Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 15:20
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.
20. and led him out ] The place of execution was without the gates of the city.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 15:20
And led Him out to crucify Him.
Preparations for crucifixion
The case was shut and the last chance was gone, and Pilate uttered the terrible formula, Go, soldier; get the cross ready! The cross, perhaps, was found on a pile of grim lumber in some prison yard not far off. Perhaps it was a bole of some common tree, with the boughs lopped off and the bark left on. This log and its transverse beam had to be roughly knocked together at the place of crucifixion-not before. Some officer would say to the man and his mates who went for it: You may as well bring two other crosses, for there are two other men to be crucified, and we may as well put them all three to death together, and so save trouble. Meanwhile, there stands Jesus meekly waiting, still thorn-crowned-for, when the soldiers took away the fantastic robe they did not take away (according to any evidence that we have) the crown of thorns. Then the two convicts are fetched out, and yonder they slouch. Ah! I can almost see the two horrors-two hard, white-grey cruel faces, two pairs of eyes that shift and shine under two shocks of rough wild hair. Now all is ready. The three are formed into a line, each one carrying a part of his cross, and each one has slung before him, from his neck, a board whitened with gypsum, on which you see his name and crime scored in great red letters. A centurion, on horseback, goes first; and then comes the Holy One, sinking under the shaft of His cross. The crier walks by His side, shouting, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews! Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews! The second man comes after Him, and the third man after him, attended in like manner. As they stagger slowly along, all the reeking, ragged lazzaroni swarm out in larger numbers from the slums of outcast Jerusalem, leaping, laughing, swearing, and playing off practical jokes upon one another. (Charles Stanford, D. D.)
The way to the cross
The procession formed, and started on its way. First went a trumpeter to call attention and clear the road. This was usual both among the Romans and the Jews. Among the latter a herald led the way, crying out, So-and-so, the son of So-and-so, is being led forth to execution. The witnesses against Him are so and so. If anyone knows any reason why the sentence be remitted or deferred, let him now declare it. Also, when a criminal had been sentenced, two members of the council accompanied him to execution. We may be sure it was so on this occasion, Jesus had been condemned to death by the Sanhedrim, and members of it would be likely to attend and see that Christ was really slain; we find also that when He hung upon the cross some of these were present, who mocked, and these were probably the two members delegated to assist at the execution, according to law. A centurion also attended the procession, mounted on horseback. He represented the governor, and his function was to see that the execution was properly and fully carried out, and that the person executed died on his cross. We see in the presence of the centurion under the cross, when Christ died, as well as in that of the chief priests deriding Jesus as He hung, one of those many little touches of truth, those undesigned coincidences, which serve to show the fidelity of the record to the facts of the case. A considerable detachment of soldiers was also in attendance, and accompanied the Lord on His way to death. There were fears of a riot, and possibly of an attempt to release the two thieves. If these were, as we may suppose, of the band of Barabbas, they were not only found guilty because they were robbers, but also because they were political offenders. The mob had demanded and obtained the release of Barabbas; it was not unlikely they might make an attempt to free the two other conspirators. Now try to picture the train as it moved. The streets of Jerusalem were narrow, and though the road chosen was one of the principal streets, yet that street was by no means broad. It was part of the custom to convey criminals to death through the most frequented portions of the city. Quinctilian says, As often as we crucify criminals, the most populous streets are traversed, so that the crowd may see and be filled with fear. Another ancient writer gives a description of the cross bearing of a slave, which is interesting, as it shows what the usage then was, and helps us to realize the scene when Christ went through the streets of Jerusalem to His passion. He says that a noble Roman had delivered over one of his slaves to death, and he bade the fellow slaves convey this man about Rome, and make his death as conspicuous and notorious as possible. He had been first scourged in the Forum, and then dragged about to all the most frequented parts of the city. He was made to carry his cross, his hands were bound to the arms of the cross, and the full weight of the rough cross was laid on his back and shoulders, bleeding and raw from the scourging he had received. The streets were not only narrow, but they were winding. The way led to the gate Gennath, or the Garden Gate, which was in the corner between the old wall of Zion and the wall of the lower town, and belonged to the latter. It was so called, because, outside the city, to the north of the Pool of Hezekiah, lay gardens belonging to citizens, one of which, as we learn later, belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. The procession moves on, in the full glare of day, with the hot Syrian sun streaming down on the train. Above, the sky is blue, the street, though narrow, is full of light, for the walls reflect the glare of the sun. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)
The scene at Calvary
1. What was crucifixion? To the devout Christian every item of information he can gain concerning that dread scene at Calvary is of the utmost value.
1. It was foreign in every sense in its infliction upon our Lord. This kind of capital punishment was Roman, and not Jewish.
2. It was excessively cruel in its details. The word which it has given to our English language indicates its severity. To be excruciated simply means to be in suffering like that of crucifixion; it signifies the extreme anguish to which human sensibility can go.
3. It was long and lingering in its operation. Severe as these wounds were, they could never be very dangerous. Hardly more than a few drops of blood fell from them. It would have been too much of a merciful indulgence for this mode of execution to make any of its agonizing strokes immediately fatal. Death did not ensue sometimes until after several days of torture. Even then it was brought on by weakness and starvation, coupled with the low fever which the inflammation from the wounds sooner or later produced. The great suffering was caused by the constrained posture on the cross, the soreness of the members from the nails, and of the back from the welts raised by the whips in the scourging. Every motion brought with it only anguish without relief. Thus the poor body was permitted to hang with no respite and no hope, through the night and through the day, in the chillness of the evening, in the heat of the noon, until death lint an end to consciousness add to life.
