Mark 15

1. Very early in the morning, the leading priests, the Jewish elders, the teachers of the law, and all the Jewish council decided what to do with Jesus. They tied Him, led him away, and turned Him over to Pilate, the governor.

People who hate the Bible used to say there was no such person as Pilate. In 1961 a stone tablet was discovered which said, “Pontius Pilate…Prefect of Judea.”

2. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Yes, I am.”

Jesus is saying, “You are saying this because I am a King. You are the one acting as a witness in this trial.”

3 – 5

The leading priests accused Jesus of many things. So Pilate asked Jesus another question. He said, “You can see that these people are accusing you of many things. Why do you not answer?” But Jesus still said nothing. Pilate was very surprised at this.

This was one of the devil’s ideas in the book of Job. He says, “Come on, you must have done something wrong. I am going to tell everyone about you! Not even God can help you now! God is angry at you and has turned you over to me.”

6 – 11

Every year at the Passover time the governor would free one person from prison. He would free any person the people wanted him to free. At that time, there was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was a rebel and had committed murder during a riot. The crowd came to Pilate and asked him to free a prisoner as he always did.

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” Pilate knew that the leading priests had given Jesus to him because they were jealous of Jesus. And the leading priests had persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.

They want a man named Barabbas who is rebelling against Rome after accusing Jesus of rebelling against Rome! Luke 23:19
Barabbas knew what it was like to have somebody die in his place.

We wonder if Barabbas later heard the Gospel and understood what had happened. It is amazing how there are police officers and firefighters and soldiers dying for us almost every day and we rarely think about it.

12 – 14

Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?” They shouted, “Kill Him on a cross!” Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”

Every man should ask himself what he will do with Jesus who has done nothing wrong to us. The cross would mean that they cannot stone Jesus because Psalm 22 says the Messiah would not have any broken bones.

15. Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he freed Barabbas for them. And Pilate told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.

Pilate went back and forth several times trying to work out a way to keep from killing Jesus. One reason was because his wife warned him not to. Matthew 27:19

16 – 20

Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace called the Praetorium. They called all the other soldiers together. They put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they used thorny branches to make a crown. They put it on His head. Then they called out to Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

The soldiers beat Jesus on the head many times with a stick. They also spit on Him. Then they made fun of Him by bowing on their knees and worshiping Him. After they finished making fun of Him, the soldiers took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him again. Then they led Jesus out of the palace to be killed on a cross.

Can you see that God said all these things would happen to Jesus and there is no one else in history who has lived through all these things? They were mocking God’s right to be king over men. Isaiah said these things would happen:
I offered My back to those who beat Me and My cheeks to those who pulled out My beard. I did not hide My face from mocking and spitting. Isaiah 50:6

21. There was a man from Cyrene [Libya] coming from the fields to the city. The man was Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus.

This family was known by the early Christians. Romans 16:13, Acts 13:1

22 – 24

They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. Golgotha means the Place of the Skull. At Golgotha the soldiers tried to give Jesus wine to drink. This wine was mixed with myrrh. But He refused to drink it. The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided His clothes among themselves. They threw dice to decide which clothes each soldier would get.

Some teachers disagree, but it is very interesting that there is a small hill still standing in Jerusalem with holes in the rocks and it looks like a skull. Hebrews 13:12, Genesis 22:6

They divide My clothes among themselves and throw dice for My clothing. Psalm 22:18
25 – 26

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross. There was a sign with the charge against Jesus written on it. The sign read: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Paul says something like this which shows that the devil would like to put a sign over our heads to condemn us and accuse us as sinners to the world. Colossians 2:14

27 – 28

They also put two robbers on crosses beside Jesus, one on the right, and the other on the left. And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals.”

He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal. Isaiah 53:9

29 – 30

People walked by and insulted Jesus. They shook their heads, saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”

No man will save himself if he has made up his mind to save someone else from death.

31 – 32

The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus just as the other people did. They said among themselves, “He saved other people, but He cannot save himself. If he is really the Christ, the king of Israel, then let Him come down from the cross now.

We will see this, and then we will believe in Him.” The robbers who were being killed on the crosses beside Jesus also insulted Him.

They would not believe even He did come down from the cross. They agree that He saved other people. Some of those people could have been in the crowd.

33 – 34

At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness lasted for three hours. At three o’clock Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means, “My God, my God, why have you left Me alone?”

God turned away from Jesus because of our sin that He took onto Himself. Pray that you never get yourself into a place where God has to turn away from you because of your sin.

35 – 36

Some of the people standing there heard this. They said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” One man there ran and got a sponge. He filled the sponge with vinegar and tied it to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to drink from it. The man said, “We should wait now and see if Elijah will come to take Him down from the cross.”

Jesus refused to take any medicine to help His pain. He was willing to suffer for every evil thing we have done without complaining.

37. Then Jesus cried in a loud voice and died.

No one can take My life away from Me, but I lay it down Myself. John 10:18

38 – 39

When Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple split into two pieces. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom. The army officer that was standing there before the cross saw what happened when Jesus died. The officer said, “This man really was the Son of God!”

This curtain was very thick and was very high up. The priests would see this and know that no man could have done this. The way is now open for us to come before God without a priest or a curtain between us.

40 – 41

Some women were standing at a distance from the cross, watching. Some of these women were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. James was her youngest son.

These were the women who followed Jesus in Galilee and cared for Him. Many other women were also there who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem.

These women had done the cooking and other things so that the ministry could keep going.

42 – 47

This was Preparation Day. That means the day before the Sabbath day. It was becoming dark. A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph was an important member of the Jewish council.

He was one of the people who wanted the kingdom of God to come. Pilate wondered if Jesus was already dead. Pilate called the army officer who guarded Jesus and asked him if Jesus had already died.

The officer told Pilate that he was dead. So Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut in a wall of rock.

Then he closed the tomb by rolling a very large stone to cover the entrance. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw the place where Jesus was laid.

Joseph from Arimathea was a rich man and would not want to be buried next to a place where criminals were hung on crosses. He bought this tomb because it was close by and it was time to get ready for the Sabbath. Some teachers do not agree but there is a tomb exactly like the one shown to us in the Gospels still there in Jerusalem. Next to the hill that looks like a skull. It is an empty tomb, just as the Bible said it was.