Gospel of Mark Study #53

“Hail, King of the Jews”

Mark 15:16-32

Study #53 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

This is a familiar story. We have all heard it many times. We have seen it portrayed in movies. We have a fairly good idea of the details. But I am not sure that any of us really understands what Jesus suffered for us. We often focus on the physical aspects of the story—the beatings, the cross, the nails, the pain. However, the worst pain was not physical but mental, emotional, and spiritual. 

TRANSITION:

The astonishing thing is that Jesus was going through all that agony to save the very people who were cursing Him, spitting on Him, beating Him, and blaspheming Him. That is amazing! Our natural tendency is to fight back, to protect ourselves. Jesus did not do that. He allowed His enemies to prevail over Him so that He could die to save them. It makes no sense, but that is exactly what He did. In human terms, it is incomprehensible. 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 16: And the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort.

• These were Roman soldiers under Pilate’s command. Up until now He had been guarded and escorted by the temple police. Jesus was most likely taken to the barracks area of the Fortress of Antônia, which was on the far end of the temple mount. The Latin word, “Praetorium” simply means the portable tent of a Roman commander (“praetor”) and over time came to denote a military headquarters.
• Technically speaking, a Roman “cohort” consisted of 600 soldiers divided up into 6 “centuries” of 100 men, each led by a “centurion.” Here the term is used more loosely simply to refer to a large group of soldiers.  

Verses 17-19: And they dressed Him up in purple, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; ¹⁸ and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  ¹⁹ And they kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting at Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.

• Purple was the color reserved for royalty or at least, people of great importance. The term could apply to colors all the way from rose to deep purple. But where did they get the purple garment? We must turn to another Gospel writer for our answer. In Luke 23 we learn that Pilate sent Jesus to Herod’s court, hoping that Herod would pass judgment on Jesus and save him the trouble. Herod questioned Jesus but Jesus refused to even answer his questions. Disgusted and offended, Herod had Jesus dressed in a royal robe, probably one of his old castoffs, to show his contempt and disdain of this pretender to the title, “King of the Jews.”
• When Jesus arrived back at Pilate’s residence, He was still wearing this robe. At that point both the royal purple robe as well as Jesus’ white tunic were stripped off Him and He was scourged. After sentencing He was sent to the Praetorium with orders for His crucifixion. It is almost certainly the same purple robe that the soldiers dressed Jesus in again as they proceeded to beat Him senseless. To add to the humor of the situation someone came up with the bright idea of using branches from a thorn bush to fashion a makeshift crown for Him. To make sure that it did not fall off, they proceeded to pound it down onto His head. The Greek verbs in verse 19 are all in the imperfect tense, emphasizing the repeated nature of the beating, spitting, and mock worship.

Verse 20: And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple [robe] off Him and put His garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.

• Once they had had their fun, they stripped Him of the royal robe and put His simple cotton tunic back on Him. By this time, it was probably soaking wet from sweat and bright red from His blood because He had already received 4 beatings: (1) he was beaten by members of the Sanhedrin; (2) He was beaten by the temple guards; (3) He was publicly scourged; (4) now He was beaten again in the soldiers’ barracks.

Verse 21: And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), that he might bear His cross.

• There has been much speculation about this man, Simon, over the centuries, and several legends have grown up around him. Cyrene was an ancient Greek colony in present-day Shahhat, Libya. Tradition states that Simon’s sons, Rufus, and Alexander, became missionaries. The inclusion of their names in Mark’s Gospel suggests that they were of some standing in the early Christian community at Rome. It has even been suggested that the Rufus mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13 was the son of Simon of Cyrene. However, this is all conjecture. We simply do not know who he was other than to say that he was probably a Jew who had come to Jerusalem with his two sons for the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread.
• Luke tells us that he carried Jesus’ cross and followed along behind Him. But why did Jesus need someone to carry His cross? Easy—because He had already been beaten half to death four times and had lost a lot of blood. On top of that He was weak from hunger and thirst and weary from lack of sleep.

