It needs to be restated, that Mark is not writing a biography, but a gospel. In other words, he is not attempting to record every little detail that occurred in the life of Jesus. None of the four gospel writers do that. Some may omit some things the others include, while including some things others omit. And the reason for that is that they are writing a gospel, or a sermon if you will, which is presenting certain doctrines and principles that they want to emphasize.
So as we consider this text before us today, it’s important that we resist the temptation to try to fill in all the blanks or gaps in Mark’s account, by bouncing around all the other gospels for the parts Mark seemingly left out. We must remember that behind Mark is the authorship of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, speaking through Mark, certainly knows that He is omitting certain details. So rather than focusing on what is not said, we need to focus on what is being said. The important question then is what is being emphasized in this gospel account? What is the message that Mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is trying to convey to us?
Well, to start with, we are introduced to a couple of new characters in this passage. The first being the governor of Judea, who is Pilate, and the other being Barabbas, a convicted robber, murderer, and insurrectionist. These are the main players in this scene before the crucifixion. The other players who have side roles are the Sanhedrin, who are the governing religious body of the Jews, and the crowd, and the Roman soldiers.
In vs1, we see the Sanhedrin, which is the whole Council that Mark mentions, made up of the chief priests and all the official religious leaders of the Jews, about 71 persons in all, having a quick trial now that it was daylight, in order that they might officially condemn Jesus to death. Now they had already had a trial during the early morning hours, but it was an illegal proceeding since it was against the law to condemn a man to death in a nighttime trial. So they convene again at dawn, condemn Jesus as worthy of death, and bind Him and send Him to Pilate. Note that He was bound, that He might set men free. He was rejected, that men might be accepted. He was condemned, that we might be forgiven.
And so the Sanhedrin condemned Jesus of blasphemy in their religious trial. They say in the previous chapter that His claim to be the Son of God makes Him worthy of death. But they do not have the authority to take a person’s life. They don’t have the authority to put a person to death. For that, they must get Roman approval. The problem with Rome is that they are unlikely to care too much about blasphemy. They are much more concerned about crimes against the state. So the Jews are going to accuse Jesus in the civil trial before Pilate with the crime of treason; particularly forbidding to pay taxes and claiming to be King.
We have looked at the activities of the Sanhedrin in detail in previous messages, particularly in last week’s message, so today we will not spend much time on them. Pilate is the officiator of the civil trial. And Pilate seems to only be concerned about the charge of Jesus claiming to be a King. Not only because of the possibility of insurrection, but perhaps because if he thought that was true, then Jesus would have outranked him. He was only considered the governor of Judea, which includes Jerusalem. And first and foremost, Pilate is a petty politician. He served under Caesar Tiberius. He had in fact gotten in trouble in time past with the Jews, and had been censored by Caesar. So he is very concerned to keep his position, to hopefully advance in Roman government, and to do so he must try to walk a line between pleasing Rome and not offending the Jews in his jurisdiction.
If we can say one thing about Pilate’s power though, it is that he has been given the authority over death. He alone can administer the death sentence. That is why the Jews have come to him.
So he asks Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answered him, “It is as you say.” Now Mark leaves it at that. Luke and John’s gospel’s add considerable more to the dialogue. And I would encourage you to read their accounts for yourself. But what I think Mark is trying to emphasize here is the contrast between this petty, political ruler of Judea, and the King of the Jews. Pilate is governor by the decree of Caesar, and so he has judicial rule over Judea, only a portion of Israel, but which does include the Jewish capital, which is Jerusalem.
Jesus, on the other hand, is the King of the Jews. In actuality, Jesus is King over the whole Earth, but since He specifically came to fulfill the purpose of the Messiah, it is to the Jews that He claims sovereignty. He is sent to the Jews first. He is of the royal line of David. So He is legitimately claiming sovereignty over the Jews. He has already told the high priest in the preceding chapter that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Now in response to this pagan politician, He adds the claim that He is King of the Jews.
