CHAPTER 15
JESUS IS TRIED BEFORE PILATE
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. Mark 15:1
We have clearly seen that Jesus’ “trials” throughout the night were a sham. Luke 22:66 ff. tells us that the chief priests and scribes gathered early in the morning for what seemed to be an “official” Sanhedrin trial. They no doubt felt that this daytime trial could lend some validity to the goings-on through the night. It is clear however that they “rubber stamped” the verdict of the night. Then they bound Jesus as they would have bound a violent criminal and rushed him off to see Pilate, the Roman governor or prefect over Judea.
Pontius Pilate exercised rule over Judea from AD 26 – 36. History tells us that he was not fond of the Jews and was rather suspicious of them. While the gospels generally give a sympathetic portrait of Pilate, the early Jewish writers like Josephus and Philo do not treat him so well.1 It is interesting that he was recalled in AD 36 for abuse of power. In 1961 a stone with Pilate’s name was found at Caesarea Maritima. This stone is the only universally accepted archaeological find with Pilate’s name upon it.2
In New Testament times it was customary for the Roman governor to go from his usual dwelling in Caesarea up to Jerusalem during the times of the great feasts. Tension was always high, particularly at Passover, when nationalistic feelings often peaked. When he visited Jerusalem there is ample evidence that the Roman governor lodged at Herod’s Palace, on the upper west side of the Old City, near the present-day Jaffa Gate.3 This of course does not agree with the prevalent idea that Pilate lodged in the Fortress of Antonia near the Temple Mount. This latter site is well woven into the Via Delorosa traditions, although many of these traditions date only from the 18th century.
We can understand the haste of the Jewish leaders to get Jesus to Pilate when we realize that Roman governors preferred to have their trials beginning at the earliest hour of daylight. Pilate was no doubt already awake and well prepared to decide on Jesus’ case.
“‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate. ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied” (15:2). It is necessary for us to go to Luke 23:2-5, to get the full setting of this conversation. The Jewish leaders had spent the night trying to convict Jesus of blasphemy. To their minds they had succeeded. However, the charge of blasphemy would be of no concern whatever to Pilate. As Guzik says, “The Jewish rulers knew that if they brought Jesus before Pilate on the charge of claiming to be God, Pilate would merely yawn. He would say, ‘We Romans have hundreds of gods. What is the harm with one more?’” 4 So we see here that the Jewish leaders totally switched their charge to sedition as they appeared before Pilate.
“The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of’” (15:3-4). As we saw in Luke 23:2-5, they were charging Jesus with perverting the nation, forbidding people to pay tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be king. These also were trumped-up charges and had nothing to do with their original charge of blasphemy. Pilate apparently saw right through their charade. “They knew the charge was a lie – and so did Pilate.” 5 It was absolutely necessary for the Jewish leaders to secure Pilate’s judgment against Jesus. The Sanhedrin did not have the power to put a person to death (Jn. 18:31). In fact, it had not possessed such a power since AD 7. Capital punishment was solely in the hands of Rome. We must admit though that there were some times when the Jews broke this rule. They stoned Stephen to death shortly after the crucifixion of Jesus. Later in 62 they killed James the Just, the Lord’s brother. However, neither of these leaders had the national prominence of Jesus. They must have known that to kill him in an unauthorized manner would bring down the wrath of Rome upon their heads.
Pilate however could not take their charges against Jesus seriously. In John’s gospel we realize that a more lengthy conversation was carried on between Jesus and Pilate. Apparently this conversation was held in private. When asked about his kingship Jesus said: “…You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (Jn. 18:37). John tells us that Pilate tried to release Jesus (Jn. 19:12). To add to his concern Matthew 27:19 tells us that Pilate’s wife had suffered a dream about Jesus and warned her husband not to have anything to do with sentencing such a righteous man.
However, regarding the Jewish charges against him Jesus would not answer Pilate. “But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed” (15:5). We can be certain that most people brought before Pilate were pleading for their lives with all their might. Pilate was amazed that Jesus didn’t do so. Barclay adds, “There is a time when silence is more eloquent than words, for silence can say things that words can never say.” 6
JESUS OR BARABBAS?
Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. Mark 15:6-8
Pilate may have sought to shift the focus from himself by bringing up the subject of the customary prisoner release. This was usually done at Passover. The attention of Pilate and everyone else present seemed to be fixed on a certain Barabbas. Barabbas was an insurrectionist who was guilty of murder. It is of note that in some ancient texts of the Bible Barabbas also has the given name of “Jesus.” It is almost is if Pilate is later saying to the crowd, “Which Jesus do you want me to release to you?” 7
We can be sure that thorough preparations had been made by the Jewish leadership in regards to the Barabbas question, should it come up. The chief priest and his crowd must have regarded this incident as a heaven-sent opportunity to accomplish their goal. Some might wonder how a crowd of people could so completely change from the mood of the triumphal entry to the mood of this trial before Pilate. The fact is that it was not the same crowd.8 It is altogether possible that the Jewish leadership had hand-picked many in the crowd and that the event regarding Barabbas was a well-orchestrated one. Guzik remarks here, “It is a strange, almost insane scene: a cruel, ruthless Roman governor trying to win the life of a miracle-working Jew against the strenuous efforts of both the Jewish leaders and the crowd.” 9
There were many ironies in the trial of Jesus, as several commentators have noted. It is certainly ironic that the chief priests and leaders were requesting that Pilate release to them the very kind of person that Jesus was accused of being.10 We cannot discount the involvement of the priesthood and particularly the high priesthood in the death of Jesus. Neither can we discount the fact that Pilate wanted to release Jesus and tried hard to do so. Throughout the trial Pilate repeatedly stated that he could find no fault in him (Matt. 27:24; Lk. 23:14, 22; Jn. 18:38; 19:4). In the end he washed his hands of the whole matter, claiming innocence in the Lord’s death (Matt. 27:24-25).
“‘Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead” (15:9-11). How tragic that both the priests and people rejected the Prince of Peace and requested that a prince of bandits and terrorists be released to them! The consequences of this act would be dire indeed.
Coffman spells out some of the results of this shameful decision:
They not only received that Barabbas whom they requested; but, before that generation expired, the Holy City and the Holy of Holies itself were infested with a vast multitude of the most vicious and bloody robbers ever known to history, who seized the government, filled the holy place with dead corpses, murdered the entire nobility, and with rapine and slaughter unparalleled historically, they accomplished the total ruin of Jerusalem, being in fact the “abomination of desolation.” 11
“‘What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them. ‘Crucify him!’ they shouted. ‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’” (15:12-14). It is astounding that the crowd cried for Jesus to be crucified. He had spent his life doing good (Acts 10:38), healing the sick, casting out demons, feeding hungry crowds. It seems almost insane that the priests and crowds would demand that such a good person be killed and with such a horrible punishment. In all this we can sense the “mystery of iniquity” or “the secret power of lawlessness” that Paul would later speak of, working in the priests and people of Israel (cf. 2 Thess. 2:7). In other words, it was not just humans who were making this decision. Satan and all the demons of hell were no doubt screaming for the crucifixion as well.
JESUS IS CONDEMNED AND FLOGGED
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Mark 15:15
In Luke’s version we read that “Pilate gave sentence” (Lk. 23:24). Jesus was thus officially handed over to the soldiers to be flogged and crucified. We are prone to read over the word “flogged” without thinking much about what was involved in this process. It seems that the ancient method of flogging or scourging was instituted to insure that no one would ever survive the cross. The truth is that many in ancient times did not survive the flogging. Barclay says, “Some men emerged from the ordeal raving mad. Few retained consciousness through it.” 12
Those who saw The Passion of the Christ, a 2004 blockbuster film by Mel Gibson should have come away with a good idea of how horrible a flogging or scourging could be. Those who missed it may not want to see it because it was a gruesome, blood-splattered scene that put many audiences across the world in a state of near shock.
