Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 15:15

And [so] Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged [him,] to be crucified.

15. And so Pilate ] One hope, however, the procurator still seems to have retained. Irresolution indeed had gone too far, and he could not retrace his steps. He thought he must content the people, and therefore released Barabbas unto them. But he imagined there was room for a compromise. Clamorous as was the crowd, perhaps they would be satisfied with a punishment only less terrible than the Cross, and so he gave the order that He, Whom he had pronounced perfectly innocent, should be scourged.

willing to content the people ] “willinge for to do ynow to e peple,” Wyclif. Here we have one of St Mark’s Latinisms. The Greek expression answers exactly to the Latin satisfacere=to satisfy appease, content.

when he had scourged him ] Generally the scourging before crucifixion was inflicted by lictors (Livy, xxxiii. 36; Jos. Bell. Jud. ii. 14. 9; v. 11. 1). But Pilate, as sub-governor, had no lictors at his disposal, and therefore the punishment was inflicted by soldiers. Lange, iv. 356 n. The Roman scourging was horribly severe. Drops of lead and small sharp-pointed bones were often plaited into the scourges, and the sufferers not unfrequently died under the infliction. Compare the horribile flagellum of Hor. Sat. i. iii. 119; and “flagrum pecuinis ossibus catenatum,” Apul. Met. viii. That the soldiers could not have performed their duty with forbearance on this occasion, is plain from the wanton malice, with which they added mockery to the scourging.

to be crucified ] But the compromise did not content the excited multitude. The spectacle of so much suffering so meekly borne did not suffice. “If thou let this man go,” they cried, “thou art not Csar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Csar” (Joh 19:12). This crafty well-chosen cry roused all Pilate’s fears. He could only too well divine the consequences if they accused him of sparing a prisoner who had been accused of treason before the gloomy suspicious Tiberius (“atrocissim exercebat leges majestatis,” Suet. Vit. Tib. c. 58; Tac. Ann. iii. 38). His fears for his own personal safety turned the scale. After one more effort therefore (Joh 19:13-15), he gave the word, the irrevocable word, “ Let Him be crucified ” (Joh 19:16), and the long struggle was over. St John, it is to be observed, mentions the scourging as one of Pilate’s final attempts to release Jesus. St Mark, like St Matthew, looks upon it as the first act in the awful tragedy of the Crucifixion. Both views are equally true. The scourging should have moved the people; it only led them to greater obduracy; it proved, as St Mark brings out, the opening scene in the Crucifixion.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Mar 15:15

And so Pilate, willing to content the people.

Pilate and Jesus

I. What sort of man was Pilate? Probably not worse than many Roman governors; not very unlike Festus, Felix, Gallio, and the rest.

1. Cruel.

2. Determined.

3. Worldly.

II. What was he to do with Jesus? This was his difficulty; this was the rock on which he was stranded. The voice of the nation demanded Christs death. Insurrection, possibly even war, impended, if the demand was refused. What was to be done?

III. Pilate tries to evade the responsibility of deciding.

IV. Why did not Pilate dare to refuse the Jews demand?

1. He had an evil conscience.

2. By defending Jesus, he would run the risk of earthly loss.

3. He had no fixed belief to support him.

V. Observe the effect of living habitually for the present world. A man of the world, who lives only for the things of time and sense, content if he can satisfy Caesar and the people, has authority given him to deal with the cause of Christ. He cannot make up his mind to take up the cross and follow Him; for he has lived for self alone, and walked only by sight. What will such a man do in time of sudden trial but follow Pontius Pilate. If I must, I must. I see it is wrong. I would give much to escape, but there is no other way open. I must be content to satisfy the people. Jesus of Nazareth, His Church, His kingdom, His interest, His people, I surrender them to your will. (C. H. Waller, M. A.)

Pilates weakness and the chief priests guilt

I. Principle will, but policy will not, preserve you from sin. If you will not make the sacrifice which goodness requires, give up all hope of keeping your goodness. Courage is absolutely necessary for goodness.

II. A mans sins weigh him heavily. If Pilate had had a guiltless conscience, he would have defied the clamour of the rulers. He walks along the downward path to hell with his eyes open.

III. Beware of compromise. Come to no terms with evil, but resist it.

IV. If we can prevent wrong being done, we cannot by verbal protests escape the responsibility for it. Pilates hand washing has many imitators, men substituting a feeble protest for vigorous and dutiful action. But in vain does Pilate think to wash his hands of guilt.

V. The hollowness of earthly pride and pomp comes out here.

VI. There is an exhibition here of the sinful side of human nature. Self-will seems a bright, brave thing, very excusable. Behold its guiltiness here. Weakness seems a harmless, good-tempered thing; it may easily commit the greatest crime.

VII. The hardships of transgressors ways is illustrated here. Pilate would have found it ten times easier to do right. Think of his shame, self-contempt; of the horror he would feel when Christ rose from the dead; of the penalties which followed. It was not more than seven or eight years before Caiaphas and Pilate were both degraded from their posts; and shortly after, Pilate, weary with misfortunes, killed himself. Nor, when we hear the men of Jerusalem ask the Roman governor for a cross, can we help remembering that they got their fill of crosses from the Romans; when, Titus crucifying sometimes 500 a day of those seeking to escape from the doomed city, at length, in the circuit of Jerusalem, room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies.

VIII. Our weakness increases the Saviours troubles.

IX. Christ never goes without a witness. Pilate, Herod, Pilates wife, and even the hypocrisy of the crowd, all proclaim, There is no fault in Him.

X. The Saviours sufferings claim our gratitude, but they also call on us to take up our cross and go after Him. Let us copy the Divine meekness, majesty, and love which met in the cross of Christ. (R. Glover.)

Pilate

The miserable governor is an example to us of a man of infirm principle who seeks to tide over a difficulty by temporising. He proposed to inflict ignominious sufferings on Christ, grievous in themselves, but yet short of death; hoping in this way to appease the multitude, and by moving their fickle humour by the sight of blood, to induce them to remit the punishment they had just cried out to have executed on Christ. Pilate had no strength of character, no moral rectitude and fortitude. He could not do a right thing unless he were backed up by the people. He must have the popular voice with him to do justice or to commit an injustice. A terrible instance is Pilate to us of what comes of seeking a principle of action, direction, outside of our own selves, of being swayed by popular opinion. Pilate knew too well what were the Jewish expectations of a Messiah to suppose for an instant that the High Priests had delivered Jesus over because He sought to rescue His nation from a foreign domination. He appears never to have been deceived for a moment as to the malignant motives of those who sought the death of Christ; but he had not the moral courage to stand out against the popular voice. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)

Triumph of evil only apparent

Jesus is given over to death. Wickedness has had its way; righteousness and pity have been trodden down. Yet no Divine defeat here. Though seemingly a victory for hell, it was really a triumph for heaven.

I. As a vindication of character. In no other way could such irresistible proof have been given of Christs sinlessness. Deadly foes, with everything their own way, cannot find against Him a single cause of just accusation. Six times He is declared by two Roman officials to be without fault. Throughout the scene it is continually forced on us that Jew and Roman are on trial, and Jesus is the judge. Not by His charges, but by His silence, they are made to convict themselves of prejudice, envy, hypocrisy, falsehood, outrage of justice, cruelty, and murder.

II. As a fulfilment of the Divine plan. The hope of the world was fulfilled at this hour. Edens distant anticipation of bruising the heel of Him who should bruise the serpents head; Abraham, across the altar of his son, beholding this day afar off; Moses, lifting up the serpent in the wilderness; the Psalmists picture of rejection, trial, and death; that chapter in Isaiah where we are made to stand beside the cross; all these, and many another prophetic assurance, waited for this tragic hour of salvation. Not alone through the love of friends, but even more through the wrath of man, the purpose of God marched on through tears and Crime to redemption.

