Mark 15: 1-20 HCSB
1 As soon as it was morning, the chief priests had a meeting with the elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin. After tying Jesus up, they led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate. 2 So Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You have said it." 3 And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, "Are You not answering anything? Look how many things they are accusing You of!" 5 But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed. 6 At the festival it was Pilate's custom to release for the people a prisoner they requested. 7 There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. 8 The crowd came up and began to ask [Pilate] to do for them as was his custom. 9 So Pilate answered them, "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you?" 10 For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed Him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead. 12 Pilate asked them again, "Then what do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?" 13 Again they shouted, "Crucify Him!" 14 Then Pilate said to them, "Why? What has He done wrong?" But they shouted, "Crucify Him!" all the more. 15 Then, willing to gratify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. And after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, headquarters) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on Him. 18 And they began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying Him homage. 20 When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.
The Sanhedrin has found Jesus guilty in their biased mockery of a trail, but they do not have the authority under Roman law to execute prisoners, hence they take him to Pilate, the Governor of the region. Pilate is an interesting Character study. His main task is to keep things running smooth and peaceful in this very turbulent backwater of a Roman province, where small uprisings against Rome are common. While Pilate does not believe in Jesus as any kind of Messiah, he has pity for what he sees as an innocent man being railroaded by the political leaders and a whipped up frenzied crowd.
There is a lot of discussion and opinion as to the identity and reason for imprisonment of Barabbas, firstly in that his real name is not given . " Bar" means "son of" and was used in the culture as a surname with the name of the father, ie., Jesus full name would have been Jesus Barjoseph. Abbas means Father, as in the designation Abba. So they call this man "The son of a Father", which would be like calling someone today John Doe. He is refered to as a notorious criminal in Matthew 27. In Luke 23 he is accused of starting a rebellion and murder. This has caused some to speculate that his first name may also have been Jesus, which was a fairly common name, equivalent to the modern name Joshua, so that he and Jesus Christ would not be confused. for one another by the crowd.
The word used for crucify in the Greek is staroo, which means "to stake". we have already discussed the meaning of the Greek words used for the cross in our study of Mark 8, if you want more information on the debate surrounding whether or not Jesus died on a cross here is an excellent article that looks at the historical and biblical evidence for the common (cross) interpretation.
http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/jesus/the-facts-on-crucifixion-stauros-and-the-torture-stake.html
Mark 15: 16-32 HCSB
16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, headquarters) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on Him. 18 And they began to salute Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying Him homage. 20 When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. 21 They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus' cross. He was Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus. 22 And they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Skull Place). 23 They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it. 24 Then they crucified Him and divided His clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge written against Him was THE KING OF THE JEWS 27 They crucified two criminals with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [ 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws. ] 29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at Him, shaking their heads, and saying, "Ha! The One who would demolish the sanctuary and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!" 31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking Him to one another and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself! 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with Him were taunting Him.
It was common for Roman prisoners to be flogged, but Jesus treatment is a bit extreme, even by Roman standards. Though Simon carrying the cross is referenced in the other gospels, Mark is the only one who names his children. this may be because they were influential Christain leaders when the book was written, this may be the same Rufus Paul speaks of in Romans 16:3. Some of what happens here fulfills prophecy, The casting for garments is refered to in Psalms 22:18, and verse 28 refers to Isaiah 53:9.
Mark 15: 33-47 HCSB
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, " Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni ?" which is translated, " My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? " 35 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "Look, He's calling for Elijah!" 36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a reed, offered Him a drink, and said, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take Him down!" 37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last. 38 Then the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "This man really was God's Son!" 40 There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they would follow Him and help Him. Many other women had come up with Him to Jerusalem. 42 When it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 44 Pilate was surprised that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He had already died. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46 After he bought some fine linen, he took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he placed Him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where He was placed
The darkness at noon was prophesied in Amos 8: 9. "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me" is not just and expression of Jesus anguish, He is also quoting the first verse of Psalms 22. The Old Testament was not broken down into chapters and verses at this point, so when you taught in the synagogue you would use the first line of a passage as a reference to the entire passage you were speaking on. Any Jewish man who heard Jesus say this would immediately think of Psalms 22, which is actually a prophecy of Jesus death.
The inner part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, where only a consecrated priest could go. The splitting of the curtain signifies the end of the Abrahamic Covenant with Israel, now all men can come before God, as Jesus supercedes it. As we see with Joseph of Aramethia and Nicodemus, who is mentioned at this point in other gospels there were a few members of the Sanhedrin who had become believers. Mary the Mother of Joses mentioned here is Jesus mother, and Joses his brother. The women are here to prepare the body, but they can't do that on the sabbath. The stone is placed because there were fears the disciples would try to steal the body and claim a fake resurrection.
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