Let us briefly describe what took place in a flogging. The condemned person was stripped and bent over with his hands tied to a low stake. A soldier on each side then began to beat him with whips. There was no maximum number of stripes imposed. These were not normal whips but whips with nine leather straps. Each of these straps had hard or sharp items attached, such as pieces of metal or bone. The lashes often stripped the flesh while sometimes even exposing bones and entrails. These beatings were so brutal that even the cruel emperor Domitian was said to have been horrified at their sight.13
This bloody scene reminds us of the prophetic words of Isaiah 50:6, which were spoken of Jesus over 700 years before this event happened: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” The brutal and bloody beating plus all the other following horrors of crucifixion were long before predicted in Isaiah 52:14, “…his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness….” Jesus was literally beaten to a “bloody pulp,” so to speak.
JESUS IS MOCKED AND RIDICULED BY THE SOLDIERS
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Mark 15:16-18
If the mocking of Jesus happened after the beating we can imagine that Jesus was barely conscious while this abuse was taking place. We are told that it happened in the Praetorium, the residence and headquarters of the governor. The headquarters cohort of the guard was called together to make sport of this “Jewish king.” A cohort was a tenth of a legion or normally around 600 men. These were the elite soldiers who guarded the prefect.
As we have mentioned briefly, in the past, many have felt that the Praetorium was in the Fortress of Antonia very near the Temple Mount. The spot where Jesus was mocked (the Lithostratos or “Pavement”) has been traditionally located under the Sisters of Zion Convent along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows). There are now many questions as to this location and it is thought that the site does not precede the time of Hadrian (AD 117-138). 14
Many scholars now feel that the Praetorium was located at Herod’s Palace on the western wall close to the Jaffa Gate. The gate today is 2,549 feet (777 meters) in elevation and the surviving tower of Phasael that was part of Herod’s Palace provides one of the best views of the Old City. In John’s gospel he notes that Jesus’ trial was before an area of stone pavement that was called “Gabbatha” (Jn. 19:13). “Gabbatha” is an Aramaic word meaning “high point,” and this too gives credence that the trial and flagellation of Jesus happened at Herod’s Palace adjoining today’s Jaffa Gate.15
As the soldiers ridiculed Jesus they placed a purple robe on him and mockingly hailed him as king. In Matthew 27:28, the evangelist indicates that it was a scarlet robe. This has led some to think that it was a scarlet military cloak that perhaps was faded and had begun to take on the color of purple.16 They also placed a “crown” of woven thorns on Jesus head. Some have thought that this crown was woven from the acanthus plant but actually Israel has many common varieties of thorny plants and any one could have made up the crown.
“Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him” (15:19-20). Jesus must have been almost beyond feeling as the soldiers continued to mock, spit on him and pummel him with blows. At last his clothes were put back on him and he was turned over to the execution squad. This usually consisted of four soldiers accompanied by a centurion. 17 The route to the place of execution was usually not the most direct since the Romans wanted everyone to see and fear their example of justice. 18
ON THE ROAD TO GOLGOTHA
A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. Mark 15:21
Jesus was no doubt weary beyond description. Yet, according to custom he was forced to carry his own patibulum or heavy crossbeam to his crucifixion site.19 We see in the next verse that they had to bring Jesus to the site of his crucifixion. He was obviously too weak to walk and certainly was not able to carry his cross. In those days Roman officers had the right to impress residents for any service they desired (cf. Matt. 5:41). 20 The centurion chose a man in the crowd to help carry the heavy crossbeam. Mark, who is not in the habit of using many people’s names, does something unusual here. He not only names the man who was conscripted for service but he also names his two sons.
The man conscripted was Simon, a native of Cyrene in Africa. He was obviously a person of color, of dark skin. Most likely he had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Scholars have felt that his sons, Alexander and Rufus were certainly known to the church at Rome, the recipients of this gospel.21 It is very interesting that in his later epistle to the Romans, Paul sends this note: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too” (Rom. 16:13).
We may have an example here of how a really bad thing can turn out good if God is in it. No doubt, Simon was humiliated and petrified with fear when he was summoned by the Roman officer. The Greek word used here for “force” or “impress” is the word angareuo. It was a word that was often used of forcing slaves and animals to work.22 Yet, something glorious beyond words must have happened to Simon as he watched the Master suffer. He came to the Passover and personally met the true Passover Lamb.23 Edwards remarks about him saying that Simon of Cyrene was the first person in Mark’s gospel to literally fulfill Christ’s command to take up his cross and follow him.24
“They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull)” (15:22). It was the custom of both the Jews and the Romans to execute victims outside the city limits (cf. Lev. 24:14; Num. 15:35-36; Heb. 13:12). 25 Today at Jerusalem’s Model City the small hill can be seen just outside the main wall on its western side. This setting was quite near the area of Herod’s Palace and was near a main road going into the city.
