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Jesus, God's Servant A Survey of the Gospel of Mark CHAPTER TEN: THE SERVANT'S SACRIFICE, CONTINUED by Massimo Lorenzini VIII. The Servant's Sacrifice (14:1-15:47) - continued A. The Servant's Betrayal (14:1-52) - [see Chapter Nine] B. The Servant's Trial, Execution, & Burial (14:53-15:47) The Trial (14:53-15:15) The trial is made up of two parts: (1) The religious trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin; (2) The civil trial before Pontius Pilate. 1. The religious trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin on a charge of blasphemy (14:53-72) 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest; and with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes. 54 But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. 56 For many bore false witness against Him, but their testimonies did not agree. 57 Then some rose up and bore false witness against Him, saying, 58 "We heard Him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.' " 59 But not even then did their testimony agree. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, saying, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 61 But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" 62 Jesus said, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." 63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death. 65 Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands. Now as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came. 67 And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, "You also were with Jesus of Nazareth." 68 But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are saying." And he went out on the porch, and a rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him again, and began to say to those who stood by, "This is one of them." 70 But he denied it again. And a little later those who stood by said to Peter again, "Surely you are one of them; for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it." 71 Then he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this Man of whom you speak!" 72 A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times." And when he thought about it, he wept. The Sanhedrin was a court made up of 71 individuals comprised of Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, and elders. It was presided over by the Jewish High Priest. The record of the religious trial extends from v. 53 to 15:1 and is divided into three parts: (1) Trial before the high priest (vv. 53-54); (2) Midnight meeting of the Sanhedrin (vv. 55-65); (3) Meeting of the Sanhedrin in the morning (15:1). v. 54 - Peter, determined to fulfill his boast of loyalty, followed Jesus. However, fear kept him at a safe distance. Someone has outlined his downfall as: 1. He first fought - misdirected enthusiasm. 2. He then fled - cowardly withdrawal. 3. Finally he followed afar off - half-hearted discipleship by night. v. 55 - This court is convened to find charges to take to Pontius Pilate, the Procurator of Judea (administrator of a minor province). The Sanhedrin, under Roman rule, had no power to sentence a person to death. Therefore they seek to have Jesus condemned by a Roman leader. vv. 56-59 - This is the ultimate kangaroo court. The chief priests, the elders, and the scribes have already decided what to do, they are just not sure how to do it. So people started coming and testifying against Jesus, but their stories conflicted against one another and it was obvious, even to the court, that the witnesses were lying. The Sanhedrin is determined to have Jesus executed and show an utter disregard for their own laws as they seek to find Jesus guilty of a capital offense. They were not supposed to meet at night or during any of the Jewish feasts. They were not supposed to bribe witnesses to commit perjury. False witnesses in a capital case were to be put to death and the case rejected as contrived (Deut 19:16-21). A death sentence was not to be carried out until a night had elapsed. Unless they met in the Hall of Hewn Stone (the official meeting hall in the Temple), their verdicts were not binding. Why were they willing to go so far to condemn Jesus? In their minds they were removing a troublemaker who posed a grave danger to the whole nation if he roused the crowds. The Romans would step in to quell the movement with their normal heavy-handed brutality. The Romans charged these leaders with keeping the peace; if the peace was not kept, their power was in jeopardy. One author wrote, "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of a loss of power." Of all people, these religious leaders should have recognized the Messiah because they knew the Scriptures thoroughly. Their job was to point people to God, but they were more concerned with their own reputations and positions of authority. Application. Do you sometimes struggle with self-preservation at the expense of faithfulness to God? vv. 61-64 - They finally resort to trying to trick Jesus by asking, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" The priest is careful to be circumspect and does not refer to God directly but as "the Blessed." Jewish people give praise to God by saying, "Baruch Hashem" - which is translated, "Praise the Name." In saying "Son of the Blessed," he meant, the Son of God. No person in Mark's story has used these words. Only demons (3:11, 5:7) and the voice from the cloud (1:11, 9:7). Jesus here admitted that He is the Messiah (christos in Greek). The priest tore his clothes, an appropriate response to blasphemy. Jesus allegedly blasphemed not by naming Himself the Messiah, though some say that it is enough to substantiate the charge, but by what He added to the answer. It is not until He finished His answer that the priest reacted. Jesus