Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 15:16
And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.
16 24. The Mockery of the Soldiers. The Way to the Cross
16. the hall, called Prtorium ] “in to e floor of e moot hall,” Wyclif. The building here alluded to is called by three of the Evangelists the Prtorium. In St Matthew (Mat 27:27) it is translated “ common hall,” with a marginal alternative “ governor’s house.” In St John (Joh 18:28; Joh 18:33, Joh 19:9) it is translated “ hall of judgment ” and “ judgment hall,” with a marginal alternative “ Pilate’s house ” in the first passage; while here it is reproduced in the English as “prtorium.” In Act 23:35 it is rendered “ judgment hall,” and in Php 1:13, where it signifies “ the prtorian army,” it is rendered “ palace.” This last rendering might very properly have been adopted in all the passages in the Gospels and Acts, as adequately expressing the meaning. See Professor Lightfoot on the Revision of the New Testament, p. 49.
the whole band ] In the palace-court, which formed a kind of barracks or guard-room, they gathered the whole cohort. The word translated “ band ” is applied to the detachment brought by Judas (Joh 18:3), and occurs again Act 10:1; Act 21:31; Act 27:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Called Praetorium – The hall of the praetor, or Roman governor, where he sat to administer justice.
Whole band – See the notes at Mat 27:27.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And the soldiers led him away into the hall,…. From the place called the pavement, where was the judge’s bench, from which he passed sentence on Christ, to a large room,
called the praetorium, or judgment hall; being the hall, or room, where the praetor, or Roman magistrate, kept his court of judicature; and is the same place the Jews would not go into, lest they should be defiled, and become unmeet to eat the Chagigah that day; and into which Pilate had Jesus more than once alone,
Joh 18:28, but now he had a large company with him:
and they call together the whole band; very likely the soldiers, into whose custody Jesus was put, and who led him away, were the four soldiers that attended his crucifixion, and parted his garments; but for greater diversion they got together the whole band to which they belonged; [See comments on Mt 27:27].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Praetorium (). In Mt 27:27 this same word is translated “palace.” That is its meaning here also, the palace in which the Roman provincial governor resided. In Php 1:13 it means the Praetorian Guard in Rome. Mark mentions here “the court” ( ) inside of the palace into which the people passed from the street through the vestibule. See further on Matthew about the “band.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Into the hall called Pretorium. Mark, as usual, amplifies. Matthew has simply the Pretorium. The courtyard, surrounded by the buildings of the Pretorium, so that the people passing through the vestibule into this quadrangle found themselves in the Pretorium.
Band (speiran). Originally anything wound or wrapped round; as a ball, the coils of a snake, a knot or curl in wood. Hence a body of men – at – arms. The same idea is at the bottom of the Latin manipulus, which is sometimes (as by Josephus) used to translate speira. Manipulus was originally a bundle or handful. The ancient Romans adopted a pole with a handful of hay or straw twisted about it as the standard of a company of soldiers; hence a certain number or body of soldiers under one standard was called manipulus.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
JESUS MOCKED AND CROWNED WITH THORNS V. 16-23
1) ”And the soldiers led Him away,” (hoi de stratoitai apegagon auton) “Then the soldiers led Him out and away,” from Pilate’s Judgement Hall, because they had charge of preparing Him for and executing Him
2) ”Into the hall, called Praetorium;- (eso tes autes no estin praitorion) ”Inside the court barracks which is (called) praetorium,” Isa 53:8; Mat 27:27. It was the official residence of the chief magistrate.
3) “And they called together the whole band.” (kai sukalousin holen ten speiran) “And they called together all the cohort (band),” Pilate’s body guard, their comrads, to have some sport with, to deride and mock Jesus.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mar. 15:16. See R.V.
Mar. 15:17. Render: And they invest Him with a purplethe official robe of gs and rulers, no matter what its colour.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mar. 15:16-20
(PARALLEL: Mat. 27:27-31.)
The Son of God mocked and wounded.Solar eclipses are not miraculous appearances. Men acquainted with the situations and revolutions of the celestial orbs foretell these appearances. The humiliation of the Son of God is the eclipse of the Sun of Righteousness. Infamy and reproach covered Him in the days of His flesh, and toward the end of these days intercepted His rays, hiding, like a dark body, the brightness of His glory from the eyes of the world. Foreseeing this, a prophet says, His visage was so marred more than any man, etc.; and relating this, an apostle says, Who being in the form of God, etc. The obscuration of the Sun of Righteousness in His humiliation was not, however, a total eclipse. A prophet foretells one day that shall be not day nor night, the light being not clear nor dark, but a mixture of both qualities. So is the light of the Sun of Righteousness in His humiliation; and in looking down to Him at this period, we behold an unparalleled mixture of light and shade, of glory and infamy, of honour and dishonour, and of beauty, meanness, and shame.
I. Concerning the Sufferer.
1. The Sufferer is the Son of the Highest. The Highest is one of the lofty titles which distinguish and exalt the living and true God; and the Son of the Highest is a glorious title, with which, according to the prediction of Gabriel, the Saviour of the world is honoured. The real import of it is given by the apostle when he affirms Him to be the brightness of glory, and the express image of the Father. Every perfection essential to the Father dwells bodily and essentially in the Son; and the singular titles, Own Son, Dear Son, Beloved Son Only Begotten Son, exalt Him above creatures, and equal Him to the Highest.
2. The Sufferer is the Kinsman of the human race. To a part of our race the Lord Jesus bears a special relation, but He dwells in the nature common to the whole. Partaking of flesh and blood, of which all, as well as the children, are partakers, every man under heaven, upon the revelation of Him, is warranted to call Him kinsman.
3. The Sufferer is the Undertaker for the elect. All that the precept of the law of works required to be done by them He undertook to perform, and what its penalty denounced He engaged Himself to bear. Nor hath He failed in either. The satisfaction which by suffering and dying He made is the shield that protects them from its vengeance.
4. The Sufferer is the Horn of Salvation which God raised up in the house of David. The horn of an animal is its weapon, both for defence and vengeance. With this it defends itself, and with this it pushes down the enemy. In some prophecies horn is an emblem of the power of a king and the strength of his kingdom, and with the highest propriety is transferred to the Lamb of God, in whose office the powers of salvation and destruction are vested, and in whose administration these powers are exerted. The horns of the bulls of Bashan were not able to break the horn of the Lamb,
5. The Sufferer is the Author and Finisher of faith. In His own exercise He is the Prince and Leader who goes before believers, and who, in trusting and hoping Himself, leaves them a finished and perfect pattern of trust and hope.
6. The Sufferer is the Sun of Righteousness, or Light of the World. In His birth He was deeply obscured. From His agony and seizure in the garden to His death and resurrection this glorious Sun was thought to be totally eclipsed. His visage was marred, His face discoloured with spittle, His head crowned with thorns, His back furrowed with cords, and His hands and feet pierced with nails. But under this darkness the title Sun of Righteousness existed, and through it light beams upon the world.
II. Concerning the indignities which our lord suffered.These are related in the text without colouring and without reflexions. The holy writer neither praises the fortitude and glory of the Sufferer, nor reprobates the baseness and inhumanity of the wicked by whom He was abused. Facts are truly stated in the relation, and simplicity is rigidly observed.
1. When made under the law, our Lord subjected Himself to the suffering of these indignities.
2. In suffering the insolences of the ungodly our Lord was not ashamed and confounded. Behold the Sufferer, not a desponding and cowardly but a bold and mighty Sufferer, whose back, furrowed by the lash, and covered with the scarlet robe, upheld the universewhose countenance, marred with shame and spitting, was harder than flint and bolder than Lebanonand whose faith, assailed and affronted by every indignity, stood firmer than the pillars of heaven and earth! Trusting in God, and beholding the joy set before Him, He despised the shame, endured the pain, and triumphed over the diversion and wantonness of wickedness and inhumanity.
3. The Lord Jesus suffered these indignities for and instead of the elect. Indignation at the rudeness and brutality of the soldiers is not the only passion which the record of these abuses should kindle in our breasts. Rather it should kindle indignation against ourselves, for whose iniquities He submitted to abuse.
4. The suffering of these indignities was a part of the ransom which our Kinsman gave for the redemption of the elect. Redemption is an expensive undertaking; none but Himself was equal to it, and it cost Him dear.
5. In suffering these indignities our Lord Jesus left us an example that we should follow His steps.
III. Concerning the glory of Christ in suffering these indignitiesThe sacred writer relates His sufferings without revealing His glory. But by the light of other parts of Scripture we behold it; and without a display of it the knowledge of the fellowship of His sufferings could not be attained.
1. In suffering these indignities the glory of His faith and trust appears bright and resplendent. Unmoved, undismayed, unashamed, He stood firm, and without fainting held fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
2. In the common hall, where the Lord Jesus suffered the indignities, the glory of His love appears in splendour and dignity. Observe the scarlet robe, the reed, and the crown of thorns; behold the vilest ruffians bowing the knee, striking, reviling, and spitting upon the Blessed and Only Potentate, and say, Behold how He loved us!
3. In suffering the reproaches and indignities of the ungodly glory appears in the zeal of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. In suffering the indignities and insolences of the wicked the humility of the Lord Jesus is glorious. Found in fashion as a man, they treated Him not as a man, but trampled on Him as a worm. Astonishing humiliation! Astonishing, indeed, when we consider that He humbled Himself so low to declare the righteousness of God, in raising up the poor out of the dust, and lifting up the beggar and the criminal from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory.
5. In suffering the insolences of brutish men the meekness of Jesus Christ is glorious. The testimony of the false witnesses He heard in silence. The rudeness of the wicked, who spit in His face, and buffeted Him, and smote Him with the palms of their hands, He endured with composure. The derision and pain in the common hall He suffered with boldness and mildness. Nothing defective appeared in His temper, His language, nor in His behaviour.
6. In suffering the insolences and abuses of men the patience of Jesus Christ is glorious. He suffered, but threatened not with stoical apathy and sullen and philosophical pride, but with bold tranquillity and reverential and humble and holy composure.
