Gospel of Mark Study #52

“The Longest Night”

Mark 15:1-15

Study #52 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

Time is very elastic. It can stretch long and thin, or it can tighten up into a bunch. It can fly by on eagle’s wings, or it can drag past, ever so slowly, at a snail’s pace. On certain occasions we are hardly even aware of its passing because our mind is so occupied by other things. However, at other times we are painfully aware of every second, beating its deafening, deliberate, largo rhythm in our ears.

If you have ever spent the night at the bedside of a dying child, or parent, or spouse, or dear friend, then you know what I am talking about. If you have ever waited for hours at an airport for a loved one to come in from some distant place, then you know what I am talking about. The time seems to go on forever. Each minute of waiting is interminable.           

On the other hand, if you have ever taken a Caribbean cruise or a week-long vacation in Hawaii you know how swiftly time can slip away. Before you know it, you are on the plane headed back home saying to one another, “Where did the time go?” 

TRANSITION:

In our continuing study of the Gospel of Mark we are moving into chapter 15, the penultimate chapter of the book. Here we see Jesus, still in that last night before His crucifixion. The night began hours before when at around sundown Jesus and His 12 disciples entered the upper room to celebrate the feast of the Passover together. At the close of that Last Supper meal, Jesus took the bread and the cup and told them of a New Covenant in His blood. Then He led them out to the Mount of Olives and asked them to keep watch while He went a little way on ahead to pray. Three times He came back and found them sleeping. Yet He used that time to prepare His heart and mind for the trial that was at hand.

Finally, He awakened the disciples and told them that His time had come. While He was still speaking Judas and the mob stepped out of the trees, and after the betrayer’s kiss, Jesus was arrested and bound. He was led first to Annas, the retired high priest. Then He was taken before Caiaphas and the religious leaders who had been hurriedly called together in the middle of the night.           

They deliberated briefly and determined that Jesus was indeed guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death. They beat Him senseless, mocked Him, and spat upon Him. Then they turned Him over to the soldiers so that they too might have some fun beating on Him. While all that was going on, Peter denied the Lord three times, swearing to all those gathered down there in the courtyard that he did not know this man, Jesus. As the words left his mouth for the third and final time, Jesus, who apparently was being led out into the courtyard to await the wishes of the Sanhedrin, turned, and locked eyes with Peter. Filled with regret, remorse, and gut-wrenching sorrow Peter went out and wept bitterly, remembering Jesus’ words: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”

All these things happened on that same night, within the space of just a few hours. To Jesus, and probably to Peter and the other disciples, this was undoubtedly the longest and worst night that they had ever experienced. Every minute was torture. Let’s pick up the story at verse 1.

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 1: And early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole Council, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate.

• You will remember that during the night they hurriedly pulled together as many of the Sanhedrin members as they could find to meet at the home of Caiaphas to serve as an ad hoc Grand Jury. However, as I mentioned last week, in doing this they broke several of their own laws. In Jerusalem only the 71 member Sanhedrin had jurisdiction. On top of that, any “courts” were forbidden to meet at night. Moreover, an accused person had a right to counsel. The accused also had legal protection against being forced or coerced to incriminate himself. All these laws were simply ignored in Jesus’ case, along with several others.
• Now, “…early in the morning…” the whole Sanhedrin was summoned to appear, this time in their official chambers in their “Hall of Hewn Stone” next to the Temple. The time was approximately 6:00 AM. Mark once again does not use the word Sanhedrin, but rather describes the three groups that comprised it—the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. Matthew, Luke, and John on the other hand use “Sanhedrin.”
• At this meeting, the decision was almost unanimous, except for Joseph of Arimathea (cf. Luke 23:51) and possibly Nicodemus. Regardless, Jesus was judged to be worthy of death, although they could not carry out the sentence. For that they had to enlist the aid of the Roman Prefect/Governor, Pontius Pilatus. Jesus was again bound and led out of the Temple court to Pilate’s residence to stand before him.

