Mark Part 19

Mark

THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE KING

MARK 15:1-47 – THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE KING

“Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word;

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.”

Well, this morning I am going to tell you the story of Jesus, the story about His crucifixion specifically. The crucifixion of the King. We all know the story and it is always a challenge to teach something everyone is familiar with. But the cross and the empty tomb (that we are going to look at next week) are not just Bible stories that we listen to casually and we say, “Ah, isn’t that nice?” Together they form the centerpiece, the very foundation of our faith. We must never forget what Jesus did for us. Paul knew the supreme importance of the cross when he said in 1 Corinthians Chapter 2, “When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I did not use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the One who was crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2-3). Today the Messiah’s mysterious mission, what Paul called, “God’s secret plan,” is revealed for all to see.

Now, last time (in our last lesson) we looked at Jesus’s betrayal and arrest. That was followed by a sham hearing held in the middle of the night at the high priest’s house. The Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, convened and unanimously found Jesus guilty of blasphemy and they sentenced Him to death. But the Jews had a problem. They did not have the legal authority to put Jesus to death. Only the Roman government, which rules Judea, can do that. So, their next step is to bring Jesus to the Roman authority, to the governor of Judea, a man named Pontius Pilate. And that is where we are going to pick up the narrative in Mark Chapter 15.

READ Mark 15:1a

In Luke’s account we find out that the next morning Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin (that is “the council”) in the Temple. They had already decided that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy. But technically, because they had assembled at night, that decision was not legal. So now that it is daybreak, they re-assemble and vote officially to condemn Jesus to death. This is merely a matter of protocol.

READ Mark 15:1b-3

Luke’s account tells us what some of those accusations are: “And they began to accuse Him [Jesus], saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a king’” (Luke 23:2). A little bit later it says, “But they were urgent, saying, ‘He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place [the place they are in is Jerusalem]’” (Luke 23:5). So those are the accusations that are being levied against Jesus.

V 2, where it says, “You have said so,” this statement by Jesus to Pilate, a lot of people get confused by what it means. John here helps us out. In John 18:34 Jesus said to Pilate, “Do you say this [“King of the Jews”] of your own initiative or did others tell you about Me?” In other words, He is just saying, “Is that something you came up with on your own?” Jesus never actually said it. This is what people are saying ABOUT Him. So, Jesus is never actually saying, “Yes” or “No.” He is just pushing back on what Pilate’s question is. “Where does your question come from? Is it based on what you think or what you heard?” What you find out when you read John’s account is that this interrogation of Jesus by Pilate actually lasts for a while.  

Q1 asks, as Jesus stood before Pilate, what was He accused of? Three things are mentioned in the passages we just read. Claiming to be a king, stirring up the people, and saying they should not pay taxes to Caesar. These are the things that the Romans care about. Those religious squabbles that the Jewish leaders have with Jesus, they are of no concern to the Romans. You will notice that there is no mention anything about the charge THEY found Jesus guilty of, which was blasphemy.

So, the Jewish religious leaders try to convince Pilate that Jesus claimed to be some sort of king and that He stirred up the people. And that whole tax thing also. They hope these alleged actions by Jesus will get the Roman governor’s attention. After all, Caesar is the only king of Rome. And the Roman’s do not look favorably on there being any civil unrest or any potential troublemakers in their territory. These are the things that the Jews know the Romans care about. These are what they are accusing Jesus of. Let’s pick it back up in v 4…

READ Mark 15:4-5

Q2, true or false? After questioning Jesus, Pilate believes Jesus is innocent. True. Luke 23:4 says that Pilate declared to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” So, he believes Jesus is innocent. Pilate realizes under Roman law that Jesus is an innocent man. So, Pilate tries to figure out a way that he can get out of this situation, a way that maybe he can save face without killing Jesus. He really doesn’t want to have the blood of an innocent man on his hands. Would you? Now, we know from the other gospel accounts that Pilate sends Jesus to King Herod (Luke 23). This is an attempt to pass Jesus off to someone else and have them deal with Him. King Herod, though, he sees this as some kind of a joke. He mocks and ridicules Jesus, has sport with Him for a while, and then sends Him right back to Pilate. So, Pilate is now back to where he started, trying to figure out how to rid himself of this whole Jesus mess.