Of course, like many holy places in Israel, particularly in Jerusalem, there is an alternate site for the event. On the north side of the city, near what is today the Arab bus station, General Charles Gordon in 1885 spied a skull-shaped hill and decided it was the authentic Calvary. In time this popular area became known as the Garden Tomb. This beautiful garden with its tomb has all the feel of the authentic site but the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Old Jerusalem’s west side has all the history. This church was already built in AD 335, but the spot had been previously marked with a pagan shrine in the days of Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138).
“Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it” (15:23). Barclay tells us of a pious group of women in Jerusalem who brought a drugged wine to every crucifixion in order to ease the terrible pain of the condemned.26 They offered this to Jesus but he would not drink the mixture. Cole has suggested that Jesus would not take this anesthetic because he wanted all his faculties unclouded for the great work of redemption that lay before him.27 Of course, at the last supper Jesus vowed that he would not drink of the fruit of the vine again until he drank of it in the kingdom.
“And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get” (15:24). Mark, in his traditional economy of words, quickly passes over what must have been one of the most cruel and heartless practices in all human history. When Jesus arrived at Golgotha, his hands and feet were apparently nailed to the cross (Lk. 24:39-49; Jn. 20:25). It is thought today that nails were actually driven through the wrists, since the weight of the body would have caused the nails to tear through the hands. This action would have severed the large median nerve going to the hand and would have resulted in excruciating bolts of severe pain.28
In 1968 at Givat ha-Mitvar, a northern suburb of Jerusalem, the remains of a crucified man were found. The rusty nail was still affixed in his heels. Interestingly, the man’s legs may have been folded up under him with the nail piercing both heels at once. Such a position might well have increased the helplessness and suffering of the condemned.
While such unmitigated acts of cruelty to Jesus were taking place, the soldiers began gambling for the Master’s clothing. During the Lord’s suffering some think that much of Psalm 22 was apparently recited by him. Some of the verses of this psalm as they were recited must have stuck in the collective memory of the church. Psalm 22:16-18, very appropriately describes the situation going on here: “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”
There is some question among the biblical writers as to exactly when the Lord was crucified. Mark says: “It was the third hour in the morning when they crucified him” (15:25). This would have been at 9:00 AM. However, John 19:14 says it was about the sixth hour (12 O’clock noon). It is thought by some that John was using Roman time while Mark was using the Jewish system of time.29 Interestingly, penitential prayers at the third, sixth and ninth hours must have continued in the church for centuries as is recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions (AD 375-380). 30
“The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS” (15:26). Evans says of this inscription or titulus, that it would have read “something like [Iesus nazerenus] Rex iudaeorum, while the Hebrew may have read yeshua hanatsri melek hayyehudim” (cf. Jn. 19:20).31 It was also written in the Aramaic language.
“They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” (15:27-30). Jesus was crucified with two villains, one on each side. As Isaiah 53:9 had said many centuries before, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”
The crowds on the busy road nearby reviled him making the charge again that he had claimed that he would destroy the temple. They chided him implying that he did not even have enough strength to come down from the cross, much less to rebuild the temple. Coffman says here, “The priests had done a good job of spreading their infamous lies regarding Jesus, so good in fact, that passers-by were able to repeat it exactly.” 32
“In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself!’” (15:31). It is amazing that the priests and teachers of the temple came out to witness the death of Jesus. This attests to the fact that he was considered a most serious threat to their leadership. It is also amazing that in their reviling they made here a great gospel statement, “…He saved others,..but he can’t save himself!” How true it was that, “Everywhere, in Jerusalem, in all the towns and villages and hamlets through the countryside, were those whom he had saved.” 33
How true the words of the priests and leaders, “…he can’t save himself!” Jesus certainly had the power to come down from the cross if he so chose. However, he could only become the Savior of humanity by remaining on the cross. As Donahue says: “The final paradox of this powerful scene is that, by remaining on the cross, he is both “saving himself” and “saving others.” 34
“‘Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.’ Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him” (15:32). The leaders of Israel had already seen many miracles of Jesus and yet they had not believed. As Edwards says, “Faith is not the result of signs and miracles, but the condition for them.” 35 The great leader of the Salvation Army, General William Booth, once summed up this situation and the truth of the gospel message when he said: “It is because Jesus did not come down from the cross that we believe in him.” 36
At this point in his suffering both the brigands crucified with Jesus were still mocking him. That was to change dramatically for one of them as recorded in Luke 23:39-43. Jesus, the true Lamb of God, stayed on the cross and bore all its humiliation and suffering just as Isaiah said he would: “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors“ (Isa. 53:12).