Verses 2-3: And Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And answering He said to him, “It is as you say.”  ³ And the chief priests began to accuse Him harshly.

• Although the Romans were almost obsessive about their record-keeping, little information has survived about the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilatus. We know that he was the 5^th in a line of seven Prefects that ruled over Judea from A.D. 6-41. Pilate governed for ten years, from AD 26-36.
• The primary functions of a Prefect were military, but as appointed representatives of the Empire they were responsible for the collection of imperial taxes, and had limited judicial functions, one of which being the appointment of the Jewish high priest, which, as you can imagine, thoroughly aggravated the Jews. Normally, Pilate resided in Caesarea on the coast, but he travelled throughout the province, especially to Jerusalem, while performing his duties. As governor of Judaea, Pilate commanded a relatively small auxiliary force of soldiers stationed in Caesarea and Jerusalem, such as at the Antonia Fortress, and temporarily anywhere else that might require a military presence. The total number of soldiers at his disposal numbered approximately 3,000. According to Philo, the Jewish historian, Pilate was “…inflexible, he was stubborn, of cruel disposition. He executed troublemakers without a trial.” He goes on to comment on Pilate’s “…venality, his violence, thefts, assaults, abusive behavior, endless executions, and endless savage ferocity.” 

Verses 4-5: And Pilate was questioning Him again, saying, “Do You make no answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”  ⁵ But Jesus made no further answer; so that Pilate was amazed [astonished].

• Why was Pilate amazed? For one thing, most people brought before him under possible sentence of death would be groveling at his feet begging for mercy, insisting on their innocence. However, this Jesus of Nazareth stood there before him in total serenity, like a visiting monarch, a true king. Jesus showed no fear. He was the perfect calm in the eye of the perfect storm. I also think that Pilate was amazed because he could not comprehend the degree of hatred being leveled against Jesus. It was totally out of proportion and thus made no sense to him. Pilate was confused by this whole situation.   

Verses 6-7: Now at the feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested.  ⁷ And the man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection.

• Politicians are no different today than in the days of old. Everything they do has a political reason and is evaluated on a cost/benefits basis. Pilate was a consummate politician, trying to maintain the balancing act of keeping both the Romans and the Jews happy at the same time. As a good-faith gesture to the conquered Jews he showed the mercy and benevolence of the Romans by annually releasing one prisoner at Passover time. It made him look good. It made him seem more approachable, more a friend to the Jews. However, it really was just a political scam. He knew it and the Jewish leaders knew it too.
• And this guy, Barabbas, was a real piece of work! A Jewish jihadist, if you will, he was working for the destruction of Rome. He was trying to stir up a rebellion among the Jews to throw off the Roman yoke of tyranny. In carrying out this mission his actions had recently resulted in people getting murdered. He was a fanatical nationalist who would have been happy to kill every Roman in Judaea.
• You can bet that Pilate did not want Barabbas released to once again prey on the Romans. On top of being an insurrectionist and a bandit (cf. John 18:40), he was also a murderer. Members of the zealot group known as the Sicarii (lit. “dagger-bearers”), with which Barabbas was likely connected, were known for coming up behind Roman soldiers in the crowded marketplaces and stabbing them through the spaces in their armor. Many soldiers had already died just that way, possibly some of them by Barabbas’ own hand. By the way, one of the twelve Apostles, Simon the Zealot, was part of this same band of murderers before Jesus called him to become a fisher of men rather than a killer of men. 

Verses 8-10: And the multitude went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them.  ⁹And Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”  ¹⁰ For he was aware that the chief priests had delivered Him up because of envy.

• Pontius Pilate knew that many in Jerusalem liked Jesus and probably thought that some in this crowd wanted Him released. But the religious leaders were the ones pushing for crucifixion. Moreover, I think he must have been thinking to himself, “Surely, they don’t really want me to have this guy killed. He’s a rabbi, and a Jew, after all. They would never want one of their own people crucified. Such a horrible death is reserved for evil people. They probably just want me to put a scare into him.” 