7. In suffering the resignation of the Lord Jesus is glorious. As the hour of suffering approached a conflict was felta conflict not between sin and grace, but between the weakness of His human nature and the strength and glory of His grace; while at the same time resignation triumphed (Joh. 12:27). Another conflict was in His agony, when resignation also triumphed (Mar. 14:36). The palm, the scourge, the reed, the thorn, the purple, the spittle, the cross, and the nails were bitter and painful infusions; yet these, all these dregs, He submitted to wring out and drink.
Lessons.
1. The harmony between the predictions of prophets and the relations of evangelists concerning the sufferings of Christ is obvious and striking.
2. In His person and office the Lord Jesus is inconceivably glorious. Brightness of Glory is one of His distinguishing titles.
3. The grand design of revelation is to manifest the glory of Christ in His personGod-man.
4. The various representations which have been made of the person, sufferings, and glory of Christ are suitable means of working in believers a lively frame of heart for shewing His death at His table.
5. The various representations exhibited of the person, sufferings, and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ lead to the satisfactory answer of a question of the highest importance to the unbelieving, the ungodly, and the unholy. What must we do to be saved? Behold, O perishing and helpless creatures! behold the Doer and the Sufferer! To the Doer and Sufferer thou must be united, betrothed, and joined, and married. Obey His voice, and receive His grace; believe in His name, and rejoice in His salvation.A. Shanks.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mar. 15:17-19. Lessons from the mockery of the soldiers.
1. Notice in the conduct of the tormentors of Jesus the abuse of one of the gifts of God. Laughter is a kind of spice which the Creator has given to be taken along with the somewhat unpalatable food of ordinary life. But when directed against sacred things and holy persons, when used to belittle and degrade what is great and reverend, when employed as a weapon with which to torture weakness and cover innocence with ridicule, then, instead of being the foam on the cup of the banquet of life, it becomes a deadly poison. Laughter guided these soldiers in their inhuman acts; it concealed from them the true nature of what they were doing; and it wounded Christ more deeply than even the scourge of Pilate.
2. It was against the kingly office of the Redeemer that the opposition of men was directed on this occasion. The soldiers considered it an absurdity and a joke that one apparently so mean, friendless, and powerless should make any such pretensions. Many a time since then has the same derision been awakened by this claim of Christ. He is the King of nations. But earthly kings and statesmen have ridiculed the idea that His will and His law should control them in their schemes and ambitions. Even where His authority is nominally acknowledged, both aristocracies and democracies are slow to recognise that their legislation and customs should be regulated by His words. Most vital of all is the acknowledgment of Christs kingship in the realm of the individual life; but it is here that His will is most resisted.
3. In what Jesus bore on this occasion. He was suffering for us. Thorns were the sign of the curse. And does not the thorn, staring from the naked bough of winter in threatening ugliness, lurking beneath the leaves or flowers of summer to wound the approaching hand, tearing the clothes or the flesh of the traveller who tries to make his way through the thicket, burning in the flesh where it has sunk, fitly stand for that side of life which we associate with sinthe side of care, fret, pain, disappointment, disease, and death? In a word, it symbolises the curse. But it was the mission of Christ to bear the curse; and as He lifted it on His own head, He took it off the world.
4. Christs sufferings are a rebuke to our softness and self-pleasing. It is not, indeed, wrong to enjoy the comforts and the pleasures of life. God sends these, and if we receive them with gratitude they may lift us nearer to Himself. But we are too terrified to be parted from them, and too afraid of pain and poverty. Many would like to be Christians, but are kept back from decision by dread of the laughter of profane companions or by the prospect of some worldly loss. But we cannot look at the suffering Saviour without being ashamed of such cowardly fears.J. Stalker, D.D.
Christ was intended for the whole world.Let us see the Divine intention in the Crucifixion. In that are mingling lines of glory and of humiliation. The King of humanity appears with a scarlet camp-mantle flung contemptuously over His shoulders; but to the eye of faith it is the purple of empire. He is crowned with the acanthus wreath; but the wreath of mockery is the royalty of our race. He is crucified between two thieves; but His Cross is a judgment-throne, and at His right hand and His left are the two separated worlds of belief and unbelief. All the Evangelists tell us that a superscription, a title of accusation, was written over His Cross; two of them add that it was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew (or in Hebrew, Greek, Latin). In Hebrew,the sacred tongue of patriarchs and seers, of the nation all whose members were in idea and destination those of whom God said, My prophets. In Greek,the musical and golden tongue which gave a soul to the objects of sense and a body to the abstractions of philosophy; the language of a people whose mission it was to give a principle of fermentation to all races of mankind, susceptible of those subtle and largely indefinable influences which are called collectively Progress. In Latin,the dialect of a people originally the strongest of all the sons of men. The three languages represent the three races and their ideas,revelation, art, literature; progress, war, and jurisprudence. Wherever these three tendencies of the human race exist, wherever annunciation can be made in human language, wherever there is a heart to sin, a tongue to speak, and eye to read, the Cross has a message.Bishop Wm. Alexander.
Mar. 15:17. The crown of thorns.The imposition of the mock crown was only one among many indignities. It was not only a mock crown, but a circlet of torture.
I. To wear this crown Christ had laid aside that of Divine majesty.We can pity the fallen and weep for the great who are degraded, or who are made to feel the hardship of reversed fortunewe can measure the depth of the descent because they are human; but we have no power to gauge the height from which He came when He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death.
II. By wearing this crown of mockery Christ added a glory to that He wears eternally.He conquered suffering, sorrow, death, for us, and now every branch and spike of the mock crown is a jewel inwrought with that of His Divine majesty. Thus the very scorn of man Christ transforms into the sign of Divine regal power.
III. By wearing the mock crown Christ gained the further right to bestow a crown of life on all the faithful.
IV. Consider the power Christ gained over human souls by wearing that mock crown.
1. Men are led to mourn the guilt that brought Him such pain.
2. He gains such intense affection as He could have obtained in no other way. We should not have loved mere majesty or power, however great; but Jesus we can love as God manifest in the flesh. The love of Christ constraineth.Anon.
The crown of thorns.In the thorns composing the Redeemers crown we see reflected
1. The true character of sin as the deadly curse in the life and history of man.
2. The triumphant conquest and carrying away of sin.
3. The glorious transformation of the consequences of sin.
4. A symbol of Christs work. Crowned with thorns! Oh the deep disgrace to those who did it! Yet what so pathetically appropriate, what so beautifully significant, that at the close and climax of such a life as His, full of travail of soul and agony of spirit, bitterness and reproach of men and devils and sins burden, there should be placed on His head a crown such as should be the expression and picture of it all! Jesus Christ, the ideal King of humanity, who shall yet be historic King, found His kingdom lying in the beast of prejudice and passion, and ever since with kingly courage He has been engaged in lifting it into the beauty of the Lordbitter, heart-breaking, thorny work.W. B. Melville.
The crown of thorns.
I. Jesus Christ claimed the highest dignity: King.Proved by
1. His own words and deeds.
2. The service of angels.
3. The dread of demons.
4. The phenomena of nature.
5. The appearance of the departed.
6. The acknowledgment of God.
II. The claim of Christ to the highest dignity was treated with contempt.Crown of thorns.
1. Its reason.
(1) Its ordinary human appearance.
(2) The spirituality of His kingdom.
(3) The preconceived notions of men.
2. Its form. Mockery and pain. This arose from
(1) A cruel occupation: soldiers.
(2) Servile obedience.
(3) Heathenish cruelty.
(4) Example of superiors.
(5) Sinful excitement.
III. Contempt for the claim of Christ to the highest dignity was overruled to the advantage of Christ.
1. Suffering revealed His greatness. Love, patience, forgiveness.
2. Greatness gave value to His sufferings. Sufferings of the God-man, dignity of Godhead, and sufferings of manhood-atonement. The curse represented by the thorns becomes a blessing represented by the crown of thorns.B. D. Johns.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 15
Mar. 15:20. Christ mocked.A strange illustration of the scene is afforded by what happened only a few years afterwards at Alexandria, when the people, in derision of King Agrippa I., arrayed a well-known maniac in a common door-mat, put a papyrus crown on his head, and a reed in his hand, and saluted him as maris (lord).A. Edersheim, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
SUMMARY 15:1616:20
This closing section of Mark, like the corresponding section in Matthew, contains two proofs of the divinity of Jesus. The first is found in the darkness that covered the earth during three hours of his suffering. It is common, when we would make a comparison to indicate the impossibility of an undertaking, to say that you may as well attempt to blot the sun from the heavens. But this, God did, in effect, when the noonday sun was shining on the dying agonies of Jesus. It was accomplished by no natural eclipse, for the moon was on the opposite side of the globe (the moon was always full at the Passover); but it was done by the simple fiat of Jehovah. No stroke of His almighty hand since the sun was created has been more wonderful. It finds its only conceivable explanation in the fact that Jesus was dying. Was Jesus, then, an imposter? Or was he, what he claimed to be, the Son of God? Let a man stand, by imagination, for three hours amid that awful gloom, as did the Roman centurion, and then answer the question.
But the crowning proof in the grand series which Mark has presented, is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. No power but Gods could have raised him from the dead, and this power could not have been exerted in behalf of a pretender. That he was raised from the dead, then, is proof demonstrative that he was all that he claimed to bethe Christ, the Son of the living God.
