Jesus' sufferings continued to increase as He drew closer to the Cross.
15:21 Probably only Mark mentioned Simon's sons because the Christians in Rome knew them or knew of them (cf. Rom. 16:13). Evidently Simon became a believer in Jesus. Mark mentioned very few people by name other than the Twelve. Simon was evidently a North African Jew who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover season. Since there was a large population of Jews in Cyrene it is probable that Simon was racially a Semite rather than a Negro.389Simon had to do literally what all followers of Jesus must do figuratively, namely bear His cross (cf. 8:34; Luke 23:26).
15:22-23 "Golgotha"is a loose transliteration of the Aramaic word for "skull."Evidently the place resembled a skull or had some association with a skull or skulls. An ancient tradition that Jerome referred to identified the place as the one where Adam's skull lay.390The myrrh was not a narcotic to deaden Jesus' pain but a bitter substance that made the wine undrinkable. The soldiers mocked Jesus by offering Him something refreshing but which would have tasted bitter (cf. Matt. 27:34). This is another indication of the fact that the soldiers were treating Jesus as no more than a slave.
15:24 Mark probably described Jesus' actual crucifixion simply because his Roman readers would have been only too familiar with its horrors. Yet for modern readers some explanation is helpful. Davis described it as follows.
"Simon is ordered to place the patibulum [crosspiece] on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backwards with His shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some flexion and movement. The patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes [the vertical beam]. . . .
"The left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The Victim is now crucified. As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain--the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.
"At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. . . . Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically He is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. . . .
"Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. . . .
"It is now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level--the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues--the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. . . .
"The body of Jesus is now in extremis, and He can feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues. . . .
"His mission of atonement has been completed. Finally He can allow His body to die."391
Mark's quotation of Psalm 22:18, the psalm that predicted more detail of Messiah's sufferings in death than any other passage, contrasted the soldiers callused actions with Jesus' agony.
15:25 This time reference is unique to Mark's Gospel. The third hour was 9:00 a.m. John located Jesus' trial before Pilate at "about"the sixth hour (John 19:14). This would have been noon. Consequently we should probably understand Mark's reference as being to the approximate beginning of Jesus' crucifixion rather than the precise time when the soldiers nailed Him to the cross.392
15:26 Typically Mark recorded only the essence of the charge that Pilate wrote and had displayed over Jesus' head on the cross.
15:27-28 Jesus' position between the two insurrectionists, perhaps cohorts of Barabbas, portrayed Him as the chief offender. The soldiers probably put Jesus in this position as a further insult to the Jews as well as to Jesus.
Most ancient manuscripts of Mark's Gospel omit verse 28. Many textual experts consider it an interpolation from Luke 22:37. Mark rarely pointed out the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.393
15:29-30 Evidently Jesus' predictions about destroying and raising the temple were well known (cf. 14:58-60). Unbelieving Jews seem to have focused on those statements as proof that Jesus could not be their Messiah. They viewed the temple with extreme veneration.
"The jest was the harder to endure since it appealed to a consciousness of power held back only by the self-restraint of a sacrificed will."394
This public abuse heaped further suffering on the Suffering Servant. The Greek word Mark used to describe their abuse was eblasphemounmeaning "they were blaspheming."Earlier the high priest had charged Jesus with blasphemy of which He was innocent (14:64). Now the people did blaspheme God. Their comments fulfilled Psalm 22:7 and Lamentations 2:15.
15:31-32 The chief priests and scribes also blasphemed by mocking Jesus and claiming that He could not save Himself. Their abuse must have wounded Jesus grievously since they were Israel's leaders. Their title for Jesus, "King of Israel,"focused on the apparent irony of Jesus being the leader not only of the Jews but of their nation. They were the leaders of the nation, not Jesus. The fact that Jesus was apparently helpless on the cross was the supreme irony from their viewpoint. Their Messiah of all people needed to be in control. This was the climax of the religious leaders' opposition to Jesus (cf. 3:6; 11:18; 12:12; 14:1, 64; 15:1, 11-13).
"Situational ironyoccurs when there is a discrepancy between what a character naively expects to happen and what actually happens, or between what a character blindly thinks to be the case and what the real situation is. . . .