READ Mark 15:6-10

Q3 asks, why was Barabbas being held as a prisoner by the Romans? Murder. Now, Barabbas HAD participated in an insurrection. That is stated. But in doing so, he had killed somebody. So, his actual crime that he is being held for is murder was his crime and it is punishable by death. So, Pilate figures this is a sure bet. On the one hand you have a murderous thug, an insurrectionist, Barabbas. On the other hand, you have an innocent man that the Jewish leaders don’t like because they are jealous of Him, Jesus. By the way, there is an interesting side note here: the name Barabbas literally translates as "son of the father." Of course, we know that Jesus is THE Son of THE Father! This is an interesting parallel.

Q4, do you agree with Pilate’s assessment in v 10 that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Jesus up? Yes, they were envious because Jesus threatened their religious and social standing. As you read through the various gospel narratives, the underlying reason why the religious leaders hated Jesus so much was that He threatened their power and influence. Face it, people, even today, that are in power do not want to give up their power. They will do whatever they can to hold on to it.

Well, Pilate figures surely the people will choose to release Jesus and when they do, he will be off the hook. But Pilate’s plan backfires!

READ Mark 15:11

Notice it is the chief priests stirring up the crowd, one of the accusations they had made against Jesus, right? Things don’t turn out quite the way he had hoped.

Q5, why did Pilate’s plan to rid himself of the “Jesus Issue” backfire on him? Because Pilate did not… factor in the leaders influencing the crowd. It is amazing just how much influence the chief priests have over the crowd. Now, just so you know, the chief priests (plural) – usually we think of there is one chief priest, right? There are two. One is Caiaphas. He is actually the acting chief priest at the time. He is the son-in-law of Annas. Now, Annas was the former chief priest, but he is still well-respected. I think about it like this: He is a chief priest emeritus – there and still very influential. So, when it says chief priests (plural) it is talking about those two guys. Jesus is very popular with the Jewish people. We have seen that, haven’t we? He has quite a following. And yet the chief priests are able to completely turn the people in this crowd against Jesus. So much so that they actually choose to have a murderer released instead of Jesus!

READ Mark 15:12-15

“Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd…” Typical politician, right?

Matthew adds this in his account: “So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.’ And all the people answered, ‘His blood be on us and on our children!’” (Matthew 27:24-25). That is a haunting statement given what we know about the history of the Jewish people ever since, isn’t it?

READ Mark 15:16-20

Q6, what did the Roman soldiers taunt Jesus by saying? “Hail, King of the Jews!” John in his account adds that the soldiers actually hit Jesus with their fists. One of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passages says, “I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). There is just no way for us to imagine the kind of suffering and humiliation Jesus endures at the hands of the Romans. Part of the ordeal those condemned to die is had to undergo was that they were forced to carry their own cross (a heavy solid wood crossbeam) to the place of crucifixion. Jesus is no different. He is forced to carry His cross through the streets of Jerusalem. At some point apparently Jesus cannot go on any further and He falls…

READ Mark 15:21

Jesus is so weakened by all the beatings He has received and by the loss of blood that He is physically unable to carry His cross. At this point the Roman soldiers pick out a person in the crowd and “compel him” (which is basically a nice way of saying they ordered him – how are you going to turn down a Roman soldier standing there with a sword? “I guess I will do it!”) to carry the cross for Jesus. That would compel me! Here is Simon of Cyrene (from North Africa) who has been compelled, ordered to carry the cross. And Mark tells us that this man is “the father of Alexander and Rufus.” Rufus will later become prominent in the church at Rome (Romans 16:13). This is important to John Mark personally (which is why he mentions it) because of his later connection with that church, the church at Rome.