III. The final outcome of Christs condemnation displayed with startling power where defeat and triumph rested. Pilate gave up Jesus to death to save his place; soon he was accused to his master, and driven forth, a broken-hearted exile. The priests persuaded the people to give Jesus to death to save their place and nation; that generation had not passed away before their own madness brought down on them, ten thousand times repeated, all the cruelty and outrage to which they had surrendered Him. But the crucified One-on the third day rises, and on the fortieth ascends to the throne of God. Today, while the Roman Empire is only a name, and the Jew is a restless and afflicted wanderer, Jesus triumphs. (C. M. Southgate.)

Christ willing to be crucified

Among the Romans the despotic power was so terrible, that if a slave had attempted the life his master, all the rest had been crucified with the guilty person. But our gracious Master died for His slaves who had conspired against Him. He shed His blood for those who spilt it. He was willing to be crucified, that we might be glorified. Our redemption was sweeter to Him than death was hitter, by which it was to be obtained. It was excellently said by Pherecides that God transformed Himself into love when He made the world. But with greater reason it is said by the apostle, God is love, when He redeemed it. (Handbook to Scripture Doctrines.)

The scourging

I will chastise Him, said Pilate. The word used () is contemptuous; it means to correct as a naughty child, or, as a slave, to scare him against again committing the same offence. By Roman usage, when a slave was about to be set free, his master led him before the Praetor, and the latter then slightly beat the slave on the back with a rod (virgulta), as a reminder to him of the slavery in which he had been, and from which he was about to be set free. And now, see, the Jewish people lead Jesus, bound as a slave, before the Roman governor, and Pilate ignorantly deals with Him according to the law for the manumission of slaves. He beats Him-but Jesus does not pass at once from His court to freedom. He must first traverse the dark valley of death, and go to His death through the way of sorrows. There were various kinds of scourges employed among the Romans. There was the stick (fustis), the rod (virga), the whip (lorum), which was of leather-platted thongs, and into the plats were woven iron spikes (scorpio) or knuckle bones of animals. When Rehoboam said to the deputation, My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions, he contrasted the simple scourge of leather thongs with that which was made more terrible with the nails and spikes, and which was called the scorpion, and was in use among the Jews as well as among the Romans. The lictors who stood about the Praetor bore axes tied in bundles of rods. The rods were for beating, the axes for decapitating; but they only used the rods for persons of distinction and quality. A Praetor such as Pilate had six of such officers by him. We may be quite sure that they did not proceed to unbind their bundles of rods to scourge Jesus with them-that would be rendering Him too much respect. He would not be beaten with the lictors rods, but be scourged with the thonged whip, armed either with scorpions or knuckle bones, the instrument of chastisement for slaves and common criminals. Before Christ was scourged He was stripped of His raiment before the people, His hands being bound and attached to a pillar. We have descriptions from old heathen writers of the manner in which such a scourging was performed. In Rome, says Aulus Gellins, in the Forum was a post by itself, and to this the most illustrious man was brought, his clothes stripped off, and he was beaten with rods. There is a profane Life of Christ, of uncertain date, written in Hebrew, circulating anciently among the Jews, that embodies their traditions about Christ, and in it it is said that The elders of Jerusalem took Jesus and bound Him to a marble pillar in the City, and scourged Him there with whips, crying out, Where now are the wondrous works that Thou hast done? In the Jewish laws it is ordered that behind the man to be scourged shall stand a stone, upon which the executioner shall take his place, so as to be well raised, that thereby the blows he deals may fall with greater effect. It is probable that before Herods palace, where Pilate held his court, was a low pillar, and the prescribed square block on which the executioner was to stand, whilst the person to be scourged was fastened to the low pillar in a bowed position, the ropes knotted about his wrists being passed through a ring strongly soldered into the stone pillar. Thus the scourger stood above the man he beat and struck downwards at his bent back. The tradition that the scourging of Jesus took place somehow thus, that He was attached to a pillar when beaten, is very old. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)

Contrast between a scourged Christ and a pampered Christian

Christ shows us how the flesh is to be mastered by the spirit, how we are to strive to obtain such a dominion over our bodies that we can bear pain without outcry and anger. God Himself sends us pain sometimes, and we are disposed to be restive under it, to murmur, and to reproach Him. Let us look to Jesus, scourged at the pillar, and see how He endured patiently. Let us learn to keep the body under, and bring it into subjection; ease, luxury, self-indulgence have a deadening effect on the soul, and this is an age of self-indulgence. We are always intent on heaping to ourselves comforts; we have no idea of enduring hardships. We must have softer, deeper carpets for our feet; garments that fit us most perfectly and becomingly, easy chairs, soft springy beds, more warmth, better food, purple, fine linen, sumptuous fare every day. Our rooms must be artistic, the decorations and colours aesthetic; the eye, the ear, the nose, the touch must all be gratified, and we seek to live for the pleasures of the sense, and think it a sort of duty to have the senses tickled or soothed. How strangely does the figure of Jesus, bowed at the pillar, with His back exposed, and the soldiers lashing at Him with their whips loaded with knuckle bones, contrast with this modern foppishness and effeminacy! What a lesson he teaches of the control of the senses, of the conquest of the flesh! I would not say that it is wrong to cultivate art and to love that which is beautiful; but it is wrong to be so given up to it as to allow the love of the ease and beauty and gracefulness in modern life to take the fibre out of our souls, and reduce us to moral limpness. We must endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; we must strive to be above the comforts and adornments of modern life, and make of them the accident and not the substance of our existence. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)

Duty and interest

In Pilates case, the particular influence that prevented was the fear of man. What will the Jews say, what will the Jews do, if I discharge this Prisoner whom they wish me to condemn? When once men are governed in their conduct, not by the sense of right, but by the desire to obtain the worlds approval, or the fear of incurring the worlds hatred, they are at the mercy of the binds and waves, without chart or rudder. They are not rocks against which the waters break, but which stand unmoved because they are rooted into the solid earth, but they are things that drift upon the surface, borne hither and thither as the current sets or the breezes drive them. The man who owns Christ only when the world tolerates it, or as far as the world bears it, will deny Christ when the world frowns. It is impossible to be a lover of Christ and a lover of the world; it is impossible to fear God and man too; it is absolutely impossible to please men and be the servant of Christ. (Oxford Lent Sermons.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And so Pilate, willing to content the people,…. To satisfy and make them easy, who were become very noisy and tumultuous, and fearing the consequences of their resentment, should he not comply, of which he had formerly had experience; therefore to humour them, and keep in their favour, after he had washed his hands, to testify his innocence in the matter,

he released Barabbas unto them; the seditious person, robber, and murderer, as they desired:

and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him; or having scourged him; for this he had done before, hoping the Jews would have been satisfied with that, and not have insisted on any further punishment. The Arabic version very wrongly renders the words, “and delivered unto them Jesus, that he might be scourged”: as if this was afterwards to be done by the Jews, or Roman soldiers; whereas he had scourged him before, and now delivered him

to be crucified, as they desired; in which he acted contrary to law and justice, to the violation of his own conscience, and merely to gratify the humour of the people; [See comments on Mt 27:26].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Christ Insulted and Condemned.

      15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.   16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Prtorium; 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.   21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

      Here, I. Pilate, to gratify the Jews’ malice, delivers Christ to be crucified, v. 15. Willing to content the people, to do enough for them (so the word is), and make them easy, that he might keep them quiet, he released Barabbas unto them, who was the scandal and plague of their nation, and delivered Jesus to be crucified, who was the glory and blessing of their nation. Though he had scourged him before, hoping that would content them, and then not designing to crucify him, yet he went on to that; for no wonder that he who could persuade himself to chastise one that was innocent (Luke xxiii. 16), could by degrees persuade himself to crucify him.

