Bible Commentaries
Mark 15

Verses 1-47

XV 1-15a Jesus before Pilate: the Civil Process; cf.Matthew 27:11-26; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-; John 19:16-1-5. Mk is extremely concise at this point and needs to be clarified by reference to the other evangelists. 1. Probably the chief purpose of the morning session of the Sanhedrin was to decide what charges should be brought against Christ at the tribunal of the Roman Governor; cf. § 740f. Knowing that they could not count upon unquestioning acceptance by Pilate of their own verdict on a purely religious charge, the Sanhedrin kept the charge of blasphemy in the background and brought Christ before Pilate as a political offender— ’we have found this man perverting our nation and forbidding to pay tribute to Caesar and asserting that he is the Messias, a king’, Luke 23:2. As the representative of Rome, Pilate was obliged to take notice of these accusations.

2. The Messianic claim of Jesus had been represented to Pilate as a claim to political kingship of the Jews, and, consequently, sedition against the Emperor.

2b ’Thou sayest it’ (s?+^ ?e+´?e??). According to some authors this is a non-committal answer = ’ It is you who say it’. More probably it is to be understood as an affirmative = ’It is as you say’. A fuller account of the questioning of Christ by Pilate, given in John 18:33-38, shows that Christ explained that his kingship was not an earthly one in opposition to the authority of Rome. Pilate was satisfied that the charge of sedition was unfounded. 3-5. Having reached the decision that Jesus was not guilty of sedition, Pilate should have brought the trial to an end and set him free. But when he announced that he could find no crime in him, Luke 23:4; John 18:38, the chief priests persisted, ’he is stirring up the people, teaching throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee even to this place’, Luke 23:5. Pilate, knowing that the anxiety of the Sanhedrin for the interests of Rome was a pretence, questioned Jesus again, probably hoping to discover the real motive of the animosity of the Jews. But Christ remained silent: he had already made his position clear to Pilate.

6-11. The sending of Christ, to Herod Antipas, Luke 23:6-12, was the first of Pilate’s attempts to find a way out of his difficulty. He knew that Jesus was innocent and was anxious to set him free, yet he was afraid to offend the Jews, lest they should denounce him to the Emperor for negligence in dealing with a political agitator. It was by playing on this fear that the Jews finally succeeded in securing the condemnation of Christ, John 19:12 f. Having failed to transfer responsibility for the case to Antipas, Pilate now had recourse to another expedient. The custom of releasing at the paschal feast a prisoner selected by the people appeared to provide a way of escape from his embarrassing position. If the people selected Christ, the Sanhedrin would have no pretext for denouncing Pilate. It was natural to expect that the crowds who had acclaimed Christ a few days previously would now exercise their privilege in his favour. But the chief priests stirred up the people to ask for Barabbas then in prison ’with the rioters who had committed murder in the riot’. We cannot tell by what means the crowd were incited to ask for Barabbas in preference to Christ, It is difficult to understand,how that choice could have been made by people who had acclaimed Christ at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Probably it was the rabble of the city along with the servants of the Sanhedrin who asked for Barabbas. Some are of opinion that Barabbas was not simply a brigand or common criminal, but a prominent figure in a revolutionary group striving to overthrow Roman power in Palestine. By presenting him in the guise of a national hero the chief priests would have been able to influence the people to ask for his release. The Gospels are the only source which inform us that the Roman authority in Palestine recognized the custom of liberating a prisoner at the Pasch. Similar customs are known to have existed elsewhere in the Greek and Roman world. A remarkable parallel to the Gospel story is found in an Egyptian papyrus from c a.d. 85 which quotes the statement of the Governor of Egypt to a man on trial before him—’You deserved flagellation . . . but I pardon you as a favour to the people’ ( Deissmann, Licht vom Osten, 229-30). 12-15a. The unexpected turn of events disconcerted Pilate. Forgetting that he alone was the competent judge in the case, he asked what they wished to have done to Jesus. When they called for his crucifixion, Pilate again declared that Jesus had committed no crime which merited the death penalty. But the clamour continued and Pilate finally gave way to the demand under the threat of delation to the Emperor, John 19:12 f.

15b-20a The Scourging and Crowning with Thorns; cf.Matthew 27:26-31; Luke 23:16, Luke 23:22; John 19:1-3—Scourging was a normal preliminary to the execution of the death sentence. It was also inflicted sometimes in order to extort a confession, or as a distinct form of punishment for offences which did not merit the death penalty. One form of scourge had leather thongs weighted with fragments of bone; another consisted of light chains with balls of lead at the end. Roman law did not impose any limit to the number of blows which might be inflicted. In Palestine, where there were no lictors the scourging was done by soldiers. From Lk and Jn we know that Pilate had not yet sentence Christ to death when he ordered the scourging. He intended to set Christ free after the scourging, believing that this compromise would appease Christ’s enemies.

