Bible Commentaries
Mark 15

Verse 1

1 In the morning was the day after the scenes in the garden, and the meeting in the palace of the high priest. The Jews had gone as far as they could under the law, so the next step was to take Jesus before Pilate who was the Roman governor.

Verse 2

2 To be a king under the Romans might imply some rivalry, but Pilate restricted his question to the Jews, which would not mean any necessary opposition to the law of the land. To the question of Pilate Jesus merely said thou sayest it.

Verse 3

3 To the accusation of the chief priest Jesus made no reply, not even to the extent of denying them, although they pertained to his alleged conduct.

Verse 4

4 Pilate called the attention of Jesus to the accusations, doubtless thinking that he had not noticed them, or at any rate had not observed the nature of them.

Verse 5

5 It is usual for a prisoner• to deny the charges made against him, whether he cares to defend himself or not. Jesus did neither which caused Pilate to wonder.

Verse 6

6 It was customary to celebrate that feast with the release of a prisoner to be selected by the people, not the officers or priests.

Verse 7

7 Pilate knew about the situation, and he therefore was aware that Barabbas was a noted criminal whom no good society could tolerate.

Verse 8

8 While the governor was delaying his action the multitude began clamoring for him to follow up with the usual practice.

Verse 9

9 Pilate thought this would give him an opportunity of releasing Jesus without clearing him of the sentence the Sanhedrin had pronounced against him.

Verse 10

0 The chief priests had no voice in selecting the prisoner to be released. They had caused Jesus to be delivered into the hands of this court with an envious motive. In view of that, Pilate thought the people would take a better view of the case and call for the release of Jesus.

Verse 11

1 It is possible that they would have done so, had the chief priests not moved or influenced them to call for the release of Barabbas.

Verse 12

2 Pilate was evidently surprised at the selection of the people. If they were willing to have so wicked a prisoner as Barabbas turned loose upon the community, they certainly could not wish for anything severe to be done to as harmless a person as Jesus, hence he asked them directly for their verdict concerning him.

Verse 13

3 They cried out again. Mark does not tell of their having made this demand before, but Mat 27:21 gives that instance.

Verse 14

4 According to Mark's account the Jews would not state any evil against Jesus, but Joh 18:30 reports that they accused him of being a "malefactor," which merely means an evildoer, so that they evaded the governor's question.

Verse 15

5 It was a practice of some of the courts to scourge a condemned prisoner before delivering him to the executioners. It was a harsh ordeal imposed on his bare body.

Verse 16

6 The whole band means a part of the army to be used as executioners.

Verse 17

7 Purple and scarlet were the royal colors, and this kind of robe was put on Jesus in mockery. The crown of thorns was for the same purpose because he had claimed to be a king, and also in order to torture him in his humiliation.

Verse 18

8 This was a salutation of mockery and contempt.

Verse 19

9 These men did not worship Jesus in any proper manner as we may well conclude. (See the note on "worship" at Mat 2:2.)

Verse 20

0 After these acts of mockery were concluded, the soldiers replaced the robe with his own clothing. Matthew, Mark and John mention the crown of thorns and also the robe of royal colors. They tell of the removal of the robe but neither of them says a word about removing the crown of thorns. We can reasonably conclude that our Lord was compelled to wear the instrument of mockery and torture throughout the six long hours of the scenes of the cross.

Verse 21

1 Compel Simon . . . to bear his cross. (See notes at Mat 16:24.)

Verse 22

2 See a full explanation of Golgotha at Mat 27:33.

Verse 24

4 The act of crucifixion is so cruel that a detailed description of it, as given by the works of reference, is given in the comments at Mat 27:35.

Verse 25

5 The third hour corresponds with our nine o'clock A. M.

Verse 26

6 Accusation is defined, "The crime of which one is accused." Hence those who passed by would see that Christ was crucified for being The King of the Jews!

Verse 27

8 The scripture referred to is in Isa 53:12.

Verse 29

9 Again the mob misquoted Jesus, for he never said he would destroy the temple. What he did say is recorded in Joh 2:19.

Verse 30

0 There can be no question that Jesus had the power to come down from the cross. Had he done so, however, the scriptures could not have been fulfilled (Mat 26:24; Isa 53:7-12).

Verse 31

1 This remark of the chief priests fulfilled Luk 4:23.

Verse 32

2 That we may see and believe was a hypocritical statement. They had known of miracles that Jesus performed that called for as much power as this would have required, yet they were still in unbelief. They that were crucified with him means the thieves. According to Luk 23:40-42, one of them repented of his saying and appealed to Jesus for mercy and asked to be remembered.

Verse 33

3 This mixture is explained in the comments at Mat 27:34.

Verse 34

4 See the comments at Mat 27:46 for use on this verse.

Verse 35

5 This is explained at Mat 27:47.

Verse 36

6 In Joh 19:28-29 is the record of why this vinegar (sour wine) was served to Jesus. He had expressed his condition which was one of thirst, the kind that so often comes upon one at the approach of death.

Verse 37

7 Cried with a loud voice. This is commented upon at some length at Mat 27:50. Gave up the ghost (or spirit), which proves that man possesses something besides his flesh which leaves the body at death.

Verse 38

8 A description of the importance of this veil is at Mat 27:51.

Verse 39

9 According to Mat 27:54, the earthquake and other demonstrations in the natural creation, helped to convince the centurion that it was no ordinary person who had just died and was thus accorded such distinction.

Verse 40

1 These women were faithful to the last, but with feminine timidity they had stood some distance away watching. They had come from the same district where Jesus was brought up, Galilee, and had served him on various occasions.

Verse 42

2 The day before the sab-bath is a general explanation, meaning that every sabbath or holy day is preceded by a preparation day. Whatever manual exercise would be needed in preparing food and other necessary articles for life must be done on these preparation days. The regular Passover came on Friday the fourteenth. Jesus was crucified on the day before, which was the reason for saying this was the preparation.

Verse 43

3 Beingca counsellor means he was a member of the Sanhedrin. For extended comments on this man see those at Mat 27:57.

Verse 44

4 Pilate was surprised that Jesus was dead. Crucifixion causes a slow death and the victim usually has to suffer on and on for hours until late in the night, and this was the cause of Pilate's surprise. To make sure that Joseph was not planning to recover Jesus alive, the governor sent the centurion to see if Jesus had died.

Verse 45

5 The centurion reported that Jesus was dead, and Pilate then gave the body to Joseph. This good man had made special provision for tire care of the body. For further comments on this phase of the subject see at Mat 27:58.

Verse 46

6 Joh 19:38-40 tells us that, Nicodemus assisted Joseph in this service of Love. He was the man who had come to Jesus by night (Joh 3:1-2).

Verse 47

7 The women witnessed the burial of Jesus and the rolling of the stone against the door of the sepulchre, which explains their concern at Mar 16:3.