The Word Made Fresh
1As soon as morning came the chief priests, elders and scribes met with the whole council. They had Jesus bound and led him away to be turned over to Pilate.
2Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “So you say.”
3Then the chief priests pressed their accusations against him. 4Pilate asked him again, “How do you answer the charges they have brought against you?” But Jesus did not reply, which surprised him.
6During the Passover in those days, Pilate always released any prisoner they asked for. 7There was a man, Barabbas, in prison with some other rebels who had committed murders during an insurrection. 8The crowds came to Pilate and began to press him to release a prisoner as had been his habit.
9“So,” Pilate said to them, “do you want me to release the ‘King of the Jews’ for you?” 10He knew that the chief priests had handed him over because they were jealous of him. 11But instead, they stirred up the crowd to call for him to release Barabbas. 12Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with the ‘King of the Jews’?”
13They shouted, “Crucify him!”
14“Why him?” Pilate asked. “What crime has he committed?”
They shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”
15So Pilate released Barabbas to satisfy them, and after having Jesus whipped he handed him over to them to be crucified. 16The soldiers took him to the courtyard of the Praetorium, the governor’s headquarters. They called their platoon together 17and began to clothe Jesus in a purple robe. Then they twisted some briers together into a crown and put it on him. 18They began to taunt him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19They beat his head with a reed and spat on him. Some of them knelt in fake homage to him. 20When they finished making fun of him they removed the purple robe and put his own clothes on him, then led him out to be crucified.
21They forced Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, who was just coming into the city, to carry Jesus’ cross. 22They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (‘the place of the skull’). 23They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused. 24Then they crucified him. They cast lots to divide his clothes among them.
25It was mid-morning when they crucified him. 26The official charge against him was inscribed, “The King of the Jews.” 27Along with Jesus they crucified two thieves, one on either side of him, 28fulfilling the scriptures, “And he was counted among the lawless.” 29People passing by mocked him and shook their heads and said, “Ha! You said you’d destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30so save yourself and come down off the cross!” 31The chief priests and scribes also made fun of him. “He saved others, but he can’t save himself,” they said. 32“So, let the Christ, the ‘king of Israel,’ come down from the cross. If we see that, we might believe in him.” Those two thieves who were crucified with him taunted him as well.
33At noon, darkness fell over the land until about mid-afternoon. 34Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” 35Some of the onlookers heard him and said, “Listen, he’s calling for Elijah.” 36One of them ran and soaked a sponge in sour wine, placed in on a stick and held it up for him to drink, saying, “Wait! Let’s see if Elijah will come and rescue him!”
37Then Jesus cried out and breathed his last, 38and at that moment the curtain in the temple was torn apart, from top to bottom.
39The centurion standing at the foot of the cross saw him take his last breath, and said, “Surely this man was a son of God!”
40Some women were watching from a distance. Mary Magdalene was with them, along with Mary the mother of James the younger, and of Jose and Salome. 41They used to follow Jesus and provided for him when he was in Galilee. Other women were with them who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem.
42It was the day before the sabbath, the Day of Preparation, and as evening approached 43Joseph from Arimathea boldly went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ remains. He was a respected member of the Jewish Council who was waiting in expectation for the kingdom of God to come. 44Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead, and sent for the centurion to ask if Jesus had indeed been dead for some time. 45When the centurion confirmed it, he gave Joseph permission to claim the body. 46Then Joseph purchased a linen sheet and removed Jesus’ body from the cross and wrapped it in the linen. Then he laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of rock, and rolled a stone against the door.
47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jose saw where he had buried Jesus’ body.
Commentary
1-5: Now the chief priests bring their case to the council, called the Sanhedrin. They officially vote to refer Jesus to Pilate. Although the Jews apparently could carry out an execution (see Acts 7:58), only the Roman governor could order a crucifixion, which the chief priests prefer because it takes the blame off them and is a more public event allowing time for more people to see. Pilate asks Jesus point-blank if he is the King of the Jews, and Jesus’ reply is “You say so,” and the “you” is in singular form in the Greek Bible. In other words, Jesus replies, “You, Pilate, say so.” It is a curious response, and may indicate that Jesus senses that Pilate has already made his decision. Beyond that Jesus refuses to say more; following the same pattern as the night before when he refused to address the general charges but responded to the specific question.
6-15: This is the only evidence in ancient literature that there was a custom of releasing a prisoner to mollify the crowds, but if it was peculiar to Pilate’s reign that is not a significant absence. The earliest accounts of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion recalled that Pilate did indeed offer to release either Jesus or a bandit named Barabbas. The chief priests had prepared for this contingency by arranging ahead of time for the crowd to clamor for Jesus’ crucifixion. Mark paints Pilate as being sympathetic to Jesus, but all we know about him would indicate that he was contemptuous of the people he ruled, and I can picture him conducting this scene as if he were playing a game with them.
16-20: Jesus is handed over to the soldiers of the Roman cohort who treat him with utter contempt and mockery.
21-24: Matthew, Mark, and Luke relate that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry the cross for Jesus, while John says he carried the cross himself (John 19:17). Mark is the only one to identify Simon as the father of Alexander and Rufus, who may have been prominent leaders in the early church (see, for example, Romans 16:13). At Golgotha, an appropriate though grisly name (“place of the skull) for the place of execution, they crucified him.
25-32: The interview with Pilate could not have taken long, for Jesus is crucified that very mid-morning, hung between two criminals who take part in taunting him for claiming to be the Messiah. (Only Luke reports that one of the thieves is repentant — see Luke 23:39-43.) The charge of claiming to destroy and rebuild the temple seems to be the primary subject of the derision aimed at Jesus – that, and his claim to be the Christ. A naked man hanging on a cross is not a picture of the Messiah/Christ that anyone in Jerusalem would have imagined, not even the disciples.
33-39: The three hours of darkness are symbolic, as there is no record of an eclipse of the sun on any date that is remotely possible for the crucifixion. A heavy cloud layer would likely have been perceived as a divine comment. Mark reports only one thing Jesus says from the cross, the opening line from Psalm 22. It is impossible to judge whether the presentation of the sour wine-soaked sponge is an honest, though superstitious, effort to elicit the appearance of Elijah, or just a contemptuous act designed to draw the laughter of the crowds.
40-41: Mark names Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome as witnesses to the crucifixion, along with “many other women” who had apparently been followers of Jesus for some time. This detail gives us a little insight into the organization surrounding Jesus and the supporting cast that made his ministry possible.
42-47: All four gospels tell about Joseph of Arimathea claiming Jesus’ body. Mark and Luke identify him as a member of the council. Luke tells us that he did not agree with the chief priests’ decision about Jesus (Luke 23:50-51). Matthew tells us he was a rich man who was also a disciple of Jesus (Matthew 27:57), so again we have evidence that Jesus’ ministry had garnered more support than we might have guessed to this point. John says Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus, and also relates that Nicodemus joined Joseph in preparing the body of Jesus for burial. Only Mark tells us that Pilate has to verify Jesus is dead before he grants permission. Joseph wraps the body in a new linen shroud and places it in a new tomb, which Matthew tells us is Joseph’s own tomb. He secures the body with a stone over the entrance while the two Marys look on.
Takeaway
Pray that we might never experience a time when faith in Christ would be a threat to us. Pray for those in other parts of the world who are persecuted because of their faith.