It has sometimes been admitted, that to prove so extraordinary an event as the resurrection of one from the dead, would require most extraordinary evidence; and certainly it would in the case of any ordinary person; but in the case of Jesus, who had wrought so many miracles in proof of his divinity, who had repeatedly declared that he would arise from the dead, and who had died amid the most astounding manifestations of the divine displeasure toward his murderers, his resurrection was an event most reasonably to be expected, and it ought to be believed on the most ordinary testimony. Indeed, after having lived as he did, and having died as he did, his failure to arise from the dead would have been the most astonishing circumstances in his wonderful career. Such a life ending in the unbroken slumber of the grave, would have been an everlasting puzzle to the world. But such a life, followed by a glorious resurrection from the dead, attains a fitting consummation, and rounds out to completeness the most extraordinary personal history known in the annals of earth or heaven. The proofs of this event, furnished by Mark, are briefly thesethat an angel appeared to a company of women in the empty sepulcher, and told them that Jesus had arisen; that he himself appeared alive that morning to Mary Magdalene; that he appeared the same day to two male disciples as they walked into the country; that he appeared afterward to the eleven as they sat at meat; and that, having given them a commission to preach salvation through him to every creature, he ascended up to heaven, and subsequently worked with the disciples by signs following, as they went everywhere preaching the Gospel. Closing his testimony in the midst of a world which at the time of his writing was being filled with these last-mentioned signs, and which was still able to disprove by living witnesses all that he had written, if it were not true, he laid his pen aside, and sent forth his graphic narrative to challenge contradiction, and to do its part in the regeneration of mankind. We thank God that it has lived and come down to us; and as we pass it on to generations which shall come after us, we smile to think of the blessings it will bear to millions yet unborn, and of the undimmed radiance with which every sentence in it will shine when the sun shall have been blotted out forever, and the harvest of God shall all be gathered in. (J. W. McGarvey)
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) Into the hall, called Prtorium.The same word is used by St. Matthew (Mat. 27:27), but is there translated the common hall. See Note there as to the meaning of the word. Here, again, we have a Latin word.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Pretorium The word Pretorium is derived from the Latin word Pretor, signifying leader, a word applied to very different officers civil, judicial, and military in different periods of Roman history. The Pretorium signified the place of the Pretor, and in military service it was the general’s tent. But in this present passage it seems to refer to the court, or part of the tower of Antonia, where the Procurator’s guard were stationed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the soldiers led him away within the court which is the Praetorium, and they call together the whole band, and they clothe him with purple, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him, and they began to salute him, “Hail, king of the Jews”. And they smote his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees paid him homage.’
After the scourging, the humiliation. In Isa 50:6 the smiting is followed by the shame and spitting, as here. As far as these soldiers, rough, hardened and callous men, were concerned this was fun time. And they called their mates to join in the fun. Then they dressed Him up as a king and mocked Him.
Such horseplay with condemned prisoners was a recognised pastime, and here it was related to the charge brought against Him. There were many thorny plants in Palestine and one was used here. The idea of thorns was probably to mimic the rays of light coming from the ‘radiant crowns’ shown as worn by rulers on contemporary coins. The fact that they might be painful did not matter. The purple robes indicated royalty. The reed was first provided as a mock sceptre before being used to smite His head in mockery. Then they treated Him as a mock king.
They were on the whole brutal men and proved it by brutal behaviour. If they were auxiliaries, as they probably were, they would be drawn from non-Jewish inhabitants of the land and would have had no liking for Jewish kings. They were on duty. They were bored. And they egged each other on. And here was a diversion, a Jewish pretender. So they made the most of it.
‘The Praetorium.’ That is, the governor’s residence, probably in this case Herod’s palace. Jesus had been taken into the courtyard to be prepared for crucifixion. Meanwhile there was fun to be had. ‘The whole band’ (or cohort). That is, such as were present in the Praetorium. The cloak was probably a scarlet military cloak used to designate the purple robe worn by kings.
‘Paid Him homage.’ We who know how worthy He was of honour and worship can only watch in awed silence. Their homage feigned worship such as was offered to both the Emperor and Oriental kings.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
6. Jesus on Golgotha.His Death, and the Death signs. a. The Mockings and the Lords Silence. b. The Crucifixion; and Blasphemy against, and Silence of, the Lord. c. The World Darkened; the Anguish-cry, and the Silence of Victory; the Death-shriek, and the Death silence of the Lord. d. The Rent in the Temple-vail, and the Silence of God upon the End of the Old Covenant. Mar 15:16-38.
(Parallels: Mat 27:27-53; Luk 23:26-46; Joh 19:17-30.)
A. Mar 15:16-19
16And the soldiers led him away into the hall called Prtorium; and they call together the whole band. 17And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and, bowing their knees, worshipped him.
B. Mar 15:20-32
20And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own5clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander andRufus, to bear his cross. 22And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. 23And they gave him to drink6wine mingled withmyrrh: but he received it not. 24And when they had crucified him, they parted his gar ments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25And it was the third hour; and they crucified him. 26And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. 28And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.729And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,830Save thyself, and come down9from the cross. 31Likewise also the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves, with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. 32Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
C. Mar 15:33-37
33And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?10which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thouforsaken me? 35And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. 36And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. 37And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
D. Mar 15:38
38And the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Comp. the parallels in Matthew and Luke.Mark points out more distinctly the ironical consciousness with which the cowardly Pilate yielded to the demands of the populace. With Matthew, he employs , in which the thought is involved that the surrender was decided in the scourging. In describing the mocking, he omits, like John, the mention of the reed, which the soldiers, according to Matthew, forced into the Lords hand, or sought to force, and with which they struck Him (probably because He let it fall). Mark designates Simon of Cyrene the most particularly: he is the father of Alexander and Rufus. The address of the Lord to the daughters of Jerusalem, as they were following, which Luke reports, is omitted by Mark, as well as by Matthew. The bitter wine he names myrrh-wine. He makes the crucifixion to begin at the third hour. The quotation of Jesus from Isa 53:12, which we consider genuine, is given by him alone. The address of Jesus to Mary and to John, beneath the cross, is passed over by him as by the other Synoptics; also the repentance of the thief, in which he agrees with Matthew. He describes more graphically than the other Evangelists the mockery of the passers by, using the word for this purpose; the derision and irony of the priests is given in their own words. He records in the original Syriac, Eloi, Eloi, etc. Of the man who gave the Lord vinegar to drink, he says indefinitely, A certain one, and that he called to the others, Let alone. Of the seven sayings of the Crucified, he records, like Matthew, only the Eli, Eli, and the last loud, piercing cry of Christ, without stating what the Lord expressed in it.
Mar 15:16. Into the hall (within, into the inner court).Comp. Note on Mat 27:27. They conducted Him into the palace-court, which we may easily suppose was surrounded by the neighboring buildings of the governors palace, forming a kind of barracks.
Mar 15:17. A scarlet military mantle (see on Mat 27:28) was made to represent the imperial purple; hence the designation a purple (), a purple robe, as Mark and John describe it. And because this is the symbolic import of the robe, there is no discrepancy. The scarlet military cloak no more required to be a real purple, than the crown of thorns required to be a real crown, or the reed a real sceptre; for the whole transaction was an ironical drama, and such a one, too, that the infamous abuse might be readily perceived through the pretended glorification. The staff must be a reed, the symbol of impotence; the crown must injure and pierce the brow; and so too must the purple present the symbol of miserable, pretended greatness: and this was done by its being an old camp mantle.
Mar 15:21. And they compel.Upon the term , comp. Note on Mat 5:41.The father of Alexander and Rufus.These men must have been well-known persons in the then existing Church; and they testify to the personal, lively recollection and originality of Mark, as does his Timus, the son of Bartimus. It is most natural to regard them as persons well known to the Church at Rome. On this account, Rufus, whom Paul greets, Rom 16:13, may well be this Rufus. The Alexander, however, who is spoken of in the Acts of the Apostles, Act 19:33, appears not to have been a Christian, but to have belonged to the hostile Judaism. (Langes Apostol. Zeitalter, ii p. 275 f.) Whether he was the same person as Alexander the coppersmith, who was the enemy of Paul, cannot be positively made out. Meyer: But how common were these names, and how many of the then well-known Christians are strangers to us. In Actis Andre et Petri both are mentioned as the companions of Peter in Rome. They are, of course, here brought forth from the treasures of the evangelical tradition.Coming out of the country.Meyer will have it, that this fact, mentioned likewise by Luke, is a proof that Jesus was not crucified on the first day of the feast. But in this opinion, no attention is paid to the circumstances: 1. That the country, or the country-seat as it might be termed, from which Simon was coming, might have lain within an easy Sabbath-days journey of Jerusalem (Meyer maintains,If so, it must have been stated!); 2. that in case the Passover began with Friday, the second day, as Sabbath and Passover together, would be the chief festival-day; 3. that it is by no means historical to admit no contraventions of the Sabbath-law, and, furthermore, that it would be the very thing to turn the attention of the multitude to Simon, if there was anything remarkable, anything offensive, in his appearing at such a time. Such results are by no means uncommon in the similar instances of multitudes running together; so that the notice rather supports the view which adopts the first feast-day as the one. Jesus was crucified under the pretext that He was the great Sabbath-breaker. The people, in their witticism, might perhaps say, See, there comes another Sabbath breaker from the country; let him suffer a little along with the other.
Mar 15:22. Golgotha.Meyer makes Golgotha genitive11(as if, Golgothas place). Because the translation is . But the question is, Has not in the first instance a more general import,the place (Golgotha)? John retranslates into Hebrew, Golgotha; Matthew also names the place, Golgotha; Luke simply, Skull. No doubt it is strange that Mark has following Golgotha. Probably the place was called sometimes Skull, and sometimes Place of a Skull, and Mark gives the more exact designation. See on Mat 27:33.
Mar 15:23. They gave Him; that is, they offered Him myrrh-wine. This myrrh-wine cannot, from the different descriptions of Mark, be identical with the vinegar, or the wine-vinegar, of which a drink was at a later period given to Jesus. Most likely the wine was in each case the same, but the narcotic intermixture was omitted in the second instance.
Mar 15:24. Parted his garments.John gives the more exact description. The prevailing point of view among the first three Evangelists was the making the division an occasion for gambling. Comp. Note on Mat 27:35. The form of the play is not closely described. Meyer: We must leave unsettled the question, Whether the lot-casting was performed with dice, or the lots were shaken in some vessel (a helmet), and that which first fell out decided in favor of him to whom it belonged.