4. Such a punishment powerfully arrested the popular imagination as a spectacle. Sometimes the military men put on guard were compelled to accelerate the final agony by brutally beating the legs of the victims with bludgeons till the bones were crushed and the sudden shocks produced collapse. No wonder people called this the most cruel, the worst possible fate. It is on record that a soldier once said that, of all the awful sounds human ears could be forced to listen to, the most terrible out of hell were those pitiable cries, in the solemn silence of the midnight, from the lonely hill where crucified men were hanging in agonies out of which they could not even die while a breath to suffer with remained.
5. So we see whence came the suggestion of a crucifix as a symbol of faith and penitence. It is not likely that the physical pains of our Lord were the severest He had to bear; but they certainly have availed from the earliest time to move the hearts of the simpleminded common people. Nor is this all: there are moments of deep spiritual feeling when even the most cultivated penitent will find an argument in the agony and bloody sweat as well as in the cross and passion of the Divine Redeemer. The popular mind is moved by such a picture; but the mistake might easily be made of trusting a crucifix in an impulse of superstition, instead of Christ on a principle of faith.
II. So much, then, as to the manner of our Lords crucifixion; now comes up for our study a far more interesting question concerning its meaning.
1. Considered merely as a matter of historic incident, the death of Jesus Christ is of little, if any, spiritual value. Doubtless there were other executions at Golgotha before and after this one, equally painful and equally iniquitous-for the Roman government in Palestine was never free from charges of injustice. We do not care, however, to remember the sufferers names. And Christs crucifixion is but one more wail of abused humanity, if we contemplate it alone.
2. We must consider this event as a matter of theological doctrine. When history is so momentous and so mysterious as this, we are compelled to read below the surface and between the lines. He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God in order that He should suffer precisely as He did (Act 2:23). Men wreaked their violent passions upon Him, and it was by wicked and responsible hands He was crucified and slain. Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself (Dan 9:26). The wisdom of God overruled the wrath of His murderers to the Divine glory and the salvation of men. One of the ancient commentators springs up almost out of sober exposition into the realm of song, as he exclaims; In their frantic anger they pluck to pieces the Rose of Sharon; but by so doing they only display the brilliance of every petal. In their fury they break a diamond into fragments; by which they only cause it to show its genuineness by its sparkling splinters. They are anxious to tear from Immanuels head the last remnant of a crown; but they only lift the veil from the forehead of His majesty!
3. More than anything else we must also consider the crucifixion of Jesus as a matter of vicarious atonement. There is something very fine in the quiet simplicity with which one of the apostles explains this entire scene at Calvary: All have sinned. Christ died to be a propitiation through faith in His blood (Rom 3:23-26). Pilate wrote an inscription to be put over the head of the Saviour; according to a Roman custom, this was designed to explain the transaction to all who stood by. The true inscription on the cross would be Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. These are the words which would give to the scene at Calvary its eternal interpretation before the Church and the ages. The very voice of Immanuel Himself as He seems to speak out of the midst of His suffering, is: See! I have taken away the handwriting that was against you, and have nailed it to My cross (Col 2:13-14). The one word which describes the whole gospel plan of salvation is substitution. Christ was sinless, yet He suffered: we are sinful, yet we go free (2Co 5:21).
4. This will lead at last to our consideration of the crucifixion as a matter of personal experience. Believers all glory in the cross. Many a death bed has been illumined by its light. Many a sorrowful and lonely heart has been encouraged by the remembrance of it. There have been old men, just trembling on the verge of the tomb, whose eyes filled with the tears of grateful gladness as they died thinking of it. There have arisen voices from around the stake in the midst of the martyrs flames, singing praise to Him who hung upon it. Many a bowed sinner has come forth into freedom as he laid his burden at the foot of the cross. This personal experience begins with self-renunciation. Every other reliance must absolutely be surrendered, and each soul must become content to owe its salvation to Jesus Christs merits, not to its own. So this personal experience continues to the end with a deep solicitude against lapsing into sin again. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And when they had mocked him,…. To their satisfaction, and had had enough of this sort of diversion:
they took off the purple from him; and so, in their way, unkinged him;
and put his own clothes on him: both that he might be known to be the same person; and that the four soldiers, who had the charge of him, might have the perquisites of his clothes at his execution:
and led him out to crucify him: they led him out of the “praetorium”, or judgment hall, and through the city, without the gates of it, to the usual place of crucifixion; he bearing his own cross, when first led out.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They lead him out ( ). Vivid historical present after imperfects in verse 19.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when they had mocked Him,” (kai hote enepaiksan auto) “And when they had mocked Him, ‘ when they mocked Him for a time, and were finished, Mat 27:31.
2) ”They took off the purple from Him,” (eksedusan auton ten prophuran) “They took off and from Him the purple robe,” also called a scarlet robe by Matthew, likely both purple and scarlet, colors indicating royalty, Mat 27:28.
3) “And put His own clothes on Him,” (kai enedusan auton ta himatia autou) “And put on Him His own garments,” or clothes, Mat 27:31.
4) “And Ied Him out to crucify Him.” (kai eksagousin auton hina staurososin auton) “And they led Him forth (out and away) in order that they might crucify Him,” Heb 13:11-14; outside the walls of the holy city, away from the Roman praetorium court area where they had mocked and derided Him, Joh 19:16. For He did suffer and die, as Divinely appointed, rejected by His own, “without the city,” away from the Holy place, counted as a criminal heathen by His own people, Joh 1:11-12; Isa 53:3-12; Heb 13:12; to die an accursed death, Gal 3:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple, and put on him his own clothes. And they lead him out to crucify him.’