      Christ was crucified, for that was, 1. A bloody death, and without blood no remission, Heb. ix. 22. The blood is the life (Gen. ix. 4); it is the vehicle of the animal spirits, which connect the soul and body, so that the exhausting of the blood is the exhausting of the life. Christ was to lay down his life for us, and therefore shed his blood. Blood made atonement for the soul (Lev. xvii. 11), and therefore in every sacrifice of propitiation special order was given for the pouring out of the blood, and the sprinkling of that before the Lord. Now, that Christ might answer all these types, he shed his blood. 2. It was a painful death; the pains were exquisite and acute, for death made its assaults upon the vitals by the exterior parts, which are quickest of sense. Christ died, so as that he might feel himself die, because he was to be both the priest and the sacrifice; so that he might be active in dying; because he was to make his soul an offering for sin. Tully calls crucifixion, Teterrimum supplicium–A most tremendous punishment: Christ would meet death in its greatest terror, and so conquer it. 3. It was a shameful death, the death of slaves, and the vilest malefactors; so it was accounted among the Romans. The cross and the shame are put together. God having been injured in his honour by the sin of man, it is in his honour that Christ makes him satisfaction, not only by denying himself in, and divesting himself of, the honours due to his divine nature, for a time, but by submitting the greatest reproach and ignominy the human nature was capable of being loaded with. Yet this was not the worst. 4. It was a cursed death; thus it was branded by the Jewish law (Deut. xxi. 23); He that is hanged, is accursed of God, is under a particular mark of God’s displeasure. It was the death that Saul’s sons were put to, when the guilt of their father’ bloody house was to be expiated, 2 Sam. xxi. 6. Haman and his sons were hanged,Est 7:10; Est 9:13. We do not read any of the prophets of the Old Testament that were hanged; but now that Christ has submitted to be hanged upon a tree, the reproach and curse of that kind of death are quite rolled away, so that it ought to be any hindrance to the comfort of those who die either innocently or penitently, nor any diminution from, but rather an addition to, the glory of those who die martyrs for Christ, to be as he was, hanged upon a tree.

      II. Pilate, to gratify the gay humour of the Roman soldiers, delivered him to them, to be abused and spitefully treated, while they were preparing for the execution. They called together the whole regiment that was then in waiting, and they went into an inner hall, where they ignominiously abused our Lord Jesus, as a king, just as in the high priest’s hall his servants had ignominiously abused him as a Prophet and Saviour. 1. Do kings wear robes of purple or scarlet? They clothed him with purple. This abuse done to Christ in his apparel should be an intimation to Christians, not to make the putting on of apparel their adorning, 1 Pet. iii. 4. Shall a purple or scarlet robe be matter of pride to a Christian, which was matter of reproach and shame to Christ. 2. Do kings wear crowns? They platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head. A crown of straw, or rushes, would have been banter enough; but this was pain also. He wore the crown of thorns which we had deserved, that we might wear the crown of glory which he merited. Let us be taught by these thorns, as Gideon taught the men of Succoth, to hate sin, and be uneasy under it, and to be in love with Jesus Christ, who is here a lily among thorns. If we be at any time afflicted with a thorn in the flesh, let it be our comfort, that our high priest is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, having himself known what thorns in the flesh meant. 3. Are kings attended with the acclamations of their subjects, O king, live for ever? That also is mimicked; they saluted him with “Hail, King of the Jews; such a prince, and such a people, even good enough for one another.” 4. Kings have sceptres put into their hand, marks of dominion, as the crown is of dignity; to imitate this, they put a reed in his right hand. Those that despise the authority of Jesus Christ, as not to be observed and obeyed, who regard not either the precepts of his word, or the threatenings of his wrath, do, in effect, put a reed in his hand; nay, and, as these here, smite him on the head with it, such is the indignity they do him. 5. Subjects, when they swear allegiance, were wont to kiss their sovereign; and this they offered to do, but, instead of that, spit upon him. 6. Kings used to be addressed upon the knee; and this also they brought into the jest, they bowed the knee, and worshipped him; this they did in scorn, to make themselves and one another laugh. We were by sin become liable to everlasting shame and contempt, to deliver us from which, our Lord Jesus submitted to this shame and contempt for us. He was thus mocked, not in his own clothes, but in another’s, to signify that he suffered not for his own sin; the crime was ours, the shame his. Those who pretend subjection to Christ, but at the same time give themselves up to the service of the world and the flesh, do, in effect, the same that they did, who bowed the knee to him in mockery, and abused him with, Hail, king of the Jews, when they said, We have no king but Csar. Those that bow the knee to Christ, but do not bow the soul, that draw nigh to him with their mouths, and honour him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him, put the same affront upon him that these here did.

      III. The soldiers, at the hour appointed, led him away from Pilate’s judgment-hall to the place of execution (v. 20), as a sheep to the slaughter; he was led forth with the workers of iniquity, though he did no sin. But lest his death, under the load of his cross, which he was to carry, should prevent the further cruelties they intended, they compelled one Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross for him. He passed by, coming out of the country or out of the fields, not thinking of any such matter. Note, We must not think it strange, if crosses come upon us suddenly, and we be surprised by them. The cross was a very troublesome unwieldy load: but he that carried it a few minutes, had the honour to have his name upon the record in the book of God, though otherwise an obscure person; so that, wherever this gospel is preached; so that, wherever this gospel is preached, there shall this be told for a memorial to him: in like manner, though no affliction, no cross, for the present, be joyous, but grievous, yet afterward it yields a crown of glory to them that are exercised thereby.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

To content the multitude ( ). A Latin idiom (satisfacere alicui), to do what is sufficient to remove one’s ground of complaint. This same phrase occurs in Polybius, Appian, Diogenes Laertes, and in late papyri. Pilate was afraid of this crowd now completely under the control of the Sanhedrin. He knew what they would tell Caesar about him. See on Mt 27:26 for discussion of the scourging.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

To content [ ] . Lit., to do the sufficient thing. Compare the popular phrase, Do the right thing. A Latinism, and used by Mark only. Wyc., to do enough to the people.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And so Pilate, willing to content the people,” (ho de Pilatos boulomenos to ochlo to hikanon) “Then Pilate willing (minding or resolving) to satisfy the crowd,” now having gotten the pulse of what the people wanted, as a political opportunist, though he knew better, and was warned against it, Luk 23:13-16; Mat 27:19.

2) ”Released Barabbas unto them,” (poiesai apelusen autois ton Barabban) “To do a favor to them released Barabbas,” Mat 27:26; Luk 23:25.

3) “And delivered Jesus,” (kai paredoken ton lesoun) ”And gave up (delivered over) Jesus,” Mat 27:26; Luk 23:25. Though it was a foul thing to do, and he knew it.

4) “When he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” (phragellosas hino staurothe) “After he had scourged or flogged Him, in order that He might be crucified,” according to Roman law and Jewish custom, Mat 27:26; Joh 19:1. He let the masses have their way.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(15-21) And so Pilate, willing to content the people.The word which St. Mark uses for content appears to be the Greek equivalent for the Latin satisfacere, and so takes its place in the evidence for St. Marks connection with Rome and the Roman Church.

Scourged him.The word, like that in St. Matthew, is formed from the Latin flagellum, and forms another link in the chain of evidence just referred to.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And Pilate, wishing to make the crowd content, released to them Barabbas and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.’

By now Pilate had given up on any idea of justice. His only desire was to pacify this crowd that had suddenly become so fired up, and if it meant the life of an innocent man it was out of his hands. So he released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified, but only once he had had Him scourged according to custom. It had all become a matter of politics. That the situation was, however, more complicated than Mark depicts can be found by considering Joh 19:1-16.

This scourging would not be just a beating. The Roman scourge was a dreadful thing. It consisted of a short wooden handle to which a number of leather thongs were attached whose ends were equipped with pieces of lead, brass and sharp bone depending on choice. The victim’s back was bared and the scourge laid on more or less heavily. It could cause severe damage penetrating well below the outer flesh. There may be an allusion here to Isa 50:6, “I gave my back to those who scourge me”.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Condemnation, Crucifixion, and Death of Jesus.