It’s interesting to note the contrast between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate has the authority to condemn, but Jesus has the authority to forgive. Pilate has the authority to put to death, but Jesus has the authority to give life. Pilate has a limited, temporal rule, Jesus has a sovereign, eternal reign. Jesus is recorded as saying to Pilate in John’s parallel account that His kingdom is not of this world. It is a spiritual kingdom. And thus it has no boundaries, it has no end, and no limitations. Pilate’s rule will come to an end, a rather inglorious end at that as tradition tells us he commits suicide in his later years.
Pilate represents the natural man, the material man, the temporal man, who claims his right to self rule, who thinks that he has the ability and authority to determine for himself what is right and what is wrong. He thinks he has freedom, when in fact he is in servitude. He thinks he is making his own decisions, but in fact he is cowering and caving in to popular opinion.
Jesus, in affirming that He is King, albeit of a spiritual kingdom, adds another dimension to what it means to believe in Him. Faith in Jesus means acknowledging that He has the right to rule your life. He has authority over life, and He has the power to give life. But Pilate, as the quintessential natural man, though intrigued by Jesus’s claim, will not believe in Him, will not acquiesce to Jesus’s sovereingty.
Isaiah writing 700 years earlier prophesies concerning this failure to recognize Jesus as King in Isaiah 53:2-3, “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
Then Mark tells us that the chief priests begin to accuse Jesus harshly. I suppose we can piece together all that they were accusing Him of from the other gospels, but really it makes little difference. The details do not concern Mark as much as the fact that they make all kinds of wild accusations, and yet He makes no answer. Pilate, on the other hand, feels he must respond to their accusations. Because Pilate is a politician. He makes his career by acquiescing, or at least appearing to acquiesce, to the demands of the Jews and to the demands of Rome. Jesus answers to no man. This judge and jury think that they have authority over Him, but in fact, all authority in heaven and on earth belong to Jesus. He has the authority to lay down HIs life. And that I believe, is what is behind Jesus’s silence. He is not going to play along with Pilate. He is not going to try to defend Himself. He has said, I am the Messiah the Son of God. I am the King of the Jews. And that is all He needs to say in HIs defense. In fact, He makes no defense at all. It may be argued that Jesus is on the offensive, not the defensive. He is going to lay down His life, voluntarily. He is resolutely headed for the cross, not the least interested in avoiding it. And so He answers them not and Pilate is amazed at His silence.
But even His silence is confirmation of His claim to be the Messiah.Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”
Mark then tells us that it was the custom of the governor to release a prisoner at the feast of the Passover. And so they come to Pilate and ask for him to do that, according to his custom. So he asks them, “‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.” Pilate, ever the politician, is trying to walk both sides of the fence. The other gospels tell us that Pilate had already announced that he found no fault in Jesus. But rather than seeing that justice was done and releasing Jesus, he wants to please the crowd. However, perhaps this was his half hearted attempt to release Jesus, or at least to be able to claim such, in offering to release Him to satisfy the custom. But I think that Pilate knows that they will not want Jesus released. The Jews have made it clear that they want Jesus dead. I think Pilate is just trying to salve his conscience somewhat by being able to say he offered to release Jesus. And Mark says that he knew that there was no evil that Jesus committed, it was just a matter of jealousy on the part of the priests. So I think Pilate knew that they wouldn’t let Jesus be released, he is just trying to portray a semblance of innocence in the matter. But Pilate already has given over in his heart to the will of the priests in condemning an innocent man.
And let me say by way of application that Pilate is a good example of the natural man who thinks that he is his own ruler, he is the king of his castle, but in reality, he is subservient to the peer pressure of the world. He claims to be autonomous, but actually he is a slave of popular opinion. He caves in to the dominance of the world’s demands, whether it be from the media, or the entertainment industry, or his career, or from the influence of friends. They reject the dominion of Christ as King, but become enslaved to the passions of sin and the world, which is ultimately orchestrated by the devil. Like Bob Dylan once wrote, everyone is going to serve somebody. It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna serve somebody. Pilate chooses to serve the world, which ultimately achieved the purposes of the devil.
