet, if you will notice here, he couldn’t really get the cooperation from Jesus that he hoped to get. He thought that if Jesus would cooperate, he could please the religious rulers, too. Pilate is a typical example of a cheap politician who is unloosed from the noble moorings of honesty and integrity and “carries water on both shoulders,” seeking to compromise and to please all sides. And when you try to do that, you please no one.
Mark 15:2
That would be the same as saying, “You’re right. I am.”
Mark 15:3
Pilate was amazed and shocked at a prisoner who would stand before him and not defend himself. I imagine that other prisoners went to great lengths to defend themselves, but this Prisoner was different. He didn’t defend Himself and Pilate wanted to know the reason. Now, when we compare the Gospel of John, we will find that there was a great deal of interplay between Pilate and the religious rulers as Pilate actually sought to deliver Jesus. He took Him on the inside to talk to Him. Then he came back out and then took Him in again, hoping to get His cooperation. But Pilate found out that he had to stand on his own two feet and make a decision relative to Jesus Christ. For that matter, that is exactly what every man and woman has to do. Pilate then thought he could get off the hook by releasing a prisoner. This man just couldn’t believe that anyone would ask for Barabbas to be delivered and for Jesus to be crucified. He really thought that he had found a solution for the dilemma in which he found himself.
Mark 15:7
Here was a man guilty of murder and guilty of leading an insurrection. He was the chief prisoner at that time. He was actually to be crucified along with the others. I think the Lord Jesus was crucified on the Cross intended for Barabbas.
Mark 15:9
A very remarkable and unheard of thing is taking place here. It was evident to Pilate that the charges brought against Jesus were false. Here he had on his hands a prisoner who was an outstanding criminal, and so he makes the comparison between Jesus and Barabbas. He was so shocked when they asked for Barabbas to be released that he, the judge, asked the people in consternation what he should do then with Jesus.
Mark 15:14
The mob had been instructed to demand that Jesus be crucified. Here we see mob rule with a vengeance. When Pilate asked what evil Jesus had done, they simply cried out more and more, “Crucify him.” No mob is prepared to reason or to use its head or use good judgment. All they can do is cry out, “Crucify him.”
Mark 15:15
Pilate obviously was a weak, vacillating politician. He yielded to the cry of the mob, and he delivered the Lord Jesus to be crucified. Roman justice certainly went awry here. An innocent man is to die. But wait a minuteHe is taking my place and I am not innocent. He’s taking your place also.
Mark 15:16
THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUSWhen any criminal was to be crucified, he was turned over to these soldiers. They were a brutal lot, and they could do as they pleased with the prisoner. They, of course, humiliated their prisoners, tortured them, and made them a plaything for their sadistic appetites. This is the thing they do now with the Lord Jesus. I’ve suggested that they played a game, a Roman game called “hot hand.” Each would stick up a fist in the face of Jesus; then they would blindfold Him and all but one would hit Him. They beat His face into a pulp until I don’t think He looked like a man. Of course, when they would take the blindfold off, He had to pick out the fist that had not hit Him. The prisoner never could pick out the right one. Even if He did, they wouldn’t admit it was the right one because they were going to play that game again and again. It was a vicious beating, which is probably the reason we are told that they had to get this man Simon of Cyrene to carry the Cross.
Our Lord was thirty-three years oldHe still had the strength of youth. I’m confident He was muscular. He had walked up and down that country. He’d been a carpenter, and He’d been able to drive the moneychangers out. But they had beaten Him unmercifully.
Mark 15:17
The act of putting a purple robe and crown of thorns on Him was mere mockery.
Mark 15:19
This was vicious. The imperfect tense of the verbs indicates that they kept on smiting Him and spitting on Him. This was more than ordinary human hatred. This was brutal and cruel, revealing the degradation of the human heart. Do you see what He endured when He took your place? The Cross was still before Him.
Mark 15:20
After a morning of inhuman suffering they led Him away to be crucified. Simon was from Cyrene in North Africa. He probably was attending the Passover in Jerusalem. It appears that he was picked out of the crowd by chance to help carry the Cross. It is believed that Jesus carried the Cross to the city gates.
