Crucifixion Day—Friday, 04/05/30 AD
15
1 As soon as it was early morning, having already formed a plan, the chief priests with the elders and scribes, indeed the whole council, bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate.* And just why was Pilate dressed and waiting for them at 5:30 in the morning? Obviously this was a put up job. Pilate knew it was a farce, but he soon found himself in over his head. For a detailed analysis concerning Pilate, please see the Appendix: Poor Pilate—wrong place, wrong time.
Jesus before Pilate
2 Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” So in answer He said to him, “You stated a fact!” 3 But the chief priests kept accusing Him of many things. 4 So Pilate asked Him again, saying: “Are you not going to answer? See how many things they are testifying against you!” 5 But Jesus still gave no answer, so that Pilate marveled.† Jesus simply did not look or act like a criminal.
Barabbas
6 Now at the feast he would release to them one prisoner, whomever they would request. 7 Well there was one called Barabbas, who had been bound with his fellow insurrectionists, who in the insurrection had committed murder. 8 Then the crowd began to call out‡ A mere handful [0.5%] of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘go up’ instead of ‘call out’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. and request that he do just as he always did for them. 9 So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” 10 (He knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.) 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should release Barabbas to them instead. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do to him you call ‘king of the Jews’?” 13 Again they shouted, “Crucify him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “But what evil did he do?” They just yelled all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and Jesus, after a flogging, he handed over to be crucified.§ By comparing the parallel accounts we know that a great deal more happened than is given here.
Soldiers have a little ‘fun’
16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, the Praetorium) and assembled the whole garrison. 17 They clothed Him with purple, plaited a crown of thorns and put it on Him, 18 and began to ‘acclaim’ Him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a rod* This drove the thorns into His scalp, and since they were probably poisonous, His face began to swell. and spitting on Him, and kneeling down they would ‘worship’ Him. 20 When they had ridiculed Him, they took the purple off Him and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.
The crucifixion
21 A certain passer-by, Simon a Cyrenian (the father of Alexander and Rufus),† After carrying the cross, Simon doubtless stayed around to see what happened. In consequence he was no doubt converted, as were his two sons. coming in from the countryside, was compelled to carry His cross.‡ A condemned person usually had to carry his cross, but this one was doubtless heavy, and evidently Jesus was having difficulty carrying it. 22 They brought Him to a place Golgotha, which is translated, ‘Place of a Skull’. 23 They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink,§ This was a humanitarian gesture—myrrh is a crude analgesic and would deaden the pain. But Jesus refused it; He wanted nothing to cloud His senses or diminish the suffering. but He did not take it. 24 After crucifying Him, they divided His clothes by casting lots for them, to see who would take what. 25 It was the third hour* Using Jewish time, that was 9 a.m. when they crucified Him. 26 The statement of His ‘crime’ that had been written was:
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 With Him they also crucified two bandits, one on His right and one on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”† See Isaiah 53:12. Around 11% of the Greek manuscripts omit verse 28 entire, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, [TEV], etc.
29 Those who passed by kept ridiculing Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Hey! You who can destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross!” 31 Similarly, the chief priests, with the scribes, kept mocking among themselves saying: “He saved others; he can't save himself!‡ This was precisely true, but not in the sense they intended. To save us, He could not save Himself. 32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe him.”§ They were lying; they would not have submitted to Him even then. Those who were crucified with Him insulted Him as well.* But one of them changed his mind later.