Such was the justice and the treatment He received on earth. As had been prophesied long before, ‘By oppression and judgment He was taken away’ (Isa 53:8). They mocked Him. That was all He was to them. And once they had finished with Him they reclothed Him and led Him off to crucify Him. Men were crucified naked, but His being reclothed was a sop to Jewish prejudices against nakedness. They would not have wanted a naked man paraded through the streets of Jerusalem. With regard to the whole we should remember the words of Isaiah, ‘And as for His generation, who among them considered that He was cut off from the land of the living? For the transgression of my people was He stricken’ (Isa 53:8).
While Pilate must undoubtedly receive some of the blame for not standing firm, and for yielding to political pressure, there is no way in which we can avoid the fact that it was mainly the vindictive hatred of the Jewish leaders, acting contrary to what the people wanted, which was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, as Jesus had prophesied all along. All the evidence points that way and none points against it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Crucifixion (15:20-39).
It must have come as a huge anti-climax to those who heard this story for the first time when they learned that this One Who had done such good and had taught so well should now be in a position of being led off to be crucified. We know the story so well that we take it for granted. But we also still recognise the staggering nature of it. Here was God’s beloved Son, Whose one interest had been in the needs of His fellowmen, (even if that had meant that He sometimes made them feel uncomfortable), and He was now being borne off, bleeding and battered to be nailed to a cross.
Mark tells the whole story succintly and without obvious emotion. He is concerned for the plain facts of what happened, put plainly and simply, and the only detail that he goes into is that of the words spoken by Jesus’ enemies, which he clearly wanted to highlight, for they paradoxically brought out why Jesus was there. For every reader and hearer would soon know that He did not remain dead, but ‘arose’. While He did not come down from the cross, He did something more. He defeated death once and for all and rose again from the dead. Thus did He save both Himself and others.
Analysis.
a
b And they lead Him out to crucify him. And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them that he might bear His cross. And they bring him to the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted ‘the place of a skull (Mar 15:20-22).
c And they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh and He did not receive it. And they crucify him and part his clothes among them, casting lots on them what each should take (Mar 15:23-24).
d 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 15:25-26).
e And with Him they crucify two brigands, one on His right hand and one on His left (Mar 15:27).
f And those who passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Ha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross” (Mar 15:29-30).
g In the same way also the Chief Priests, mocking Him among themselves with the Scribes, said, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save” (Mar 15:31)
f “Let the Messiah the king of Israel now come down from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mar 15:32 a).
e And those who were crucified with Him reproached Him. And when the sixth hour was come there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (Mar 15:32-33).
d And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani” which is, being interpreted, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mar 15:34).
c And some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “See, he calls Elijah.” And one ran, and filling a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed and gave Him it to drink, saying, “Let be. Let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down” (Mar 15:35-36).
b And Jesus, having uttered a loud cry, breathed His last, and the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom (Mar 15:37-38).
a And when the centurion who stood opposite Him saw that He breathed his last in such a way, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mar 15:39).
Note that in ‘a’ the soldiers, having mocked Him, removed the purple robe, and reclothed Him in His own now disreputable clothes, while in the parallel the Roman centurion in contrast exalted Him to the skies, clothing Him in glory by declaring Him to be the Son of God. In ‘b’ His journey to death is vividly portrayed, led out to be crucified, the crosspiece borne by another, the symbolic arrival at the place of a skull, and in the parallel we have God’s verdict on it as Jesus breathes His last and the inner curtain of the Temple is torn in two. In ‘c’ He is offered wine to drink and would not partake of it, being then stripped naked and crucified while the soldiers gambled for His clothes, a picture of total humiliation, and in the parallel He is again offered wine to drink and this time He drinks, and they desire to see whether Elijah, who was often called on by the religiously destitute, would come to save Him. In ‘d’ it was the third hour and they crucified Him and placarded Him as the King of the Jews, (God’s chosen), and in the parallel it was the ninth hour, and He cried out ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me’. (He was the rejected One). In ‘e’ two brigands were crucified on either side of Him, and in the parallel the two brigands reproach Him. In ‘f’ the bystanders wag their heads at Him and describe Him as the supposed miraculous Temple destroyer and restorer, and in the parallel the Chief Priests tell Him that if He is the Christ He should come down from the cross so that they might see and believe. Centrally in ‘g’ the Chief Priests declare that ‘He saved others, Himself He cannot save’, something soon to be totally disproved.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Christ led to His crucifixion:
v. 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.
v. 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.
v. 22. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The Place of a Skull.
v. 23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but He received it not.
v. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
v. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. The soldiers soon grew tired of their sport; their victim did not react properly. He bore everything with sublime, majestic fortitude and patience, instead of crying out in pain and anger, as they had anticipated. They therefore took the mantle of mockery off Him and put His own clothes back on Him. The last act of the greatest drama in the world was about to begin; they led Him out from the palace of the governor and the city to crucify Him, to carry out the unjust decree of an unjust judge. Now Jesus had been under terrific physical, mental, and spiritual strain during the last days, and especially during the past twelve hours. The agony of Gethsemane, the capture, the trial in the palace of the high priest with the mockery heaped upon Him, the lack of rest during the night, the bloody scourging which He had just been compelled to endure, all this now combined to sap His strength. And so the soldiers, as the procession had reached the open space before the gates, made use of a right which they possessed, namely, to impress into service any man who happened to meet them. It so chanced that Simon, a Cyrenian, was coming in from the country. He may have been a belated pilgrim, or he may have gone out early on this morning, since the day was in some respects not held quite so strictly as the Sabbath. The evangelist remarks that this Simon was the father of two men that seem to have been well known to his readers, Alexander and Rufus, Rom 16:13; Act 19:33. So Simon, drafted into service, here had what he probably later considered the great honor of bearing the cross of Jesus for Him: But the physical weakness of Jesus was becoming greater continually. It was now necessary for the soldiers to support Him and probably to carry Him the last part of the way, to the place known as Golgotha, explained by the evangelist as meaning the place of a skull, on account of the peculiar shape of the hill, which resembled the upper part of a human skull. It was the custom to give to the condemned some potion which would tend to deaden the sensibilities, a mixture of wine, or vinegar, with myrrh or gall. But Jesus refused this drink; He wanted to endure His sufferings with full consciousness. And so they fastened him to the cross; they carried out the governor’s sentence. The crucified criminal was divested of his clothing, with the probable exception of a loin-cloth, and therefore the soldiers took the garments of Jesus, putting up the various pieces into four heaps or parts, and then gambled for the several heaps, the highest number taking the best clothes. The coat was, according to the account of Joh 19:24, made a separate stake, since it could not be divided. Mark notes the hour of the crucifixion, the third hour of the day, nine o’clock in the morning. Thus did the crucifixion of the Lord of heaven and earth take place. The princes of this world crucified the Lord of glory, 1Co 2:8. Christ suffered the punishment of a criminal, 1Pe 2:24. The chastisement of our peace lay upon Him, Isa 53:5. He endured the shame and disgrace of this form of punishment, Heb 12:2. With His free will and consent He was hanged to the tree of cursing, Gal 3:13. His entire Passion was for our benefit, for the blessing of the whole world.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
XXVIII
THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST THE FIRST THREE HOURS
Harmony, pages 207-212 and Mat 27:31-44
Upon the execution of Jesus by crucifixion I have one general remark. Far back yonder in Old Testament history, in the days of Moses, is this saying, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” The one hanged on a tree was lifted up. See particularly the expiatory case of hanging up the sons of Saul. Hence also the typical act of Moses in lifting up the brazen serpent, and our Lord’s application to his own case as antitypical: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” a type that the Saviour of the world was to die by crucifixion. Jesus explained in his lifetime that by being lifted up signified the manner of his death.
The question comes up, Why was Jesus crucified, since the Jewish penalty was death by stoning? They did not crucify they stoned other people. How mighty the spirit of prophecy, so far back in history, to foretell a method of punishing not known to the prophet in his age!
Now we commence on page 207 of the Harmony. I will give first the events leading to the place of crucifixion, and what transpired there. The incidents, in their order, as we see on page 207, are as follows: The first incident is expressed near the top in John’s column: “They took Jesus, therefore; and he went out bearing the cross for himself.” In view of the next incident, it is quite probable that in his fasting and weakness, and his lack of sleep, he was physically unable to carry that cross from the judgment seat to the place of crucifixion, and fainted under it. Hence we come to the second incident, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke: “And as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon, by name: him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross.” So Christ bore his own cross until they got out of the city, and being unable to carry it longer, the crucifiers took a man that they met coming into the city and compelled him to bear the cross. There is a song we all have heard: Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me. Judge Andrew Broadus, who was once president of the old Baptist State Convention of Texas, once said that when this song was first written, or certainly as they used to sing it in old Virginia, it read thus: Must Simon bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me.
The newspapers reported that when the Pan-Episcopal Council was held in the City of London (the Pan-Council is an all-the-world council) Dean Stanley, dean of the ceremonies, put up to preach in Westminster Abbey a coal black Negro, Bishop of Haiti; and when that Negro got up to preach in the presence of royalty, nobility, and the professors of the great colleges or universities of Oxford and Cambridge, surrounded by “storied urn and animated bust,” he read the scripture about the two sons of Zebedee being presented by their mother for the positions on the right hand and on the left hand in the kingdom of Jesus; and he fashioned his text this way: “Lord, let my son John have the place on thy right hand in thy kingdom, and let my son James have the place on thy left hand in thy kingdom.” Then the Negro said, “Let us pray,” and offered this prayer: O God, who hast fashioned all of our hearts like, and hast made of one blood all the nations of men that inhabit the earth, we pray thee that the sons of Shem who betrayed the Lord may have the place on thy right hand, and the sons of Japheth who crucified the Saviour may have the place on thy left hand; but let the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the African, who bore thy cross, have the place at the outer gate, where some of the sweetness of the song from within, and something of the light of the glory of God in heaven may fall upon them, but where, looking earthward, they may see Ethiopia stretching out her dusky hands to God and hear the footfalls of the sons of Gush coming home to heaven.
That Negro preacher based his thought upon the geography of Simon the Cyrenian. Cyrene is a province of northern Africa, but it does not follow that because he was from Cyrene he was a Negro, and this Simon certainly was not. He was rather the father of Alexander and Rufus, well-known Jews. But, anyhow, that Negro’s prayer, in my judgment, was the most eloquent language ever spoken in Westminster Abbey.
I call attention to a singular sermon. At a meeting of Waco Association many years ago, held with the East Waco church, Rev. C. E. Stephen preached the annual sermon from this text: “Him they compelled to bear his cross,” referring to Simon. Simon, the Cyrenian, him they (the enemies of Christ) compelled to bear the cross of Christ. It certainly was a singular sermon. His thought was this: That if a man professes to be a Christian and will not voluntarily take up the cross of his Lord and Master, the outside world will compel him to bear that cross, or they will advertise him well abroad. “Compelling a Christian to bear the cross,” was his theme. For instance, it is reported that in the days of demoniacal possession Satan took possession of a Christian, and when he was summoned before a saint with power to cast out demons, and asked how he dared to enter into a Christian he said, with much extenuation, “I did not go to the church after him; he came into my territory. I found him in the ballroom and in the saloon, and I took possession of him.” Whenever, therefore, a Christian departs from true cross-bearing; when he leaves the narrow way by a little stile and goes over into the territory of Giant Despair, he is soon locked up in Doubting Castle until he is compelled to bear his cross.
