Mark 15 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Mark 15:1-5

1 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.

2 ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate.

‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied.

3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’

5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

A. Find Out:

1. Who were involved at this stage? v.1a
2. To whom did they next take Jesus? v.1b
3. What did he ask? v.2
4. Who then accused Jesus? v.3
5. How did Jesus respond? v.4,5
6. What was Pilate’s reaction? v.5

B. Think:

1. How is the whole religious leadership seen to be guilty?
2. How did Jesus deal with this next stage of interrogation?
3. How does Pilate appear at this stage?

C. Comment:

First we note the time that this all occurred, early in the morning. This has gone on throughout the night and no time is being wasted. These leaders are in a hurry! Second we note WHO is involved, the whole religious leadership of Judaism. This was not the fault of one man, but all of them collectively.

Then Pilate becomes involved as Jesus is taken before him, and he represents the political leadership who only appears concerned to find out if Jesus is a possible political opponent. To give him his due he doesn’t seem very favourably inclined towards the Jewish leaders and he does give Jesus opportunity to make a defence.

Finally there is Jesus himself. Already beaten and mocked (14:65) he has been up all night at the hands of these unscrupulous men, but his reactions are still not wrong in any way. At this stage there is really nothing for him to say, events are proceeding without him having to say anything, so he remains silent. Pilate had an opportunity to speak out for what was obviously right. He had the power to oppose the wrong Jews, but did neither. He opted out!

D. Application?

1. Do we take the line of least resistance and opt out when there is wrong around us?
2. Ask God for strength to be involved in His world!

Passage: Mark 15:6-15

6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

9 ‘Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to get Pilate to release Barabbas instead.

12 ‘What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them.

13 ‘Crucify him!’ they shouted.

14 ‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’

15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

A. Find Out:

1. What custom was there at Passover? v.6
2. What had Barabbas done? v.7
3. Who did Pilate “offer” to release? v.9
4. Why did the crowd call for Barabbas? v.11
5. Why did Pilate give way? v.15a
6. What did he do with Jesus? v.15b

B. Think:

1. Of what, in respect of the religious leaders, was Pilate aware?
2. What did he expect of the crowd?
3. How would you describe the religious leaders from this passage?

C. Comment:

On a bend at the bottom of a steep hill there is often an escape road to allow runaway vehicles to avoid crashing. It is probable that Pilate viewed this custom of releasing a prisoner each year at Passover, as such an escape from the situation before him. He knew these religious leaders were wrong but he hadn’t the moral courage to stand up to them, but here he sees an opportunity before him to escape.

The crowd come and, instead of calling for Jesus as he expects, they call on Pilate to release a revolutionary called Barabbas. Pilate is suddenly cornered. Wait! Perhaps they want Barabbas AND Jesus! Well, what about Jesus? Crucify him! Crucify him? But I thought… Crucify him!! Pilate is out of his depth. First the religious leaders, then the crowd, what can he do? In the absence of strength of character, surrender is the only possibility. He surrenders.

Behind all this we see the evil of the RELIGIOUS leaders! Religion is shown for what it is, meaningless ritual! That’s why Jesus didn’t come to perpetuate religion, he knew it had no power to make men strong. Neither “religion” nor “politics” have any real answers to man’s problem of sin, only Jesus does!

D. Application?

1. Strength comes from knowing Jesus.
2. Look to him for such strength today.

Passage: Mark 15:16-32

16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 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.

21 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. 22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29 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, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!’ 31 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! 32 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.

A. Find Out:

1. Summarise the soldiers’ activity? v.16-20
2. Who was forced to carry Jesus’ cross? v.21
3. What was Jesus offered? v.23
4. What times was Jesus crucified? v.25
5. What did passers-by do? v.29
6. Who also mocked him? v.31

B. Think:

1. Why do you think another had to carry Jesus’ cross?
2. What sorts of pain do you think Jesus suffered?
3. Why was everybody against him?