16. ’And the soldiers led him into the courtyad, that is, the praelorium, and called together the whole cohort’. The name ’praetorium’ was originally given to the tent of the commander-in-chief (praetor). In later use it applies to any place where the Emperor or his military representatives exercised the functions of their office. It is disputed whether the practorium where Christ was mocked and condemned to death was in the palace of Herod or in the fortress Antonia adjoining the temple. The palace of Herod was the usual residence of the Procurators when they visited Jerusalem. It is probable, however, that at the Pasch and other great feasts Pilate moved into the fortress Antonia where he could more easily keep the crowds under observation and take prompt action to quell disturbances. Recent archaeological findings appear to favour this view cf. Vincent, RB 42 ( 633) 85-113.

17-20a. The pitiable condition to which Christ was reduced by the scourging aroused no sympathy in the soldiers. In a mock coronation and parody of homage they ridiculed his claim to be king. The purple garment, probably a soldier’s scarlet cloak, represented the royal purple; the crown of thorns and the reed placed in Christ’s hand, Matthew 27:29, represented the crown and sceptre. It was probably on their own initiative that the soldiers indulged in this brutal mockery of Christ. After the scourging and mockery Pilate brought forth Jesus wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment, John 19:4f. He thought that the sight of his wretched state would satisfy the Jews’ desire for punishment. But they still cried out for his crucifixion. Pilate, intimidated, passed the death sentence.

20b-41 The Crueffixion and Death of Jesus; cf.Matthew 27:31-56; Luke 23:26-49; John 19:16-37—The evangelists do not give a detailed account of the crucifixion, because their readers were familiar with this form of punishment. It was well known in the Roman empire, particularly as the penalty for slaves condemned for serious crimes, though freedmen or provincials found guilty of sedition and, sometimes, even Roman citizens were put to death in this way. The more common type of cross consisted of two lengths of timber, an upright and a crossbeam. These were not fixed together in the familiar form of cross until crucifixion took place. In Rome, the condemned person, stripped of his garments, carried the crossbeam to the place of execution, being subjected to indignities and ill-treatment on the way. A placard announcing his crime was carried before him or hung from his neck. At the place of execution, it seems that the hands of the condemned person were fastened to the crossbeam, usually with nails, and then he was lifted on to the upright beam which was already in position. A projecting block on the upright served as a ’saddle’ to support the body; the crossbeam was secured to the upright at the top or in a socket lower down, and the feet were nailed or tied with cords. Death was sometimes hastened by breaking the legs or by other means; cf. Holzmeister VD 14 ( 1934) 149-55, 216-20, 241-9, 257-63Christ was crucified by four Roman soldiers, John 19:23, under the command of a centurion, Mark 15:39. We know from John 20:20, John 20:25, John 20:27 and Luke 24:39 f. that his hands and feet were fastened with nails. On some points it is uncertain how far the manner of Christ’s crucifixion may have differed from the usual Roman practice. It is widely held that Christ carried the whole Cross, not merely the crossbeam. Mark 15:20 ’they put his clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him’ indicates that Christ was still clothed in his own garments on the way to Calvary. Most of the ancient writers believed that Christ was completely naked on the Cross. But it is not improbable that, in Palestine, the Romans respected Jewish feeling and custom in this matter and allowed some kind of covering.

20b-32 The Crucifixion —Christ was led forth from the praetorium carrying his cross, but when the soldiers saw that he was too weak to carry it to the place of execution they exercised their right to requisition services and compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry it for him. The mention of Simon’s sons shows that they were known to the Christians of Rome for whom Mark wrote his Gospel. Rufus was probably the man to whom St Paul sent greetings in Romans 16:13; cf. 725c. ’Golgotha’ is the Gk transcription of the Aramaic word ’gûlgûlta’ = ’skull’; Latin, ’Calvaria’. The name probably alludes to the shape of the slight eminence on which the crucifixion took place.

23. It was a Jewish custom to give wine mixed with myrrh to condemned persons in order to deaden their senses (Strack-Billerbeck 1, 1037). Christ refused to alleviate his sufferings in this way.

24. In accordance with accepted practice, the garments of the crucified became the spoil of the soldiers who executed the sentence.