The next incident related is that a great multitude followed. And a great multitude will follow a show, parade, even a band of music, or a hanging of any kind. I once saw 7,000 people assembled to see a man hanged, and since I saw it, I was there myself. Now, here was a man to be hanged on a tree, and a great multitude followed from various motives. In this multitude were a great many women who bewailed and lamented. They followed from no principle of curiosity, no desire to see a show, but with intense sympathy they looked upon him when he fainted under the burden of the cross that he was carrying his own cross. The women wept, and right at that point the great artists of the world with matchless skill have taken that scene for a painting, and we have a great masterpiece of Christ sinking under the cross and a woman reaching out her hands and weeping and crying, dragging up Simon the Cyrenian to make him take the cross.
The next incident is that of the two malefactors also condemned to crucifixion, walking along with him. They had their crosses, and Jesus had his cross with the malefactors. And another incident is that they came to the place of crucifixion, which is, in the Hebrew, or Aramaic, called Golgotha, and in the Latin version it is called Calvary. Golgotha and Calvary mean exactly the same thing, “a skull.” Dr. Broadus rightly says that this was a place where a projection of the hill or mountainside assumes the shape of a skull. You can see a picture of it in any of the books illustrative of the travels in the Holy Land; and there that rocky skull seems to stand out now. That is the place where Jesus was crucified. If you were to go there they would tell you he was crucified where the holy sepulcher is situated; they would show you a piece of the “true cross” if you wanted to see it. They have disposed of enough of the pieces of the “true cross” to make a forest.
Just as they came to the place of crucifixion, Golgotha, they made a mixture of wine and gall. The object of that was to stupefy him so as to deaden the pain that would follow when they began to drive the nails in his hands, just as a doctor would administer ether, laudanum, or chloroform, and Jesus, knowing what it was, refused to drink it. He looked at what was before him, and he wanted to get to it with clear eyes and with a clear brain. Some men seek stupefication of drugs, and others that of spirits, such as alcohol, suggested by still lower spirits of another kind; and they drug themselves in order that they may sustain the terrible ordeal they are to undergo. Christ refused to drink. These are the incidents on the way and at the place.
Now they have gotten to the place, and it is said, “They crucified him.” The word “crucify” comes from crux, meaning “a cross,” that is, they put him on a cross. There are three kinds of crosses. One looks like X, or the multiplication sign; that is called St. Andrew’s cross; another was like a T. This probably was the oldest form. The third form is like a + with the upright stroke extending above the crossbar. This is the most usual form, and is the real form of the cross on which Christ was crucified. Except the cross had been made in this last fashion, there could not have been put over his head the accusation that we will look at directly. The tall beam was lying on the ground, Christ was laid on it, and a hole was dug as a socket into which the lower end of it could be placed after he was fastened on it. Then he was stretched out so that his hands, with palms upward, would come on that crosspiece, and with huge spikes through each hand he was nailed to that crosspiece. Then his feet were placed over each other with the instep up, and a longer spike was driven through the two feet into the centerpiece. When he was thus nailed, they lifted that cross up just as they do these big telegraph poles. They lifted up that cross with him on it and dropped it into its socket in the ground. You can imagine the tearing of his hands and of his feet; but he said nothing.
When they had crucified him, the record says, “And sitting down they watched him there.” When I was a young preacher, in 1869, I was invited to preach a commencement sermon at Waco University, afterward consolidated with and known as Baylor University. So I came up to preach this commencement sermon, and my text was, “Sitting down, they watched him there,” explaining who “they” were; the different people that watched him, and the different emotions excited in their minds as they watched him; the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the elders, the Romans, the curious crowd they watched him, and they watched him there on the cross. Many years afterward, George v. Truett came to my house one day and said, “I would like to see a sermon you preached when a young man.” So I gave him that sermon to look at. He sat there and read it with tears in his eyes, and said, finally, “You can’t beat it now.”
The next thought is: What time of day was it? The record says that it was the third hour, which means, counting from sunup of our time, nine o’clock exactly, when the cross was dropped into the socket. And now is presented the thought that the two malefactors the thieves, or robbers, along with him were crucified, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. He was crucified between two thieves, and what a proverb that has become -0- “crucified between two thieves!” The sinless man and only holy man by nature and perfect obedience that ever lived crucified as a sinner and between two evildoers. How dramatic how pathetic!
Now for the first time Jesus speaks. On the way to the cross he had spoken just once. He had said to those weeping women: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me: weep for yourselves and for your children.” And then he tells them of the awful doom coming on that city and on that nation, because of their rejection of Christ. He never opened his mouth again until in this first voice, hanging there between those two thieves, and looking at his executioners, he says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Whoever, under such circumstances, prayed such a prayer? The martyrs oftentimes afterward, when they were bound to the stake and burned and the flames would begin to rise, and the Spirit of Christ would come on them, would stretch out their hands through the fire and say, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” That is voice one.
