Mark 15:1-15

Jesus Before Pilate

1Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

2"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

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

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

6Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8The 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, 10knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate 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!"

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



BACKGROUND READING:


Isaiah 53


Luke 23:1-24



Dig Deeper

Once again here, we see what Jesus had taught concerning the connection between the one who would try to preserve his life and would actually lose it, and the one who would be willing to lose it for God who would gain it. In the very act of Jesus’ death, Mark will show us one more time the difference between trying to save your life and willingly giving it up.


The sentence hanging over Jesus, as he is brought to trial before Pilate, is crucifixion. This was merely the Roman form of the death penalty, it was a powerful political statement. It was a brutal way of reminding the states and people under Roman control that the Romans were in charge and they were not. It was a stark sign erected that made it very clear what happened to people when they rebelled or got in the way of the Romans. Crucifixion was so brutal that a polite Roman would not even mention the topics of crucifixions or crosses.


Jesus is brought before Pilate who has little to no interest in any sort of a fair trial. Pilate is far more concerned with ensuring that there are no riots or rebellions that break out. In the first century world, the individual life of one person was of little consequence, so Pilate is not too worried with details of Jesus’ actual guilt or innocence. The real charge of interest, then, to Pilate is that of being a Messiah. If he was a false prophet, Pilate would have had him whipped for stirring up trouble. He would have cared little about a charge of blasphemy. Charges of beginning a messianic king movement, however, needed to be paid attention to. That was the sort of thing that could begin riots and cause a great deal of political trouble. Mark draws great attention to this concept by including the phrase ‘king of the Jews’ six times in thirty-two verses. If Pilate didn’t deal harshly with someone claiming to be a king, then word would get back to Caesar, and would make Pilate look highly suspicious. Pilate knows that Jesus is not that type of Messiah, he is not leading that sort of rebellion. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Pilate makes no attempt to round up Jesus’ followers. The issue for Pilate is not the threat that Jesus poses, but the threat that not killing him might pose. If he can get out of the situation without killing him, fine, but if he can’t, that is fine too.


As he stands before Pilate, Jesus refuses to answer the charges against him. The question is, why would he do that, did he seemingly want to die? The answer has to do with Isaiah 53. We already know that Isaiah 53 has served as a model for Jesus’ understanding of what type of Messiah he will be, as he has taken the idea from Isaiah 53 that the Messiah will be a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Isaiah explains that the Messiah will be silent like a lamb led to slaughter, so Jesus will live up to that passage. He will be the silent servant-King.


Jesus has been speaking of his work in announcing the kingdom, which would include his death, as turning the power structures of the world upside-down. He has also been announcing his authority over the Temple and the fact that the Temple had a judgment looming over it. He was now going ahead to meet the fate that had been pronounced on Jerusalem and the Temple.


This is where the concept of saving and losing one’s life comes in. A careful reading of the Old Testament makes it plain that God’s plan to save the world from sin would include the suffering and death of his servant. Israel had been called to be that servant but when faced with truly laying down their lives for God’s cause, Israel had chosen to save themselves. So, Jesus was here to do for them what they were unwilling and unable to do for themselves. Israel had attempted to save their life, but what they would find was that they had really lost it. The one who tries to save their life will find that they haven’t really accomplished anything more than coming under God’s ultimate judgment. For humans it will mean the second death, for Israel it would mean ultimate destruction in 70 AD.


Israel had attempted to save their life and avoid doing the painful work of God, and would be destroyed because of it. Jesus had willingly given up his life for the sake of God, and would be vindicated and glorified.


Mark emphasizes this point with the details of Barabbas. The name means ‘son of a man’, and he was a typical first-century rebel with whom Mark’s first readers would have easily identified. He had thought he could bring God’s kingdom through violence. He truly deserved his death. Yet, here we have Jesus, the innocent one, stepping in to die in place of this ‘son of a man’. Jesus has died for us as surely as he died in Barabbas’ place. The question is will we now be like Barabbas and Israel, seeking to save our lives, or like Jesus, realizing that to gain our life we must forfeit it?

Devotional Thought

Everywhere we look in the closing chapters of Mark we see people trying to save their lives in stark contrast to Jesus who is willingly giving his up: The chief priests, the Jewish authorities, Pilate, Barabbas, and even Israel as a whole. What is your response to Jesus and the kingdom of God? Do you willingly give up your life, hopes, and dreams, or do you try to hang onto them and grasp at the kingdom of God as well? The message that Mark gives us is clear. The only way to have a real life with God is to completely give up our own life in the present age.