Mark 15:22
Golgotha means “the place of a skull.” Our word is Calvary.
Mark 15:23
The wine mingled with myrrh was a drug to help deaden the awful ordeal of the Cross for those about to die. It is interesting to note that when He was born, wise men brought Him myrrh. When He died, He was offered myrrh. Myrrh speaks of His death.
Mark 15:24
Actually a better translation here would be “after they crucified him.” No Gospel writer records the details of the Crucifixion; they give us only incidents around the Crucifixion. The Spirit of God drew a veil over it as if to say, “There is nothing here to satisfy sadistic gossip. There is nothing here with which an idle mind should be occupied. It is too horrible.” The parting of His garments was in fulfillment of the prophecy in Psa_22:18.
Mark 15:25
Now we are told here that it was the third hour when they crucified Him, which was nine o’clock in the morning. (Mark uses the Hebrew computation of time, while John uses the Roman.) We must put all the Gospel writing together to get the full superscription. John tells us that it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. No Gospel writer is intending to give us the whole story. The charge for which they crucified Him was this: “THE KING OF THE JEWS"It may seem an anomalous statement to say that it was true. It was not true in the way they meant it. He had led no insurrection against Rome. He offered Himself to Israel and was rejected.
Mark 15:27
Jesus was crucified, we are told, with two thievesthe one on His right hand and the other on His left. And that was done, Mark says, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Then he quotes Isa_53:12, “…and he was numbered with the transgressors….”
Mark 15:29
This was true. He could not save others and at the same time save Himself. He gave Himself for othersthis is the great principle of redemption.
Mark 15:32
I want you to notice here that Mark gives us the Crucifixion by the clock. On the third hour He was put on the Cross, and at the sixth hour (which would be twelve noon) darkness came down. The high noon sun was covered, and darkness came down over the Cross. From the sixth hour to the ninth hour, that would be until three o’clock in the afternoon, there was darkness. Now will you notice this: the first three hours were from 9:00 A.M. until 12 noon; the second three hours were from 12 noon to 3:00 P.M. Jesus hung on the Cross for six hours. In the first three hours there was physical light; in the second three hours there was physical darkness. But in the first three hours there was spiritual darkness; in the second three hours there was spiritual light. Why? Because in those first three hours man did his worst.
They crucified Him and they reviled Him. Even those who were hanging with Him on the Cross reviled Him. At least at the first, both thieves did. At that time His enemies, marching around down beneath the Cross, were wagging their heads and ridiculing Him. In the first three hours man was working, doing his very worst; in the second three hours God was working. He was suffering at the hands of man in the first three hours; He was suffering for man in the last three hours.
In the first three hours He was dying because of sin, in the second three hours He was dying for the sin of the world. So during the time of the physical darkness, there was actually spiritual light and God was working. In those first three hours sin was doing all it could to destroy Him; in the second three hours He is making His soul an offering for sin. In those last three hours He is paying for the sins of the world. It was during this period that He was made sin for us; He became sin for us. He was forsaken of God and yet, even at that time, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself (see 2Co_5:19).
What a paradox we find here.
Mark 15:35
The crowd misunderstood what He said. They probably thought that He had called for Elijah because of the similarity of the words, and they said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come.” You wonder whether they didn’t halfway suspect that He really was the Messiah. I think there is something in the human heart that would tell themand did tell themthis was the Messiah. Then they gave Him some wine to quench His thirst. This was not the drug that they offered Him earlier. He took this in order to fulfill the prophecy: “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psa_69:21).