33 Now when the sixth hour had come [noon], darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.† The darkness could not have been a solar eclipse, as some have ignorantly argued. The Passover always occurs at full moon, and a solar eclipse only occurs at new moon. Further, even a total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes, not three hours. 34 At the ninth hour Jesus called out strongly, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?” which is translated, “O God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”‡ See Psalm 22:1. 35 When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.” 36 Then someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a reed and started offering it to Him to drink, saying, “You let him be! ‘Let's see if Elijah is coming to take him down’!”§ To understand Mark's turn of phrase, we need Matthew's account (27:47-49). “Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah!’ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, ‘Let him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save him’.” The ‘let him’ is 2nd person singular. But in Mark's account, the ‘let him’ is 2nd person plural! How do we reconcile the two accounts? I suggest the following: First, the man was quite possibly Mark himself; next, anyone who really understood the language would know that Jesus had not called Elijah; so, he responds sarcastically to their erroneous interpretation and therefore unreasonable demand that he stop; he retorts, “You stop!” and repeats their interpretation in disgust.
37 Then Jesus gave a loud shout and breathed out His spirit;* Both Matthew 27:50 and John 19:30 plainly state that Jesus dismissed His spirit. It was not the cross that killed Him [see the third note down]. As He Himself said in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” He chose to die so that we might live. Thank you, Lord! 38 and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.† That veil represented the barrier between sinful man and a Holy God. For it to be ripped in two from top to bottom was obviously a supernatural event, and it followed immediately upon Jesus' death—which means that the Father considered that Jesus had solved the problem. Hebrews 10:20 makes the connection. Because of Jesus' death we can now have access to the Father. 39 Well when the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw that He breathed out His spirit after giving such a loud shout,‡ A mere handful (0.4%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘after giving a loud shout’, to be followed by NASB and LB. he said, “This man really was God's Son!”§ Any centurion would be a hardened soldier, who had seen no end of crucifixions. He knew that a cross killed by asphyxiation. Hanging from the hands, with the arms stretched out, pushes the diaphragm against the lungs so you can't breathe. Nailing the feet was a sadistic procedure to prolong the agony—even though painful, the victim would push up so he could get a breath, until finally too worn out to do so. Breaking the legs would put an end to that expedient, and the person died within a few minutes, asphyxiated. Someone who is dying asphyxiated does not shout. Since Jesus gave a loud shout, but then immediately died, the centurion knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the cross had not killed Jesus (later, when Joseph asks for the body, Pilate is surprised that Jesus could already be dead). But who can just tell his spirit to leave? Putting two and two together, the centurion concluded that Jesus was a supernatural being. Just so!
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome 41 —they used to follow Him and minister to Him when He was in Galilee—and many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem.
The burial
42 Now when evening had come, because it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who also himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Well Pilate was surprised that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion he asked him when He had died.* As soon as Jesus died, the centurion most probably had left the scene, going back to headquarters. He probably felt he should inform Pilate about the unusual events, but somehow Joseph got ahead of him. Well, Joseph was evidently primed for action; watching from a distance, as soon as Jesus dismissed His spirit Joseph headed for Pilate. 45 Upon the centurion's confirmation he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Having bought linen, he took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock; then he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.† If he rolled it, it was in the form of a wheel; there would be a track in which it rolled, with a bit of incline, so that he and Nicodemus could roll it down into place, where it would stop; but it would take several men to roll it back up and away (16:3-4). Obviously all of this had been planned and prepared in advance—the donkey owner, the upper room owner, the sepulcher owner all knew in advance just what part they were to play. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was placed.‡ They had seen where Jesus was placed, but obviously had not looked in the tomb—there were 100 pounds of spices in there, with enough linen to tie it all in.