THE DEATH OF JESUS
At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. Mark 15:33
At the sixth hour (12 O’clock noon) the world was visited by an awesome and miraculous event. The whole land became dark, in an occurrence that may have been predicted by the prophet Amos long before: “‘In that day,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ‘I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight’” (Amos 8:9). This great darkness was surely reminiscent of the darkness that fell upon Egypt as the nation of Israel was about to be delivered from slavery and oppression (Exo. 10:21-22). Through the centuries some have felt that this was surely an eclipse of the sun. However, it has been pointed out that while solar eclipses only last some eight minutes this darkness lasted three hours.37
With this great darkness Jesus was experiencing for the first time what it was like when the Father turns his face away. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, it is written that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus, who had never sinned in his whole life, now began to experience the awful effects of sin, that alienation from the face of God. He became the sin-bearer for all humanity. In that dark hour Christ not only experienced the withdrawal of the Father’s fellowship but he experienced the full effect of the Father’s wrath upon sin.
Paul would later say of this awesome redemptive moment, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Not only did he die for us but as he hung there on the cross he cancelled the written code of the law that had condemned us. He nailed it to the cross and it is now finished (Col. 2:14). Coffman remarks, “The full mystery of the awesome events of Calvary cannot ever be fully known by mortal and finite men.” 38
It is incomprehensible that God would allow such a thing, that the Son of God and Creator of the universe should be put to death as a common criminal on earth. There is something about the cross that forever proves the absolute sinfulness of man and the absolute love of God. It was no accident that the cross was planted in the hill of the skull, Golgotha. It is here that the love of God finally penetrates the mind of humankind. The cross ends all arguments about whether or not humans are sinners and whether or not God loves us. Jesus says, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (Jn.12:32). Today the preaching of the cross is regarded as foolishness by many, but we who are saved know that it is the power of God to salvation (1 Cor. 1:18).
“And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? ‘ (which means ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” (15:34). We no doubt have the actual Aramaic words spoken by Jesus and Mark gives the interpretation for the church at Rome. Added to the horrors of the cruel cross, Jesus had to bear not only the sins of all humanity but the rejection of his own Father. Again Jesus is quoting from Psalm 22:1.
We simply cannot imagine the suffering Jesus endured for those hours. The cross itself was designed to slowly and surely kill a person. The nail pierced hands and feet produced a constant and searing pain, the lack of oxygen made it harder and harder to breathe. With each breath one had to push against the agonized feet. The body was wracked by muscle cramps due to the lack of oxygen. 39 Physicians tell us that in crucifixion the blood would sink to the lower extremities and the blood pressure would drop drastically. The pulse rate would then rise as the heart was deprived of blood, resulting in fainting spells. We are told that it could sometimes take from two to three days for a condemned person to die. To such a horrible death the Son of God descended (Phil. 2:5-8).
“When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah.’ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ‘Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,’ he said” (15:35-36). We have seen in the previous verse that it was now the ninth hour or 3 O’clock in the afternoon. The rigors of the Lord’s suffering were about over. Apparently some bystanders had misunderstood the cry of Jesus and supposed that he was asking for the Prophet Elijah to appear. One man took a sponge, dipped it in wine vinegar and lifted it to Jesus. He may have done it in response to Jesus’ request that he was thirsting (Jn. 19:28). We note in John’s gospel (v. 29) that the sponge was lifted on a stalk of hyssop (Gk. hussopo). Long before in Egypt it was with hyssop that the Passover lamb’s blood was put upon the houses.