25. ’Now it was the third hour when they crucified him’. This appears to contradict John 19:14, which informs us that it was about the sixth hour when Pilate condemned Christ. Some hold that the discrepancy is due to a copyist’s error. Probably, however, Mk is following a division of the day into four periods of three hours each, cf. 15:1 (morning); 15:25 (the third hour); 15:33 (the sixth hour) ; 15:34 (the ninth hour). ’The third hour’ covers the whole period from about nine until midday. Christ was condemned before midday, and the soldiers took him straightway to the place of crucifixion.

26. The inscription placed on the Cross was the official placard proclaiming the charge on which Jesus had been condemned. 27. The crucifixion of the robbers on either side of Christ seems to have been intended to throw contempt on his claims by associating him with common criminals. This added humiliation was a literal fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 ’he was counted with the evil-doers’.

28 is missing in some MSS and it is doubtful whether it is authentic.

29-30. Calvary was outside the walls but close to the city, John 19:20. The passers-by who railed at Jesus had probably been turned against him by garbled reports, put out by the Sanhedrin, of what he had said about the temple and what had transpired at the trial.

31-32. The chief priests and Scribes ridiculed Christ’s kingship and taunted him with the miracles he had performed. By paying this involuntary tribute to his supernatural power they condemned themselves. ’He rose from the dead and you did not believe: even if he were to descend from the cross, you would not believe’, Jerome, PL 26, 211.

32b. Luke 23:39-43 informs us that one of the robbers rebuked his fellow for reviling Christ. It is possible that both robbers at first joined in insulting him, but that one of them later repented of his conduct. More probably the plural ’robbers’ in Mk and Matthew 27:44 is indefinite. The evangelists simply mention another quarter from which insults were offered to Jesus without intending to specify the exact number of those who took part.

33-41 The Death of Jesus—33. The evangelist evidently regarded the darkness, which began at midday and lasted until Christ’s death three hours later, as a portent caused by special divine intervention. It was a sign of the judgement of God on those responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. The Jews should have recalled passages in the writings of the prophets, e.g.Amos 8:9, where the imagery of the darkening of the sun is used to describe the intervention of God injudgement upon men. It is not possible to determine the exact nature or the immediate cause of the phenomenon. The darkness was not the result of an ordinary eclipse of the sun. This was impossible at the Pasch, as the moon was then at the full. Some hold that God miraculously withheld the sun’s rays; others think that God prevented the rays of the sun from reaching the earth by interposing dense layers of cloud. Lagrange ( Saint Marc, 432) suggests a miraculous intensification of the gloom brought about inJerusalern at the beginning of April by the clouds of sand and dust blown by the sirocco.

33b. ’Over the whole land’. It is not necessary to hold that the darkness extended to the whole earth. Many writers think that the reference is only to Judaea. Probably the evangelist meant simply that the whole horizon was darkened—he was not thinking of the exact geographical extension.

34 gives the Aramaic translation of the opening words of Ps 21 (22). This Psalm is the prayer of the just man who, though surrounded by enemies and in deep distress, looks confidently to God for deliverance. The words ’My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ are a cry of distress wrung from the just man by the taunts and sufferings which God allows his enemies to inflict on him. There is no note of despair in that cry: confidence in God remains unshaken; cf.Psalms 21:10, Psalms 21:25. Christian tradition recognizes the Messianic sense of the Psalm, which finds complete fulfilment only in Christ: ’it contains the whole Passion of Christ’ ( Tertullian, Adv. Marcion. 3, 19). Christ, the Just One par excellence, made the cry of the Psalmist his own on the Cross with far more perfect sentiments of submission and confidence in God. The desolation felt in the human soul of Christ is given expression in the Psalmist’s words. But there is no question of despair or of abandonment of the humanity by the divinity. Christ was abandoned by God only in the sense that God did not spare him the sufferings of the Passion and Crucifixion, but allowed his enemies to work their will on him.

