Mark 15:1-47
1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him,Thou sayest it.
3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.
7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.
9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium;a and they call together the whole band.
17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,
18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted,My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Mark 15:1. Straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. Συνεδριν, the whole sanhedrim, consisting of seventy, but which must never be less than twenty three, and the highpriest, to form a bench. St. John has the same idea of twenty four elders, clothed in white raiment. Revelation 5:4; Revelation 5:10. To this assembly it would be recited, that as good and faithful magistrates, when the state is in danger, they had sat up during the night, and tried the deceiver; and that having confessed himself to be “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed,” they had condemned him to die. To this no doubt they would add, as in John 11:48, that the Romans, construing the multitudes that followed him into seditious banditti, would come and utterly destroy the nation. Therefore the danger of the country required this strong measure; but they were specially convened at that unusually early hour to consult on the best means of bringing the governor to ratify and execute the sentence. To this, all instantly consented, excepting three, Joseph, Simon, and Nicodemus, It was then agreed to go in a body to the palace, accompanied with all their rabble, indicative of tumult, and force Pilate to execute their sentence. Oh mystery, tragic mystery of crime, and crime without example!
Mark 15:2. Pilate asked him, Art thou the king of the jews? The governor asked this derisively, the rulers having accused him of high treason. The order of the words in the greek, both here and in Matthew 27:11, is, “Thou art the king of the jews?” To which the answer, thou sayest, is a full assent, while at the same time it saves the speaker from all appearance of egotism. Thus the Redeemer witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate, and taught confessors to follow his example. These events are more largely related in Matthew 27.
Mark 15:10. He knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy, the worst vice that can corrode the heart. Here Pilate ceased to be a prince, and became the slave of fear.
Mark 15:15. Pilate delivered Jesus when he had scourged him, to be crucified. Scourging by the Roman lictors was often very severe, tearing away both the skin and the flesh. St. John adds, that Pilate brought the Saviour thus scourged, and crowned with thorns, and arrayed in the purple robe of derision, before the people, in hopes, it would seem, of mitigating their clamours for his blood; having said, “I will chastise him, and let him go.” But the rulers being now become reprobate, demons cannot be moved to pity.
Mark 15:21. They compelled Simon the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. These were afterwards two very excellent men in the church of Rome. St. Paul salutes “Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine;” so he claims her, because she had nourished him in the work of the Lord. Romans 16:13; Acts 19:33. The conjecture is, that Simon, under the storms of persecution in Judea, had fled to Rome, where his sons, as was usual, had assumed Roman surnames.
Mark 15:25. It was the third hour, when the whole sanhedrim appeared before Pilate. But three hours having been spent in accusations, and in sending the Saviour to Herod, it was the sixth hour when Pilate brought him forth to the people, wearing the crown of thorns, and when he delivered him to be crucified. John 19:12.
Mark 15:29. They that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads. These were the rabble that had accompanied the priests and scribes, because they had heard misguided witnesses say, that he would destroy the temple and build another in three days. Where can we find a parallel, except in the outrages offered to the ancient prophets, and to the modern martyrs. Where can we go for comfort, but to the prophecies where all those cruelties are foretold and described. Psalms 22, 69. Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 52:14, 53. Here is love, burning love, which all the waters of death could not quench.
Mark 15:31. Likewise the chief priests mocking, said among themselves, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Here was malice, ingenious malice, most of all intolerable and insupportable.
Mark 15:33. There was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. See on Matthew 27:45; Luke 23:44.
REFLECTIONS.
In the counsels of the jews, we see what priests and scribes will do when hardened by rejecting the light, and when irritated by the superior purity of their rivals. They hated the light, they took counsel against Jesus, they stooped to every meanness to effectuate his death; they sat up the whole night, and were never so intent on the consummation of any earthly wish, as on crucifying the Lord of glory. What then must the vengeance be, when the Lord retaliates on the impenitent? He is as much intent on bringing audacious men to punishment, as they are on afflicting his people. How awful the consideration, that those men should studiously reject the mission and mercy of Christ, because it did not please them. Their prejudice in favour of a reigning Messiah, occasioned their stumbling at the poverty of Christ. And how awful that God should blind and harden the men who had wilfully blinded themselves. Thus when he withdraws his grace from the wicked, and suffers them to take their own way, they become the instruments of fulfilling the scriptures, and the subjects of his instructive vengeance.
How deplorable also was the situation of Pilate, coming in contact with the council, and having a governor over him in Cæsarea. His conduct excites pity, but chiefly contempt. He was devoid of a Roman soul. Why had he not, like Gallio, driven away the jews from his bar, seeing they demanded the life of a subject without adducing a single crime? Justly did he merit the degradations which quickly overtook him.
On the other hand, what a melting scene of tears, what sighs and groans from men, echoed back by the holy women at a distance. What smiting of the breasts. Oh tremendous scene a bleeding Redeemer, a beclouded sky, a trembling earth! All portentous of greater woes. Where can we find relief but in the Saviour's tears; where a retreat but in his tomb.
But wait awhile, ye weeping saints; rest on the Hope of Israel. Ask not, oh Zion, in haste and anguish for thunderbolts, nor for Elijah's fire to consume the murderers. Allow the rebels time for recollection and repentance. Let them hear the trumpet's joyful sound. Let a church be gathered in, and a remnant saved, whose sons shall be great in all the earth. Then the day of vengeance shall come on the finally impenitent. Then the scenes of mockery shall be reversed. Then the day shall come that shall burn as an oven, and the fathers and the sons, root and branch, shall be burned up. Be calm, oh Zion: in three days thy sun shall rise to set no more, and all thy sorrows shall be changed to joys.