Mark 15:1-15. The Examination before Pilate 1. _And straightway_ As the day dawned, a second and more formal meeting of the Sanhedrim was convened in one of the halls or courts near at hand. A legal Sanhedrim it could hardly be called, for there are scarcely any traces of such legal assemblies durin... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Pilate asked him_ This was a private investigation within the _prætorium_, after the Jews, carefully suppressing _the religious grounds_on which they had condemned our Lord, had advanced against Him a triple accusation of (i) seditious agitation, (ii) prohibition of the payment of the tribute m... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the chief priests accused him_ After the first examination Pilate came forth to the Jewish deputation, standing before the entrance of the palace, and declared his conviction of the innocence of the Accused (John 18:38; Luke 23:4). This was the signal for a furious clamour on the part of the ch... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Pilate asked_ These renewed accusations led to further questions from Pilate, but our Lord preserved a complete silence. This increased the procurator's astonishment, but he thought he had found an escape from his dilemma, when he heard the word "_Galilee_." Galilee was within the province of H... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now at that feast_ Rather, AT FESTIVAL TIME. There is no article in the Greek (or in Luke 23:17; Matthew 27:15), and the apparent limitation of the custom to the Feast of the Passover is not required by the original words, or by the parallel in John 18:39. It seems to have been a custom, the origin... [ Continue Reading ]
_one named Barabbas_ There lay in prison at this time, awaiting execution, a celebrated bandit or robber named Barabbas. This word is a patronymic, and means (i) according to some, Bar-Abbas= _son of Abba_= "son of the father," or (ii) according to others, Bar-Rabbas = "_son of a Rabbi_." In three M... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Pilate answered them_ The proposition of the people that he should act according to his usual custom concurred with Pilate's own wishes and hopes, and he resolved deliberately to give the populace their choice.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for envy_ He could not doubt who were the ringleaders in the tumultuous scene now being enacted, or what was the motive that had prompted them to bring the Accused before his tribunal nothing more or less than envy of the influence He had gained and the favour He had won throughout the land. He hop... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the chief priests_ It was probably at this juncture that he received the message from his wife imploring him to have nothing to do with "_that just person_" (Matthew 27:19) standing before him. His feelings, therefore, of awe were intensified, and his resolve to effect the release increased. Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_What will ye_ This question seems to have been put in disdain and anger; disdain at their fickleness, anger at the failure of his efforts to stem the torrent. _whom ye call the King of the Jews_ He may have hoped that the sound of the title might have not been in vain on the ears of those who had... [ Continue Reading ]
_Crucify him_ was the cry that now fell upon his ears, prompted by the chief priests, re-echoed by the crowd. Still the procurator did not yield, though already at Cæsarea he had had proof of the invincible tenacity of a Jewish mob, whom not even the prospect of instant death could deter (Jos. _Anti... [ Continue Reading ]
_But they cried out the more_ "Why and wherefore?" There were no questions with them. They were resolved to have His life. Nothing else would satisfy. The cry was kept up unbroken, _Away with this man, Crucify Him! Crucify Him!_In vain Pilate expostulated. In vain he washed his hands openly before t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And so Pilate_ One hope, however, the procurator still seems to have retained. Irresolution indeed had gone too far, and he could not retrace his steps. He thought he must content the people, and therefore released Barabbas unto them. But he imagined there was room for a compromise. Clamorous as wa... [ Continue Reading ]
The Mockery of the Soldiers. The Way to the Cross 16. _the hall, called Prætorium_ "in to þe _floor of þe moot hall_," Wyclif. The building here alluded to is called by three of the Evangelists the _Prætorium_. In St Matthew (Matthew 27:27) it is translated "_common hall_," with a marginal alternati... [ Continue Reading ]
_clothed him with purple_ Instead of the white robe, with which Herod had mocked Him, they threw around Him a scarlet _sagum_, or soldier's cloak. St Matthew, Matthew 27:38, calls it "_a scarlet robe;_" St John, John 19:2, "_a purple robe_." It was a war-cloak, such as princes, generals, and soldier... [ Continue Reading ]
_smote him_ Rather, BEGAN TO SMITE OR KEPT SMITING HIM. _with a reed_ The same which they had already put into His hands as a sceptre. _did spit upon him_ See note above, ch. Mark 14:65.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and led him out_ The place of execution was without the gates of the city.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they compel_ The condemned were usually obliged to carry either the entire cross, or the cross-beams fastened together like the letter V, with their arms bound to the projecting ends. Hence the term furcifers = "_cross-bearer_." "Patibulum ferat per urbem, deinde affigatur cruci." This had a refere... [ Continue Reading ]
_the place Golgotha_ St Mark gives the explanation of the Hebrew word "Golgotha." St Luke omits it altogether. It was a bare hill or rising ground on the north or north-west of the city, having the form on its rounded summit of a _skull_, whence its name. It was (_a_) apparently a well-known spot; ... [ Continue Reading ]
_they gave him_ More literally, THEY OFFERED HIM. _wine mingled with myrrh_ It was a merciful custom of the Jews to give those condemned to crucifixion, with a view to producing stupefaction, a strong aromatic wine. Lightfoot tells us (_Hor. Heb_. ii. 366) it was the special task of wealthy ladies... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they had crucified him_ The present tense appears to be here the preferable reading, THEY CRUCIFY HIM AND PART HIS GARMENTS AMONG THEM. There were four kinds of crosses, (i) the _crux simplex_, a single stake driven through the chest or longitudinally through the body; (ii) the _crux decussata... [ Continue Reading ]
