23S23 Mark 15:16-47 (Part 38) Jesus Crucified
(written by Dr. Kip Wehrman) .
Hello everyone. I’m Kip and I want to thank you for joining me today @ the PUNLA Coffee Table. Today we are continuing our study of the gospel according to Mark with Mark 15:16-47 (Part 38) Jesus crucified and buried.
When we left off last time. Jesus had been brought to Pilate the Roman governor. Pilate wanted to release Jesus but gave into the Jewish leaders and the crowd. Now Jesus has been turned over to the Roman soldiers to be flogged and crucified.
Let’s read it again from the New American Standard version (NAS).
Let’s read Mark 15:16-47 (NAS) 16Now the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17And they dressed Him in purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19And they repeatedly beat His head with a reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him. 21And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross. 22Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man would take. 25Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 27And they crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 29Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself! 32Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him. 33When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LEMA SABAKTANEI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 35And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem. 42When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.
Now let’s look at these verse closer, Mark 15:16-20 (NAS) 16Now the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17And they dressed Him in purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19And they repeatedly beat His head with a reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.
The Roman soldiers mocked and repeatedly beat Jesus. Other gospel account deal how Jesus was flogged until He was unrecognizable. I find this incredibly hard to read. But we should feel the anguish in this story. It should be emotional.
Mark 15:21-26 (NAS) 21And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross. 22Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man would take. 25Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
King of the Jews. Actually Jesus King of Kings. Crucifixion was the most shameful way to die in the ancient world. Anyone who died this way was despised. In this culture is was about pride and position, a shameful death like this was meant to shame and discourage everyone associated with you.
Let’s continue with Mark 15:27-32 (NAS) . 27And they crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 29Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself! 32Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.
I don’t know if you noticed but the NAS does not have verse 28 NKJ “So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” I personally don’t like this trend in Bible scholarship. It is omitted because older manuscripts don’t have this phrase. When did older become better. The assumption is older must be better but this is false but that is for another conversation. Back to our topic. Jesus is crucified between to criminals. They mock Jesus. The crowd mocks Jesus. Jesus is dying on the cross and they still want to mock Jesus. This is a hate that is deep rooted. Why? I wonder if a part of them thought what if?
Let’s continue with Mark 15:33-36 (NAS) 33When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LEMA SABAKTANEI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 35And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” 36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.”
The crowd is not concerned about Jesus, they just want to see what is going to happen. Will God show up. Will Elijah show up. Darkness has supernaturally happened. Can’t they see the power but it seems they are more interested in the amusement.
Let’s continue with Mark 15:37-41 (NAS) 37But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died. 38And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
The Roman solider understood. The Barrier in the temple between God’s space and our space was torn. From the top to the bottom, like it was the finger of God. This whole time the women are watching, wondering. I wonder if Mary knew this day was coming but even if she did, there is no way to understand the sorrow of witnessing this.
Let’s continue with Mark 15:42-47 (NAS) . 42When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.
Jesus died but it is the day of preparation and at tusk the special sabbath of the feast of unleaven bread begins. No one can do work. So, prominent members of the council rush to give Jesus a proper burial. Typically, Romans would cast the crucified bodies into a mass grave. It was very irregular for Pilate to allow this. The burial preparations had to be done quickly, which tells us these men were powerful and wealthy to make this happen like this. The tomb Jesus was placed in was for wealthy person. This was not just any old tomb, it was special, even before the God of the universe was buried there.
Let me leave you with this today. This story stirs my emotions. It is personal to me. My savior went through this for me. I’m not worthy of his sacrifice. None of us are. I can never fully appreciate this event because I have been shielded from the realities of this event living in America all my life. But, when I was sick with COVID a couple years ago and I thought I was dying. My impression of this changed forever. I am so flawed. I am broken and ugly and worthless. Yet the ruler of everything, wants me. I love my Lord with all I have because He is all I have. Everything here on earth is His, I’m only borrowing it from Him. I know how close death is because I’ve seen how close it is. The most important thing is Jesus. He went through this for us. Crucifixion is no joke folks. If you are unsure about what this means for you. Contact me, I’d love to listen to you and try to share why it is so important to me. Thank you for joining me for our study of the gospel of Mark.
