CHAPTER 15

(A.D. 33)

JESUS BEFORE PILATE

¹And straightway (immediately) in the morning the Chief Priests held a consultation with the Elders and Scribes and the whole Council, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate (sentences of condemnation might not be legally pronounced on the day of trial; yet our Lord was tried, condemned, and crucified on the same day; as they took Him to Pilate, they continued to strike and beat Him).

²And Pilate asked Him, Are You the King of the Jews? (To him, this was a political question. He had no regard or concern for the religious controversy.)And He answering said unto him, You say it (Jesus answered in the affirmative; in effect, He said, You say that which is true).

³And the Chief Priests accused Him of many things: but He answered nothing (He knew that to refute their erroneous and false charges, was a waste of time).

⁴And Pilate asked Him again, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against You (Pilate had never seen a man, who would not defend himself; he didnt understand Christ!).

⁵But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled (the silence of a blameless life pleads more powerfully than any defense, however elaborate).

⁶Now at that feast (Passover) he (Pilate) released unto them (Israel) one prisoner, whomsoever they desired (immediately before the situation concerning Barabbas, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, which is omitted by Mark [in Lk., Chpt. 23]; the custom of releasing a prisoner regarding its origin is anyones guess).

JESUS SENTENCED TO DIE

⁷And there was one named Barabbas (this man had been arrested for homicidal political terrorism; there is some evidence that he was referred to as Jesus Barabbas; if so, the Jews had the choice of Jesus Barabbas or Jesus Christ), which lay bound with them who had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.

⁸And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him (Pilate) to do as he had ever done unto them (concerned the releasing of a particular prisoner).

⁹But Pilate answered them, saying, Will you that I release unto you the King of the Jews? (Referred to Jesus, in that which Pilate hoped this crowd would do. He used the title King of the Jews, in sarcasm.)

¹⁰For he knew that the Chief Priests had delivered Him for envy (inasmuch as the envy was so obvious that even this pagan could see it, tells us exactly to what level these religious leaders had sunk).

¹¹But the Chief Priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.

¹²And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will you then that I shall do unto Him whom you call the King of the Jews?

¹³And they cried out again, Crucify Him (they wanted Him crucified, because they thought this would prove to the people that He was not of God).

¹⁴Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil has He done? (It was not for evil that they wanted to Crucify Him, but because of His good.)And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify Him (Luke says they repeated the cry again, and again [Lk. 23:23]).

¹⁵And so Pilate, willing to content the people (he was willing to content the people, but not willing to content God; untold thousands of preachers do the same every week), released Barabbas unto them (presents a study in irony!; they accused Christ of being an insurrectionist, which He was not, and yet demanded Barabbas be released, who had actually made insurrection!; such is evil!), and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified (the scourging was so severe, that many who experienced this ordeal didnt survive it).

JESUS CROWNED WITH THORNS

¹⁶And the soldiers led Him away into the hall, called Praetorium (this was actually the barracks of the soldiers, which could have numbered as many as six hundred); and they call together the whole band (they would now mock Him).

¹⁷And they clothed Him with purple (they were mocking Him as King), and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about His Head (the Greek word for crown as used here, is stephanos, and means the the victors crown; in the Mind of God, the victory had already been won, because He knew that Calvary would pay the total price),

¹⁸And began to salute Him, Hail, King of the Jews! (He was the King of the Jews, even though they didnt know it, but as well, He was the King of the whole world, which the world will recognize in the coming Kingdom Age.)

¹⁹And they smote Him on the head with a reed (this was a stiff object which would have driven the thorns deep within His Scalp), and did spit upon Him, and bowing their knees worshipped Him (but in mockery).

²⁰And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from Him, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to Crucify Him.

²¹And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian (due to the beatings, Jesus could no longer physically carry the Cross, so they pressed this particular man to carry it for Him), who passed by, coming out of the country (means that he was not a part in any way to these insidious proceedings, but just happened to be standing near when Jesus came by), the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His Cross (speaks of the sons of Simon who would give their hearts to Christ, becoming well-known Disciples, and all because of what happened here this day).

THE CRUCIFIXION

²²And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull (two meanings: A. Some claim this is the place where Adam was buried, and his skull later found; however, there is no evidence whatsoever of this tradition; and, B. Others think the interpretation simply means that the rock face of the hill resembles a skull, which is probably the correct interpretation).

²³And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh (referred to a strong narcotic made of sour wine and mingled with bitter herbs; it was supposed to dull the sense of pain; some think that Christ was offered the drink twice, but there is some indication that it was offered three times): but He received it not (He would not seek alleviation of the agonies of the Crucifixion by any drug potion which might render Him insensible; He would bear the full burden consciously).

²⁴And when they had crucified Him (referred to them nailing Him to the Cross), they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take (His garments, with the exception of the seamless Robe, were divided among the soldiers; not wanting to tear the seamless Robe apart, they cast lots with the winner taking ownership of the garment [Ps. 22:18]).

²⁵And it was the third hour (9 a.m. in the morning, the time of the morning Sacrifice), and they crucified Him.

²⁶And the superscription of His accusation was written over (over the Cross), THE KING OF THE JEWS (out of anger, no doubt, toward the Jews, Pilate wrote the title himself [Jn. 19:19]; the Chief Priests were visibly angry over this, and strongly requested that it be changed to read, He said, I am King of the Jews; Pilate answered by saying, What I have written I have written [Jn. 19:21-22]; so, Who, and what Jesus really was, were fitly placed over His Head on the Cross).