READ Mark 15:22

Q7, what was the name of the place where Jesus was crucified? Golgotha. A lot of our hymns speak about Jesus on the cross at Calvary. So where does Calvary come from? Have you ever wondered that? Did they just make that up? Well, it comes from the Latin Vulgate. The Latin word for skull is "calvaria." It refers to the Place of a Skull located just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. About that “hill far away stood an old rugged cross,” we have that in our hymns too. It is a misnomer that Jesus was crucified on a hill. A lot of the hymns say that but it is not mentioned in the Bible.

What I learned while I was in seminary from somebody who was really smart, a historian, a Bible scholar that was familiar with the way Jerusalem was back then – he pointed this out which I thought was fascinating: There were a number of limestone quarries around the city of Jerusalem at the time, a result of Herod’s many building projects. And Jesus was likely crucified in one of those locations. Nobody is exactly sure where this place was since the whole landscape around Jerusalem has changed so drastically in the last 20 centuries.

READ Mark 15:23-24

That “wine mixed with myrrh” was used by the Romans to help deaden the pain. Boy, what a bunch of nice guys!

Q8 asks, what did those who crucified Jesus cast lots for? Jesus’s garments. Did you realize this actually fulfills prophecy? Psalm 22:18 says, “they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” It is amazing!

READ Mark 15:25-26

So, it is the third hour, it is 9 AM when Jesus is actually nailed to the cross. Q9 asks, what official charge against Jesus was posted with Him on the cross? “The King of the Jews.” In John’s gospel there is an interesting interchange between the chief priests and Pilate about this. They tell Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews’” To which Pilate replies, “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:21-22) Now, the truth is that Jesus never actually made the claim to be the King of the Jews. Scripture certainly points to Jesus as the Messiah King. No doubt about that. Jesus admitted that He was indeed the Christ, the Jewish Messiah. And He DID talk about His coming kingdom which would not be of this world. So, in a providential twist, this wicked, pagan, godless man named Pilate actually declares the truth about Jesus – He IS the King of the Jews! And he put it in writing.

READ Mark 15:27

Mark does not include the dialogue that takes place between Jesus and the two thieves. If you want to read that it is in Luke Chapter 23.

READ Mark 15:28

Notice that this verse is in brackets because it is not in the earliest manuscripts. In fact, some of your Bibles may not have that verse in it at all. It may be in the footnotes. But it IS accurate. This particular prophecy is found in Isaiah 53:12 and it says, “he was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” Later Jesus will say, “Father, forgive them [speaking about those who were crucifying Him], for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And then from Luke’s account He makes intercession for that one thief on the cross as well.

READ Mark 15:29-31

It is interesting that Mark says those in the crowd were “wagging their heads.” Psalm 22 (once again) v 7 says, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads.”

And the people yell, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.” Then you have Psalm 22:8: “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” What I want you to see from all this is that what is happening at the crucifixion is fulfilling prophecy, particularly from Psalm 22.

Here we see the love Jesus has even for His enemies.

READ Mark 15:32

They are taunting Jesus and saying, “Come down that we may see and believe.” Q10 is an interesting question that perhaps you had never thought about before. IF Jesus HAD come down from the cross, would the people mocking Him really have believed as they claimed? What do you think – yes or no and why? [the whole class agreed that the people would not believe even if Jesus had come off the cross]

Here is my thought: if Jesus HAD come down off the cross, they would NOT have believed. Remember, this is the same group (religious leaders and a lot of the people) that downplayed all of Jesus’s many signs and miracles and attributed His power to Satan. They had an explanation for everything. “Come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” In their case, seeing had NOT been believing through His whole ministry.

So, if they did not believe all of His miracles and all of the things He did before and they had an explanation for it (the power of Satan or whatever), what would make them believe now? They wouldn’t! They had their minds made up and Jesus knows that.

READ Mark 15:33

From 12 noon to 3 PM darkness covers the land. Normally the sun would be high overhead beating down on the people of Jerusalem. So, what causes this darkness and why the darkness? There have been a lot of attempts to explain what caused this darkness – clouds, eclipse, smoke. I believe that this was a supernatural act of God. God blots out the sun. This actually happened before in the Bible. Did you know that? In Exodus Chapter 10, one of the plagues in Egypt was darkness over all the land for three days. Not three hours, but three days. This is God’s judgment on your sin and my sin.  

