Chapter 15

Read Mark 15:1-15; Jesus before Pilate

This chapter starts by telling us it was very early in the morning. That makes me realize Jesus has been up all night. Only a few hours ago He was praying to His Father. He will be nailed to the cross at 9:00am, so it is probably around 4:00 or 5:00am when they led Him to Pilate. 

Verses 2-5 start the interchange…

² “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

³ The chief priests accused Him of many things. ⁴ So again Pilate asked Him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”

⁵ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Pilate was only in Jerusalem because of Passover and the large number of people coming to the city. His chief responsibility was to keep peace. He is now facing all the ruling Jewish leaders bringing a controversial prisoner to him. One of the peacekeeping methods was to release a prisoner during this holiday. Verses 9-15 tells how the Jewish leaders stirred up the crowd…

 ⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted.

¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.

It amazes me how God uses people to accomplish His will when they think they are in control. This was all in God’s plan before creation.

Read Mark 15:16-32; Jesus Mocked and then Crucified

The soldiers took Jesus away and mocked Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head, put a purple robe on Him signifying royalty, struck Him on His head, spit on Him, and said hail the king of the Jews. Then they removed the purple robe and led Him out to crucify Him.

As Jesus was carrying His cross, He was so weak He couldn’t carry it. So, the made a man passing by, Simon, carry the cross for Him. It is interesting that not only was he named by Mark, but also were his two sons. I wonder how those two young boys were dealing with their father suddenly dragged into the scene and forced to carry the cross for Jesus. I also wonder if, later as they grew, they became believers and remember their father’s part in this whole scene.

Once at Golgotha they crucified Jesus along with two other men. Verses 24-27 start the story…

²⁴ And they crucified Him. Dividing up His clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified Him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against Him read: the king of the jews.

²⁷ They crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left.

The guards, the passersby, the chief priests and teachers of the law and even the two crucified with Him mocked Him.

Read mark 15:33-41; the Death of Jesus

He was crucified at 9:00am and was on the cross until He died at 3:00pm. He hung there in agony for six hours. At noon darkness came over the whole land. Imagine standing there. If you have ever been outside during a full eclipse you know how eerie everything feels. Nothing looks normal. I imagine this scene being even darker than that. Verses 34-39 tell of His death…

 ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”). 

³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, He’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave Him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down,” he said.

³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last.

³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how He died, he said, “Surely this Man was the Son of God!”

Other Gospels tell us that the loud cry in verse 37 was “It is finished!”. I wonder about the centurion and if he became a believer after what he witnessed.

Verses 40-41 tell us about the women that were there the whole time, including His mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. Imagine the agony they felt. Even though they knew He was the Son of God, they saw Him die. They must have been crushed.

Read Mark 15:42-47; the Burial of Jesus

It was the day before the Sabbath and Mark tells us Joseph, a Pharisee, asked for the body so he could bury it in verses 44-47. John’s Gospel tells us that Nikodemus was also with Joseph.   

44 Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph brought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid.