JESUS BEFORE PILATE. A second meeting of the Sanhedrin held in the daylight regularizes the condemnation arrived at overnight. They now take Jesus to Pilate (governor of Judæ a, A.D. 26- 36, see p. 653) who was _in_ Jerusalem during the Passover. The narrative is clearly incomplete. No formal accusa... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SOLDIERS MOCK JESUS.This narrative in its brief intensity is very poignant. Some scholars suggest that Jesus is treated like the central figure in a scene from a mime (was there a popular play, _The King with the Crown of Thorn_?). Others detect a resemblance to the mocking of the human sacrific... [ Continue Reading ]
MARK 15:21 * THE CRUCIFIXION. Usually the criminal himself carried his cross (_i.e._ the cross-bar, probably not the upright). Jesus seems to have been exhausted by the scourging and by His own sorrow. Simon of Cyrene was forced into His service. The reference to Simon's children is pointless unless... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BURIAL OF JESUS. Deuteronomy 21:23 enjoined the burial of dead criminals before nightfall (_cf._ Josephus, _Wars,_ IV, v.2). The day of the Crucifixion being the preparation for the Sabbath, _i.e._ Friday, the carrying out of the law was doubly desirable. It required courage to approach Pilate,... [ Continue Reading ]