Mar 15:25. And it was the third hour.Upon the apparent discrepancy between this declaration of Mark and Matthew, and the statement of John, Joh 19:14, comp. Note on Mat 27:45. We cannot avoid, however, drawing attention to the striking relation subsisting between the third and the sixth hour. At the third hour, by the crucifixion of Jesus, the endurance of the cross for His people was decided, as it meets us in the superscription, The King of the Jews, and is represented in the crucifixion of the thief (and the later deridings of the chief priests, etc.). But when the sixth hour came, and the darkness spread over the whole landliterally, over the whole world and earththen was the judgment of the whole world decided. The third hour was the dying hour of Judaism: in the sixth hour, the dying hour of the old world was present to the view in typical signs. We have here, also, to carefully note the relation between the superscription, which according to Mark was decided upon about the third hour, and the declaration of John, that it was about the sixth hour: And he saith to the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with Him, away, crucify Him. When the third hour had come, and it was advancing to the sixth, then was the crucifixion of Jesus decided in His being scourged, in accordance with the judgment of the people and of Pilate; but in this was, also, the crucifixion of the Jewish people themselves determined, which was first made apparent in the crucifixion of the two thieves in company with Jesus. About the sixth hour, according to John, the judgment of the world was decided along with that of Judaismthe presage of the dies ir presented itself; that is to say, John has made this sign of the third hour to be the decisive, universal symbol, and has, on this account, probably brought it into connection with the sixth hour.
Mar 15:27. And with Him they crucify.As to the alleged difference between the accounts of Mark and Luke, consult Note on Mat 27:38; Mat 27:44.
Mar 15:34. Eloi.See Note on Mat 27:46.
Mar 15:36. Let alone; let us see.According to Meyer, this is contradictory to the account given by Mat 27:49. But it is not to be overlooked, that there is no reason why, in this moment of the intensest excitement, two divisions might not make the same exclamation, and that, too, in different senses,the one mocking, the other speaking more earnestly. (Comp. the scene in Shakespeares Macbeth after the murder.) If this sympathizer meant it humanely with his cry, Let alone, perhaps the idea shot through him, that Elias might interpose in the last extremity.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The death.The death of humanity in its life-germ is here completed in the death of Jesus. Considered in this light, Christs death is prophetical of the great dissolution of the world, to ensue at the end of all things. The extinction of the primary life: Christ condemned, His rights unacknowledged; derided, and by this derision looked upon by the world as destroyed; led forth, robbed, crucified, and in this act rejected in His person, and with His work, as the curse of the world; blasphemed, and so made to pronounce sentence of death upon the obdurate; Christ dead upon the cross. Hence there is announced, in presages, the future extinction of the derivative life, (i. e., the death of the world): The sun of the old world darkens at mid-day; the holy of holies of the divine ordinance in the old human world vanishes like a vision of the night, when the temple-vail rends asunder. All is now over with the old world; it has but to live out its remnant of life. It has judged itself; and in that self-condemnation lay Gods condemnation,a condemnation which nothing but the conquering love of Christ could turn into a blessing.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
See Matthew; also the preceding reflections.Christ was, notwithstanding, the King of the Jews the whole crucifixion through. This is seen: 1. In the accusation of His enemies; 2. in the impression produced upon Pilate, and in his decision; 3. in the kingly ornaments which the soldiers placed upon Him; 4. in the train which bore Him forth with them out of Jerusalem; 5. in the superscription on the cross; 6. in the terror which breaks forth in the blasphemy of His foes; 7. in the miracles accompanying His death.The great dying on Golgotha: 1. There dieth the King of the Jews; 2. there dieth the Son of God; 3. there dieth the old world; 4. there dieth old sin; 5. there dieth old death.Simon of Cyrene and his sons; or, the everlasting memory of the cross-bearers and their children.Simon; or, how man becomes unconsciously separated from his common-placeness, and involved in the great history of the cross.The terrifying world-darkness at bright mid-day forms a symbol of the terrifying world darkness spread over mankind by their blindness of heart.Christ the clear light of the world in this night of the world.His heart and His eye are fixed most earnestly on God during this world judgment; and that preserves the world, which is lost in itself, from sinking into the abyss.The unholy and the holy Golgotha: 1. The unholy: men of violence, drunkards, gamblers, thieves, blaspheming priests. 2. The holy: the great Sufferer, the temperate One in holy clearness of soul and knowledge, the Laborer, the Warrior of God, the Supplicant.[The potion rejected and the potion accepted, or holy refreshment in the conflict of suffering enjoyed after the example of Christ: 1. As refreshment at the right time; 2. in the right place; 3. in the right measure 4. in the right consecration.]The despair in the seeming triumph, and the triumph in the seeming despair: 1. In the conduct and mockery of the enemies; 2. in the supplicatory cry of the Lord: My God, etc.The signs of hellish madness in the blasphemies with which the chief priests end their work.Let alone, let us see; or, how, at the life-flame of the dying Jesus, a new life has kindled in the dying world: 1. From the horrors of His death springs the horror of the world; 2. from His trust in God, the worlds belief; 3. from His pity, the compassion of the world.Let alone, let us see: or, this history is not yet completed; it is only beginning at the time when it seems to approach its completion.The death-shriek of the Lord is the great waking call to a new life for the world of man.
Starke:Quesnel:Christ, by becoming the derision of His creatures, has atoned for the criminality of the creatures in mocking God and religion.Many would willingly pass by the cross of Christ; but, before they are aware of it, they are laid hold of, and forced into companionship with Christ in suffering.Participation with Jesus in the cross, is that which alone makes our name in truth eternally renowned, and prevents it from passing into forgetfulness.At the end, the world is bitter as gall, but heaven is sweet.Hedinger:View, O my soul, in faith this picture of martyrdom!Christ has been reckoned with the transgressors; hence we may console ourselves, that we shall come to Gods blessed companionship, and the company of the holy angels.The understanding, in its wisdom, is offended at the cross of Christ.He succeeds ill in the faith, who must see (Joh 20:29), and who will believe when he pleases (Joh 6:44).Christ died for thee; be thou ready to die for Him.When the true Lamb of God was offered, all the Levitical offerings found their completion.
Braune:They caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him, Mat 21:39.Gods wrath is heavier to bear than Christs cross.Isa 53:12.My God, etc. Let us imitate Him in the employment of the Holy Scriptures; also, that, whet in the anguish of our hearts we cannot pray any more in our own words, we may allow the Spirit, whose work the holy word is, to represent us with groanings that cannot be uttered.
Brieger:And they that passed by. So thoroughly helpless was Jesus upon the cross, that this crowd easily persuaded themselves that all was deception that they had seen and heard of Jesus.The chief priests. So spake Satan, too, in the wilderness: If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones, etc. To self-help he there challenged the Holy One of God: here he does the same through his well-approved servants.Psa 2:5.The darkness. God must witness against these murderers.In the destruction of the holy of holies, Jehovah destroyed the temple itself. The Most Holy was taken forth from the city of Jerusalem and laid outside the gate upon Golgotha. There, too, was a vail rent, even the flesh of Christ (Heb 10:20).Gossner, on Mar 15:30 :Self-help.One might often free oneself by a mere word. But if the truth and the honor of God suffer by that word, one may not speak it.His death was the rising sun for the spirit-world; and therefore the worlds natural sunlight veiled itself before Him. (Lampe:The sun set over Christ, and rose for me.)
Footnotes:
[5][Mar 15:20.Codd. B., C., Lachmann, Tischendorf read instead of (A., Receptus).]
[6][Mar 15:23.Codd. B., C.*, L., Tischendorf omit .]
[7]Mar 15:28.This verse is wanting in A., B., C., D., X.; and Griesbach and Tischendorf have decided against it. But it is found in P., in Origen, Eusebius, and the Versions. The verse has probably been omitted, because it was supposed to involve a discrepancy between Mark and Luke, as in Luk 22:37 the quotation is referred to the apprehension of Jesus. (Lange might have added, as supporting his view, L., ., 1, 13, 69. Alfords remark, [which Meyer also makes,] that Mark rarely quotes from prophecy, however, is deserving of attention.Trs.)
[8]Mar 15:29.The best MSS. read .
[9]Mar 15:30.Codd. B., D., L., ., Lachmann, Tischendorf read instead of (Receptus).]
[10]Mar 15:34.The words , &c., are differently written in the MSS. Lachmann reads : Tischendorf, (ed. 1865); Fritzsche, ; Receptus, .]
[11][Tischendorf (ed. 1865) reads .Ed.)
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
16 19. ] JESUS MOCKED BY THE SOLDIERS. Mat 27:27-30 (omitted in Luke). Joh 19:1-3 . See notes on Matt.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
16. ] , the court or guardroom, but open see note on Mat 26:69 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 15:16-20 . Mocked by the soldiers (Mat 27:27-31 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mar 15:16 . The soldiers in charge of the prisoner conduct Him into the barracks ( , = into the court, that is, the praetorium Weizscker), and call together their comrades to have some sport. : “a popular exaggeration” (Sevin); at most 200 men.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 15:16-20
16The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him 18and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.
Mar 15:16 “The soldiers took Him away” These Roman soldiers (cf. Mat 27:27) hated the Jews because of their exclusive attitudes toward Gentiles and they took their animosity out on Jesus. Luk 23:11 implies that Herod the Tetrarch’s soldiers also mocked Him as king.
NASB”into the palace (that is, the Praetorium)”
NKJV”into the hall called Praetorium”
NRSV”into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters)”
TEV”inside to the courtyard of the governor’s palace”
NJB”to the inner part of the palace, that is, the Praetorium”
This referred to the Roman officials’ residence when they were in Jerusalem. This may have been the fortress Antonio, which was next to the Temple or more probably Herod the Great’s palace in Jerusalem.
NASB”the whole Roman cohort”
NKJV”the whole garrison”
NRSV, NJB”the whole cohort”
TEV”the rest of the company”
The Greek term speiran (i.e., cohort) originally referred to something twisted together, like a strand or rope. It came to be used figuratively for a band of men working together for a purpose. Cohort is another Latin term. It was used of one-tenth of a legion, normally 600 men. But it could refer to many less (cf. Joh 18:3). The Roman military was structured by (1) legions, 6,000; (2) cohorts, 600; (3) maniples, 200; and (4) centuries, 100.
Mar 15:17 “dressed Him up in purple” Mat 27:28 has a “scarlet robe” of a Roman cavalry officer. Purple was the symbol of royalty. Originally a Roman officer’s robe would have been scarlet, but in time it faded to a shade of purple. They were mocking Jesus as the supposed King of the Jews (cf. Mar 15:18; Mar 15:20; Joh 19:2).
Luk 23:11 records that the Jewish soldiers of Herod the Tetrarch or Herod Antipas also mocked Jesus as King/Messiah by placing a kingly robe on Him.
“crown of thorns” Traditionally this has been thought of as a mode of torture whereby the thorns were pressed into Jesus’ brow. However, it is quite possible that it was a radiant crown made of palm leaves, which was another way of mocking Jesus as a king (cf. Mat 27:27-31; Mar 15:15-20). The Greek term “crown” (stephanos) was used of an athletic victory garland or a laurel wreath worn by the Emperor.
Mar 15:19 This verse describes the mockery of the Roman soldiers.
1. “hail,” specialized greeting to a leader (Mar 15:18)
2. “beating His head with a reed,” this probably was first put in Jesus’ hand as a mock scepter
3. “spitting on Him,” a cultural sign of contempt or mimicking a kiss (i.e., a type of salute)
4. “kneeling and bowing before Him,” another mock symbol of His kingship
5. a purple robe placed on His shoulders, symbolizing kingship
Numbers two through four are imperfect tenses, which mean repeated action in past time. Many of the soldiers did these actions again and again or possibly each soldier present did it.
Mar 15:20 “they led Him out” Jesus, as all condemned prisoners, had to carry His own cross beam to the place of crucifixion outside the city walls. They took the long way through the streets of Jerusalem so that all would see and fear Roman justice.
This leading of criminals outside the walls of Jerusalem to be killed may have been done out of respect for Jewish law (cf. Lev 24:14 and Num 15:35-36). The Romans did not want a riot during these crowded feast days.
“to crucify Him” The Phoenicians invented crucifixion. Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 after the fall of Tyre. The Romans perfected the technique so that condemned criminals suffered several days before their death. This cruel torture was meant as a deterrent to crime. It could not be performed on a Roman citizen.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
into = within.
the hall = the court. See Mat 26:3.
band. Greek. speira = a company bound or assembled round a standard: Latin. manipulus = a handful of hay or straw twisted about a pole as a standard: and, by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, put for the men-at -arms gathered round it.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16-19.] JESUS MOCKED BY THE SOLDIERS. Mat 27:27-30 (omitted in Luke). Joh 19:1-3. See notes on Matt.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 15:16. , the hall) The Greek word is put before its Latin synonym, Prtorium.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mar 15:16-21
SECTION SIX
THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Mark 15:16 to 16:20
14. JESUS MOCKED AND LED AWAY BY THE SOLDIERS
Mar 15:16-21
(Mat 27:27-32; Luk 23:26-32; Joh 19:1-3; Joh 19:16-17)
16 And the soldiers led him away within the court,–The scourging seems to have taken place in the open space in front of the Praetorium, and in sight of the people. It was done on the naked back.
which is the Praetorium;–This was doubtless built, like most large eastern houses, in a quadrangular form around a court. The judgment seat of Pilate had been outside, to satisfy the scruples of the chief priests. Now the soldiers take him inside to have their own amusement at his expense.
and they call together the whole band.–That is, “the cohort,” from four to six hundred men, who were the garrison.
17 And they clothe him with purple,–The imperial color which some of the emperors had forbidden to be worn by subjects; therefore the mocking emblem of his kingly authority. Matthew says a “scarlet robe.”
and platting a crown of thorns, they put it on him;–The Syrian Acacia had thorns as long as a finger. They were the buckthorn and others. Some think that the thorn used was Arabian mulik. “It was very suitable for their purpose, as it has many sharp thorns, which inflict painful wounds, its flexible, pliant and round branches might easily be plaited in the form of a crown.” It is just so that the hypocrite decks Christ.
18 and they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews !–Matthew adds that they put “a reed in his right hand.” He also says “they kneeled down before him.” These things were done to mock Jesus. They saluted him after the manner of paying obeisance to royal persons.
19 And they smote his head with a reed,–Driving down upon it the crown of thorns. This reed they probably placed in his hand as a scepter, and then tiring of that, they took it and whipped him over the head with it.
and spat upon him,–Expression of utmost contempt.
and bowing their knees worshipped him.–Thus they mingled mocking and abuse.
20 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple, and put on him his garments.–His own garments which had been removed when he was scourged.
and they lead him out to crucify him.–That is, out of the city limits. (Heb 13:12.) Jesus goes to death with glory beyond; Pilate rests secure in his office, with shame beyond; the chief priests gloat over success which will destroy their polity; the people follow with exultation, not knowing it is the beginning of sorrows. How different do things appear in the perspective of the future! But Jesus goes onward to the cross. A world needs salvation, which only he can give.
21 And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus,–This familiar mention indicates that all these were persons known to the evangelist. But to undertake to identify them with some certain ones who bore the same name, simply because of that fact, is absurd in view of the endless repetition of names in those days, and even in the New Testament.
to go with them, that he might bear his cross.–[And “they took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull.” (Joh 19:17.) Matthew, Mark, and Luke all state that as “they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus.” Jesus, exhausted and weakened by the long and sleepless period in which he had been on trial, was unable to bear it; so they pressed this foreigner into the service. Luke says: “And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.” This is the only indication we have during the progress of the trial that any of the multitude that sang Hosanna on his triumphal entry remained faithful to him during his trial. “Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.” In the Sanhedrin there were some who had not consented to this condemnation. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who first came to Jesus by night, were of this number. (Luk 23:28-29.) But their voices were not heard in the cry for his crucifixion.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the hall
Or, the court which is the judgment-hall.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the soldiers: Mat 27:27
Praetorium: [Strong’s G4232], in Latin, prtorium was properly the tent or house of the prtor a military, and sometimes a civil officer. Joh 18:28, Joh 19:9
Reciprocal: Psa 22:16 – assembly Mat 20:19 – shall deliver Luk 22:63 – mocked Luk 23:11 – set
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Chapter 18.
The Scourging and the Crowning
“And the soldiers led Him away into the hall, called Pretorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed Him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about His head, And began to salute Him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote Him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon Him, and bowing their knees worshipped Him. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from Him, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.”-Mar 15:16-20.
This is a terrible paragraph, one of the most awful paragraphs in the whole of Holy Writ. Dr Stalker points out a great change that has come over the feelings of Christian people with reference to the physical sufferings of Christ. A century or two ago, Christian folk almost revelled in the contemplation of these sufferings. The German mystic, Tauler, for example (as he points out) enlarges and exaggerates every detail until his pages seem to reek with blood, and the mind of the reader grows almost sick with horror. We incline, on the contrary, to fling a veil of reserve over the details of our Lord’s death and passion. The reaction, while in some cases it is carried to an extreme, is on the whole a healthy one. It argues a certain coarseness and almost brutality of mind to be able to peer into and discuss the details of the outrages inflicted upon our Lord’s sensitive flesh. I confess to having that feeling strong within me as I approach this paragraph which tells the sickening story of the scourging and the crowning. With the briefest possible word, by way of explanation, I pass on to the lessons the paragraph has to teach.
The Scourging.
It seems it was the practice amongst the Romans to scourge a criminal before they crucified him. Pilate did not depart from the usual custom in the case of Christ. On the other hand, he had a definite object in view in ordering the scourging to take place as usual. He intended when the scourging was over, to make one final appeal to the people; he meant to show them the Christ after the soldiers had done their brutal work upon Him-pale, exhausted, bleeding-in the hope that the sight of Him in that condition might appeal to their pity. As a matter of fact, he did so, as you remember; he brought out the tortured Christ, and said to the Jews, “Behold the Man.” But even that appeal failed to touch the bloodthirsty mob. Their answer to Pilate’s last pleading was, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Of Pilate’s motive in ordering the scourging and of his appeal at the end of it, Mark, however, says nothing. They in no way affected the course of events and so were not essential to his narrative. He contents himself with recording the bare fact of the scourging and the subsequent brutal mockery.
The Mock Coronation.
Not content with the brutality of the scourging, the soldiers took Him into the Praetorium, and there set themselves to mock and ridicule and insult Him. Very likely these soldiers thought that it already finally decided that Jesus should die. They knew nothing of the plan that Pilate had in his mind; and so they proceeded to take these liberties with Christ which seem to have been not uncommon in the treatment of condemned criminals. They called together the whole band (probably about five or six hundred of them) and proceeded to make cruel sport of Jesus. They had gathered that the charge on which He stood accused was that of aspiring to be a king, and the game they played was that of a mock coronation. Jesus had been stripped of His clothing when He had been led forth to be scourged. Now, after they had led Him inside the Praetorium, they flung over His torn and excoriated back a “purple” cloak, probably some officer’s cast-off garment, “a faded rag,” as Dr Swete says, “but with enough colour left in it to suggest the royal purple.” And then some one suggested that being a king He ought to have not simply a purple cloak upon His shoulders, but a crown upon His head. And so some one ran out and from the shrubs in the palace garden gathered a few twigs which he twisted into a wreath in derisive imitation of that wreath of victory which the Roman Emperors wore on the days of their triumphal processions. That the twigs happened to carry on them sharp and jagged thorns only added to the humour of the situation. This crown of thorns they pressed upon the Lord’s meek brow. Then a king must have a sceptre, and Matthew says they put, for sceptre, a reed into His hand. And having thus fitted Him up with a travesty of the regalia of royalty, each of them advanced and did mock homage to Him, crying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And then to show that the whole thing was meant for deadly insult, every man of them, as he rose from his knees, seems to have snatched for a moment the reed Christ held in His hand, smitten His head with it, and then spat in His face. There is the story in its bare simplicity.
The Dignity of the Lord.
And now let me turn from the contemplation of the brutality of the soldiers to the consideration of the Christ Who endured such brutality at their hands. It is a relief so to turn. For if the conduct of the soldiers is a revelation of iniquity and wickedness, the conduct of the sufferer is a subduing revelation of meekness and moral majesty. I think sometimes that He never appears greater than when enduring these indignities at the hands of the soldiers. Was there ever patience and meekness like this? “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth,” says the prophet (Isa 53:7). It was all fulfilled in the Praetorium that morning. “When reviled,” says Peter, “He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not” (1Pe 2:23). He might have summoned legions of angels to His aid. Instead of that, He submits to these accumulated indignities without a murmur or a protest. Here is meekness more than human! It would have been human to flare up into indignation and wrath, but meekly and silently to bear it all was nothing less than divine.