Q11 asks, how many hours was Jesus on the cross before He died? This is a simple math question. Six hours, right? It was the third hour when they crucified Him and the ninth hour when He died. 9 AM to 3 PM, 6 hours.

READ Mark 15:34

It is interesting. Mark is the only one that quotes Jesus in Aramaic. Several times throughout the Gospel of Mark He is quoted in Jesus’s native language of Aramaic. These are the words Jesus would have actually said with His own lips.

Jesus is abandoned by His Father and He begins to quote Psalm 22, that psalm we have been talking about, which is a prophetic psalm about His death. Translated in English He says, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” which is the beginning of Psalm 22. The worst part of this whole terrible ordeal that Jesus is experiencing is His Father turning away from Him; the whole feeling of abandonment by His Father. For the first time ever God the Son, Who is here in human flesh, is separated from God the Father. So, why did the Father turn away? V 3 of Psalm 22 gives us the answer. It says, “Yet You are holy…” God’s holiness is why He had to turn away. A holy God cannot look upon sin. Habakkuk 1:13 tells us, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor.” The fact that God turns away and Jesus feels the weight of being abandoned is proof that Jesus did indeed, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “become sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So, Jesus – what you need to see (application) – is on the cross in OUR place, as OUR substitute, yours and mine. That should have been ME on that cross paying the price for my own sin. But Jesus took my place. Here we see the holiness of God in turning away from sin, not just generic sin, your sin and my sin, our sin, and being carried in the body of Jesus. To me that is an overwhelming thought!

READ Mark 15:35-36

The crowd’s response is just to mock Jesus. They say a bunch of silly things poking fun at Jesus. Crucifixion was an interactive event between the crowds and the ones that were dying. They were not very nice. What a way to die, being made fun of.

READ Mark 15:37

So, Jesus dies, right?

Q12, from the various accounts of Jesus’s crucifixion, HOW did Jesus die? Besides Mark 15, the following passages talk about Jesus’s death: Matthew 27, Luke 23 and John 19. It was none of the things listed that killed Jesus. This is what I gave to choose from: suffocation, blood loss, extreme pain, and hunger or thirst. The answer is none of these things and I will tell you why I say that. Death by crucifixion was normally a slow process that could last several days. Jesus lasted just 6 hours. Now why? Because His mission was complete. In John’s gospel, John 19:30, He cries out, “It is finished!” Then He bows His head and gives up His spirit. In Luke 23:46 Jesus is heard speaking His final words: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!” And having said this He breathed His last. Jesus gives up His spirit. He literally sends His own spirit away. This is how He dies. I don’t know if you ever thought about that before. In John Chapter 10 Jesus actually predicted this. Jesus said, “I lay down My life that I may take it up again.” [We are going to see that, right?] “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord” (John 10:17-18).

READ Mark 15:38.

The large curtain (sometimes you will hear it called the veil) in the Temple that separated the people from the holy of holies is ripped in two from top to bottom by the unseen hand of God.

Q13 asks, what did this signify? That access to God was made available to all who come through Jesus. That is how I see it theologically. I get that from the Ryrie Study Bible. They have a really good note in there and it says this about v 38: “Josephus reported that the veil was 4 inches thick, was renewed every year, and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart. It barred all but the High Priest from the presence of God, but when it was torn in two at the death of Jesus of Nazareth, access to God was made available to all who come through Him.” So, I think Charles Ryrie is right.

READ Mark 15:39

A lot of things happen when Jesus died. Mark mentions the curtain being torn. But Matthew adds, “And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had [died] were raised…” (Matthew 27:51-52). Witnessing all of these things taking place, this seasoned Roman soldier makes a declaration for the ages: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Even he recognizes Who this is hanging on the cross.