*15:1 And just why was Pilate dressed and waiting for them at 5:30 in the morning? Obviously this was a put up job. Pilate knew it was a farce, but he soon found himself in over his head. For a detailed analysis concerning Pilate, please see the Appendix: Poor Pilate—wrong place, wrong time.

†15:5 Jesus simply did not look or act like a criminal.

‡15:8 A mere handful [0.5%] of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, have ‘go up’ instead of ‘call out’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.

§15:15 By comparing the parallel accounts we know that a great deal more happened than is given here.

*15:19 This drove the thorns into His scalp, and since they were probably poisonous, His face began to swell.

†15:21 After carrying the cross, Simon doubtless stayed around to see what happened. In consequence he was no doubt converted, as were his two sons.

‡15:21 A condemned person usually had to carry his cross, but this one was doubtless heavy, and evidently Jesus was having difficulty carrying it.

§15:23 This was a humanitarian gesture—myrrh is a crude analgesic and would deaden the pain. But Jesus refused it; He wanted nothing to cloud His senses or diminish the suffering.

*15:25 Using Jewish time, that was 9 a.m.

†15:28 See Isaiah 53:12. Around 11% of the Greek manuscripts omit verse 28 entire, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, [TEV], etc.

‡15:31 This was precisely true, but not in the sense they intended. To save us, He could not save Himself.

§15:32 They were lying; they would not have submitted to Him even then.

*15:32 But one of them changed his mind later.

†15:33 The darkness could not have been a solar eclipse, as some have ignorantly argued. The Passover always occurs at full moon, and a solar eclipse only occurs at new moon. Further, even a total eclipse only lasts for a few minutes, not three hours.

‡15:34 See Psalm 22:1.

§15:36 To understand Mark's turn of phrase, we need Matthew's account (27:47-49). “Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah!’ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, ‘Let him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save him’.” The ‘let him’ is 2nd person singular. But in Mark's account, the ‘let him’ is 2nd person plural! How do we reconcile the two accounts? I suggest the following: First, the man was quite possibly Mark himself; next, anyone who really understood the language would know that Jesus had not called Elijah; so, he responds sarcastically to their erroneous interpretation and therefore unreasonable demand that he stop; he retorts, “You stop!” and repeats their interpretation in disgust.

*15:37 Both Matthew 27:50 and John 19:30 plainly state that Jesus dismissed His spirit. It was not the cross that killed Him [see the third note down]. As He Himself said in John 10:18, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” He chose to die so that we might live. Thank you, Lord!

†15:38 That veil represented the barrier between sinful man and a Holy God. For it to be ripped in two from top to bottom was obviously a supernatural event, and it followed immediately upon Jesus' death—which means that the Father considered that Jesus had solved the problem. Hebrews 10:20 makes the connection. Because of Jesus' death we can now have access to the Father.

‡15:39 A mere handful (0.4%) of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit ‘after giving a loud shout’, to be followed by NASB and LB.

§15:39 Any centurion would be a hardened soldier, who had seen no end of crucifixions. He knew that a cross killed by asphyxiation. Hanging from the hands, with the arms stretched out, pushes the diaphragm against the lungs so you can't breathe. Nailing the feet was a sadistic procedure to prolong the agony—even though painful, the victim would push up so he could get a breath, until finally too worn out to do so. Breaking the legs would put an end to that expedient, and the person died within a few minutes, asphyxiated. Someone who is dying asphyxiated does not shout. Since Jesus gave a loud shout, but then immediately died, the centurion knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the cross had not killed Jesus (later, when Joseph asks for the body, Pilate is surprised that Jesus could already be dead). But who can just tell his spirit to leave? Putting two and two together, the centurion concluded that Jesus was a supernatural being. Just so!

*15:44 As soon as Jesus died, the centurion most probably had left the scene, going back to headquarters. He probably felt he should inform Pilate about the unusual events, but somehow Joseph got ahead of him. Well, Joseph was evidently primed for action; watching from a distance, as soon as Jesus dismissed His spirit Joseph headed for Pilate.

†15:46 If he rolled it, it was in the form of a wheel; there would be a track in which it rolled, with a bit of incline, so that he and Nicodemus could roll it down into place, where it would stop; but it would take several men to roll it back up and away (16:3-4). Obviously all of this had been planned and prepared in advance—the donkey owner, the upper room owner, the sepulcher owner all knew in advance just what part they were to play.

‡15:47 They had seen where Jesus was placed, but obviously had not looked in the tomb—there were 100 pounds of spices in there, with enough linen to tie it all in.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD