Commentary in Simple English on the Gospel that Mark wrote

Verses 1-15 Jesus tried by Pontius Pilate

(See Matthew 27: 11-26; Luke 23: 1-5 and 13-25; John 18: 19 to 19: 16.)

In verse 1, the Jewish Council finishes off its night's bad work. It decides to hand Jesus over to the Romans. They know that the Governor, Pontius Pilate [15.1] will not put Jesus to death because of what He had said about Himself (Chapter 14: 62). Pilate had people who told him what went on among the Jewish leaders, no doubt. Now the Jewish leaders tell Pilate that Jesus should be put to death because His is the King of the Jews. The Romans had so much trouble keeping the Jews in order that the thought of a King would have worried Pilate. [15.2].

Jesus stands before Pilate. Jesus says 'Yes' when Pilate asks Him whether He is 'King of the Jews'. Of course, what Pilate meant by that and what Jesus meant were not the same at all (verse 2). Jesus is silent when the Jews speak other things against Him (verses 3-5).

We want to get something good for ourselves from this part of God's word. We want to find help. We must not look so much at what men do. We must see that it is God who is at work. His purpose goes back before He made the world. Now He uses wicked men to work it out.

Pilate does not know what to do. He does not expect the Jewish crowd to want the same thing as their Council. So Pilate sets the murderer, Barabbas, free. [15.3]. He will kill Jesus, Who had raised the dead (verses 6-14). Pilate did not want the crowd to become more angry and violent.

When the Jewish courts had someone beaten, they were hit thirty nine times. (See 2 Corinthians 11: 24 and 25.) The Romans beat Paul with rods. The Roman flogging was much worse than beating with rods. The Romans hit Jesus with a whip made from strips of leather. These were twisted together with pieces of bone or lead fixed in. This beating often killed people. Their clothes were taken off and they were tied to a post. There was no limit to the number of strokes of the whip (verse 15).

(See Matthew 27: 27-31.)

The Roman trial took place in the open air. The soldiers now take Jesus into the palace. This was the 'Praetorium' where Pilate lived when he was in Jerusalem. No one can be sure exactly where these places were, because the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. To the soldiers Jesus was just one more Jew to be put to death on a cross. They could have a game with Him, because He had said that He was the King of the Jews. We cannot blame the soldiers too much. They did not know God's promises or what Jesus had done for those in need. So they dressed Him up. The thorns remind us of Genesis 3: 18. After this cruelty came the march to the place where Jesus was to die. They would go a long way round to be still more cruel. One of the horrible things was that the Romans made the person who was to die carry the heavy wooden board to which his hands would so soon be nailed. There were two others with Him; they were criminals.

(See Matthew 27: 33-44; Luke 23: 36-43; John 19: 17-24.)

Jesus' strength was probably already failing when they reached the city gate. A man called Simon was on his way into the city. The soldiers made him carry the cross for Jesus. Simon's home was in Cyrene in North Africa in what is now Lybia. He was no doubt a Jew who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover. (See Acts 2: 10; 11: 20; and perhaps 13: 1.) Paul speaks about Rufus in Romans 16: 13. It seems that the early church honoured Simon and his family. Bearing Christ's cross did him no harm. (Verse 21). [15.4]

To die on the cross was shameful. It was a death for criminals and slaves. Our Lord was now brought so low that He could go no lower and still be man, let alone God. Shall God Himself bend down so low for us; and yet we are proud when we have nothing to be proud of! The Romans did not even speak about the cross in polite company. The Roman way of dealing with people was too nasty.

Someone offered Jesus a drink to make His pain less. He would not have it (verse 23). The soldiers drove thick nails through His wrists and ankles. This fixed Him to the cross. Then they hung Him up and left Him to die. (Verse 24).

There would be four soldiers and five pieces of clothing. They probably shook stones in a soldier's hat and drew them to decide which of them should take each piece (verse 24). There would be a belt, sandals, a cloth for the head and an inside and outside shirt.

By now it was about nine o'clock in the morning. When we read verse 27 we remember 10: 35. Then James and John wanted to have the places on Jesus' right and left. Now Jesus had been put on a level with people who broke the law (Isaiah 53: 12). The Jews had turned the words of Jesus from John 2: 19 against Him in 13: 58. Now the people who walk past the cross throw the same sayings at Him (verses 29 and 30).

(See Matthew 27:45-56; Luke 23:44-49; John 19: 28-30.)

The darkness from about midday until three o'clock was not natural (verse 33). There are times when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. We call this an 'eclipse'. An eclipse cannot happen when the moon is full, and this was the case at Passover.

In verse 34, Jesus cried out in the opening words of Psalm 22. All His days Jesus had known that God was His Father. God had always been very close to Him. Now Jesus bore on the cross the sins of all His people. The pain when He was cut off from His Father was bitter to Him. We have never known God so close to us all the time. We cannot understand the pain which He felt.