The sentence and the mockery by the soldiers:

v. 15. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

v. 16. And the soldiers led Him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

v. 17. And they clothed Him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about His head,

v. 18. and began to salute Him, Hail, King of the Jews!

v. 19. And they smote Him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon Him, and, bowing their knees, worshiped Him.

A most significant phrase: Willing, not to do justice, to insist upon the justice for which the Roman courts were known, but: willing to content the people, to give the mob the satisfaction it demanded, to yield to them all that they wanted. It was a sad travesty upon justice, a trial which would have been carried out with greater show of right and fair play in the most ignorant barbarian country. He released to them Barabbas, a fitting sarcasm. One more murderer more or less in a whole nation of murderers would make little difference; let the innocent people be confined in prison and be adjudged guilty of death, while the murderers are not only at large, but in the enjoyment of the highest positions! Jesus, His flagellation, or scourging, having taken place, was officially delivered to be crucified according to the Roman method of dealing with criminals found guilty of death. Note: The scourging, though really pertaining to the acts which Pilate did before the condemnation of Jesus, in order to awaken the pity of the people and thus to gain his object, may also be thought to be, and is here so represented, as the first part of the agony of the crucifixion. It was a fitting introduction to the tortures of the mockery which the cruelty of the soldiers invented and which the anguish of the cross crowned. For it was now the soldier’s opportunity; the prisoner was in their hands. They led Him, first of all, into the court of the palace, which served for their barracks and was called Praetorium. Here they called together the entire cohort, or band. Here was a rare chance for sport in which they delighted. In rough playfulness, like children that delight in playing at dressing up, they put a mantle of a purple color upon Him, to represent the kingly garment. A wreath, or crown, of thorns was quickly platted and placed about His head, fittingly to represent the golden circle of the earthly rulers. And then the jeering mockery began, which reflected also upon the Jews. They began to greet, to salute Him, to hail Him as the King of the Jews; for this title they found exceptionally funny: a fitting king for this people that was hated and despised by the Romans. With the reed which they had previously given Him in place of a scepter they now, as the fun began to pall on them, hit Him on the head, to drive the sharp spikes into the tender flesh of the head, They, spat upon Him as upon a vile and loathsome creature; they fell upon their knees in scoffing worship. Such was the Savior’s experience, for His Passion stands out most prominently in the whole account. He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; He did not hide His face from shame and spitting, Isa 50:6. It was the mercy and the long-suffering of the Redeemer of the world.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mar 15:15. Willing to content the people, Pilate had given them too much cause of disgust before, as appears from what Josephus says concerning him; and probably he was afraid of a general insurrection, therefore he was desirous to remove all cause of complaint: notwithstanding which, the complaints of this very people afterwards pursued him to his ruin. See on Mat 27:19. Whipping or scourging was a punishment frequently used both by the Jews and Romans; the Jews commonly inflicted it by a whip of three cords, and limited the number of stripes to thirty-nine, that they might not exceed the number sentenced, Deu 25:3. But the usual way of scourging among the Romans, was with such rods or wands as the lictors carried in a bundle before the magistrates; and they were exceeding cruel in this kind of punishment, tearing with their scourges even to the veins and arteries, and laying the very bowels of the malefactors bare: and as our Saviour was scourged at Pilate’s order, it was done most probably by his officers, after the Roman manner, and was therefore no less severe than disgraceful; for Pilate intended hereby to have moved the compassion of the Jews towards him, in order to his release, rather than to have him scourged preparatory to his crucifixion; as appears from Luk 23:15-16; Luk 23:22. See Mat 27:26. Guyse, and Calmet.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mar 15:15-20 . See on Mat 27:26-31 . Comp. Luk 23:24-25 .

] satisfacere , to do what was enough, to content them. See examples from Diog. Laert., Appian, and so forth, in Wetstein and Kypke. Comp. , Act 17:9 .

Mar 15:16 . Matthew has: ; the vividly descriptive Mark has: , , into the interior of the court, which is the praetorium , for they did not bring Him into the house and call the cohorts together thither, but into the inner court surrounded by the buildings ( the court-yard ) which formed the area of the praetorium, so that, when people went from without into this court through the portal ( , comp. on Mat 26:71 ) they found themselves in the praetorium . Accordingly is not in this place to be translated palace (see on Mat 26:3 ), but court , as always in the N. T. Comp. Mar 14:66 ; Mar 14:54 .

On the attracted by the predicative substantive, comp. Winer, p. 150 [E. T. 206]

] a purple robe . Matthew specifies the robe more definitely ( ), and the colour differently ( ), following another tradition.

Mar 15:18 . ] after that investiture; a new act.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

(15) And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. (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 plat ted 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.

Before we enter upon this part of the awful events, in the cruel ties exercised upon CHRIST’s person, I beg the Reader to turn to the 18th chapter of Luke, (Luk 18:31-34 ,) and read our LORD’s prediction concerning them; then mark, one by one, the woeful account. And I request the Reader, yet more particularly, to observe through the whole, that he acted as the surety of his people. There certainly was, as I before remarked, a mystical meaning in all. For it forms a grand feature of our holy faith, that for the joy which was set before CHRIST, he endured the cross, despised the shame, before that he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. JEHOVAH, which lay on him the iniquities of his people, turned his glory into shame, Psa 4:2 , that the sin of his redeemed might be made appear exceeding sinful. Let the Reader attend to the shame, and reproaches, and cruelties, poured upon CHRIST, with an eye to this; and the blessedness of the whole will then appear, in their true colours.

The first act of cruelty which Mark takes notice of, exercised upon the sacred person of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, after Pilate had passed sentence of death upon him, and given him up into the hands of the Roman soldiers, is that of scourging. John, in his Gospel, relates that Pilate scourged CHRIST, or caused him to be scourged, before this; when he did it with a view to release him. And no doubt that this first scourging by Pilate, had been with no small severity. Among the Jews, there was no permission to give stripes in any case of delinquency, to above thirty and nine, lest, saith the law, thy brother should seem vile unto thee. Deu 25:3 ; 2Co 11:24 . But CHRIST, our Brother, must be made vile, as the surety of his people, who had made themselves vile by reason of sin, and therefore the Gen tiles, into whose hands he shall fall, shall lay on stripes without number, as far as their savage cruelty shall incline them. And thus CHRIST, both at the first and second scourging, shall be made vile, that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in him. 2Co 5:21 . Oh! the preciousness in this mystical allusion, concerning Him, and his unequaled sufferings, by whose stripes we are healed!

The next view we have in Mark’s Gospel, of our LORD, after Pilate had delivered him up into the hands of the soldiers, is the calling together the whole band, to insult him, and then clothing him with purple, crowning him with thorns, spitting upon him, striking him on the head, bending the knee before him in mockery, and then unkinging him and unclothing him of his sham royalty, before they led him away to crucify him. In every one of these acts, more or less, we may, under divine teaching, discover the LORD’s hand, directing to some interesting circumstances of a mystical nature, in allusion to the persons of CHRIST’s redeemed, for whom he became surety, and for whom he suffered.

The clothing him in purple was wholly in derision; but then it should be remembered, that to do this, they first stripped him and made him naked; and indeed so was he crucified. And what so shameful as being wholly naked. But this also was necessary, and highly significant; for as our first parents had made themselves naked to their shame, in taking away the curse, CHRIST must be put in their very law-room and place so as to fulfil all righteousness.