The Crown.
I pass from the consideration of the majesty and dignity of the Lord to speak a word or two about the crown and sceptre the soldiers gave Him. It seemed absurd to these Roman soldiers that one so poor and friendless and weak as Jesus was should aspire to kingship. And their brutal sport was meant from first to last to be a mockery of that claim. And yet God in His Providence made the wrath of these men to praise Him. More than once, things that were meant for insults to our Lord were transfigured into testimonies. When they called him “friend of publicans and sinners,” they meant it for derision and contempt, but time has transfigured it into the Lord’s most splendid title. And so exactly these rude soldiers meaning to mock Christ, unconsciously and involuntarily bore witness to Him. They could not more perfectly have expressed the nature of His kingship than by putting a crown of thorns upon His head, and a reed for sceptre in His hand. For think, first, of the crown they put upon His head and all that it-implies. His crown is a crown of thorns, for His kingship is based upon His sufferings. “He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross,” says St Paul, “wherefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name.” Wherefore! His sufferings were the cause of His exaltation. His disciples thought that all was over with Christ when they saw Him beaten, bound, scourged, crucified. As a matter of fact, these unspeakable sufferings of His have given Him His power over the hearts of men. And why have our Lord’s sufferings done all this for Him? Because they stand for love. That is why the thorn-crown is the most fitting crown that Christ could wear. A crown of gold stands for pomp and power-a crown of thorns stands for love-for strong, uttermost, self-sacrificing love. And love after all is the mightiest power on earth.
The Sceptre.
I think, now, of the sceptre they placed in our Lord’s hand. It was a reed, says St Matthew, and a reed is a frail, weak thing. It is easy to break and bruise a reed. A reed-not a mace, or an axe, or a sword, but a reed! Christ rules not by force, but by meekness and gentleness. If the crown sets forth the ground of His kingship, the sceptre sets forth the nature of His rule. Christ does not constrain men by force, He woos them by His gentle and gracious love. How gentle He was in all His dealings when here on earth. How exquisitely tender He was with the woman who was a sinner, and that other woman who came behind Him in the press and “healing virtue stole.” And how exquisitely gentle He was to fallen Peter. He did not smite Peter with the sword of His wrath. “The Lord turned and looked upon Peter.” And when He rose from the dead He sent a special message to this erring disciple. “Go, tell His disciples and Peter.” Gentleness is the very spirit of Christ’s rule.
The King Indeed.
They called Him king, did these rough soldiers in mockery. But He is King indeed and of a truth. The kings of the earth set themselves and the princes took counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed in Jerusalem long ago. They heaped every ignominy and insult upon God’s anointed. And yet, in spite of them, God has set His King upon His holy hill of Zion. Yes, God has made His Son the King! He rules and reigns today. What are we going to do with Him? I present Him to you with the thorn of crowns on His head and the reed in His hand, and I say to you, “Behold your King!” Will you bow down and worship Him? Will you serve Him and obey Him? Will you in daily life do His will? For my own part when I see Him thus with that crown upon His head, I am in the mood to say,
“All hail, Redeemer, hail,
For Thou hast died for me,
Thy praise shall never fail,
Throughout eternity”
Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary
6
The whole band means a part of the army to be used as executioners.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
THE passage we have now read, is one of those which show us the infinite love of Christ toward sinners. The sufferings described in it would fill our minds with mingled horror and compassion, if they had been inflicted on one who was only a man like ourselves. But when we reflect that the sufferer was the eternal Son of God, we are lost in wonder and amazement. And when we reflect further that these sufferings were voluntarily endured to deliver sinful men and women like ourselves from hell, we may see something of Paul’s meaning when he says, “The love of Christ passeth knowledge.” “God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Eph 3:19; Rom 5:8.)
We shall find it useful to examine separately the several parts of our Lord’s passion. Let us follow Him step by step from the moment of His condemnation by Pilate to His last hour upon the cross. There is a deep meaning in every jot and tittle of His sorrows. All were striking emblems of spiritual truths. And let us not forget as we dwell on the wondrous story, that we and our sins were the cause of all these sufferings. “Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (1Pe 3:18.) It is the death of our own Surety and Substitute that we are reading.
First of all we see Jesus delivered into the hands of the Roman soldiers, as a criminal condemned to death. He before whom the whole world will one day stand and be judged, allowed Himself to be sentenced unjustly, and given over into the hands of wicked men.
And why was this? It was that we, the poor sinful children of men, believing on Him, might be delivered from the pit of destruction, and the torment of the prison of hell. It was that we might be set free from every charge in the day of judgment, and be presented faultless before God the Father with exceeding joy.
Secondly, we see Jesus insulted and made a laughing-stock by the Roman soldiers. They “clothed Him with purple” in derision, and put “a crown of thorns” on His head, in mockery of his kingdom. “They smote Him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon Him,” as one utterly contemptible, and no better than “the filth of the world.” (1Co 4:13.)
And why was this? It was that we, vile as we are, might have glory, honor, and eternal life through faith in Christ’s atonement. It was done that we might be received into God’s kingdom with triumph at the last day, and receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Thirdly, we see Jesus stripped of His garments and crucified naked before His enemies. The soldiers who led Him away “parted His garments, casting lots upon them.”
And why was this? It was that we, who have no righteousness of our own, might be clothed in the perfect righteousness that Christ has wrought out for us, and not stand naked before God at the last day. It was done, that we, who are all defiled with sin, might have a wedding-garment, wherein we may sit down by the side of angels, and not be ashamed.
Fourthly, we see Jesus suffering the most ignominious and humiliating of all deaths, even the death of the cross. It was the punishment reserved for the worst of malefactors. The man on whom it was inflicted was counted accursed. It is written, “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.” (Gal 3:13.)
And why was this? It was that we, who are born in sin and children of wrath, might be counted blessed for Christ’s sake. It was done to remove the curse which we all deserve because of sin, by laying it on Christ. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” (Gal 3:13.)
Fifthly, we see Jesus reckoned a transgressor and a sinner. “With him they crucify two thieves.” He who had done no sin, and in whom there was no guile, “was numbered with the transgressors.”
And why was this? It was that we, who are miserable transgressors, both by nature and practice, may be reckoned innocent for Christ’s sake. It was done that we, who are worthy of nothing but condemnation, may be counted worthy to escape God’s judgment, and be pronounced not guilty before the assembled world.
Lastly, we see Jesus mocked when dying, as one who was an impostor, and unable to save Himself.
And why was this? It was that we, in our last hours, through faith in Christ may have strong consolation. It all came to pass that we may enjoy a strong assurance-may know whom we have believed, and may go down the valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil.
Let us leave the passage with a deep sense of the enormous debt which all believers owe to Christ. All that they have, and are, and hope for, may be traced up to the doing and dying of the Son of God. Through His condemnation, they have acquittal-through His sufferings, peace-through His shame, glory-through His death, life. Their sins were imputed to Him. His righteousness is imputed to them. No wonder that Paul says, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (2Co 9:15.)
Finally, let us leave the passage with the deepest sense of Christ’s unutterable love to our souls. Let us remember what we are, corrupt, evil, and miserable sinners. Let us remember who the Lord Jesus is, the eternal Son of God, the maker of all things. And then let us remember that for our sakes Jesus voluntarily endured the most painful, horrible, and disgraceful death. Surely the thought of this love should constrain us daily to live not unto ourselves, but unto Christ. It should make us ready and willing to present our bodies a living sacrifice to Him who lived and died for us. (2Co 5:15. Rom 12:1.) Let the cross of Christ be often before our minds. Rightly understood, no object in all Christianity is so likely to have a sanctifying as well as a comforting effect on our souls.
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Mar 15:16. Within the court, which is the Pretorium, or palace. The governors residence.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Section 3. (Mar 15:16-47.)
The Cup drunk.
1. Now we approach the drinking of the cup. He is crowned with thorns, the sign of the curse, as in Matthew, clothed with the purple, but without the reed-sceptre: that only smites Him. And it is indeed but a reed that smites the Rock; yet presently, through the marvelous working of God, the waters will flow out; and the waters will become a great river, going forth on all sides to gladden the earth.
Notice that the robe is purple* here, not scarlet, as in Matthew. The blood-color is here, but mingled: as we have seen; even the precious blood of atonement, that it might sanctify the people, must be that of a sacrifice offered outside the camp (Heb 13:11-12). And “so Jesus, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” Here is the true sin-offering, and here is the purple, the composite color, – the blood, the death-penalty taken; but with that, the heavenly side also, that is, the blue. For that was heaven’s side, the consequence of sin laid upon Him, the hiding of the face of God from Him, – for us heaven opened.
{*”A scarlet military mantle,” says Lange, “was made to represent the imperial purple: hence the designation, a purple (porphuran) a purple robe, as Mark and John describe it. And because this is the symbolic import of the robe, there is no discrepancy. The scarlet military robe no more required to be a real purple than the crown of thorns required to be a real crown, or the reed a real sceptre; for the whole transaction was an ironical drama, and such an one, too, that the infamous abuse might be readily perceived through the pretended glorification. The staff must be a reed, the symbol of impotence; the crown must injure and pierce the brow; and so too must the purple present the symbol of miserable, pretended greatness; and this was done by its being an old camp-mantle.”
But how, through all this, God was working, to turn all to the bringing out His glory as infinitely higher than that of earthly potentates, we may surely see clearly.}
These are both royal colors also, as we plainly see; the scarlet of Matthew and the purple of Mark, just as the crown of thorns, the crown of curse, for Him was really a crown. The Sufferer reigns as that, in the Kingdom peculiarly His; and so only could He have, among the sinners of man’s race, such a throne as could satisfy Him.
2. The impressment of Simon the Cyrenian upon the road, to bear His cross, is recorded here, as in Matthew; but with an addition here which shows Simon, the “hearkener” and cross bearer, as the father of Alexander and Rufus, God’s grace being fruitful in him. Is not this the true way of fruitfulness ever, to hearken and bear the cross?