READ Mark 15:40-41

Mark mentions these three women who are present at the crucifixion – Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger (one of the Twelve Disciples). We know him as James the son of Alpheus. Salome is the mother of James and John (the two apostles). And Jesus’s mother, Mary, we know from John’s Gospel is also at the cross. In total there are four women who show up at the crucifixion. Meanwhile, how many of the twelve disciples are there? Only one. Q14 asks, who was it? It was John and we know this from the John’s Gospel.

The first people to witness the empty tomb (we are going to see this next time) and the resurrected Lord will be women. Why do these women show up at such difficult times? Because they love Jesus. They feel compelled to be there for Him. The disciples, they all ran away (except for John) and hid in fear. But these women, to their credit, they did not. They were there for Jesus, even when the disciples were not. It shows their strength even in tough times.

READ Mark 15:42-45

Sabbath is close at hand and the Jews want Pilate to expedite the deaths of those on the cross (remember, that is why they later broke the legs of those other ones who had not died yet). They want to bury them before nightfall. Pilate goes along with their request. He orders this to be carried out. They’re in a hurry. Undoubtedly in the Jews mind, they intend to have Jesus disgracefully buried alongside those other two thieves that He had been crucified with. But instead, this man Joseph intervenes.

Q15, true or false? Based on v 43 (look at this carefully), Joseph of Arimathea is described as a devout follower of Jesus. It is interesting the way they describe him, isn’t it? The answer is False. Now, we DO know from the other gospels that he is a secret follower of Jesus (from John’s Gospel specifically). John tells us the reason for this is “for fear of the Jews.” Both he and Nicodemus are secret followers of Jesus; both members of the Sanhedrin. But they were secret followers out of fear of their colleagues.

We know little about Joseph really other than he is from the town of Arimathea (15 miles north of Jerusalem). So, he is from the area. We know that he is a rich man and that, like I said, he is a member of the Sanhedrin. He just happens to own a tomb near the crucifixion site. It is a new tomb, one that has never been used. He bravely goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus’s body. Why was this brave? Because he is risking his reputation and his position in order to do this. Joseph then takes Jesus’s body down from the cross and transports it to the tomb. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53:9 (Do you see how all of this fulfills prophecy?) – “They made his grave [speaking of the Messiah] with the wicked and with a rich man in his death…”

READ Mark 15:46-47

They take Jesus’s body down from the cross and wrap it in linen cloths. As they wrap His body, they place a sweet-smelling mixture of myrrh and aloes on it. We know this from the other gospels. John tells us that these spices were provided by Nicodemus. They prepare Jesus’s body for burial – now I want you to get this – like they would any other dead body, normal practice. Then they seal the tomb with a stone. Two women who had just witnessed the crucifixion take place, they now note where Jesus is buried. They have some unfinished business later.

That is where Mark leaves it in Chapter 15. He cuts it off right there.

So then, Q16, based on what we have seen here in Mark’s narrative, do the followers of Jesus act as though they are fully expecting Jesus to be resurrected in three days? NO, they do not. It appears doubtful, highly unlikely, that Jesus’s followers, at this point in despair and distress, loyal as they might be to Jesus, they do not anticipate His resurrection in a matter of days. That is what I want you to see.

Now, Jesus, we know He had told His disciples several times that He would be killed and resurrected – three days, right? He had told them that. So, they should have anticipated it, right? It is easy for us to second guess and to criticize them because we have read ahead. We know how the story goes. We do that in a lot of Bible stories, don’t we? We are really critical of the characters because we know how it ends. But if you are in their shoes, you don’t know how it ends. You know what Jesus said and that is all you know. So, truthfully, if I had been in their same shoes, I ask myself, “would I have planned for it (His resurrection) or would I have done what they did?” I would have been just like them, despairing. “My Lord is dead. What am I going to do?” Well, they are in for a pleasant surprise, aren’t they?

“Tell me the story of Jesus,

Write on my heart every word;

Tell me the story most precious,

Sweetest that ever was heard.”

Next time we are going to hear about the line in that song which says, “Tell how He liveth again.” That is the part of that song I love the most. That is what we are going to be next time. That is where we are going to end Mark. So, come back next time if you really want to get excited.