Psalm 22 is one of the Psalms which speaks about the sufferings of Christ (verses 1-21). It also speaks about the glory that would follow (verses 22-31). (See Luke 24: 26.) Remember that David wrote Psalm 22 long before Jesus was born. This was about a thousand years before. Then see verses 7 and 8 in this Psalm. People laughed at Jesus when He was on the cross in just this way. Verses 14 and 15 exactly describe the suffering of someone who hangs on a cross. The last words of verse 16 are also exact. Verse 18 matches Mark 15: 24.

The sour wine which a man offered to Jesus (verse 36) was the ordinary drink that people had every day. This man did not really expect Elijah to come to the help of Jesus. For the loud cry (verse 37) see Luke 23: 46 and John 19: 30.

The curtain of the Temple was probably the one that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It was very thick and strong and about 20 metres high. As this was an important day in the year, there would be priests on duty who would see what happened. The way to God's holy presence was now open. (See Hebrews 10: 19 and 20.) (Verse 38).

No doubt many of the Christians at Rome shouted loud 'Hallelujahs' when they heard verse 39. Those who were not Jews would be very pleased to hear these words from a Roman soldier. He recognised in Jesus a man Who was God's Son. The way in which Jesus died on the cross was so different. Jesus used no bad words. There was only quiet suffering. Jesus bowed down to the will of God. May God help each of us to die well when the time comes. [15.5].

We can only guess that Mary Magdalene (verse 40) [15.6] came into Jerusalem to find out what had happened to Jesus. The nine followers of Jesus who ran away (14: 50) would have gone to Bethany. Mary the Lord's mother was also there. The other Mary is probably the wife of Clopas. Salome was possibly the sister of Mary, the Lord's mother. Some of these women would stay at the home of John in Jerusalem. Of the Twelve, only John was at the cross. What the women who followed Jesus did was much better than what the Twelve did.

Verses 42-47 Jesus ' body is laid to rest

(See Matthew 27: 57-61; Luke 23: 50-56; John 19: 38-42.)

We must understand how Jesus' friends laid His body to rest. Only then shall we understand how He rose to new life.

Joseph of Arimathea may just be the Joseph of Acts 1: 23. This Joseph acted with another man called Nicodemus (John 19: 39). Notice that John 19: 40 says that these two men buried Jesus in accordance with Jewish customs.

Roman law did not allow any honours to be given to a person who had died a criminal's death. The judge usually allowed close members of the family to have the body and bury it quietly. Often the Romans simply left the body on the cross to rot. The charge on which the Romans put our Saviour to death was one where the body would not usually have been handed over. The high priest would be very busy on this day. He would not object when Pilate handed the body over. Still, it was an unusual thing to happen when Pilate allowed Joseph, to take the body. Joseph was not even a member of the family of Jesus (verses 42-45).

The Jews did not like the thought of being buried in a grave. David had horrible dreams of ropes which came up out of the grave. They tried to drag him down into it. (See Psalm 18: 4 and 5, for example.) They liked to use a cave in which to lay their dead to rest. (See Genesis 23, and 25: 8-10.) Their custom was that when the body had rotted away, they gathered the bones in a heap. They threw away the long bones. The heap of bones was placed elsewhere in the cave. The space where they had laid the body to rest could be used again.

If they could not do this they piled up a heap of stones over the body (Genesis 35: 20). In many places (like Genesis 35: 29) the Old Testament speaks of someone who was gathered to their fathers. This means that their bones were gathered and placed with those of other members of the family. This throws light on many Old Testament verses. (See, for example, Genesis 50: 28 with Hebrews 11: 22; 2 Samuel 21:11-14; 2 Kings 13: 20-21.) This custom of gathering the bones of the dead was much older than the time of Abraham. [15.7].

In New Testament times, there were many big pits around Jerusalem. Workmen had dug building stone from them. The Jews cut burying places into the rock faces. They placed stones, which could be rolled down to close the opening. They laid bodies to rest on a stone shelf. After six or nine months, the women of the family went back in and gathered the bones. There was sometimes a narrow opening so that you could see the inside of the tomb without going in. The women placed the bones in a jar. They stored this jar in a hole further into the tomb. It might be marked with the person’s name. The women washed the body and put oil on it before they laid it to rest. Usually the body would have the dead person's best shirt put on it. Cloths fastened around the head, hands and feet kept the small bones together. This made the task of gathering them easier.

This custom was surely part of the wisdom of God. He prepared over long ages for what was to happen when Christ rose. If they had buried Jesus' body in a grave there would have been no empty tomb. We know about the empty tomb only because of this custom. It was usual for the women to go in and out of the tomb from time to time.

(Verse 46) The soldiers had taken away Jesus’ clothes. Joseph bought a piece of linen cloth to wrap the body in. The heavy stone would keep out animals and thieves. The two Marys (verse 47) saw which tomb Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body in. [15.8].

The next day was a day of rest. Those who had loved Jesus in life still loved Him in death. Our death and burial will not lessen Christ's love for us. May we live by faith and die in the faith! (Hebrews 11: 13).

Our Lord still has followers of whom we know little. They are people like Joseph. When we feel that we are few and weak, we should remember that God has His faithful people. We do not know them all. (Romans 11: 2-5).