Mark 15:37
He did not die because the bodily organs refused to function. He surrendered up His spirit. The rending of the veil was evidently witnessed by many priests. Three o’clock was the time of the evening sacrifice and they were serving in the temple at that very moment. This must have had some effect on them. At any rate, we note later on that many of the priests came to a saving knowledge of Christ. “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Act_6:7). This reveals that many of the priests believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have every reason to believe that some of them were serving in the temple at the time of the Crucifixion. The fact that the very moment when He gave up the ghost was the moment that the veil was rent in twain is not accidental by any means. They are specifically stated together. Jesus gave up the ghost. He could not die until He had given up His spirit. He did not die because His bodily organs refused to function, which means He died differently, of course, from any of us. I’ve been in the presence of quite a few people when they have died. These folk, I’ve always noticed, have a death rattle. The last thing we do is try to draw in our breath. The one thing we want is that final breath. He didn’t do that. He dismissed His spirit. So that certainly made His death different even in a physical sense. At that very instant, the veil was torn in two. The veil speaks of the humanity of Christ. The Book of Leviticus gives us more understanding of the veil because the Book of Leviticus has to do with the services in the tabernacle. That veil, you will recall, speaks of the humanity of Christ, and this carries a tremendous message. You see, the humanity of Christ, or the life of Christ, shuts us out from God. His sinless life shows how sinful our lives are. The minute He died, the veil was rent. It is His death that brings us to God, friend, not His life.
Mark 15:39
I believe that this was the confession of faith of this centurion and this was as far as he could go at this time. He couldn’t have said anything that would have revealed his faith more than this. He acknowledged that Jesus is God’s Son. He acknowledged who He was and certainly what He was doing. I do not believe that this man had all the details of theology. This man had never read Strong’s theology or any of my books, but this man knew enough to take his place beneath the Cross of Christ. And, you know, that is all God has ever asked any sinner to do. He asks us to come in faith to Him. That is what this man is doing. We must remember that he was a pagan Roman, and he had the cruel job of crucifying men. He was certainly made very tender at this time. Now we are told about the women who were present.
Mark 15:40
It is interesting to note, by the way, that the women were the last to leave the cross and the first to arrive at the tomb. These stood afar off, we’re told here. They remained faithful. They were the ones who were faithful to the very end. His disciples and apostles were scattered at this time. There are other women who are not named here at all for it says, “and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.”
Mark 15:42
THE BURIALThis is something that is quite interesting to note. Joseph of Arimathaea is a little-known follower of Jesus. He actually had charge of the burial, and he had the courage to step out in the open here. He was a member of the Sanhedrin (see Luk_23:51-52), and this man had not consented to the counsel and the deed of that group. He was of Arimathaea, a city of that land. He also was waiting for the Kingdom of God. This man now steps out as a follower of the Lord Jesus when the apostles were scattered, gone under cover, and he asks for the body of Jesus. We’re told here that Pilate marveled that He was so soon dead. The reason is that customarily a person who was crucified would linger alive on a cross, sometimes for days. His life would just gradually expire. It was a cruel and inhuman mode of torture. This is the reason Pilate marveled and made special inquiry. Jesus gave up the ghost. That is important for us to see. During the last hours of dying, a prisoner on the cross had his legs broken to hasten his death. But Jesus was already dead, and it was not necessary to break His legs. That, you know, was a fulfillment of the prophecy that not a bone of His body would be broken. Pilate, we are told, gave the body to Joseph. It is interesting to note that there are two words used for body in this section. Joseph asked for the bodysoma is the Greek word. Pilate gave him the bodyptoma is the Greek word. The first speaks of the total personality, and it is a word of care and tenderness. The word used when Pilate gave the body just means the corpse or the carcass. It is a different viewpoint and attitude toward death and toward the bodies of those that are dead. The word Joseph used was a word of tenderness for the body. He wanted Jesus. All Pilate did was to give him a carcass. What a difference that is! Friend, only the Lord Jesus can put any value on you. You and I are not worth very much, but He paid a tremendous price for our redemption. We groan within these bodies, but even our bodies are to be redeemed. There is a day coming when we will experience the redemption of our bodies. That is just a little added insight here. Notice that Joseph is called a rich man, and he put away the body tenderly into his new tomb.
Mark 15:46
That door was sealed. The Romans sealed the rock and guarded it with Roman soldiers (see Mat_27:66).
Mark 15:47
The women were the only mourners. They were with Him to the very end. God bless the women.