"In situational irony the speaker is confident that what he or she says or expects is true, but is unaware that the real situation is, in fact, the opposite. The characters in the story are blind victims of the irony of the situation, while the reader sees the ironic contrast between what the speaker says and the way things really are."395
The rebels crucified with Jesus joined the others who were ridiculing Him. Rejection, abuse, and derision assailed Jesus from the highest to the lowest in society.
The total humiliation of Jesus that this pericope records presents Him as the completely submissive Servant of the Lord even to the point of dying on a cross. What an example He is for all whom God has called to be His servants!
Mark's account of Jesus' death included five climactic events: the darkness, two of Jesus' cries, the tearing of the temple veil, and the Roman centurion's confession. All of these events happened during the last three of the six hours of Jesus' crucifixion.
"For the first three of Jesus' six hours on the cross he suffered in daylight at the hands of humans (15:21-32). In the darkness of the second three hours He suffered at the hands of God."396
15:33 All three synoptic evangelists recorded the supernatural darkness that covered all of Judah from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. None of them explained it. They all evidently viewed it as a sign of God's judgment on Jesus (cf. Isa. 5:25-30; 9:9-10; Joel 2:31; 3:14-15; Amos 8:9-10; Mic. 3:5-7; Zeph. 1:14-15). The Father withdrew the light of His presence from His Son during the hours when Jesus bore the guilt of the world's sins (Isa. 53:5-6; 2 Cor. 5:21). Perhaps darkness covered the whole land of Israel because it also symbolized God's judgment on Israel for rejecting His Son.397
15:34 This cry came at the ninth hour, namely 3:00 p.m. Jesus' cry expressed what the darkness visualized. These are the only words that Jesus spoke on the cross that Mark recorded. Jesus cried out loudly, not weakly with His last available energy. His great agony of soul was responsible for this cry. Mark recorded Jesus' words in Aramaic. Probably Jesus spoke in Aramaic in view of the crowd's reaction (cf. Matt. 27:46-47).
"The depths of the saying are too deep to be plumbed, but the least inadequate interpretations are those which find in it a sense of desolation in which Jesus felt the horror of sin so deeply that for a time the closeness of His communion with the Father was obscured."398
Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1. That is why He expressed His agony of separation as a question. Jesus was not asking God for an answer. As Jesus used this verse, it expressed an affirmation of His relationship to God as His Father and an acknowledgment that the Father had abandoned Him. God abandoned Jesus in the judicial sense that He focused His wrath on the Son (cf. 14:36). Jesus bore God's curse and His judgment for sin (cf. Deut. 21:22-23; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13). God, who cannot look on sin (Hab. 1:13), turned His back, so to speak, on Jesus who bore that sin in His own body on the cross. Jesus experienced separation from God when He took the place of sinners (10:45; Rom. 5:8; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18).
Even though the physical sufferings that Jesus experienced were great, the spiritual agony that He underwent as the Lamb of God taking away the sins of the world was infinitely greater. We need to remember this when we meditate on Jesus' death, for example at the Lord's Supper.
15:35-36 Elijah had delivered several people in distress during his ministry. It is difficult to know if the bystanders did what they did because they sincerely misunderstood Jesus or if they were cruelly twisting His words to persecute Him further. In either case they did wound Him deeper. Perhaps one of the soldiers gave Jesus the sour wine (Gr. oxos) to prolong His life so the onlookers could see if Elijah would come and help Jesus.399In Mark's account the soldier spoke (v. 36) and in Matthew's the people did (Matt. 27:49). Both evangelists were undoubtedly accurate.
15:37 Jesus' loud cry indicates that this was not the last gasp of an exhausted man. Jesus' cry was a shout of victory. He announced, "It is finished!"(John 19:30). Then He dismissed His spirit (Matt. 27:50; John 19:30). Normally it took as long as two or three days for crucified people to die.400Jesus' relatively short period of suffering on the cross amazed Pilate (v. 44).