The Death 25. _it was the third hour_ or nine o'clock. St John's words (John 19:14) clearly point to a different mode of reckoning.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the superscription_ "and the title of his cause was written," Wyclif. The cause of execution was generally, as we have seen, inscribed on a white tablet, _titulus_, smeared with _gypsum_. It had been borne before Him on His way to the Cross, or suspended round His neck. It was now nailed on the... [ Continue Reading ]
_two thieves_ Rather, TWO ROBBERS, or MALEFACTORS as St Luke calls them (Luke 23:33). See note above, Mark 11:17. It is more than probable that they belonged to the band of Barabbas and "had been engaged in one of those fierce and fanatical outbreaks against the Roman domination which on a large sca... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the scripture was fulfilled_ The reference here is to Isaiah 53:12, but the verse is omitted in some MSS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_railed on him_ The instincts of ordinary pity were quenched in the fierceness of malignant hatred and religious bigotry. _Ah_ "Fyz," Wyclif. It is an exclamation of exultant derision = the Latin _Vah_. _that destroyest the temple_ This saying of our Lord at His first cleansing of the Temple was n... [ Continue Reading ]
_the chief priests_ whose high dignity and sacred office should have taught them better than to descend to the low passions of the mob. _mocking said_ "scornynge him, ech to other, with; scribis, seiden," Wyclif. The ordinary bystanders _blaspheme_(Mark 15:29), the members of the Sanhedrim _mock_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_they that were crucified with him_ At first both the robbers joined in reproaching Him. The word rendered here "they _reviled_him" is rendered "cast the same in his teeth" in Matthew 27:44. One of them, however, went further than this, and was guilty of blaspheming Him (Luke 23:39), but, as the wea... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the sixth hour was come_ i. e. 12 o'clock. The most mysterious period of the Passion was rapidly drawing near, when the Lord of life was about to yield up His spirit and taste of death. At this hour nature herself began to evince her sympathy with Him Whom man rejected. The clearness of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And at the ninth hour_ the hour of the offering of the evening sacrifice, _Jesus cried with a loud voice_ He now gives utterance to the words of the first verse of the xxii nd Psalm, in which, in the bitterness of his soul, David had complained of the desertion of his God, and said, "Eloï! Eloï!... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, he calieth Elias_ They either only caught the first syllable, or misapprehended words, or, as some think, spoke in wilful mockery, and declared He called not on Eli, God, but on Elias, whose appearance was universally expected. See note above, Mark 9:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_full of vinegar_ Burning thirst is the most painful aggravation of death by crucifixion, and it was as He uttered the words, "_I thirst_," that the soldier ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, or the sour wine-and-water called _posca_, the ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers. _and put it on a re... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus cried with a loud voice_ saying, "It is finished." The three Evangelists all dwell upon the loudness of the cry, as it had been the triumphant note of a conqueror. _and gave up the ghost_ saying, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," and then all was over. The Lord of life hung li... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the veil of the temple_ the beautiful thick, costly veil of purple and gold, inwrought with figures of Cherubim, 20 feet long and 30 broad, which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy, _was rent in twain_ For the full symbolism of this see Hebrews 9:3; Hebrews 10:19. For the earthquake w... [ Continue Reading ]
The Confession of the Centurion 39. _when the centurion_ in charge of the quaternion of soldiers. See above, Mark 15:24. _that he so cried out_ The whole demeanour of the Divine Sufferer, the loudness of the cry, and the words He uttered, thrilled the officer through and through. Death he must hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_There were also women_ forerunners of the noble army of Holy Women, who were, in the ages to come, throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, to minister at many a death-bed out of love for Him Who died "_the Death_." _Mary Magdalene_ Mary of Magdala, out of whom had gone forth seven demons... [ Continue Reading ]
The Burial 42. _the preparation_ i. e. for the Sabbath, which St Mark, writing for other readers than Jews, explains as "_the day before the Sabbath_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joseph of Arimathæa_ i. e. either of Rama in Benjamin (Matthew 2:18) or Ramathaim in Ephraim (1 Samuel 1:1). Probably the latter. The place is called in the LXX. "Armathaim," and by Josephus "Armathia." Joseph was a man of wealth (Matthew 27:57), a member of the Sanhedrim (Luke 23:50), and a secret... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Pilate marvelled_ Death by crucifixion did not generally supervene even for three days, and thirty-six hours is said to be the earliest period when it would be thus brought about. Pilate, therefore, marveled at the request of Joseph, and required the evidence of the centurion to assure himself... [ Continue Reading ]
_he gave the body to Joseph_ The word translated "gave" only occurs in the New Testament here and in 2 Peter 1:3-4; "according as his divine power _hath given_unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness;" "whereby _are given_unto us exceeding great and precious promises." It means more t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he bought fine linen_ Thus successful, Joseph purchased fine (probably _white_) linen, the original word for which has been already explained in the note on ch. Mark 14:51, and then he repaired to Golgotha, where he was joined by Nicodemus, formerly a secret disciple like himself, but whom the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mary Magdalene_ and Mary the mother of Joses (see note above, Mark 15:40) and the other women (Luke 23:55), "beheld," i. e. _observed carefully_, the place where He was laid, and where, surrounded by all the mystery of death, "Still He slept, from Head to Feet Shrouded in the winding-sheet, Lyin... [ Continue Reading ]