Golgotha, the place of a skull, is reached, and then the vinegar and gall are offered Him, only to be rejected: Mark gives “wine mingled with myrrh;” the former, the sour wine of common use, much like vinegar; the latter is probably a different thing from “gall,” which would hardly seem a fitting term to describe it. The parting of His garments, according to the view that has been given of it,* is as naturally found in all the Gospels as the particularization as to it suits and is found in John. The mockery of the bystanders, and especially of the heads of the people is given almost exactly as in Matthew.
{*See Notes on Matthew.}
3. And now from the sixth to the ninth hour, there falls a darkness over all the land. We have already considered its meaning generally, but every particular specified has surely its importance. The three hours, as such, speak naturally of the manifestation of what is hidden; and may most simply speak of the opening of the sanctuary, which takes place at its close. It is the blood of the sin-offering which on the day of atonement in Israel opened it for the moment to let in the high priest, the representative of the people. But that was but for a moment: the characteristic of the legal dispensation was in the veil which hung continuously before the presence of God, so that from man’s point of view He dwelt in the thick darkness. It was a darkness forbidding man’s approach, and speaking of sin unmet, spite of the hecatombs of victims dying for it. And the true Sacrifice having now come, He must find His way through the darkness, laden with the sin which had forced God thus into distance from the creature of His love.
The three hours of darkness were to Him the measure of what to any other would have been an infinite hopeless distance. The cry of desertion interpreted the darkness. The veil rent from top to bottom proclaimed that it was traversed and removed. The sixth hour speaks of the barrier-limit reached; the ninth, of perfected manifestation.
The agonizing question shows the nature of the darkness, which is not outward but within upon His soul. The quotation from the twenty-second psalm gives us the clue to find the answer which the psalm gives to the question. If a holy God is to abide among the praises of a people taken from among sinful men, He under the weight of that sin must declare that holiness in God’s judgment of it. God is glorified in this redemption-work beyond the possibility of all man’s sin to cloud again for ever. The light bursts forth now, and as never yet. God is in the light. The separating veil is rent from top to bottom.
To the mockers around the cross, the darkness is as dense as ever. They exclaim that He is calling for Elias. And while one brings to Him upon a reed the vinegar for His thirst, he joins in the cry they raise, to wait and see if Elias will come to take Him down. But Jesus cries again with a loud voice, and expires.
Through all this account we have already seen how, by the omission of particulars recorded by Matthew, Mark emphasizes the sin-offering character of Christ’s sacrifice.* But there are positive testimonies, also, that we have noted. And now, as we go on to the after events of the book, we shall find the same character attaching to it, until we see the glorious Risen Man seated in heaven at the right hand of God. The veil is passed, but never closed again: He is gone in, our Forerunner, and we walk in the light as God is in the light.
{*See Introduction, pp. 26-28.}
4. Before we have left the Cross and its glory of sorrow, intimation is given of victories which it is to achieve, and changes resultant. The first voice, save that of the dying robber, which, in the midst of Jewish blasphemy and dishonor, owns the supreme glory of the Son of God, is that of the Gentile centurion. Christ already has His own among the uncircumcised, the beginning of the great host that are soon to follow Him.
Then this company of ministering women gathered by His cross, and to be the first heralds of His victory over death, is not without significance. “The Lord gave the word; great was the company of the women that published it” (Psa 68:11). The victory is so achieved, that not the men of might are needed, but the feebleness of women was abundantly enough. Indeed the men of might, the fighters on the Lord’s behalf, had not found their hands. But now the battle was over: He had fought alone, and of the people there were none with Him: with the last great shout of the battle-field, the cry of victory and not of exhaustion; He had entered into His rest. The women are now free to minister. The shadow of the Cross is but the shadow of the sheltering wings of divine love.
It is this victory-shout which, according to Mark, impresses the soldier: “when the centurion saw that He so cried out and expired, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.” He had seen death upon the battlefield, perhaps in many a shape, but never a death like this. If we take John’s account, it is the cry that has rung through so many hearts since then, Tetelestai, “It is finished.” If it be not the great cry itself, it certainly went with it; and how has that become for Gentile faith the gospel-utterance! It has assured of peace made with God, stilled to rest the tumult of other things, and subdued the heart to Jesus, to the Son of God who loved and gave Himself for the sons of men.
5. “They assigned Him His grave with wicked men; but with the rich man when He had died.” So had Isaiah long before predicted, and now we have the fulfilment of it. The malefactor’s grave which would have naturally followed the death of the cross could not be permitted Him. That substitutionary work was accomplished which alone had made Him to be numbered with transgressors. In that character He could appear no more; and the righteousness of God, which He had declared in His death, claimed now divine intervention in His behalf. While He yet slept He must sleep in honor, and as it has been well said, the One born of a Virgin-womb could only be fittingly honored in a virgin-tomb. He who could not see corruption; could not lie in a tomb which corruption had defiled. Thus all was in harmony, and God silently controlling all things before visible intervention could take place. Joseph of Arimathea, inspired with a boldness he had not yet shown, goes in to Pilate and asks of him the body of Jesus. Pilate, finding from the centurion that He is indeed already dead, commands it to be given; and in the new tomb, awaiting its predicted resurrection on the third day, that sacred body rests.
Subdivision 3.
Resurrection; and Heaven really opened.
As every one knows, doubt has been cast upon the authenticity of the last twelve verses of this Gospel; and if they are, as Meyer calls them, but an “apocryphal fragment,” a waif without parentage known; introduced into Mark we know not how, to mend the ragged end of his mutilated or unfinished work, doubt would naturally be cast on more than its authenticity, and most of all for those who are slow to believe in inspiration moving after this fashion. We need not, however, discuss it here, as the authority for the full text is abundant in both MSS. and Versions. The spiritual relationship of the closing verses to the Gospel as a whole is perfect; and this, if proved, is a better argument of itself in favor of authenticity than all besides that has ever been produced against it.
Moreover there is reason of an internal kind for the difference that in fact exists between the two parts of this last chapter, – the first, which gives the promise from the (unseen) Lord to meet His disciples in Galilee: a promise of which Mark gives no fulfilment: while the second briefly relates His actual appearances in and around Jerusalem, and His sending them forth with signs attesting their commission to preach the gospel in all the world. These two parts we have now to consider in their scope and connection with one another.
1. In the first part we have then promise which, as far as Mark’s account of it goes, is not fulfilled. Jesus does not meet them in Galilee; and the end for them, the account closing abruptly, is in fear and trembling, rather than the joy and gladness we should have expected from it.
If, then, nothing is without a purpose here (and we at least are not going to question this), there must be for us some meaning in this non-fulfilment, this fear instead of joy. If we think, also, of the disciples as what they were undoubtedly till after (and a good while after) the resurrection, – a Jewish remnant, with hopes still clustering round the Old Testament promises, we can see something very like what Mark pictures here. Christ is come, Christ is risen; there is a promise for believing Israelites which to them as such is not fulfilled; and in short their history, and that of the ministry to the circumcision; with which especially is connected Peter’s name (ver. 7, Gal 2:7; Gal 2:9), is just such a broken fragment as is here presented to us. It will be completed, but only in another dispensation, after the parenthesis of the Church’s history shall be over, and the “remnant of” the King’s “brethren shall return to the children of Israel” (Mic 5:3): that is, when Israelites converted to God shall again be partakers in the hopes and promises of the nation.
This, I doubt not, is what is intimated in the first verses of Mark’s closing chapter. We shall find similar things in the close of John’s Gospel, and more fully brought out there: things hard to he uttered, indeed, when the meaning, even of divine history, is so generally considered to be merely in the letter, and when belief in the inspiration of God’s word – in any proper sense of inspiration – is being so largely given up. That cannot affect the truth itself, nor its importance for those that have ears to hear.
2. The second part begins once more with the resurrection, and is of another character. Here the Lord Himself appears, and first to one who had been delivered from the power of Satan; which had completely possessed her. This supremacy of power over the whole array of the enemy – seven demons – characterizes the full salvation which is now to be proclaimed. The message given her we find only in John; here only that at first it was disbelieved. The very men who are to be the heralds of it in the world are at first incredulous as to what they long to receive. As Luke says of what took place afterwards, “they believed not for joy”: it was, according to the common phrase, “too good to be true.”
The appearance to the two on the road to Emmaus, next referred to, is still incompetent to bring conviction; and the Lord then Himself appears to the eleven – the company now spoken of as that number, though Thomas, as we know, was not among them at the first, – and upbraids them with their unbelief and hardness of heart.
The commission that follows is entirely different from that in Matthew, though some have represented it as but another version of it. They were given at different times and places clearly; while they reflect each the character of its respective Gospel. Matthew, whose subject is the Kingdom, gives the mode of reception into it by baptism and teaching. This supposes Mark’s commission as being already acted on, – the “what shall we do?” of those already wrought upon by the good news proclaimed. Mark’s view of the sin-offering is the basis of the gospel: this blessed work accomplished, the going forth of the good news naturally results.
Faith, therefore, which is implied in the commission in Matthew, is insisted on here: “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” On the other hand, “he that disbelieveth” – no baptism affecting the case of such an one – “shall be condemned.”
The signs that follow those who believe introduce us into a region of controversy in different quarters. It is plain, however, that even in the apostles, days they were not signs which necessarily followed in every individual. “Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues?” implies the negative. But the apostle asks moreover, “Are all workers of miracles?” – any kind of miracles? – and this must have a similar answer (1Co 12:29-30).
Here then is what at once destroys any argument founded upon the universality of such gifts as these. It could not be said of any Christians that as such they would have them. The question was a much simpler one, – a question of fact: who have them? who have them not? If no one in a generation had them, we could not say they ought to have had, according to the Lord’s words. As “signs,” the apostle’s words as to one of them might apply to others, or to all, “wherefore tongues are for a sign; not to those that believe, but to those that believe not” (1Co 14:22); and if unbelievers ceased, we might even expect that these would cease.
But miracles do not produce faith; though they may produce conviction. Those who “believed in His Name when they saw the miracles that He did,” He “did not commit Himself to, because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (Joh 2:23-25). It was but an intellectual conviction; quite possible to men without divine work at all; so that if this were accomplished – if only the gospel were going out amidst a people who accepted Christianity as true – one still would not expect these signs to follow.