35-36. The bystanders who said ’he calleth Elias’ had confused the word ’Eloi’ = ’my God’ with the name ’Elias’. This may have been a genuine mistake, though the Scribes who were present could scarcely have failed to recognize the words of the Psalm. It was a common belief, Mark 9:8-12, that the prophet Elias would return to anoint the Messias and make him known to the world. The idea that Jesus, as he hung on the Cross, was calling to Elias for assistance, gave a fresh opportunity for sarcastic gibes. One of the soldiers, hearing, Jesus say ’I thirst’, John 19:28, soaked a sponge in the mixture of water and vinegar called posca which was the soldiers’ ordinary drink, and raised it to Jesus’ lips. The soldier was moved by compassion, but apparently because of hostility among the byders to this kind deed, he sought to excuse his action by joining in the mockery—this relief to the crucified would give Elias time to come to his assistance! 37. The words which Jesus uttered in a loud voice were probably ’Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’, Luke 23:46. Many patristic writers and modern exegetes regard this loud cry uttered at the point of death as indicative both of the divinity of Christ and of the fact that he died of his own free will. It is not clear, however, that in the circumstances the loud cry just before death necessarily implies more than human power in Christ. The words spoken show that he retained full consciousness and complete self-control to the end. Christ’s death was voluntary: he had the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again, John 10:17 f., but he freely accepted and fully carried out the divine plan for our redemption, knowing that this involved his own death on the Cross. His last words are a renewed expression of his voluntary acceptance of the sacrifice of his life for the redemption of men. 38. It is uncertain whether the veil which was rent in two was the outer veil which hung at the entrance to the sanctuary, or the inner veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The exact significance of this event is also doubtful. According to some, the rending of the inner veil was a manifestation of God’s power which signified that by the death of Christ the way into the heavenly sanctuary was thrown open and the Mosaic economy with its ritual was abrogated; cf.Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 9:9 f.; 10:19 f. Others, holding that it was the outer veil which was rent, interpret the event as a sign that by Christ’s death the mysteries which concerned the Church were revealed, the inner veil remaining as a symbol of the truths to be revealed in the heavenly kingdom.

39. The centurion was impressed by the bearing of Christ during the Passion, by the rapidity of his death and by the loud cry which he had uttered before dying, and also by the darkness and the earthquake, Matthew 27:54. He had heard of Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God, and in the manner and circumstances of his death saw proof that the claim was well-founded. It is doubtful whether the centurion understood the full significance of the title, ’Son of God’; cf.Luke 23:47, ’Indeed this was a just man’. His confession at least attests the honest conviction that Jesus was innocent and that he was no ordinary human being.

40-41. We know from John 19:25 that our Lady was near the Cross. Of the other women who saw the Crucifixion Mark names only the three who came to the tomb to anoint Christ’s body on the morning of the Resurrection.

42-47 The Burial of Jesus; Cf.Matthew 27:57-61; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42—It was the Roman custom to leave the bodies of those who were crucified to decay on the cross or to be devoured by wild animals and vultures, unless friends obtained permission to remove a body for burial. Jewish law, however, prescribed that the body of one banged should be buried the same day, Deuteronomy 21:23, and this regulation was applied also to those who were crucified; cf. Jos., B.J. 6, 5, 2. 42. The crucifixion of Christ took place on Friday (cf. § 738e). ’Parasceve’: pa?as?e?ð+´ = ’ preparation ’, i.,. the day of preparation for the Sabbath. The obligation of sabbath-rest began at sunset, and as the Sabbath on this occasion coincided with the first day of the Pasch, it was all the more imperative, in the eyes of the Sanhedrin, that the bodies of the crucified should be buried before sunset, as the Law prescribed. Consequently, they asked Pilate to hasten death by breaking the legs of the victims so that the bodies could be taken away, John 19:31-37. If our Lord’s friends had not intervened his body would probably have been cast into a common grave with the bodies of the two robbers. Joseph of Arimathea, though a member of the Sanhedrin, had not consented to their decision and deeds; he was a good and just man, and, secretly, a disciple of Jesus, Luke 23:156 f; John 19:38. Availing himself of his standing as a member of the supreme council of the Jews to have access to the Roman Governor, he secured permission to take away the body for burial.

44. Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died so quickly. Persons condemned to death by crucifixion usually lingered on the cross for a much logner period, sometimes even for days. Jesus, however, had endured exceptional sufferings and torments from the time of the Agony in Gethsemani. 46. In removing the body of Christ from the Cross and preparing it for burial, Joseph had the assistance of Nicodemus, John 19:39. Christ’s burial-place was a tomb newly hewn out of the rock in which no body had previously been laid. It belonged to Joseph and was close to Calvary, John 19:42. The Gospels, Mark 15:46; Luke 24:12; John 20:5, John 20:12, bear out the presumption that it resembled other Jewish tombs of the period, some of which can still be seen near Jerusalem. An outer chamber or vestibule hollowed out in the rock is connected by a low doorway with the inner or burial-chamber which contains recesses for the bodies. At the entrance to the tomb a large circular stone standing on its edge could be rolled into position to close the tomb or rolled aside into a groove cut in the rock. The customary Jewish ritual of preparation of a body for burial included washing and anointing and wrapping of the body in grave-clothes. The Gospels give the impression that the preparations for the burial of Christ were carried out hurriedly. The sabbath rest began at sunset, and there was no time to spare. The very brevity of Mk’s narrative suggests haste.