The next incident is that there were right under the cross the four soldiers four were detached at each cross, according to the Roman custom, the executioners who were entitled to the effects of the victim. And they had taken off all his outer garments before they crucified him. Now these four men take various articles of his apparel and divide them: “Now, you take the girdle and I’ll take the turban”; “I will take the inner coat,” and so on. But they came to the outer coat, a seamless coat, and being without a seam, how could they divide that? So they agreed to gamble for it. And there, with Christ, hanging on the cross and dying, the men that impaled him there gamble for his clothes. And the record says that two scriptures were fulfilled thereby. One scripture says, “They parted my garments [vestments] among them, and for my garment did they cast lots.”
In order to see the dramatic effect on many painters, of Christ on the way to the cross, of Christ on the cross, and of Christ being let down from the cross, just go into a good and great picture gallery in Europe, or into a real good one in the United States. There will be seen the great master-paintings of Christ before Pilate, the Lord’s Supper, Christ sinking under the burden of the cross, Christ nailed to the cross, Christ hanging on the cross, or Christ taken down from the cross. Picture after picture comes up before you from the brushes of the great master painters of the world.
The next incident recorded is: They nailed up above his head a wide board on which the accusation against him was written. That was in accordance with the law that if a man be put to death, a violent death, over his head, where everybody could see it, could be read the charge against him. Now, I will reconcile the different statements of that accusation. Mark says, “The King of the Jews”; Luke says, “This is the King of the Jews”; Matthew says, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; John says, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
So we see that Luke prefixes two words, Matthew puts in the word “Jesus,” and John adds the other two words “of Nazareth.” So we take the simple statement first and go to the most complex, the four statements given by the historians, just as it is given above. All tradition is agreed as to “The King of the Jews,” and each one of the historians adds some other thought. As I said in a previous discussion, that accusation was written in Hebrew, or Aramaic, in Greek, and in Latin, and this will account for some variations in the form of the statement. Suppose, for instance, in Aramaic it was: “This is the King of the Jews”; in Latin, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; in Greek, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”; you can see how each one could have written just exactly as he should read it; and everybody that passed by, seeing a man hanging on the cross would look up and say, “What has he done, this King of the Jews? What has this Jesus, the King of the Jews done? What has Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, done?”
So Pilate wrote on that board that went over the head of Jesus Christ on the cross, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He had not been able to try him on any other offense than that. When the Jews saw that sign they said to Pilate, “Do not put it, ‘This is the King of the Jews,’ but write it that he said he was the King of the Jews.” Pilate then was petulant and said to them, “What I have written, I have written. You charge him with being King of the Jews, and I write that over his head on the cross.”
I heard Dr. Burleson preach thirteen times on what Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written.” He makes this application of it: “You cannot get away from anything that you have signed your name to: ‘What I have written, I have written,’ ” that you can ofttimes evade a word you have spoken, though the Arabs have a proverb that “the word spoken” is master. Lawyers will tell you: “Say what you please, but don’t write anything; curse a man if you want to, knock him down if you want to, kill him if you want to, but don’t write anything. Whatever you write is evidence, and that is against you; but so long as you don’t write anything we can defend you and get you off under some technicality of the law.” As a famous baron of England once said to a young man he encouraged: “Whisper any sort of nonsense you please in the ear of the girl, but don’t write a letter; that letter can be brought up in evidence against you.” Now we can see how Dr. Burleson made the application in that sermon, “What I have written, I have written.”
Pilate was determined that everybody should see and be able to read it; and so he wrote it in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They were the three languages of the world, and therefore when Conybeare and Howson began to write their Life of Paul , the motto of the first chapter is, “And the title was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin”: in Hebrew, that every Jew might be able to read it; in Greek that every scholar might be able to read it; in Latin that every Roman might be able to read it. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were the reigning languages of the world, and through the world in the three regnant languages there went this statement of Pilate: To the Jew, who said in his own language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Roman it went, being written in Latin, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Greek it went in his language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
The second voice is the next thought for consideration. You are not to suppose that he was up very high, but so that his feet were two or three feet above the ground. Then he had to be up there where everybody could see his face, and as they were watching him he was looking at his mother. In the Temple when he was presented, Simeon, whom God had declared should live until Christ came, turning to the mother, said, “This child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul.” And the sword comes.
The Romanists have a very beautiful tract called the “Sorrows of Mary.” I have a copy of it, but it is in Portuguese. The seven sorrows of Mary answer to the sword piercing her heart, and one of them was when Christ fell down under the cross, and another was when she saw him hanging on the cross. Now, he is looking at his mother. Joseph, her husband, has long since died. They were very poor when Joseph lived. As you know, they could offer only a pair of turtle doves when they presented him in the Temple. They were not able to offer even a kid or a lamb, they were so poor. And Jesus had no home nowhere to lay his head and his mother and his younger half-brothers would go around with him wherever he went. “Now you take care of the mother, the brokenhearted mother,” he said, as he looked down from the cross upon John. This next voice comes, then, as he speaks for his mother. John is seen as he looks down. So he says, “Mother, behold thy son!” And then he looks at John (who is now talking to his mother), and says, “Son, behold thy mother!” He meant for John to provide for her. Her own sons had no abiding place, no home. John was well-to-do the richest one of the apostles. So he charges John to take care of his mother, and from that hour John took her to his home. Now the Romanists say that this proves that these others were not half-brothers of Jesus that Mary never had but one child. They say, “If her own sons were living, why did Jesus give her over to John, her kinsman?” And the answer is that they had no home. John was rich; he had a home. John was nearer to Jesus than these half-brothers, and John was nearer to Mary than they were. The voices of Jesus, thus far, as he spoke from the cross: first, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; second, “Woman, behold thy son; Son, behold thy mother.” We will now consider the mocking that took place. Let us see who did that mocking.
First class: They that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Thus spake the passer-by.