The thorny crown, had mock royalty been only intended, would have been as well played off for their sport, with a crown of reeds! But it was not sport, but cruelty, added to mockery, they meant; and therefore thorns were chosen to be struck into his Sacred head. Sinners are threatened with having their heads and their hairy scalp wounded, as enemies to GOD. Psa 68:21 , etc. The LORD JESUS shall therefore, as the sinner’s surety, suffer in their stead. And forasmuch as the curse pronounced at the fall, declared, that thorns and thistles should the earth bring forth to the man. Gen 3:18 . Here also Jesus shall be pre-eminent in suffering, as he is in all things; and shall be crowned with thorns, that the Head may feel, what in his members the Feet only of his redeemed go through, in a thorny wilderness.

Little did those Gentiles consider, how they were by their mockery, fulfilling JEHOVAH’s design, in the setting forth these things. Insult and cruelty they intended, yet the LORD was then in reality setting his king upon his holy hill in Zion, and declaring the decree. Psa 2:6-7 . They bowed the knee in derision; but in truth then began in a more open display that declaration of GOD, that when He who was in the form of GOD, and with whom it was no robbery to be equal with GOD, humbled himself to the death of the Cross, every knee should bow before him, and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of GOD the FATHER. Phi 2:8-11 . The

purple robe and the thorny crown, and the reed for a sceptre, were the insignalia of this mock royalty. But whatever they meant, the LORD’s purposes were fully answered: for the SON of GOD was at that moment, the brightness of his FATHER’s glory, and the express image of his person, whose sceptre of righteousness was the sceptre of his kingdom; and concerning whom when the LORD JEHOVAH bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the Angels of GOD worship him. Heb 1:3-9 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.

9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.

12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?

13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.

14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.

15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him , to be crucified.

Ver. 15. When he had scourged him ] Purposely to move the people to pity him, and therefore brought him forth so misused, with, “Behold the man.” But this was ill done of Pilate nevertheless, as was also his comparing with Barabbas, though with intent so to have delivered him. For we may not do evil that good may come thereof.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

15. ] . ., to satisfy. Wets [58] . gives examples of the expression from Polyb., Diog. Lart., and Appian.

[58] Wetstein.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 15:15 . Pilate was now quite sure what the people wished, and so, as an opportunist, he let them have their way. : to satisfy (here only in N. T.) = satisfacere in Vulg [153] , perhaps a Latinism ( vide Grotius), but found in later Greek ( vide Raphel and Elsner). : certainly a Latinism, from flagellare .

[153] Vulgate (Jerome’s revision of old Latin version).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

willing = determining. Greek. boulomai. See App-102.2.

to content the people = to satisfy the crowd. This is the motto of the present day, but it always ends in judgment. See and compare Exo 32:1 with Exo 26:27. Act 12:3 with Act 12:23; 2Ti 4:3 with 2Ti 4:1 and 2Ti 4:8. So here.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

15.] . ., to satisfy. Wets[58]. gives examples of the expression from Polyb., Diog. Lart., and Appian.

[58] Wetstein.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mar 15:15-23. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; 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. And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.

I shall have to show you that this was given to him in mercy. The Romans always gave, before crucifixion, a cup of myrrhed wine, in order to lessen the sensibilities of the victim. In this case there was not only myrrh in the cup, but gall; a second cup of gall Christ did drink, but this cup, being intoxicating, he would not receive; when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. He needed the possession of all his faculties, and in their clearest state, in order to do combat with the dreadful powers of darkness.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 69:1-21. Mar 15:15-23. Luk 23:26-33.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Mar 15:15. ) to content, or satisfy.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

CHAPTER 72

He Saved Others;

Himself He Cannot Save.

And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; 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. And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let 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. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And 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. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

(Mar 15:15-39)

If the Lord God wants Balaam to hear his word, he can speak as easily through Balaams ass as he can through a man or an angel. And, sometimes, in his infinite sovereignty, the Lord God uses lost, unregenerate, spiritually ignorant men to proclaim gospel truth as plainly and as powerfully as any inspired prophet. Those men remain as ignorant of the gospel as ever. Yet, they become voices by which God declares his truth. Numerous examples of this fact are given in the Book of God (Joh 11:47-52; Num 23:19-21; 1Sa 26:25). In the passage now before us the Spirit of God gives several more examples of God speaking glorious, gospel truths by men, who themselves knew nothing of the things they spoke. Repeatedly, those who mocked the Master in their jeers spoke plainly, declaring that the man hanging on the cursed tree between two thieves was and is The King, and most distinctly The King of Israel. Then, in Mar 15:39 the centurion said, Truly, this man was the Son of God!

This is a matter of tremendous importance. The one through whom God speaks is nothing; but the message God speaks, the gospel of Christ, is the power of God unto salvation! Pastor Scott Richardson once said, A preacher is a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody who can save anybody.

Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save (Mar 15:31). In the angry, blood thirsty, jeering mob we hear the lost religious leaders of the day joining in the hellish revelry. Though they spoke with a hellish hatred for the Son of God, these chief priests and scribes spoke the plain truth of the gospel most clearly. He saved others; himself he cannot save.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ came here to save his people from their sins, because he came to save us from the wrath of God, he could not save himself from being made sin for us, he could not save himself from the wrath of God. This is the very essence of the gospel. See that you understand it clearly. The holy Lord God could not save sinners apart from the satisfaction of his law and justice by the obedience and death of his own dear Son as our Substitute. God is absolutely sovereign. He did not have to save anyone; but, having chosen to save some, he cannot save any except in a manner that honors his law and justice (Job 33:23-24; Rom 3:23-26). If righteousness could come in any other way, then Christ died in vain (Gal 3:21).

Mar 15:15-39 sets before us the most wondrous, most glorious event in the history of the universe. Indeed, this is the reason why God created the world in the first place. We have before us the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the sinners Substitute. Here the infinite love of God for sinners is set forth magnificently.

The sufferings described here would be astonishing, shocking to behold under any circumstances. Should we see any man endure such horror and grief, our hearts would be sick, deeply moved with compassion. But the man before us here is the eternal Son of God! I am astounded, amazed, lost in wonder as I read these words of Inspiration.

Here is something even more astounding. All that the Lord Jesus Christ endured, when he was made sin for us, he willingly, voluntarily endured. Even when he was made sin, it was by his own will that it came to pass. He willingly took upon himself our sins. He willingly went to the cross. He willingly died the shameful, ignominious death of the cross. He willingly became the object of his Fathers holy wrath and indignation. The Lord Jesus Christ willingly took the cup of wrath and, with one tremendous draft of love, drank damnation dry for us. Why? Because he loved us!

Here is The love of Christ that passeth knowledge (Eph 3:19). God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1Jn 4:10). Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us (1Jn 3:16).

I want us to simply observe from the passage before us the things our Lord Jesus suffered, when he was made sin for chosen sinners. I want us to follow our Redeemer, step by step, from his condemnation to his death. There is deep meaning, spiritual instruction, and great consolation in everything our Substitute endured when he suffered the wrath of God in our place.

As we dwell upon these things, let us not forget, not even for a moment, that our sins and the salvation of our souls were the cause of all his agony. It was our hell that he endured! It was our death that he died. Child of God, the Holy Spirit here shows us the accomplishments of our great Surety and Substitute as he offered himself to God to make atonement for our sins (2Co 5:21; 1Pe 2:24; 1Pe 3:18).

Christ Condemned

And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified (Mar 15:15). Here we see the Son of God delivered into the hands of Roman soldiers, condemned to death, to be crucified as a common criminal. Here is that One before whom one day soon the whole world must stand in judgment. The great Judge, who shall summons all men before the great white throne in the last day, is here judged of men, sentenced to death and delivered up to be executed by the hands of wicked men.

Do you ask why? It was that he might deliver us from judgment, the pit of destruction, and the sentence of eternal death in hell. The Lord Jesus was made sin, judged guilty, and put to death for his people, so that believing sinners might never be judged for sin, so that he might present all the hosts of Gods elect before the presence of his glory, holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight (Rom 4:8; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:33-34).

Cruel Mockery

And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; 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).

And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let 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 (Mar 15:29-32).