Verse 22: And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.

• Golgotha is an Aramaic word and simply means, a skull. It probably got its name because of its shape. However, we do not know for sure the exact location where the crucifixion took place despite what the Israeli tour guides tell everyone.

Verse 23: And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.

• Matthew 27:34 says that when He tasted it and recognized what it was, He refused to drink it. This drugged potion was to deaden pain and make prisoners easier to handle. Jesus did not want anything that would cloud His senses. 

Verses 24-26: And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them, to decide what each man should take.  ²⁵ And it was the third hour when they crucified Him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

• “And it was the third hour…” The Jewish day began at sunrise, at approximately 6:00 AM. That was when Jesus appeared before Pilate for the first time. He was nailed to the cross three hours later, at approximately 9:00 AM. It was the Roman custom to place some kind of placard or sign over the condemned man to indicate his name and the exact nature of his crime. Pilate knew His name but had trouble coming up with a crime, so he ordered the sign to read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the KING OF THE JEWS” (cf. John 19:19). But truer words have never been written for He was just that. 

Verses 27-28: And they crucified two robbers with Him; one on the right and one on the left.  ²⁸ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was reckoned [i.e., numbered] with transgressors.”

• These two guys were not mere common thieves. The Greek word means “robber, highwayman.” These were bad men. They would cheerfully slit your throat to get your wallet.
• Verse 28 is placed in the margin in some versions because it is missing in some of the oldest Greek manuscripts. However, it is not a problem and there is no doubt that it clearly refers to Isaiah 53:12, which says, “Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.” 

Verses 29-30: And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha!  You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”

• “…were hurling abuse at Him,” Literally, they were “blaspheming” Him. It is so easy to abuse someone who cannot fight back. They had no idea who they were talking to. If He had chosen to do it, He could have struck them all dead in their tracks with just a look or a word. But he even loved those who cursed Him and spit at Him and said such awful things. 

Verses 31-32: In the same way the chief priests along with the scribes, were also mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  ³² Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!”  And those who were crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him.

• The religious leaders got in on the mocking too. Standing there in their lovely robes you could hardly even see the blood on their hands. But it was there all right. These were the men who had made the plans, paid the betrayer, hauled Him before Pilate, stirred up the crowd, and testified against Him.
• Look again at the words they hurled at Him: “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.  ³² Let this Christ [i.e., Messiah], the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” If they had not seen and believed up until now, Him coming down off that cross would not have changed their minds. Many of them had already witnessed His miracles and walked away in unbelief, making plans to kill Him. One more miracle was not going to melt their rock-hard hearts. There is an old saying that goes, “The same sun that softens wax hardens clay.” The difference is what the heart is made of to begin with. Another miracle would have just served to harden them further.
• One more thing, the two robbers who were crucified with Him were joining in too, hurling abuse at Him. We know that later one of them repented and asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom. But in the beginning, even he was cursing Jesus and saying horrible things to Him. That makes Jesus words to him even more remarkable: “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

CONCLUSION:

I have told you that Mark’s Gospel is the most concise of the four. He sometimes leaves out details that one or more of the others include. Such is the case of a comment couched in among the verses of Matthew 27:22-26, which reads: Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!”  ²³ And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”  ²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”  ²⁵ And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!”  ²⁶ Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Verse 25 is horrible to read because it is so true, not just for those Jewish leaders who shouted those words at Pontius Pilate, but because we are just as guilty as they were. Our sins put Jesus on that cross, just as surely as theirs did. And the curse has fallen on us and our children and our grandchildren, just as it fell on theirs. His blood is on our hands, and it condemns us. But when we turn to Him in faith and repentance, that same blood washes us white as snow and cleanses us from every stain. How amazing! The same blood can save, or it can condemn.   

His blood was shed even for those who hated Him and who did everything in their power to kill Him. But the instant a sinner turns to Jesus and believes on Him as Savior and Lord, that person is changed into a new creation, a blood-washed child of God, leaving us to exclaim... 

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Hail, Jesus, King of the Jews!