Second class: “In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others; himself he cannot save. He is the king of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusteth on God; let him deliver him now, if he desireth him,” and they belonged to the Sanhedrin. How sarcastic and cutting they were!
Third class: “And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach.” The passer-by; the priests, scribes, and elders and his fellow sufferers, all mock him.
But Luke tells us a different story about one of these men hanging there. In other words, at first both of them mocked him, but one of them, looking at him, reflected about his case, became penitent, and he turned around then, and said to the other, “Dost thou not even fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due rewards of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss.” He rebukes himself and the other malefactor, dying there by the side of Christ. Penitence strikes him when he looks upon the matchless dignity, patience, and glory of Jesus. Twisting his head around toward Christ, he said, “Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” as a hymn so sweetly puts it: Jesus, thou art the sinner’s friend, As such I look to thee; Now in the fulness of thy love, O Lord, remember me.
I heard that hymn sung in a camp meeting when one thousand people wept and hundreds of lips spoke out and said, “O, Lord, remember me.”
We now come to the third voice of Jesus. “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” “You ask me to remember you when I come to my kingdom. I answer not hereafter, but right now. To-day you and I will enter Paradise together.” What a salvation! No wonder everybody wants to preach on the penitent thief. How gracious to see a man who had been a criminal, his hands stained with blood, being led out to execution, strange to say, being executed by the side of the Saviour, and there, instead of an ignominious death, the thought awaited him of the Paradise of the world to come!
The question arises: Where is Paradise? This question we will discuss in the next chapter (Mat 27:45-56 ).
QUESTIONS 1. What was the general remark on the crucifixion of Christ?
2. What was the first incident cited leading to the crucifixion?
3. What was the second incident, the hymn based thereon and, according to Andrew Broadus, what is the original text of the first stanza?
4. What was the incident of the Pan-Episcopal Council, based on this bearing of Christ’s cross?
5. What singular sermon cited and what is the application?
6. Who followed him to the place of crucifixion, what pathetic incident on the way, and what is the meaning and application of Christ’s little parable in Luk 23:31 ?
7. Where was Christ crucified, what is the description of the place and what is the story of the auctioneer illustrating the traditions of sacred places and things?
8. What anesthetic was offered Christ at the place of crucifixion and why did he not take it?
9. What is the meaning of “crucify,” what are the different kinds of crosses used and upon which kind was Christ crucified?
10. Describe the awful scene of nailing Christ to the cross and the erection of it.
11. Who “watched him there” and what was the effect on each class? (See sermon in the author’s first volume of sermons.)
12. At what hour of the day was the cross erected, and what makes this scene peculiarly dramatic and pathetic?
13. What was the first voice from the cross and how unlike any other saying ever uttered before?
14. What incident at the cross especially emphasizes the depravity of the human heart?
15. What was the dramatic effect of the crucifixion on the world’s artists?
16. What custom prevailed among the Romans in regard to an accusation under which a man was crucified?
17. What were the words so written, as given by the four historians, commencing with the briefest form and going in order to the longest, showing why there is no contradiction?
18. Why would not Pilate change the form of the accusation at the request of the Jews?
19. According to this accusation, under which of the three charges was Jesus executed blasphemy, treason, or sedition?
20. What great preacher preached many times on Pilate’s reply to the Jews and what was the application?
21. In what three languages was Christ’s accusation written, and why?
22. What was the second voice from the cross and why did Jesus commit the care of his mother to John?
23. Who mocked Jesus on the cross and what did each class of mockers say?
24. What was the case of the two thieves, what led to the repentance of one of them, what was his prayer and what hymn is based upon it?
25. What was the third voice from the cross, what was its meaning and what was the significance of the three crosses?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
20 23. ] HE IS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. Mat 27:31-34 .Luk 23:26-33Luk 23:26-33 . Joh 19:16-17 . See notes on these.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
to = to the end that they might.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20-23.] HE IS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. Mat 27:31-34. Luk 23:26-33. Joh 19:16-17. See notes on these.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
[20. , , and lead Him out) What is the mystery which lies hid under the fact, that our gracious Saviour was led out of the city, no mortal man, we may suppose, would have been likely to have discovered, not to say, would have been able to have persuaded others, had not the wisdom of the apostle instructed us on the subject, Heb 13:11-14.-Harm., p. 559.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and led: Mat 27:31, Joh 19:16
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:24 – smote Micaiah Psa 22:7 – laugh Luk 16:19 – purple Luk 23:36 – General Heb 9:19 – scarlet Heb 13:12 – suffered
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0
After these acts of mockery were concluded, the soldiers replaced the robe with his own clothing. Matthew, Mark and John mention the crown of thorns and also the robe of royal colors. They tell of the removal of the robe but neither of them says a word about removing the crown of thorns. We can reasonably conclude that our Lord was compelled to wear the instrument of mockery and torture throughout the six long hours of the scenes of the cross.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 15:20. Lead him out, i.e., out of the city, as the other accounts imply. This verse, except the last clause, properly belongs to the last section.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mar 15:20-21. And when they had mocked him, &c. These verses are explained in the note on Mat 27:31-32.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
CXXXIII.
THE CRUCIFIXION.
Subdivision A.
ON THE WAY TO THE CROSS.