Jesus Christ the Righteous is here mocked, jeered, insulted and made a laughing stock before all the world. They clothed him with a purple cloth, put a crown of thorns on his head, and mockingly worshipped him. They cried, Hail! King! Then they beat him, spit on him, and laughed him to scorn. As they led him away to crucify him, he became the song of drunkards. Harlots and holy men, pimps and priests, sots and scribes joined in hellish revelry as they nailed him to the tree and watched him die. Even the two thieves who were crucified with him found relief from their torture by joining in the infamy. The Son of God was made to be utterly contemptible before men. He was made to be the filth of the world and the offscouring of all things.

Do you ask why? It was that we who are truly the filth of the world and off scouring of all things, we who are in truth vile and contemptible might have glory, honor, and eternal life by the merit of his blood, that we might stand before God without one spot of sin or wrinkle of infirmity in perfect holiness. He wore a crown of thorns, that we might wear a crown of glory forever. He wore the spit of man, that men might wear the kiss of God forever. He sunk in humiliation, that we might rise in triumph.

Stripped Naked

And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take (Mar 15:24). The Lord Jesus was stripped naked before men, exposed in open shame to all his enemies.

Do you ask why? It was that we, who have no righteousness before God, might be clothed with his perfect righteousness. It was that we, who are naked and shameful, all defiled with sin, might wear the wedding garments of grace and sit side by side with the angels of God unashamed. It was that we might forever wear the white robe of his perfect righteousness, the garments of salvation, clean and white, before the great white throne of our God.

Numbered with Sinners

And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors (Mar 15:27-28). The Holy One of God was reckoned a transgressor and a sinner. He who did no sin, in whose mouth was no guile, was numbered with the transgressors.

Do you ask why? Why was he numbered with the transgressors? It was because he was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2Co 5:21). The holy Lamb of God was made to be sin so that we, who are altogether unholy, might be made perfectly holy forever! He was pronounced guilty so that we might be pronounced righteous before God!

Forsaken of God

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mar 15:34) The Son of God was forsaken by his Father. Try to grasp this. When our Surety, Jehovahs righteous Servant, was at the height of his obedience, as he was performing the crowning work he was commissioned of God to do, he was abandoned, forsaken by his Father.

Do you ask why? It was because he was made to be sin; and the holy Lord God cannot look upon sin. Why was he forsaken of God? It was that we might hear the Lord God himself declare, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee! Christ was forsaken because he was made sin for us. We can never be forsaken because he has taken our sins away!

Made a Curse

And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS (Mar 15:22-26).

The Lord of Glory was made a curse for us, crucified and hanged as a cursed thing upon Calvarys tree. Death by crucifixion was reserved for only the most vile of felons. This shamefully horrid, ignominious, tortuous form of execution was designed to show the utter contemptibility of the one hanging upon the cross. The man hanging on the tree was counted accursed. The Lord Jesus died the cursed death of the cross.

Do you ask why? It was that we who were born accursed might be delivered from the curse of the law and stand forever blessed of God for Christs sake (Gal 3:13-14).

A Voluntary Sacrifice

And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost (Mar 15:37). The Lord Jesus Christ, our Substitute, freely, voluntarily laid down his life; he gave up the ghost, for his people. He said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheepAs the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (Joh 10:11; Joh 10:15-18).

Do you ask why? In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1Jn 4:9-10).

The Rent Veil

And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (Mar 15:38). By his blood atonement, by his death under the curse of Gods holy law, the Son of God ripped open the veil in the temple. When justice was satisfied, when sin was put away, when there was nothing left to separate the holy Lord God from his people, when the law of God was forever silenced, the symbol of separation was ripped apart.

Do you ask why? It was that redeemed sinners might come to God with the full assurance of faith, being accepted in the beloved (Heb 10:12-19).

Our Suretys Shame

In all that is here recorded by the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit let us never lose sight of the fact that our Lord Jesus endured all this pain, shame, and ignominy in his death as our Surety. When the Lord God laid our sins upon him, our Saviors glory was turned into shame (Psa 4:2; Hos 4:7). When he was made to bear our sin in his own body, what reproach, what shame, what cruelty he endured for us!

John tells us that Pilate scourged the Savior twice, once before this (Joh 19:1) and again here. Though it was forbidden among the Jews that any man be scourged so severely, lest thy brother should seem vile (Deu 25:3; 2Co 11:24), stripes were laid upon our Savior with savage cruelty. Christ our Brother was made vile and made to seem vile beyond imagination. Though we made ourselves vile with sin, with his stripes we are healed, made the righteousness of God in him.

Pilate delivered our Savior into the hands of the soldiers, calling together the whole band, to insult him. They clothed him with purple, crowned him with thorns, spit upon him, beat his head with a reed, mockingly knelt before him, and stripped him of the sham garments of mock royalty. Stripped of his own garments, he was now stripped even of the garments of mockery. What can be more shameful than to be stripped naked before a multitude? Yet, the Lord of Glory endured the shame for us. As in the Garden our first parents made themselves naked to their shame, if he would take away the curse, Christ Jesus must be put to shame.

The crown of thorns added cruelty to mockery. Thorns were chosen to make the mock crown that his head might be wounded as the sinners Surety (Psa 68:21). The thorns of the curse (Gen 3:18) pierced his brow who was made a curse for us. Though they knew it not, these tormenters of our blessed Redeemer were, by their cruel mockery, fulfilling both the decree of our God and the very words of prophecy. They intended nothing but insult and barbaric cruelty. Yet, they were all the while performing that which God had purposed from eternity; and their united testimony, He saved others, himself he cannot save, is exactly what the gospel of the grace of God reveals. He who saved us from our sins could not be saved from being made sin. He who saved us from the curse could not be saved from enduring the curse. He who saved us from the wrath of God could not be saved from all the fury of Gods holy wrath, when he was made sin for us!

What a deep sense we ought to have of the debt we owe to the Lord Jesus Christ. All that we have, all that we are, all that we hope for must be traced to the doing and dying of the Son of God for us. By his condemnation, we are acquitted. By his being made sin, we are made the righteousness of God. By his sufferings, we get peace. By his shame, we get glory. By his death, we have life! Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift! What assurance we ought to have of Christs great love for us! What a reasonable thing it is that we should unceasingly present ourselves a living sacrifice unto our God by Christ Jesus!

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

willing: Pro 29:25, Psa 57:11, Mat 27:26, Luk 23:24, Luk 23:25, Joh 19:1, Joh 19:16, Act 24:27, Act 25:9, Gal 1:19

when: Mar 10:34, Psa 129:3, Isa 50:6, Mat 20:19, Mat 27:26, Luk 18:33, Joh 19:1, 1Pe 2:24

Reciprocal: Exo 23:2 – follow Dan 6:16 – the king Luk 23:16 – General Luk 23:20 – General Joh 18:40 – General Act 27:42 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

PILATES SIN

And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Mar 15:15

The story of Pilate and his yielding to the clamour of the chief priests, and delivering up Jesus to be crucified, though he knew quite well that He was innocent, is one of the most strange and sad that history records. No doubt he was a weak man set in difficult circumstances. But he ought not to have yielded to those circumstances. Hard positions and difficult circumstances are posts of honour The hours of difficulty are great mens opportunity: the times of danger call with trumpet-voice to the heart of the brave. These are the times when men show of what stuff they are made. We may note three particulars.

I. He was false to his own convictions.He was convinced that Jesus was innocent. Why, then, did he not act at once upon his conviction and release Him? Why did he begin to parley with the Jews, as if there was room for doubt on the question?

II. He tried to satisfy his own conscience, and at the same time to satisfy the people, by evasion and compromise. If he was convinced of the innocence of Jesus, why send Him to Herod, as Luke tells us he did? And why offer to chastise Him and then release Him? If he was innocent He ought not to be chastisedn!

