# Mark 15 📖: The Crucifixion of Jesus [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Mark Overview]] | [[Mark 14]] | [[Mark 16]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) #### Jesus Brought Before Pilate **Principle**: Jesus amazes even His enemies. [[#Verse 01.]] Early in the morning, after forming a plan, the chief priests with the elders and the experts in the law and the whole Sanhedrin tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.  [[#Verse 02.]] So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He replied, “You say so.”  [[#Verse 03.]] Then the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly.  [[#Verse 04.]] So Pilate asked him again, “Have you nothing to say? See how many charges they are bringing against you!”  [[#Verse 05.]] But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed. #### Jesus and Barabbas **Principle**: Never let the crowd tell you what to do with Jesus. [[#Verse 06.]] During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, whomever they requested.  [[#Verse 07.]] A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection.  [[#Verse 08.]] Then the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to release a prisoner for them, as was his custom.  [[#Verse 09.]] So Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?”  [[#Verse 10.]] (For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.)  [[#Verse 11.]] But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas instead.  [[#Verse 12.]] So Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call king of the Jews?”  [[#Verse 13.]] They shouted back, “Crucify him!”  [[#Verse 14.]] Pilate asked them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!”  [[#Verse 15.]] Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them. Then, after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. #### Jesus is Mocked **Principle**: Those who are broken only know the way of brokenness. [[#Verse 16.]] So the soldiers led him into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort.  [[#Verse 17.]] They put a purple cloak on him and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on him.  [[#Verse 18.]] They began to salute him: “Hail, king of the Jews!”  [[#Verse 19.]] Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Then they knelt down and paid homage to him.  [[#Verse 20.]] When they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. #### The Crucifixion **Principle**: Being around Jesus changes all. [[#Verse 21.]] The soldiers forced a passerby to carry his cross, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus).  [[#Verse 22.]] They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”).  [[#Verse 23.]] They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.  [[#Verse 24.]] Then they crucified him and _divided_ _his clothes, throwing dice_ for them, to decide what each would take.  [[#Verse 25.]] It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.  [[#Verse 26.]] The inscription of the charge against him read, “The king of the Jews.”  [[#Verse 27.]] And they crucified two outlaws with him, one on his right and one on his left.  [[#Verse 29.]] Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,  [[#Verse 30.]] save yourself and come down from the cross!”  [[#Verse 31.]] In the same way even the chief priests—together with the experts in the law—were mocking him among themselves: “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!  [[#Verse 32.]] Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. #### Jesus’ Death **Principle**: Jesus declares victory in the darkest moment. [[#Verse 33.]] Now when it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.  [[#Verse 34.]] Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “_Eloi__, Eloi, lema sabachthani?_” which means, “**_My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?_**” [[Psalm 22]] [[#Verse 35.]] When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!”  [[#Verse 36.]] Then someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down!”  [[#Verse 37.]] But Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last.  [[#Verse 38.]] And the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. [[#Verse 39.]] Now when the centurion, who stood in front of him, saw how he died, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”  [[#Verse 40.]] There were also women, watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.  [[#Verse 41.]] When he was in Galilee, they had followed him and given him support. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were there too. #### Jesus’ Burial **Principle**: Honor Jesus by honoring His BODY. [[#Verse 42.]] Now when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath),  [[#Verse 43.]] Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  [[#Verse 44.]] Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time.  [[#Verse 45.]] When Pilate was informed by the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.  [[#Verse 46.]] After Joseph bought a linen cloth and took down the body, he wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone across the entrance of the tomb.  [[#Verse 47.]] Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was placed. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ###### Verse 41. ###### Verse 42. ###### Verse 43. ###### Verse 44. ###### Verse 45. ###### Verse 46. ###### Verse 47. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Pontius Pilate governed Judea from about AD 26 to 36. A stone found at Caesarea Maritima in 1961 bears his name and title. 2. Under Roman rule the Jewish council could not carry out a death sentence (John 18:31), so they brought Jesus to Pilate. 3. Barabbas (15:7) means "son of the father" in Aramaic. 4. Roman flogging (15:15) used a whip of leather straps often weighted with bone or metal. Some victims died before they ever reached a cross. 5. Simon of Cyrene (15:21) came from North Africa. Mark names his sons, Alexander and Rufus, likely because his readers knew them (compare Romans 16:13). 6. Golgotha (15:22) is Aramaic for "place of a skull." The Latin word *Calvaria* gives us the name Calvary. 7. Mark says Jesus was crucified at the third hour, about 9 in the morning (15:25), and darkness covered the land from noon until 3 in the afternoon (15:33). 8. The charge posted above the cross read "The King of the Jews" (15:26). Romans commonly displayed the crime of the condemned. 9. Joseph of Arimathea (15:43) was a respected council member who took a real risk by asking Pilate for Jesus' body. 10. Wealthy families near Jerusalem used tombs cut from rock and sealed with a large stone (15:46). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the righteous Servant who suffered for sinners. He was forsaken on the cross (15:34) so we could be brought near, and the torn curtain opened a new and living way into God's presence (15:38; Hebrews 10:19-20). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Pilate released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified (15:15). How does Barabbas picture what Jesus did for you? 2. Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22:1 from the cross (15:34). What does it mean to you that Jesus was forsaken so that you never will be? 3. A Roman centurion confessed that Jesus truly was God's Son (15:39). Why is it significant that this confession came from him? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 15: Pilate releases Barabbas and hands Jesus over to be flogged and crucified. - 📖 verse 34: Jesus cries out in the words of Psalm 22, asking why God has forsaken Him. - 📖 verses 38-39: The temple curtain is torn in two, and the centurion confesses Jesus as God's Son. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Isaiah 53#Verse 07.|Isaiah 53:7]] - He did not open His mouth. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 53#Verse 05.|Isaiah 53:5]] - By His wounds we are healed. - 🔗 [[Psalm 22#Verse 18.|Psalm 22:18]] - They cast lots for my clothing. - 🔗 [[Psalm 22#Verse 01.|Psalm 22:1]] - My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? - 🔗 [[Psalm 69#Verse 21.|Psalm 69:21]] - Sour wine for my thirst. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 10#Verse 19.|Hebrews 10:19-20]] - A new and living way through the curtain. - 🔗 [[Isaiah 53#Verse 09.|Isaiah 53:9]] - With the rich in His death. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Mark 15- SOAP|Recognize God]] ## 📂 Internal Notes