Thus we are brought very near to the actual condition of things that obtains in Christendom today. Nor do the Lord’s words make that condition a hard matter to reconcile with them. The signs did follow, and fulfilled the object for which they were designed. As Christianity became known; and the truth came to get hearing, the miraculous accompaniments ceased, after the manner of all such whenever their purpose was fulfilled. Miracles have always been temporary, gathering around certain crises in the divine history of mankind, times of special divine intervention, and then passing away; and Christianity is no exception to the rule. As to power for conviction; where the word of God is once fairly before men; the Lord Himself has assured us that, if they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
That which comes first among these signs has special significance. Satan had possessed himself of the world largely by means of the religions of men; the perversions of that original worship which through successive generations became ever more corrupt. “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice,” says the apostle; “they sacrifice to demons, and not, to God” (1Co 10:20). And as in Egypt, when God brought out His people, the delivering judgments fell upon their gods, so now in Christianity. “They shall cast out demons in My Name” is the proclamation of Christ’s supremacy over the religious rulers of the heathen world.
The gift of new tongues was grace surmounting the judgment of Babel, while yet the primitive “one speech and one language” could not be restored.
The taking up of serpents and the innocuousness of any deadly draught would fence round life from the insidious attack of the destroyer; while the miraculous healings were a manifestation of power over the power of death in others. All together testified to the Lord’s victory over Satan; over death, and over sin: for sin was that which gave power to both death and Satan. Nothing could affect these which had not gone to the bottom of the question of sin.
Thus, then, were the messengers of salvation equipped for their work.
3. And now, His end achieved, the shadow taken from the face of God, the sanctuary opened to all seekers of Him, the Servant-Son returns up where He was before. But He returns not as He was before. He returns with the humanity that He has taken: sure pledge that though He has changed the sphere of His service, the service itself He has not given up. He takes humanity itself up to the throne of God, and sits down there with it at the right hand of God.
He has been in the lowest place: He receives the highest. It is the same Gospel which fitly shows Him to us in both. The blood of the sin-offering opens the sanctuary; but more, He who has shed it has entered heaven in the power of it; has entered it a Man, and with this link of Manhood connecting Him thus with others who are men, and for whom He offered Himself.
The consequences of this are not pursued in this Gospel. They must be sought in after-communications of divine grace, which has traced for us His path step by step from lowest humiliation to glory, and how we are concerned in every step. The place at the right hand of God is, of course, peculiar to Himself; but not only does His heart still abide with His people here, but His hand also works for them and with them; and thus Mark presents Him at the close as One whose love makes Him still the Servant of man’s need. For “they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
The next part of our Saviour’s sufferings, consisted of cruel mockings; he had owned himself to be the King of the Jews; that is, a spiritual King in and over his church; but the Jews expecting that the Messiah should have appeared in the pomp of an earthly prince, and finding themselves disappointed of their expectation in our Saviour, they look upon him as a deceiver and imposter; and accordingly treat him as a mock-king,with all the marks of derision and scorn; for first they put a crown upon his head, but a very ignominious and cruel one, a crown of thorns; they place a sceptre in his hand, but that of a reed; a robe of scarlet or purple upon his body, and then bowed their knees before him as they were wont to do before their princes, crying, Hail, King.
Thus were all the marks of scorn imaginable put upon our dear Redeemer; yet what they did in jest, God permitted to be in earnest. For all these things were signs and marks of sovereignty; and Almighty God caused the regal dignity of his Son to shine forth, even in the midst of his greatest abasement; whence was all this jeering and sport, but to flout majesty? And why did Christ undergo all this ignominy, disgrace, and shame, but to shew what was due unto us for our sins? as also to give us an example to bear all the scorn, reproach, and shame imaginable for his sake; who for the joy that was set before him, despised the shame, as well as endured the cross.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mar 15:16-19. And the soldiers led him away The soldiers, knowing that it was a Roman custom to scourge prisoners just before they were put to death, interpreted Pilates order on this head as a declaration that he was immediately to be crucified; therefore they led him to the hall, called the Pretorium As being the place where the pretor, a Roman magistrate, used to keep his court, and give judgment; but in common language, the term was applied to the palace in general. And they call together the whole band, &c. Or cohort, to insult and torment him, not being concerned to keep any measures with a person whom they looked upon as entirely abandoned to their will. And they clothed him with purple As royal robes were usually purple and scarlet, Mark and John term this a purple robe, Matthew a scarlet one. The Tyrian purple is said not to have been very different from scarlet. They clothed Jesus in this gaudy dress that he might have something of a mock resemblance to a prince. And platted a crown of thorns, &c. Still further to ridicule his pretensions to royalty, which they considered as an affront to their nation and emperor; and began to salute him In a ludicrous manner, as if he had been a new-created prince, and this his coronation-day. And they smote him on the head
And so, as it were, nailed down the thorns on his forehead and temples, occasioning thereby as it may be reasonably supposed, exquisite pain, as well as a great effusion of blood. And did spit upon him Even in his very face; and bowing their knees, worshipped him Did him reverence in a scoffing and insulting manner: all which indignities and cruelties this holy sufferer bore with the utmost meekness and composure, neither reviling nor threatening them; but silently committing himself to the righteous invisible Judge, 1Pe 2:23. See note on Mat 27:27-31, where these particular circumstances of his humiliation are enlarged upon.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mar 15:16-20. The Soldiers Mock Jesus.This narrative in its brief intensity is very poignant. Some scholars suggest that Jesus is treated like the central figure in a scene from a mime (was there a popular play, The King with the Crown of Thorn?). Others detect a resemblance to the mocking of the human sacrificial victim in the Persian Saca or other Oriental festival. But the accusation against Jesus would prompt the mockery. He has claimed to be king. He shall wear a triumphal crown like Csars. It shall be made of thorns.
Mar 15:16. The prtorium seems to be the residence of the governor and his bodyguard. It was probably the fortress Antonia on the north-west of the Temple precinct (see Swete).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
THE CROWD
16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. 17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him.
The other end of envy is humility. Envy is jealousy due to an over inflated opinion of one’s ownpresence. Humility is the lack of willingness to allow self to be the criteria by which one sets one’s opinion of themselves. The Jewish leaders were proud of their position and status while Christ held His in abeyance to His purpose in life. He thought himself to be what He was, the Lamb of God present to take away the sin of the world, not Almighty God to show everyone who He was.
The crowd treated Christ as they desired, but not as He ought to have been. They did not grasp His importance to them nor to the world. They saw Him as a threat to their way of life and they were upset enough to beat Him and humiliate Him.
We find it easy to look at the crowd and condemn them for their actions, yet do we really treat God any better in our lives? Do we honor Him as our Lord and Savior, or do we tend to humiliate Him with our inattention, our lack of response or our lack of interest. God expects these things from the lost but expects more of His children.
The “reed” which is mentioned brings thoughts of a story my wife used to tell of her dear grandmother. When the grand children misbehaved they would be sent to the tree in the backyard to pick a stick for the swatting. They found if they picked a weak and small stick grandma would go to the yard and pick a more appropriate stick for the deed. They found quickly to pick one sturdy enough to do the job or grandma would pick one that would do the job better and more painfully.
The reed could also be translated staff, cane or walking stick so this was not just a reed from the marsh or as we used to say beat me with a wet noodle, but this was substantial and quite painful.
My father was paralyzed from the waist down and walked with two canes to hold him up as he shuffled along. My brother and I slept on a hide-a-bed in the living room. When we would not go to sleep we often horsed around. Mom would holler at us, then come in and scold us, and now and then give us a swat or two. It all was part of the scheduled activities and it seldom slowed our horsing around down. There was, however, one sound coming from the back of the house that would stop all activity and sound and that sound was the shuffling of dad’s feet as he started his long trek out to take care of the foolish brothers. Upon arrival an order was given to turn over and we would feel the sting of one of those canes across our backside. Even if we stopped everything upon that first sound he would not be swayed from his trip to the front room.
The pain was sharp and burning and did not always quickly go away and I would guess the Lord had much more pain than my brother and I.
Oh, it is so easy to speak of the fact that Christ suffered and died for us, but to stop and contemplate the pain, the humiliation and the mockery. Then to further comprehend the pain that He went through in the beatings and the crucifixion. To contemplate these things with any seriousness should move the contemplator to a desire to serve this One that gave and suffered so much for us.
Matthew also records that they knelt down before Him in phony worship. Dressing Him inscarlet, giving Him a scepter and kneeling before Him in mockery, they knew not that one day they will kneel once more before Him knowing what they did to Him and knowing that He truly was the true Messiah and that they had mocked Him to His face.
It is not a good thing to look the Messiah in the eye and tell Him that He is a phony baloney. Some compassion should be held for these poor souls that were so mistaken or so misled. They will not have a pleasant time before the Lord in judgment. (Rom 14:11 “For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Php 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth; 11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” See also Isa 45:23) This will not be a good day for these folks unless the Father’s grace was extended to them in salvation at a later date.
It is not impossible that some of the tears that the Lord will wipe away will be shed over seeing poor souls such as these being condemned to an eternity of punishment. (Rev 21:3 “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away)”
Put yourself in the Lord’s place for a moment. You know that death awaits, yet they prolong that death and suffering by turning you over to the crowds for suffering and pain. Capital punishment seems to be the Lord’s standard for the world, but there is no need of prolonging that agony with other activities. If it is to be done, do it quickly.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
The Roman soldiers’ mockery of Jesus 15:16-20 (cf. Matthew 27:27-31; John 19:16-17a)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"Praetorium" is a Latin loan word that describes a Roman governor’s official residence (cf. Mat 27:27; Joh 18:28; Joh 18:33; Joh 19:9; Act 23:35). The Roman soldiers escorted Jesus to the courtyard (Gr. aule, cf. vv. 54, 66) of the palace. This could have been either the Antonia Fortress or Herod’s palace, but it was probably Herod’s palace. There a group of soldiers assembled around Jesus, probably those who were nearby and available. A cohort consisted of 600 men.