III. He allowed worldly interest to predominate over the sense of duty.That at last became the plain issue. Should he do what he knew was right and take the risk? Or should he do what he knew was wrong and escape danger? And he chose the latter course, showing himself thereby to be weak and unprincipled.

IV. Had I been in his position, with only his lights to guide me, what should I have done?How often when conscience and duty point in one direction and passion and self-interest in another, have we not acted over again the part of Pilate? We have hesitated, wavered, argued, and surrendered. How soon the conscience may become hardened! How difficult it is at once to take and keep the straight course! The great surrender has often been made over again since Pilates day, and Jesus Christ been given over into unfriendly hands.

This is the great lesson from this scene.Be decided for Christ, and for right. Them that honour Me, says Christ, I will honour.

Rev. Prebendary Eardley-Wilmot.

Illustration

Mark the revenges of history. Before the dread sacrifice was consummated, Judas died in the horrors of a loathsome suicide. Caiaphas was deposed the year following. Herod died in infamy and exile. Stripped of his Procuratorship shortly afterwards, on the very charges he had tried by a wicked concession to avoid, Pilate, wearied out with misfortunes, died in suicide and banishment, leaving behind him an execrated name. The house of Annas was destroyed a generation later by an infuriated mob, and his son was dragged through the streets, and scourged and beaten to his place of murder. Some of those who shared in and witnessed the scenes of that dayand thousands of their childrenalso shared in and witnessed the long horrors of that siege of Jerusalem which stands unparalleled in history for its unutterable fearfulness.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Chapter 17.

Pilate

“And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”-Mar 15:15.

Having traced the trial of Christ to its end, we are now in a position to form some kind of judgment upon the character and conduct of Pilate himself. His is a pitiful story. He was an unwilling participator in this deed of blood. Left to himself, he would have liberated Christ. He struggled to secure His release. But at length he was coerced into committing the wickedness which his soul abhorred. He is not the man on whom the chief guilt of the crime of history rests. Christ Himself said, “He that delivered Me unto thee hath greater sin.” Caiaphas, the chief priest, is the one on whom the greater guilt principally rests. But every man must bear his own burden, and Pilate must bear his.

Pilate as Procurator.

Now in coming to discuss Pilate’s character and his conduct, something must be said about his antecedent career, for that antecedent career of his had a mighty influence upon his action in connection with our Lord’s trial. Nothing is known about his family or his origin. He appears upon the pages of history when he assumes office as procurator of Judaea. The Roman procurator was a kind of subordinate governor. He occupied the same kind of relationship to the Governor of the Roman province of Syria, as, say, the Lieutenant-Governor of Bombay or Madras does to the Viceroy of India. But within the limits of his province, which included Judaea, Samaria, and Galilee, the Procurator exercised practically unlimited and almost despotic power. Pilate held this office for about ten years. He came to Judaea just about the time when John the Baptist began to preach, and so his rule covered the period of our Lord’s ministry, and of the first establishment of Christianity in Judaea.

-His Blunders.

What sort of a man was this Pontius Pilate? Philo, the Jewish author, describes him as “inflexible, merciless, and obstinate.” No doubt, as Dr Purves says, this is a one-sided representation. But it has this value for us; it shows the kind of esteem in which Pilate was held amongst the people over whom he ruled. His administration in Judaea had been marked by a series of calamitous mistakes. Rome, as I have already said in one of my previous studies, was generous and liberal in her treatment of subject nations. She allowed them as large a measure of home rule as was consistent with the maintenance of her own imperial supremacy. And she was especially considerate and tolerant in matters of religion. She had followed her usual policy in Judaea. She had allowed the Jewish court or Sanhedrin to retain a large measure of power. And she had respected the religious prejudices of the Jews. Out of regard, e.g. for their feelings, the display of images on the part of the Roman soldiers had been forbidden in Jerusalem. But Pilate either through ignorance, or more probably out of contempt for the Jews, had wilfully offended their prejudices. Josephus tells us of two or three actions of his which irritated the Jews to something like madness.

The Figures on the Standards.

Here is one. His predecessors, as I have said, had respected the Jewish prejudice against images. It seems that the standards of the legions were adorned with an image of the Emperor. Previous procurators had taken care, when marching their soldiers into Jerusalem, to remove these images. But Pilate disdained to humour what, no doubt, he regarded as a contemptible prejudice. So he ordered the troops to enter the Holy City with the Emperor’s effigy in its usual place upon the standard. The troops entered by night, but in the morning the standards were seen upon the citadel crowned by what, to the Jews, were idolatrous images. Forthwith multitudes hastened to Caesarea to beg Pilate to remove the figures. For five days Pilate scorned to listen to them. On the sixth day he bade them gather on the racecourse, and when they again renewed their appeal, a band of soldiers, placed in ambush, suddenly rushed out and with drawn swords threatened to kill them if they did not desist from their clamour and return home. But Pilate had not reckoned with the fanaticism and obstinacy of the Jewish character. To his amazement, instead of ceasing their cries, they flung themselves on the ground, bared their necks, and declared they would rather die than endure the violation of their laws. Pilate had met his match in this stubborn people. Sorely against his will, he had to order the images to be removed.

The Raid on the Temple Treasury.

Another story Josephus tells about him is this. He took in hand the business of building an aqueduct in order to provide Jerusalem with a water supply. And he seized the money paid in to the Temple treasury to help in the payment for the work. Once again the Jews were up in arms. It was perverting sacred money to profane and secular purposes. When Pilate visited Jerusalem, an abusive and threatening mob-tens of thousands of them, says Josephus-came clamouring that he should not persist in his design. Pilate who seems to have foreseen trouble had introduced some of his legionaries disguised into the crowd. When the Jews refused to go away, he gave these disguised soldiers the signal, and they at once attacked the crowd with their bludgeons. They used more force than Pilate had intended, with the result that they scattered the crowd indeed and quelled the disturbance, but not without wounding many and beating some even to death.

The Case of the Galileans.

We have a reference to another unfortunate incident in Pilate’s career in the Gospels. He mingled the blood of some unhappy Galileans with their sacrifices. No doubt, they had been concerned in some riot or tumult, but so little regard had Pilate for any of the Jewish notions of sacredness, that he slaughtered them in one of the Temple courts. Incidents like these reveal something of Pilate’s character. He was a typical Roman in his contempt and scorn for the Jews-“the horde of the circumcised,” as one Latin writer calls them. But they are still more illuminating as to the relationship between Pilate and the people over whom he ruled. They cordially detested one another. Pilate detested the Jews because more than once they had foiled him and beaten him. And the Jews detested Pilate because he had deliberately offended them, insulted them, and outraged them.

The Burden of the Past.

Now, notice how Pilate’s conduct at the trial of Christ was affected by his past career. What was the consideration that most powerfully influenced Pilate in his conduct of the trial of Jesus? Not regard for justice. Had that been the case, he would instantaneously have acquitted Him. With trained mind he saw through the farce from the first moment. He knew that “for envy” they had delivered Him unto him. But justice really counted for nothing in the trial of Jesus. What, really did count, what dictated all Pilate’s actions, was fear of the people. That was why he resorted to the various tricks and stratagems of which the evangelists tell us. He wanted to release Jesus and retain the favour of the mob at the same time. When he found he could not do both, he elected to retain the favour of the mob. Mark tracks the crime to its real and ultimate root in this Mar 15:15, in which he describes the issue of the trial, “Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, delivered Jesus to be crucified.” That is why Pilate became the legal executioner of Jesus; he sought to curry favour with the crowd. Why? Because of the mistakes and crimes which marked his past administration.

Caesar’s Way.