Verse 11: But the chief priests stirred up the multitude to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.

• Notice this, the priests stirred up the people to demand that Jesus’ be put to death. The crowd was manipulated by their leaders. This put Pilate in an awkward spot. He did not want Barabbas released because he was clearly an enemy of Rome. On the other hand, this Jesus fellow seemed totally benign and harmless. So, what was he to do? 

Verses 12-14: And answering again, Pilate was saying to them, “Then what shall I do to Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”  ¹³ And they shouted back, “Crucify Him!”  ¹⁴ But Pilate was saying to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”  But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!”

• Pilate had seen enough condemned men to know that this man Jesus was not guilty of anything. He did not want to have to condemn an innocent man to death, not even a Jew. 

Verse 15: And wishing to satisfy the multitude, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him over to be crucified.

• Here is a case of political expediency trumping the rights of an innocent man. Pilate knew that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death. By his own testimony, based on his own interrogation of the witness, he knew that Jesus was not an evildoer and posed no threat to Rome. However, as an act of political expediency, to make the Jews happy and keep them from raising a stink that might get all the way back to Rome and cause him grief, he signed the paper to have Jesus beaten and then crucified, as though He were a common criminal. He did this knowing full well that he was sending an innocent man to a horrible death. For this I am confident that Pontius Pilatus will roast in Hell for all eternity.
• “…and after having Jesus scourged…” This act was accomplished with a leather whip with rough pieces of metal or bone tied at the ends of the strips. The victim was bent forward over a short post, and the punishment was administered to his naked back, buttocks, and legs. It literally tore the man’s back to ribbons. Often the resulting deep gashes opened the flesh all the way to the bone. Sometimes an ear would be torn off or an eye gouged out. Some men died under it. Some men came out of the ordeal raving insane. Very few retained consciousness through it. That is what Pilate ordered done to Jesus despite knowing that Jesus had done nothing to deserve such treatment.

CONCLUSION:

We usually think of this passage as describing the trial of Jesus. However, it really turned out to be the trial of the Jews, especially the religious leaders, and the trial of Pilate himself. They were the ones who were really on trial before the court of Heaven. In much the same way that Peter was inexorably forced toward a verdict defining his relationship with Jesus, so also Pilate and the Jews were given an opportunity to take a stand for or against Him. We see Pilate self-revealed as he attempts first to skirt the issue, and then to escape responsibility for the decision. In the end he knowingly freed a guilty man and condemned an innocent one.        

However, this story reminds us that ultimately every one of us must answer the question, “What is your decision about Jesus? What are you going to do with Him?” and our eternal destiny depends upon our answer.          

Nothing could be more cynical than the disregard for truth in this man, Pilate, who, knowing Jesus to be innocent, yet flogged and crucified the Son of God, through a selfish desire to ingratiate himself with the Jewish leaders. He was perfectly conscious of the wrongfulness of what he did, and this just increased his guilt.           

But I would submit to you that anyone who rejects Jesus Christ is essentially doing the same thing. To say “NO!” to the Savior, to reject His sacrifice on the cross, to turn away from the sinless Lamb of God for your own selfish reasons, whatever they might be, puts you in the very same category with Pontius Pilate. Pilate wanted to distance himself from Jesus. Now, for all eternity, he will get what he wanted. He will be eternally separated from the Savior and the salvation that Jesus died to give us. Likewise, if you reject Jesus, you too will be separated from Him forever, along with all that is good, and gracious, and kind, and beautiful. For, you see, He is the Creator and the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and to reject Him is to lose all that He has provided for us to enjoy. All that will be left for Pilate and those like him, will be an eternity of regret, remorse, and sadness.           

But on the other hand, the Bible clearly says that “whosoever will, may come.” In Acts 16 a Roman soldier asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?”  The answer he received was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” You too can do that today, right now, by believing the Gospel, repenting of your sins, and asking Christ to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord. Don’t put it off again. Do it now. You might not get another chance.