combined two prophecies together. Daniel 7:13-14 "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." Psalm 110:1 "The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." The "One like the Son of Man" comes to the Ancient of Days (God) and receives divine power. The Jewish teachers understood this to be a prophetic statement of a "son of David" establishing Israel. Jesus had already spoken about Psalm 110 and shown that the Messiah is greater than David (12:35-37). To sit at the right hand of the Power (Jesus was equally circumspect about God's name) is to claim power equal to that of God. This is the proof of His messiahship and is blasphemous if untrue. But if Jesus is the Messiah, they're treatment of Him commits the Sanhedrin to blasphemy. Jesus predicted a powerful role-reversal. Sitting at the right hand of God meant He would come to judge them and they would be answering His questions. v. 65 - While they ridiculed Jesus as a false prophet in verses 66-72, Peter fulfilled Jesus' prophecy concerning his denial. Jesus thus passed the test for a true prophet (Deut 18:22). vv. 71-72 - "The world of nature seemed to protest the cowardly lie" (William MacDonald). 2. The civil trial before Pontius Pilate (15:1-15) 1 Immediately, in the morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council; and they bound Jesus, led Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2 Then Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" He answered and said to him, "It is as you say." 3 And the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He answered nothing. 4 Then Pilate asked Him again, saying, "Do You answer nothing? See how many things they testify against You!" 5 But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled. 6 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. 9 But Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" 10 For 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 rather release Barabbas to them. 12 Pilate answered and said to them again, "What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?" 13 So they cried out again, "Crucify Him!" 14 Then Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they cried out all the more, "Crucify Him!" 15 So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Jesus was then taken to Pontius Pilate on a charge of treason (see Luke 23:1-2). vv. 6-15 - Jesus or Barabbas? The very ones who were charging Jesus with treason against Caesar were asking the release of a man who was actually guilty of that crime! vv. 1-15 - For some reason, from early on, Pilate has come off well in Christian tradition as a sympathetic figure. In the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, Pilate did not pronounce the death sentence, Herod did, and Pilate later begged for Jesus' body from Herod. Tertullian spoke of a full report of the trial that Pilate sent to the Emperor and hinted that he was a Christian at heart. (1 Apol 21.24) In the apocryphal Acts of Pilate, Pilate put up a more forceful defense on behalf of Jesus, and his eventual conversion is recorded. A letter claiming to be from Pontius Pilate maintains that he sent two thousand troops to try to stop the crucifixion. In the Ethiopian and Coptic churches Pilate has been canonized. Many today consider Pilate to be an innocent, bewildered bystander, caught in an impossible situation. We should be cautious about imaginative reconstructions of Pilate's state of mind and later life. We should also be cautious not to present Pilate as a sympathetic figure. Mark certainly did not consider him so. Pilate was in Jerusalem because of the potential for unrest during the Passover. It also lends to the impression of a visiting dignitary at a celebration. The Jewish council had to convince Pilate that there were grounds for a death sentence; it should not have been too hard for human life was not held in high esteem and Pilate didn't like Jews anyway. The points in Jesus' favor were that Pilate didn't like the Jewish leaders and Romans tended to honor justice. Unfortunately, Pilate had to work with these people all the time and he would be tempted to appease them. Mark does not include sending Jesus to Herod, but it is not an unlikely thing for Pilate to do. According to Luke (Luke 23:6-7, When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.) and John (John 19:1-4, So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. Then they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands. Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.") Pilate tried three different ways to disencumber himself from Jesus: Sending Him to Herod. Herod is the Tetrach of Galilee; but for the intervention of Rome, he would be King of the Jews. Offering to free Jesus or Barabbas. Tradition has it that Barabbas' first name was also Jesus; his name then comes from bar Abba, "son of his father" - a bastard. Barabbas was a robber, murderer, or an insurrectionist depending on to whom you spoke. Did the council prep the crowd, whip them into a frenzy, or were they simply anti-Rome? One writer pointed out that the Jews who were in front of Pilate's residence instead of home preparing the Passover were not likely to be of the highest class. Scourging Jesus. Perhaps hoping that this horrible punishment (the whip was known as "the scorpion") would bring on the pity of the crowd and/or satisfy the Jewish leaders. v. 15 - Nothing worked. Pilate could see no way out. Jesus had no worldly power (that Pilate was aware of) but Jesus refused to negotiate with Pilate, in any event. So Pilate condemned Him. As a Roman, Pilate valued justice and knew there was no just cause to condemn Jesus. He gave in under political pressure. In John 19:12, the crowd told Pilate that if he were to let Jesus go he would be disloyal to Caesar. Like