The master of the Roman empire at this time was that cruel and suspicious tyrant, Tiberius. There were two things, apparently, that Tiberius cared about, the due receipt of the taxes and the maintenance of peace. So long as his Governors in various parts of the world saw to these two things, Tiberius was well content. But a Governor who failed to exact the necessary tribute, one who by blundering actions created unrest and disaffection, fell under Tiberius’ displeasure. Now one complaint with reference to Pilate’s administration had already been made to Tiberius and had brought forth a sharp reprimand from him. A second complaint might prove his ruin. These crimes of his were just weapons in his opponents’ hands. And that was the threat that finally brought Pilate to his knees. Philo, speaking of another occasion on which the Jews threatened to report him to Tiberius, says, “The threat exasperated Pilate to the greatest possible degree, as he feared lest they might go on an embassy to the Emperor, and might impeach with respect to other particulars of his government, his corruption, his acts of insolence, his rapine, and his habit of insulting people, his cruelty, and his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and his never-ending, gratuitous and most grievous inhumanity.” Thus Pilate knew that he had given only too much ground for complaint, and that he could not afford to let these priests and elders complain to Caesar. Here was a man burdened by his own past.

The Past and the Present.

A past of sin is a terrific hindrance to a present of virtue. This is a commonplace that scarcely needs enforcement. Peter’s first lie to the maid, for instance, almost drove him to the blasphemous denial before the officers round the fire. When the men challenged him, Peter’s courage might have come back and he might have bravely owned his Lord. But he had already given himself away by lying to the maid, and he had to keep up the deception. A young fellow away from home accompanies foolish and wicked companions to some evil haunt of pleasure. By so doing he delivers himself into their hands. Later, he may want to turn over a new leaf. He may want to live pure and speak true. But evil companions can always quote against him his own past. “Why,” they will say to him, “you saw no wrong in it on such and such a time.” And so the sin of yesterday becomes a hindrance in the way of uprightness today. All this teaches the old and familiar lesson-beware of the first beginnings of sin. For sin is not done with when it is committed. Do you remember that tragic confession of Sir Percivale in Tennyson’s Idylls? With other knights he had been inspired to engage in the quest of the Holy Grail, which is only a mystical way of saying that he was moved to give himself to the holy and dedicated life. But his past proved an insuperable obstacle:

“Then every evil word I had spoken once,

And every evil thought I had thought of old,

And every evil deed I ever did,

Awoke and cried, ‘This quest is not for thee.’

And lifting up mine eyes I found myself

Alone and in a land of sand and thorns,

And I was thirsty even unto death;

And I too cried, ‘This quest is not for thee.'”

Pilate was like Percivale. He was crippled for the duty of today by the wrong of yesterday.

Scepticism and Weakness.

That was one cause of Pilate’s breakdown. The second main cause of his failure was his scepticism. When Jesus talked about every one “who was of the truth,” hearing His voice, Pilate asked in reply, “What is truth?” Now there are all sorts of ways of saying, “What is truth?” A man may say it with desperate and almost heartbroken earnestness. He may be lost in the mazes of perplexity and doubt, and he may feel that his very happiness and life depend on knowing what is truth. “O that I knew where I might find Him that I might come even to His seat,” cries one of the patriarchs. His heart was in the cry; for the truth about God was a matter of life and death to him. A man may ask, “What is truth?” in the spirit of intellectual curiosity. He may be interested in the truth as a problem. That perhaps is the prevailing temper of our own day. But Pilate did not ask the question, “What is truth?” in the spirit of the man who is intellectually interested in the search for truth. Still less did he ask it with the passionate eagerness of the man who feels he must know the truth or die. He asked it in the sneering temper of the sceptic. “Jesting Pilate!” Bacon calls him. But “jesting” is not the right adjective. Jesting carries with it a suggestion of geniality and sunshine. But there was nothing genial about this question of Pilate. It was bitter, scornful, cynical. It was sceptical, unbelieving Pilate who asked that question. Pilate did not believe there was such a thing as truth. You remember Gibbon’s epigrammatic description of the Roman attitude towards religion. “The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosopher as equally false, and by the magistrates as equally useful.” Pilate as an educated Roman reproduced the sceptical temper of his day.

Pilate, Weak, Unprincipled.

Now the main criticisms passed upon Pilate in his conduct of Christ’s trial are these: (1) He showed himself a weakling. He allowed himself to be driven into the crime of sentencing to death a person who was not only innocent, but who impressed him as the noblest and holiest person in whose presence he had ever stood. “I find no fault in Him,” that was Pilate’s verdict. He delivered Him to be crucified, that was Pilate’s sentence. For all his Roman pride, Pilate showed himself a moral weakling. (2) And the second criticism is this, he tried to secure by policy and stratagem what he ought to have stood out for on principle. Christ was innocent and he knew it. But instead of acquitting Him as a matter of justice, he tried to secure His acquittal by policy.

-Because Without Faith.

These criticisms are amply justified, but they only deal with surface symptoms and not with the real disease. His weakness and his stratagem are the evidences of a deeper mischief. And that deeper mischief was this: he was a man without faith, without any outlook to the spiritual and the eternal. Pilate’s scepticism was the secret of his moral collapse. Pilate’s universe was bounded by the world he could touch and hear and see. The factors he had to deal with, were Tiberius away in Rome, and these menacing priests and the howling mob before his eyes. God never entered into his calculations. That is why Pilate proved a weakling. For to be courageous a man must have faith in God. If there is no God vindicating right and punishing wrong, if there is no judgment beyond the human judgment, then to the clamorous demands of the people, to the will of society men will inevitably bow. It is only in the fear of God men can brave the wrath of their fellows.

The Lesson for Us.

The lesson of it all is obvious. Scepticism in the long run spells weakness and disaster. A great deal has been written and said in praise of “honest doubt.” I frankly admit there may be “honest doubt”; with the honest doubter I have every sympathy. But the state of doubt even when honest is not a state to be cultivated. According to our faith it shall be unto us. Faith is the positive quality in life. Without faith, morality is not safe. The ethical life stands but a poor chance apart from religion. The man who has no fixed stars in his sky, in the shape of faith in God, and in right, and in a judgment to come, makes shipwreck. If we are to do right at all costs, to live pure, to speak true, we must have faith in God.

Here is a prayer for us, living as we do in a world crowded with temptation, lest we sin as Pilate sinned and fall as Pilate fell, “Lord, increase our faith.”

Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary

5

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

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mar 15:15. Wishing to content the multitude. The word wishing points to a decision, a determination, neither a hearty desire, nor a mere permission. In Mat 1:19 the same word is translated was minded. Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but in the dilemma (of his own making) concluded to gratify the mob. On the scourging see on Mat 27:26.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 15

Willing to content the people. He made every effort to save Jesus, as is more particularly related by the evangelist John 18:28-19:15. At last, dreading a tumult, (Matthew 27:24,) and afraid, perhaps, of being himself accused before the Roman emperor, (John 19:12,) he reluctantly yielded.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Pilate had had problems in his relations with the Jewish people that he governed (cf. Luk 13:1-2). He saw the present situation as an opportunity to gain popular support. This overrode his sense of justice and his wife’s warning.

Evidently Pilate flogged Jesus in the presence of the crowd hoping that that punishment would satisfy them. John recorded that after the flogging Pilate tried again to persuade the people against crucifixion (Joh 19:1-7). Flogging was not a necessary preparation for crucifixion. [Note: Wessel, p. 775.] Probably two soldiers stripped Jesus and tied His hands above him to a post. Then they beat Him with a leather whip with pieces of bone and or metal embedded in the leather strips. Victims of Roman floggings seldom survived. [Note: Ibid.]

"The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. . . . Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue." [Note: C. Truman Davis, "The Crucifixion of Jesus. The Passion of Christ from a Medical Point of View," Arizona Medicine 22:3 (March 1965):185.]

Mark’s use of the phrase "delivered Him over" (NASB) or "handed Him over" (NIV) may be an allusion to Isa 53:6; Isa 53:12 where the same expression occurs in the Septuagint translation. This reminder of Jesus’ position as the Suffering Servant is the emphasis in Mark’s account of this aspect of His trial.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)