This was the second attempt to give Jesus a wine mixture (cf. Psa. 69:21). We see such sour wine mentioned in the Old Testament (Ruth 2:14). In the Greek and Roman world it was apparently a common beverage that was appreciated by soldiers and laborers.40 As in the earlier instance, it was likely that Jesus also refused this drink.
“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last” (15:37). The loud cry of Jesus is unusual for a dying person. It surely must have startled the centurion who was on guard. When death closes in on people, one thing they often do is to stop talking, or else begin talking in a mere whisper. It just takes a lot of energy to talk and especially to cry out in a loud voice. The other gospel writers add some information to this last moment of Jesus. Luke records that Jesus said, “…Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk. 23:46). John notes that Jesus uttered the single word in the Greek language, tetelestai (meaning “it is finished”).
Utley mentions how this Greek word is found written across business documents from ancient Egypt. In the commercial sense it meant “paid in full” (cf. Isa. 53). 41 Barclay writes that “Jesus died with the cry of triumph on his lips.” 42
IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF JESUS’ DEATH
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’” Mark 15:38-39
While we cannot be absolutely sure, it seems likely that the veil spoken of here was not the outer veil but the inner veil of the temple. The Greek word for veil here is kateapetasma. It is used in reference to both curtains, however it is more frequently used of the curtain in the Holy of Holies.43 This veil separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. We remember that only the high priest of Israel could go behind this veil and that only one day each year on the Day of Atonement. It was the secret place where atonement was made for all Israel.
Now we see that the veil is torn in two from top to bottom. This veil was very thick, about a handbreadth in width. Yet, at Jesus’ death it was ripped apart. Matthew ties the event to an earthquake in which the rocks split (Matt. 27:51). The spiritual significance of this development is rather astounding. Guzik summarizes this act saying: “The tearing of the temple veil signifies that now man has free access to the throne of grace by the cross, and that no one should ever think again that God dwells in temples made with hands.” 44 The torn veil seemed to be a token of the coming day, less than forty years in the future, when the whole temple would be destroyed by the Romans.
The Roman centurion had just witnessed three hours of unusual and eerie darkness; he had just witnessed Jesus crying out with a loud voice and giving up his spirit. He had just witnessed a dramatic and frightening earthquake. Now the pagan Gentile Roman centurion declares that Jesus is the Son of God. Mark began his gospel proclaiming this fact. It was even announced from heaven at Jesus’ baptism and at his transfiguration. Now, the pagan world can confess Jesus and be saved. “The centurion now ascribes to Jesus what he had earlier ascribed to Caesar: Caesar is not divi filius, “son of God”…but Jesus is.” 45 “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there” (15:40-41). Davies aptly says “The cause of the Cross will never lack loyal women.” 46 Mary Magdalene was a witness of Jesus’ death and first witness of his resurrection. Along with her was Mary the mother of James and Joses. In John 19:25 we read: “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” Pett thinks that Salome may have been the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James and John.47 We do know that John was the only one of the original disciples present and that Jesus assigned the care of his mother to him before dying (Jn. 19:26-27).
Matthew (27:55-56) tells us that there were many women present and he verifies that these women had ministered to Jesus and his disciples in the Galilee. We can imagine that there was a great need around camp to wash clothes, dishes, and just keep things in some degree of order. The ancient preacher Chrysostom remarks here: “For what reason then was he being supported by women. For women, it is said, followed him and ministered to him. It was to teach us from the first that he is ready to receive those who do the good.” 48
THE BURIAL OF JESUS
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Mark 15:42-43
It appears here that the secret disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, was now no longer secret. He boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. We might note that this was a little unusual with a crucifixion. Bodies were generally left upon the crosses to be devoured by birds and wild animals. Writing not long after this event the Roman historian Seutonius said of crucifixions, “the carrion birds will soon take care of ‘one’s burial.’” 49 However, because of Jewish sensibilities and because of the fast approaching holiday the Romans allowed the bodies to be buried.
“Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph” (15:44-45). We can be certain here that Jesus was really dead. We have first the expert opinion of the Roman centurion who watched him die. Then we have the opinion of the soldiers who were sent to break the legs of those still living. They did not break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead (Jn. 19:33). For good measure a soldier even pierced Jesus’ side with a spear. Jesus was dead and not in some sort of swoon as some have claimed. Jesus truly fulfilled the prophetic words of Isaiah 53:8, “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.”
Mark continues: “So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb” (15:46). Joseph by his actions was most surely subjecting himself to scorn from the rulers and religious people of his community. Also, by contacting a dead body he was making himself unclean and unable to participate in the upcoming holiday.
We see here that Jesus was laid in the nearby tomb of Joseph. It was the new tomb (Mt. 27:60) of a wealthy man and therefore Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the … rich in his death…” In Jesus’ day people were buried in “niche” tombs or kokhim. Almost a thousand tombs of this type have been discovered around Jerusalem.50 With such a burial the deceased was anointed with spices, wrapped in linen and then laid out on one of the slabs in the tomb. Normally, after about a year when the body had thoroughly decomposed the bones were gathered and placed in a stone bone box or ossuary. The box, after being appropriately marked, was arranged with other boxes in the family tomb. The tombs were enclosed with large stones. For the wealthy the stones were sometimes round and were rolled back and forth in a track to cover and uncover the opening.
“Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid” (15:47). Wiersbe remarks that faithful women were last at the cross and first at the tomb of Jesus.51 We cannot discount the great importance of women in the gospel. In fact, Mary Magdalene would have to be counted as a disciple par excellence since she did what the other disciples, with exception of John, were unwilling or unable to do. She would then be the very first witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
POSTSCRIPTS CONCERNING JESUS’ DEATH
The timing of his death
The ending of this chapter brings us once more face to face with the difficult question of when Jesus was crucified. Verse 42 tells us “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath)” when Jesus died. The question remains as to which Sabbath. Was it the normal Sabbath beginning in the eve of Friday, or was it the special Sabbath connected with the holiday or Passover? We have said earlier that Passover can come on any day of the week.
Some have gone to the great and painstaking task of checking the stages of the moon in the early centuries (remember, Israel runs on a lunar calendar). Many scholars feel that Jesus was probably crucified in the year AD 30. In that year the fourteenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan fell on Thursday. Thus the day of Jesus’ crucifixion would have been on Thursday and not on Friday according to this scientific evidence.52 The Day of Preparation mentioned would then have been for the Passover Sabbath and not for the normal Sabbath. In effect, there would have been two Sabbaths in close proximity to each other. The interesting use of “Sabbaths” (Gk. sabbaton) in the plural in Matthew 28:1 seems to corroborate the passing of two Sabbaths while Jesus was asleep in the tomb.53
Also, Lightfoot points out how in John 18:28, the leaders of Israel would not go into Pilate’s judgment hall lest they be defiled and not be able to eat the Passover. He says, “And hence it is confidently concluded by them, that however Christ ate his lamb the day before, yet the Jews were to eat theirs this very day.” 54
Early Christian writers like Ignatius and Augustine struggled with the problem and felt that Jesus was crucified on Friday, that he was in the grave the whole of the second day and was raised on the morning of the third. 55 That idea has prevailed over the centuries. Unfortunately, this does not allow for three days and three nights in the tomb as Matthew 12:40 declares.
The eternal sufficiency of his death
We see in the Bible that the sin problem was a very big one. We also see that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin (Heb. 10:4). After all, the animals on a thousand hills already belonged to God, so how could they be given back to him in offering? (Psa. 50:10). If the blood of animals could have taken away sin, then the suffering of Christ was unnecessary. We can safely say that in all of the millions of offerings of Israel not a single sin was ever forgiven through the shedding of animal blood. Still, we must not discount the sacrificial system. It was a system of types and shadows that spoke of coming reality, of the true offering that would in fact cover all sins and fully atone for them. Those who were not faithful with the types and shadows would miss the reality that was coming.