"His comparatively early death was not due to His physical sufferings alone, and it is a mistake to center major attention on the physical agonies of our Lord."401
15:38 All the synoptic writers also recorded this symbolic act. They did not explain it, but the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews did (Heb. 6:19-20; 9:1-14; 10:19-22). It represented God's opening a way into His presence by the death of His Son. The veil was probably the one that separated the most holy place from the holy place. Probably priests who became believers in Jesus reported the event (cf. Acts 6:7). Priests would have been preparing the evening sacrifices in the temple when this event occurred near 3:00 p.m.
15:39 The centurion (Gr. kentyrion, a transliteration of the Latin centuriothat only Mark used) was the soldier in charge of Jesus' crucifixion (cf. v. 44).402He spoke more truly than he probably knew. He evidently meant that Jesus was a righteous man (Luke 23:47). Still his words spoken as he stood directly in front of Jesus as He died were literally true. His statement constitutes the climax of Mark's demonstration that Jesus was God's divine Son (cf. 1:1; 8:29-30). The torn veil was a Jewish testimony to Jesus' identity, and the centurion's confession was a Gentile testimony to the same thing. Taken together they provide a double witness that Jesus was the Son of God.
15:40-41 Matthew referred to the same three women, and Luke mentioned them generally.403They, like the soldiers, also witnessed Jesus' death. Their loving example contrasts with the enemies of Jesus who ridiculed Him. However verse 41 is unique to Mark. It should be a special encouragement to all female disciples. Many women followed Jesus and served Him throughout His ministry. John mentioned that he was present at the crucifixion (John 19:26-27), but none of the other male disciples appear to have been there. Women can serve Jesus as disciples as well as men. Their roles may be somewhat different from their male counterparts' now as they were then, but their ministry is just as important. Mark's introduction of these three women prepares for their roles as witnesses of Jesus' burial (v. 47) and resurrection (16:1-8).
The burial of Jesus was an important part of the preaching of the early church (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-4). It forms a connection between Jesus' death and His resurrection. More important it demonstrated the reality of Jesus' death.
15:42 By evening Mark meant late afternoon. Friday was the day the Jews prepared for their Sabbath observance that began with sundown on Friday. Mark took special pains to explain this for his Gentile readers.
15:43 The shortness of time evidently spurred Joseph into action (cf. Deut. 21:23). The location of Arimathea is questionable, but it may have stood about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Joseph was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. Mark's description of him as one who was waiting for the kingdom of God presents him as a devout Jew. He had become a believer in Jesus (John 19:38). Mark's original readers were citizens of Caesar's kingdom, but they were also waiting for the kingdom of God. Mark stressed the courage that Joseph mustered to make his request. Joseph's bold action would have inspired Mark's readers to take a stand for Jesus too. Joseph had to gather up his courage since he faced much opposition on the council. Likewise Mark's Roman readers would have had to summon their courage to side with Jesus against powerful officials who opposed Him.
15:44-45 It was unusual that a crucified person died so quickly. Pilate verified Jesus' death. Mark noted that a Roman centurion confirmed Jesus' death to prove to his Roman readers that Jesus really had died. Perhaps some Romans who had observed crucifixions would have had trouble believing that Jesus was dead since they knew of crucified criminals who had lingered for days.
It was also unusual to give the corpse of a person condemned for treason to anyone but a near relative.404Consequently Pilate's willingness to give Jesus' body to Joseph shows that he really did not believe that Jesus was guilty of treason (cf. vv. 14-15). This is the only place in the New Testament where someone referred to Jesus' dead body as a corpse (Gr. ptoma). Mark's use of the word further stressed the reality of Jesus' death.405
15:46 Nicodemus assisted Joseph with these tasks (cf. John 19:39), and perhaps other people, such as their servants, helped them. Mark's simple description stressed the wrapping of Jesus' body in the linen sheet (Gr. sindon). Perhaps this also indicated a real burial to his original readers.
15:47 The writer mentioned the presence of these two women at the tomb during Jesus' burial to prepare for his statement that they were present to witness the empty tomb (16:1, 5). They had seen Jesus die (v. 40), and now they saw Him buried. There was no question that they went to the right tomb on Sunday morning since they had been there Friday afternoon. Again Mark guarded against any wrong conclusion that the disciples were mistaken about Jesus' resurrection.
The Servant of the Lord had paid the ultimate price for the sins of humankind, His own life. Mark's narrative stressed Jesus' exemplary service and the reality of His death.