(Within and without Jerusalem. Friday morning.)
aMATT. XXVII. 31-34; bMARK XV. 20-23; cLUKE XXIII. 26-33; dJOHN XIX. 17.
a31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the bpurple, arobe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who can measure the grace of God or the depravity of man?], d17 They took Jesus therefore: bAnd they lead him out to crucify him. aand led [722] him away to crucify him. dand he went out, bearing the cross for himself, a32 And as they came out, cwhen they led him away, athey found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: bone passing by, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, ahim they claid hold upon {bcompel acompelled} to go with them, that he might bear his cross. cand laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. [Cyrene was a flourishing city in the north of Africa, having in it a large Jewish population, and Simon shows by his name that he was a Jew. The Cyreneans had one or more synagogues in Jerusalem ( Act 2:10, Act 6:9, Act 11:20). There were many Cyreneans afterwards engaged in spreading the gospel ( Act 13:1), and since the sons of this man are spoken of as well known to Mark’s readers it is altogether likely that Simon was one of them. This Rufus may be the one mentioned by Paul ( Rom 16:13). The Roman soldiers found Simon entering the city, and because he was a stranger and they needed a man just then, they impressed him after the manner mentioned on Luk 19:43, Mat 24:15), Jesus refers to the sorrows which the Romans were to bring upon the Jews, and the meaning may be, If the fiery persecution of Rome is so consuming that my innocence, though again and again pronounced by the governor himself, is no protection against it, what will that fire do when it envelopes the dry, guilty, rebellious city of Jerusalem? Or we may make the present and the future grief of the women the point of comparison, and interpret thus: If they cause such sorrow to the women while the city is like a green tree, how much more when, like a dry, dead tree, it is about to fall.] 32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. b22 And they bring him unto the place dwhich is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: bwhich is, being interpreted, {athat is to say,} The place of a skull [Where this place was, or why it was so called, are matters of conjecture. All that we know certainly is that it was outside of, yet near, the city– Heb 13:12, Joh 19:20], c33 And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, a34 they gave {boffered} him wine ato drink mingled with gall: {bmyrrh:} but {aand} when he had tasted it, he would not drink. bhe received it not. [This mixture of sour wine mingled with gall and myrrh was intended to dull the sense of pain of those being crucified or otherwise severely punished. The custom is said to have originated with the Jews and not with the Romans. Jesus declined it because it was the Father’s will that he should suffer. He would not go upon the cross in a drugged, semi-conscious condition.] [724]
[FFG 722-724]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
CHAPTER 27.
JESUS LED TO CALVARY
Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. And they took Jesus, and led Him away, carrying His cross. Mark: And when they mocked Him, they divested Him of His purple robe, and put on Him His own raiment, and led Him away, that they may crucify Him. You see the crown of thorns was not taken off but remained on His brow throughout His crucifixion. They compel Simon, a certain Cyrenian along with them, having come from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he may bear His cross. As the city of Cyrene stood on the northern shore of Africa, there is at least a probability that this was a stout, muscular colored man, who enjoyed the honor of carrying the cross, which proved too much for the fainting Jesus after a night of sleepless harassment and terrible suffering, attended by the loss of much blood.
Luk 23:27-32. And a great crowd of people followed Him, and of women, who continued to weep and bewail Him. And Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bring forth, and the breasts which did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. These words of our Savior describe the horrific sufferings which came on those people forty years from that date, the Roman wars lasting five years, and resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of a million, the slavery of another million, the exile of the little remnant, and the annihilation of the Jewish polity. All this He saw in vivid panorama before His eyes mountains of the dead, rivers of blood, and the desolation of the city and the land.
Because if they do these things in the green tree, what may be done in the dry? This statement is metaphoric; e. g., If, while Mercys door is wide open, the Holy Ghost wooing, Jesus and His apostles and evangelists preaching, and everything prosperous and auspicious, they reject and crucify Him who came from heaven to save them, killing their own Christ for whom they had waited two thousand years, what will they do when the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and God has turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind, to believe lies and be condemned? Thus the green tree emblematizes the mercy and grace abounding in the days of Jesus; and the dry, the horrific spiritual dearth coming on the land because they insulted God, slew His Son, and outraged the Holy Ghost.
And there were also two others, malefactors, being led, along with Him to be put to death. Mat 27:33-34 : And having come into the place called Golgotha, which is denominated the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; and tasting it, He did not wish to drink. This was a soporific potion, conducive to the lulling of the nerves to insensibility and the obtundification of the feeling, so as to mitigate the awful severity of the pain, somewhat corresponding with the modern chloroform. You see that Jesus declined to drink it, preferring to enjoy the clear and unclouded exercise of His intellect and the full acumen of His nerves. So when physicians want you to take chloroform, or some kind of a nervous sedative, which might probably render you unconscious of your suffering, you have the example of Jesus declining all artificial relief when passing through the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, enjoying the normal exercise of nerves and brain. Calvary is not far from Pilates judgment-hall, the ascension beginning in the city about one square from the hall, and continuing really to the summit of Calvary, passing northward through the Damascus Gate, then turning somewhat eastward, the mountain being one of the peaks of Bezetha, and within the angle formed by the road to Jericho, leading east, and the way to Damascus leading north, as the Romans were in the habit of crucifying their criminals in the most public and conspicuous places, so as to present the greatest possible terror to evildoers. Heb 13:12, locates it without the gate. Calvary is Greek, and means skull, because the hill has the shape of a human skull. When I first came to Jerusalem, with nothing but the Scripture for my guide, I recognized Calvary before any one pointed it out to me.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Normally the Romans forced criminals condemned to crucifixion to walk naked to their place of execution and flogged them along the way. [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 19:4:5.] Evidently the soldiers concluded that Jesus would not live through such treatment in view of the abuse that He had already suffered. Therefore they put His own garments back on Him.
Mark’s original readers faced subjection to similar mockery and abuse from pagan authorities. This pericope would have been an encouragement to them to remain faithful to Jesus. Jesus allowed other people to treat Him as a servant because this was a part of His obedience to God (cf. 1Pe 5:6-7).