It is clear in the Bible that the human sin problem was so big that only God could solve it. It is also clear that God solved the problem long before it came into existence. In Revelation 13:8, we read of “…the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” The true Lamb of course was and is Jesus the Son of God. We hear this talking Lamb say to his Father,“…Here I am, I have come… I desire to do your will, my God…” (Psa. 40:7-8).
From the scripture we can be assured that Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross was the eternal solution to the sin problem. It is said in Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him…” Those Israelites who lived before the cross were looking toward the cross for full forgiveness and redemption. We, who live after the cross are looking back on it. Paul deals with this mystery in Romans 3:25 saying: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood— to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished….”
In this verse we see that God displayed a remission toward the sins committed during the Old Testament era. The Greek word used here (paresin) does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Septuagint. It has the idea of “passing by” or “not noticing” the sins that were committed.56
God is a God of justice. Because he is a God of justice, it is impossible for him to be unjust in his dealings with sin. In Old Testament times if God had simply waved his hand to forgive sin he would not have been dealing justly according to his own word (cf. Prov. 17:15; 24:25). In the Bible he says: “…I will not acquit the guilty” (Exo. 23:7). John Stott comments: “How can the righteous God act un-righteously, and so overthrow the moral order, turning it upside down? It is unbelievable! Or rather it would be, if it were not for the cross of Christ.” 57
Guzik remarks: “The idea is that through the animal sacrifice of the Old Testament, those who looked in faith to the coming Messiah had their sins ‘covered’ by a sort of an ‘IOU’ or promissory note. That temporary covering was redeemed for full payment at the cross.” 58 God was, “…not remitting but only forbearing to punish them, or passing them by, until an adequate atonement for them should be made.” 59 Thus we see that God in his great forbearance was willing to leave the sins of the Old Testament era unpunished until Jesus as the Lamb of God could receive the full punishment for them all at Calvary. What an awful burden of sin our Savior bore!
In the Old Testament, sacrifices and offerings were repeated continuously and this fact itself argued against their eternal efficacy (Heb. 10:2-3). It is much different with Jesus: “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). On the cross it really was “finished.”
Hebrews 11:39-40 tells us that the people of the Old Covenant had to wait on the New Covenant to be established. It says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
The cosmic consequences of his death
We know from the Bible that the sin problem was not just an earthly problem. The Bible tells us that God’s most glorious and powerful angel, Lucifer, rebelled against God in the eons past (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:1-19). The Book of Revelation makes plain that a third of the angels of God were drawn into this rebellion (Rev. 12:3-4). From other passages such as Genesis 6:1-2, we might assume that there were other rebellions in the heavenly realms. With these rebellions Satan sat up his rival kingdom.60
From the Bible we can understand that the heavens are divided into at least three parts. There is the third heaven where Paul visited on one occasion (2 Cor. 12:2) and it is this heaven where God dwells. Then there is the lower part of heaven where Satan and his cohorts dwell. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 6:12 saying, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
These dark spiritual powers were already represented in the Garden of Eden long ago. The serpent was already there tempting Adam and Eve to do evil and also join in the rebellion against God. Satan had rebelled because of his pride and man did essentially the same thing. Derek Prince says, “Pride was the cause of Lucifer’s downfall. It is also the main motive that Satan uses in tempting human beings to sin. Pride has caused the downfall of more men and women than all the other sins put together.” 61 Satan said (Isa. 14:14), “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Much later Satan tempted humankind saying, “…you will be like God…” (Gen. 3:5). If we had to summarize sin we could probably do it with the words, prideful-selfish-rebellion.
It is clear that by the strategy of the cross God worked a great victory over these rebelling spiritual forces. In Colossians 2:15 it is said: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Apparently God in his wisdom knew that mere power and force could never appease the minds of either angels or humans. It was power and pride that brought about the fall of angels. Now it was pride that brought about the fall of man.
God in his wisdom knew that he could never settle the nagging question of his right to be God by his power alone. It was only in humility that the victory was won on earth and in heaven. When Christ, the Sovereign of the Universe, died a meek and humble death on the cruel cross it proved something to both angels and to humans. It is therefore the cross of Christ that triumphs over all. Through that cross the evil rulers and authorities in the heavenly places will be finally cast down and destroyed.