Class Notes: 5/31/2015

Mark 15:15-21; After being flogged, Jesus is led out to be Crucified

In our study of Mark we are in Mark 15:15; where Pilate had Jesus flogged and then sends Him out to be crucified.

Last time we noted that the mob incited by the Jewish political leaders had demanded Jesus' crucifixion in spite of Pilate's pitiful attempts to stop it.

Of course the real reason that He is going to be crucified was that it was in the Divine Decree. Rev 13:8; KJV His crucifixion was God's will and plan for His life because that is where He would be judged as a substitute for the sins of all of mankind. Gen 50:20; Rom 5:8; John 15:13;

The Greek word translated "to be crucified" in the NASB is " staurothe" it is the aorist passive subjunctive of "stauroo." that means that He was delivered over to possibly be crucified.

Even though Pilate delivered Him to be crucified doesn't mean it would happen because Jesus had to choose to allow himself to be crucified. John 19:17-18;

The subjunctive mood is very important because It tells us that whether Christ was crucified or not depended on His volition not the volition of Pilate or the mob.

In other words, Jesus Christ could still have defended Himself and destroyed the mob and the Romans. The subjunctive mood is brought in at this point to show that even at this late hour Jesus could say, "I won't do it," leave and no one could touch Him.

But Jesus Christ went on because of His personal love for God the Father and His plan for mankind and his impersonal love for all mankind. He had you personally in mind. If you had been the only sinner in the human race He would still have chosen to go to the cross just for you and just for me.

The basis of His decision was God's Word in His soul. Bible Doctrine sustained Him at each decision point all the way to his final moment on the cross where He dismissed His spirit. He could have said "no" at any point along the way but He did not.

He completely submitted his will to the Father's will. Phil 2:8; Mark 14:36;

Bible Doctrine is the only thing that can sustain anyone through the most difficult moments of life. On the cross, Jesus Christ was sustained by His recall of God's perfect Word under the omnipotent power of God the Holy Spirit.

Every Church Age believer has this same power available to them but they have to learn how to use it and then choose to use it. Most believers have chosen not to do this because they are deceived by satan's propaganda and lies about Christianity.

The lie that satan has successfully foisted off on most believers is that Christianity is simply a religion comprised of ritual, morality and doing human good works rather than the fact that it is a spiritual relationship with God through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit with the thinking of Jesus that is revealed in God's Word that produces divine good works.

This lie has successfully neutered most believers today and is why client nation USA is in such sad shape that it is probably to the point where it is under the 4th cycle of discipline.

Mark 15:16; The Roman soldiers who were stationed in Palestine were famous for their brutality. At this time the Roman Empire the Roman army was not composed of Romans, it was comprised of many of the peoples Rome had conquered and most of them despised the Jews.

Therefore they made it a point to be brutal to the Jews whenever possible and there are many illustrations in history of Roman soldiers abusing the Jews so when a Jew was going to be crucified the Romans, were in effect turned loose and they could practice any type of brutality they wanted to on that person.

In this particular case their brutality had no restraint and we have a record of some of the things that they did. This is satan's final attempt to kill Jesus before He gets to the cross to be judged for the sins of the world thereby deposing him as ruler of the world.

Mark refers to the "praetorium" as the "palace" because it was where Pilate resided when he was in Rome. Net note 21

It was a large complex where the Roman soldiers barracks were. A cohort was normally 600 soldiers that was 1/10 of a 6000 man legion. Since they were normally stationed in Caesarea this could have been a smaller group that had come to Jerusalem with Pilate. Net note 22

Mark 15:17; The soldiers apparently had listened to Jesus' response to Pilate regarding His being a king so In order to mock Him and the Jews who they despised the soldiers stripped him and dressed him up in a purple robe of some kind. Net note 23;

They also braided a "crown of thorns" that they put on him. Net note 25; The crown of thorns takes us back to Gen 3:17-18; where Adam and by extension all mankind was placed under the curse and now Christ, the Son of Man, is going to take that curse upon Himself.

The crown of thorns is therefore is very significant although the Roman soldiers were completely ignorant of it. To them the crown of long thorns that stuck in His head was simply something to cause him more pain and suffering.

The parallel passage in Matt 27:29; adds that they also put a reed stalk in His right hand as a faux scepter;

Mark 15:18; Then they mocked and ridiculed Him with faux greetings such as "Hail king of the Jews" to mockingly give Him recognition as a king. Net note 26.

Mark 15:19; They repeatedly beat him on the head with a reed stalk probably the one they had put in His hand, spitting on him and bowing before Him in mock respect.

Covering Him with spittle was a means of communicating their utter contempt and rejection of Him. The Greek word "eypton", translated "kept" in the NASB is in the imperfect tense meaning continuous incomplete repetitive action or "over and over again." Net note 27

Mark 15:20; Then after that they had finished ridiculing and mocking him, they took the purple robe off from him, and put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to be crucified.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians who now inhabit Iran. It was adopted by the Canaanite Phoenicians and then the Carthaginians of North Africa.

The Romans adopted crucifixion from the Carthaginians and used it widely as a cruel means of torture for those who had been sentenced to death.

The best word to describe death by crucifixion is agony but that word is even insufficient to fully convey what death by crucifixion was like. It was humiliating, tormenting, slow, and very public.

A slave, who was pardoned after he had already been nailed on a cross for 24 hours was reported to say: "On the cross, there are only two things: pain and eternity. They tell me I was only on the cross 24 hours, but I was on the cross longer than the world existed. If there is no time, then every moment is forever."

The Jewish historian Josephus described it following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 as "the most wretched of deaths." He also stated that suicide is preferable to the cruel fate of being put on a cross.

This form of terror was widespread across the Roman Empire including Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. until the fourth century AD when Emperor Constantine discontinued it.

This was the only period of history where Jesus could or would have been crucified.

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