²⁷And with Him they crucify two thieves (robbers); the one on His right hand, and the other on His left.

²⁸And the Scripture was fulfilled, which said, And He was numbered with the transgressors ([Isa. 53:12], He took the place of the transgressors; so His Death, its manner, and with whom He died, were fitting!).

²⁹And they who passed by railed on Him ([Ps. 22:7-8], they, referred to the religious leaders of Israel), wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, You Who destroyed the Temple, and build it in three days (they were referring to the statement He did make, recorded in Jn. 2:19-21, which referred to His Body the Temple, its Death, and Resurrection in three days; He wasnt talking about the Temple in Jerusalem),

³⁰Save Yourself, and come down from the Cross (this jest was the harder to endure since it appealed to a consciousness of power held back only by the self-restraint of a Sacrificed Will; had He saved Himself, no one else could have been Saved).

³¹Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking said among themselves with the Scribes, He saved others; Himself He cannot save (they could not deny the fact that He saved others, but they attempted to turn that fact against Him, by alleging that He performed these miracles by the power of Satan, rather than by the Power of God).

³²Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the Cross (said in mockery), that we may see and believe (they lied!; He rose from the dead after the third day, and they still didnt believe). And they who were crucified with Him reviled Him (while both did revile Him, one shortly thereafter repented and was Saved, which Mark did not mention).

THE DEATH OF JESUS

³³And when the sixth hour was come (12 noon), there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (until 3 p.m.; as it was now the Passover time the moon was full, so that it could not have been caused by an eclipse; for when the moon is full it cannot intervene between the Earth and the sun; how far this darkness extended, we arent told; we do know that it went as far as Egypt toward the south, and as far as Bithynia toward the north; it was at this time that He became the Burnt-offering, and the Sin-offering of Lev. 1:4).

³⁴And at the ninth hour (3 p.m.) Jesus cried with a loud voice (proving that He did not die from physical weakness, but that He purposely, laid down His Own life [Jn. 10:17-18]), saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? (During this three hour period when darkness covered that part of the world, if not the whole Earth, He bore the sin penalty of mankind, on which the Heavenly Father could not look [Hab. 1:13; I Pet. 2:24].)

³⁵And some of them who stood by (refers to the Roman soldiers, even some of the religious leaders of Israel), when they heard it, said, Behold, He calls Elijah (mockingly said by the religious leaders of Israel).

³⁶And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar (according to John, this was placed on hyssop [Jn. 19:29] which fulfilled [Ex. 12:22]), and put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink (there is no record that He drank it), saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down (sarcasm!).

³⁷And Jesus cried with a loud voice (once again, proving that His Death was not brought about by physical weakness), and gave up the ghost (should have been translated, breathed out His Life; in fact, He didnt die, until the Holy Spirit told Him to die [Heb. 9:14]).

³⁸And the Veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (this signified that the price had been paid, with all sin atoned; now, the way to the Holy of Holies was opened up that man might come, for the Veil hid the Holy of Holies).

³⁹And when the centurion (he was the first Gentile to render this testimony of Faith; tradition affirms that his name was Longinus, and that he became a devoted follower of Christ, preached the Faith, and died a martyrs death), which stood over against Him (beside Christ), saw that He so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God (in effect, he was saying, many have claimed to be God, but this One is God).

⁴⁰There were also women looking on afar off (speaks of women from Galilee, and not women from Jerusalem): among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph, and Salome (there is no record that Mary the Mother of Jesus was there; no doubt, the strain was more than she could bear, and John undoubtedly took her away);

⁴¹(Who also, when He was in Galilee, followed Him, and ministered unto Him;) (did what they could to help) and many other women which came up with Him unto Jerusalem (who they were, we arent told).

THE BURIAL OF JESUS

⁴²And now when the evening was come (soon to come. It was now approximately 3 p.m. the evening would be at about 6 p.m. so they had about three hours to work), because it was the preparation (to prepare for the Passover, for it would begin at 6 p.m. that evening), that is, the day before the Sabbath (this was the High Sabbath of the Passover Feast, which was Thursday, and not the ordinary weekly Sabbath, which was Saturday [Lev. 23:6-7]; Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday, and not on Friday, as many think, spending three full days and nights in the Tomb, and rose on the first day of the week, even as He had said He would do [Mat. 12:40]),

⁴³Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counselor (he was a member of the Grand Council of Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin), which also waited for the Kingdom of God (spoke of his spiritual hunger, which was fulfilled in Jesus), came, and went in boldly unto Pilate (means that such was not commonly done), and craved the body of Jesus (he strongly requested that he be given the remains).

⁴⁴And Pilate marvelled if He (Jesus) were already dead (it normally took several days for one to die on the cross; Jesus had only been on the cross for six hours, so Pilate was skeptical): and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether He had been any while dead (how long He had been dead).

⁴⁵And when he knew it of the centurion (it was affirmed by the Roman soldier), he gave the body to Joseph (the word body in the Greek is ptoma, and means a corpse).

⁴⁶And he (Joseph) bought fine linen (a piece of expensive cloth used to wrap around the body of Jesus), and took Him down (took Him down from the Cross), and wrapped Him in the linen, and laid Him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock (the tomb was in the garden adjacent to the place of Crucifixion, most certainly the property of Joseph), and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre (proving that the tomb had never before been used).

⁴⁷And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph beheld where He was laid.