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Mark 15

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Jesus Delivered to Pilate 1–15

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. ​

The Mockery of the King 16–20

16
And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; 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.

The Crucifixion 21–32

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. ​

The Death of Jesus 33–41

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.

The Burial 42–47

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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Mark 15

Verse 1

delivered him to Pilate — The council had already judged him ‘guilty of death’ (Mark 14:64), but could not carry out the sentence: ‘It is not lawful for us to put any man to death’ (John 18:31). The morning consultation hands him to the governor, as Jesus had said, ‘shall deliver him to the Gentiles’ (Mark 10:33).

Verse 2

Thou sayest it — Jesus’ answer to ‘Art thou the King of the Jews?’ neither denies the title nor takes it in the sense Pilate meant. To Pilate he said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ (John 18:36); Paul says Christ ‘before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession’ (1 Tim 6:13).

Verse 5

Pilate marvelled — Jesus’ silence before the accusers (vv.3–4) is that of the lamb in Isa 53:7: ‘he openeth not his mouth’. Pilate marvels (thaumazo) here, and marvels again in v.44 that Jesus is already dead.

Verse 6

one prisoner, whomsoever they desired — The release belonged to the Passover: ‘ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover’ (John 18:39). The multitude had begun ‘to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them’ (v.8), which sets the choice that follows.

Verse 7

Barabbas — He lay bound among those ‘that had made insurrection’, and Mark says he ‘committed murder’ in it. Luke 23:19 names ‘sedition and murder’; John 18:40 calls him ‘a robber’. The noun ‘them that had made insurrection with him’ (sustasiastes, fellow-insurgent) is found nowhere else. Peter later charges the people with desiring ‘a murderer’ (Acts 3:14).

Verse 11

moved the people — ‘Moved’ is anaseio, to shake up, to stir. It occurs only here and in Luke 23:5, where the accusers say of Jesus, ‘He stirreth up the people’. Matthew gives the same act as ‘persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas’ (Matt 27:20).

Verse 15

willing to content the people — The Greek idiom is to do enough for the crowd. ‘Scourged’ is phragelloo, found only here and in Matt 27:26. Jesus had foretold it, ‘they shall mock him, and shall scourge him’ (Mark 10:34), and Isa 50:6 says, ‘I gave my back to the smiters’.

Verse 16

Praetorium — Praitorion is a Latin word for the governor’s residence; the KJV renders it ‘common hall’ (Matt 27:27), ‘judgment hall’ (John 18:28) and ‘palace’ (Phil 1:13). ‘Band’ is speira, a body of soldiers such as ‘the Italian band’ of Acts 10:1.

Verse 17

purple — Porphyra, the royal colour: ‘purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian’ (Judg 8:26). The soldiers dress him as a king, and the salute ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ follows (v.18); John adds that he came forth ‘wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe’ (John 19:5).

Verse 21

Simon a Cyrenian — Cyrene lay in Libya (Acts 2:10), and Cyrenians had a synagogue in Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). ‘Compel’ is angareuo, to press into service, the word of ‘whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile’ (Matt 5:41). Only Mark names his sons; Paul greets ‘Rufus chosen in the Lord’ (Rom 16:13).

Verse 23

mingled with myrrh — Smurnizo, to mix with myrrh, is found only here. Matthew writes ‘vinegar to drink mingled with gall… he would not drink’ (Matt 27:34). The refusal sits beside his word at the supper, ‘I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day’ (Mark 14:25).

Verse 24

casting lots upon them — Ps 22:18 says, ‘They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.’ John cites it when the soldiers ‘made four parts’ of the garments and cast lots for the coat, ‘that the scripture might be fulfilled’ (John 19:23–24).

Verse 25

the third hour — Mark marks the crucifixion by hours: the third here, the sixth when the darkness comes (v.33), the ninth when he cries out and dies (vv.34–37). The hours are those of the day, as in Acts 2:15, ‘it is but the third hour of the day’.

Verse 26

superscription — Epigraphe, the word of the coin’s ‘image and superscription’ (Mark 12:16). Luke says it was written ‘in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew’ (Luke 23:38). Mark gives the charge alone, the title Pilate asked about in v.2 and the soldiers used in mockery in v.18.

Verse 28

numbered with the transgressors — Isa 53:12 says ‘he was numbered with the transgressors’, and here he is placed with the two thieves of v.27. Jesus had quoted it on the night of his arrest: ‘he was reckoned among the transgressors… the things concerning me have an end’ (Luke 22:37).

Verse 32

Christ the King of Israel — The chief priests with the scribes (v.31) join two titles in mockery, and ask for a sign ‘that we may see and believe’. Those crucified with him join in; Luke records that one of them rebuked the other and asked to be remembered in his kingdom (Luke 23:39–43).

Verse 33

darkness over the whole land — The darkness lasted from the sixth hour to the ninth. Amos 8:9 says of the day of the Lord, ‘I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.’ Luke adds that ‘the sun was darkened’ (Luke 23:45).

Verse 34

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani — Aramaic, the first words of Ps 22:1; Mark translates them. Enkataleipo, ‘forsaken’, is the verb of ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’ (Heb 13:5). The bystanders mishear the cry as a call for Elias (vv.35–36).

Verse 37

gave up the ghost — Ekpneo, to breathe out, used in the New Testament only here, in v.39 and in Luke 23:46, where the loud voice says, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’. Jesus had said of his life, ‘No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself’ (John 10:18).

Verse 38

the veil of the temple was rent — The veil ‘shall divide… between the holy place and the most holy’ (Ex 26:33). ‘Rent’ is schizo, used in Mark only here and at 1:10, where ‘the heavens opened’. Hebrews calls the way into the holiest ‘through the veil, that is to say, his flesh’ (Heb 10:20).

Verse 39

Truly this man was the Son of God — The centurion, a Roman, answers on seeing ‘that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost’. Mark opens with the title (Mark 1:1) and the Father’s voice (Mark 1:11). Kenturion is a Latin word used by Mark alone, in vv.39, 44 and 45; Matthew writes ‘Truly this was the Son of God’ (Matt 27:54).

Verse 40

women looking on afar off — When ‘they all forsook him, and fled’ (Mark 14:50), these women remained, watching from a distance. Mary Magdalene is the one ‘out of whom went seven devils’ (Luke 8:2). Salome and the two Marys appear again at the tomb (Mark 16:1); ‘the less’ is mikros, small.

Verse 42

the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath — Prosabbaton, the fore-sabbath, is found only here. The law required that one hanged on a tree not remain ‘all night upon the tree’ but be buried ‘that day’ (Deut 21:23); John notes that the bodies were not to remain on the cross on the sabbath (John 19:31).

Verse 43

an honourable counsellor — Bouleutes, a member of the council, used only here and in Luke 23:50. Luke adds that he ‘had not consented to the counsel and deed of them’ (Luke 23:51). He ‘waited for the kingdom of God’, as Simeon and Anna waited (Luke 2:25, 38), and ‘went in boldly’ (tolmao, dared) to ask for the body.

Verse 46

rolled a stone unto the door — Isa 53:9 says, ‘he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death’; Matthew calls the tomb Joseph’s ‘own new tomb’ (Matt 27:60). The ‘fine linen’ is sindon, the word for the cloth in Mark 14:51–52. The stone is what the women ask about in 16:3.

Verse 47

beheld where he was laid — The two Marys saw the place, and in 16:1 they come back to it with spices. Mark thus names the same witnesses at the death (v.40), the burial and the empty tomb. ‘Beheld’ is theoreo, to watch attentively.