C. Comment:

This is one of the most horrific episodes in human history. Jesus, who had never thought, said or done a wrong thing, Jesus who had blessed thousands of people with peace, with healing, with deliverance, is taken and abused and put to death in one of the most horrible ways possible. This is not the place to meditate on the physical agonies created by crucifixion, sufficient to note that they offered a drug to help cope with it (and prolong it?). Instead we should observe the awfulness of Jesus’ rejection by his world and the isolation he suffered for us. This one who had spent three years in the midst of crowds is now rejected, mocked, and humiliated, having been deserted by those closest to him, and given over to the callous soldiers, spiteful priests and embittered thieves who hung either side.

This is the battle ground for the climax of history. In the face of all this and in the face of all the unseen hordes of hell who would harass him (see Psalm 22:1-18) in his greatest weakness, will this gracious, gentle Jesus give way and curse the world? No, a thousand times no!!! The Son of God will not succumb to sin, even in the moment of rejection and agony.

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord that He died in isolation to take our isolation, that He died in pain to take our pains, all in His love for us.
2. Worship today this One who did not give way to sin

Passage: Mark 15:33-41   

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 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?’).

35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, ‘Listen, he’s calling Elijah.’

36 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.

37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God!’

40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 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.

A. Find Out:

1. What happened after 3 hours? v.33a
2. How long did it last? v.33b
3. What did Jesus cry out? v.34
4. What happened as Jesus died? v.38
5. Who did the centurion declare him to be? v.39
6. Who were there at the Cross? v.40,41

B. Think:

1. Sin separates us from God. Jesus, the Bible says, became sin (took our sin) for us. How would that account for his cry?
2. How would that account for the tearing of the temple curtain which separates the holiest place where God is said to dwell?
3. What does it say about the women that they stuck with Jesus throughout the crucifixion?

C. Comment:

For 6 hours Jesus hangs in excruciating pain on the Cross. As the end draws near the sky darkens. We don’t know what caused it but it was certainly symbolic of what was happening. God was being pushed out of his world by sinful men. It also indicates the awfulness of what Jesus went through. Somehow, in ways we cannot understand, all of the evil, the sin, the wrong of the world was heaped on Jesus at that moment, the Bible teaches us. God didn’t move away but from Jesus’ perspective His Father could no longer be seen or sensed. The awfulness of sin and its separating effect almost drowned him.

At that point Jesus took all of your sin and mine, all of our guilt, all of our shame, all of our punishment. At that moment there was an enormous gulf between the Son of God and God Himself. The way of reconciliation was being purchased but at what a cost! And all this was because He loved us and knew this was the only way.

D. Application?

1. Jesus took our sin so that we might receive His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21 ) Thank and praise Him for the wonder of that.
2. Marvel at the wonder of redemption!

Passage: Mark 15:42-47

42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 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. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 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. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

A. Find Out:

1. What day was the crucifixion? v.42
2. Who went to Pilate? v.43
3. What was Pilate’s reaction? v.44
4. Who did he call to verify the truth? v.44,45
5. What did Joseph do with the body? v.46
6. Who watched what was happening? v.47

B. Think:

1. Check all you know of Joseph. What sort of man was he?
2. What must it have cost him?
3. What is implied by this passage about death by crucifixion?

C. Comment:

 The day of the crucifixion was the run up to the Sabbath which began at 6.00pm on this day and ran through to 6.00pm the next day. The Jews didn’t work on the Sabbath so if anyone was to deal with Jesus’ body they had to do it quickly, they had to move in before the Law forbade work.

Joseph of Arimathea is a PROMINENT member of the Council which has just condemned Jesus. We don’t know if he had any part in that but now he steps out publicly to take Jesus’ body and give it a proper burial. That would have raised many eyebrows in the Jewish community but this dear man obviously cares little about that! When he was needed he put aside his reputation and stepped forward.

Pilate’s reaction shows that crucifixion was usually a long drawn out business where men hovered on the brink of death for a long while. Yet again we see that Jesus was in control of his own destiny and did not prolong his death unnecessarily. After six hours he gave up his life. 1 Peter 3:19 suggests that Jesus descended into hell on his death. He has a set programme to go through. Even in death He is Lord!

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord for the courage of Joseph. Ask that you may similarly stand up for what is right.
2. Thank the Lord that His death was not merely in the hands of men, but was still under His own control!