the Jewish leaders, Pilate cared more for his own reputation and position than for the truth. Application. We must be careful not to ignore the truth for our own benefit. God promises to honor those who do right, not those who seek to please people. vv. 16-20 - The soldiers' mocked homage climaxed the masquerade. They hailed Him as "King of the Jews" and bowed down before Him. Their ridicule probably expressed as much contempt for the Jews as it did for Jesus. The mockery implied that the weak, pitiful figure is the kind of king they deserved. One person who endured persecution in a South American torture cellar reported that all the intricacies of Christian doctrine disappeared. The only thing that sustained him was knowing that Jesus had also been on the wrong side of a whip and Jesus was with him. Jesus took the place of a condemned man. Jesus did not die specifically for Barabbas, but He was chosen by God for all sinful humanity. vv. 21-32 - Normally, a condemned man carried the patibulum, the crossbeam, to the site of his crucifixion, where it was fastened to the stipes, the vertical beam already firmly implanted in the ground. Mark did not say why Jesus could not carry His own cross, but it is easy to guess. Simon Peter, who boasted that he would stay with Jesus even to the death, is not on the scene. Rather, we find another Simon, this one from North Africa. Though his sons do not play in this story, they are probably known to the readers. (Romans 16:13, Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.). No gospel writer gives the details of the crucifixion, it is sufficient that excruciating (from the Latin excruciatus, which means "out of the cross") is probably correct. The cross on which Jesus was hung is stauros; an upright stake, hence a cross (the Roman instrument of crucifixion). The Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, argue that we are not Christians because we use the cross. Aside from the absolute folly of such accusations, were it not for the testimony of secular writers of the period, we might have to agree that Jesus was crucified on a vertical stake or a tree. But such is not the case. Writers of that period describe crucifixions as being accomplished on "X" shaped crosses and "T" shaped devices. Jesus' device was a cross so that the message could be attached above His head. Jesus was not offered the soporific (pain-relieving drink) in order to ease His pain, (they had not inflicted this pain and had a change of heart) but to calm Him and allow Him to actually make it to be crucified (they were afraid He would die before He could hang for at least a little while). Having already said that He would not drink again in this life, Jesus refuses to go to the cross dulled or half-witted. vv. 33-41 - The 6th hour, noon, the crucifixion began and an unnatural darkness spread over the land, and it continued for three hours. No eclipse would last so long, and the Passover is always at a full moon. The sign the Pharisees demanded earlier (8:12) is given now. The 9th hour, 3:00 p.m., Jesus cried out. The usual cause of death for those crucified is suffocation. Jesus would not have a lot of breath for long quotations at this point so He began Psalm 22 (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?), expecting His watchers to finish it (see Psalm 22:1-31). Psalm 22 is a poem which begins in anguish and ends with triumph. It is exactly the right thing for the moment. Psalm 22 Mark 15 - 16 vv. 1-21 - suffering 15:20b-27 - Jesus'crucifixion v. 27 - the Gentiles' worship 15:39 - the centurion's confession v. 28 - the kingdom of God 15:43 - Joseph is the one looking vv. 29-30 - resurrection 16:6 - Jesus' resurrection vv. 30-31 - proclamation to God's 16:7 - command to tell the The tearing (schizo) of the temple veil is directly related to the baptism of Jesus where the heavens were torn (schizo) open. This violent rending takes away the symbolic separation between man and God. Man can no longer be comforted, in his sins, that God is far away and hidden. Rather he is to be comforted, having his sins forgiven, that God is near and accessible. The utter powerlessness of His death, in some way, contains power; enough that a seasoned soldier (a centurion, commander of 100 men) who witnessed it must exclaim, "Surely, this was the Son of God." Could this be the centurion who's servant was healed by Jesus (Luke 7:2-10)? vv. 42-47 - The Romans often allowed the bodies of crucified criminals to hang for many days after they were dead. The Jews, on the other hand, buried even the lowest of criminals (Deuteronomy 21:23, His body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.) as soon as they died. So Joseph's (who may have been on the Jewish council which brought Jesus to Pilate) request was not altogether strange. The only thing that surprised Pilate about Joseph's request was that Jesus had already died. When he confirmed Jesus' death (through the centurion who had confessed Christ?) he allowed Joseph to receive the body. Allusions to the Suffering Righteous One of the Psalms in Mark Mark Psalms 14:1 to kill Him by cunning 10:7-8 14:18 the one eating with me 41:9 14:34 very sad 42:5, 11; 43:5 14:41 delivered to the hands of sinners 140:8 14:55 sought to put Him to death 37:32; 54:3 14:57 false witnesses rising up 27:12; 35:11 14:61 silence before accusers 38:13-15; 39:9 15:4-5 silence before accuser 38:13-15; 39:9 15:24 division of garments 22:18 15:27 robbers are encircled by evildoers 22:16 15:29 mockery, head wagging 22:7 15:30-31 Saving yourself 22:8 15:32 reviling 22:6 15:34 cry of forsakeness 22:1 (11, 19-21) 15:36 vinegar to drink 69:21 15:40 looking on from a distance 38:11 Next lesson, Chapter Eleven: The Servant's Triumph

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