Vs.11 “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.” So Mark indicates that the crowd is induced by the priests to ask for the release of Barabbas instead. And Pilate, wishing to accommodate the crowd, releases Barabbas, the condemned murderer, and keeps Jesus in bonds.
What Pilate and the Jews do not realize, is that by their actions they have demonstrated the gospel of Jesus Christ quite effectively. Barabbas, the convicted robber, murderer and insurrectionist, is obviously guilty of his sins. He represents the sinner. And in setting the sinner free, and putting to death the righteous, spotless Lamb of God, they have illustrated nothing less than the truth of the gospel. That principle of the gospel especially that Jesus came to save sinners. That principle that the innocent would die for the ungodly. That principle that God would transfer our sins upon Jesus, who would be punished to die in our place, so that we might be set free from sin and death, and receive the transfer of Christ’s righteousness upon us. That is the gospel, and though they hated it, yet by their actions in freeing the guilty and condemning the righteous they have given us a tremendous illustration of the gospel of God.
Once again Isaiah predicts this divine justice wrought by God upon our sins. Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Such an illustration of God’s grace towards sinners cannot help but make one wonder what happened to Barabbas. Nothing more is said in scripture concerning him. But I cannot help but wonder if the magnificence of this transaction, resulting in his freedom, while Christ went on to suffer and die, did not have a tremendous effect on this condemned man. I cannot help but wonder if he did not follow the crowd to Calvary, and there watch as Jesus was crucified in his place. I can’t help but wonder if he was converted by this divine act of the innocent dying for the guilty. I suppose we will find out in heaven. Perhaps we will see Barabbas in heaven.
But let’s not miss the point that all of us here today are Barabbas. According to the gospel, we are all sinners, deserving of death, but Jesus took our place on that cross, so that we, by faith in Him, might be set free. I want to point out one more fact about Barabbas, before we move on. The name Barabbas means “son of the father.” Bar= son of, Abba, the Aramaic word for “father.” And interestingly, there are also some manuscripts which give the first name of Barabbas as Jesus. So his name might actually have been Jesus, son of the father. And of course, he was contrasted with Jesus, the Son of God the Father. One being the sinner, being the son of Adam, and the other being sinless, being the Son of God. What an irony, that the crowd chooses the son of the father Adam, the sinner, and rejects the Son of God. And yet is that not what is at stake today? Does the world choose to believe in the Son of God, or do they choose to believe in the son of man? I would suggest that the world routinely chooses to believe in man, rather than to believe in Christ. They choose to be ruled by man, instead of ruled by God, and as such, they choose the death of man, rather than the life of God. As it says in 1Cor. 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
The question of the ages for everyman is found in the next verse, 12, “Answering again, Pilate said to them, ‘Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?’” What shall I do with Jesus? That is the question for every man. That is the question for you today. What will you do with Jesus? Will you accept Him as your Savior from your sins? Will you accept Him as your King? Will you bow your will to Him? Will you trade your sinful life for new life in Him? What will you do with Jesus? Pilate wanted nothing to do with Him. He tried to get out of making a decision concerning Jesus. He tried to shunt Him off on Herod. He tried to release Him. He said repeatedly that He found no fault in Him. But ultimately, Pilate did not recognize Jesus as King. Ultimately, Pilate choose the favor of the world, and rejected the Savior of the world.
Some of you here today may not want to make a decision concerning Jesus. You want to remain ambivalent about Jesus. But if you put Him off today, if you shunt Him off until a more convenient time, then you are really doing exactly what Pilate did. You are rejecting the Lord in favor of maintaining your own sovereignty. And as such, you condemn yourself. You are not guaranteed another opportunity tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late. What will you do with Jesus?
Well, the crowd knew what they wanted to do, “Crucify Him!” they cried out. They essentially want to murder the Son of God. Their hatred for Christ has reached a fever pitch. Pilate calls back, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” They don’t have to have a reason to want to kill Christ. Their hatred is all the reason that they need. You know, Jesus was correct to equate hate as murder in the Sermon on the Mount. Hatred is a scary thing. I’ve personally seen hatred escalate to murderous intent. I’ve seen hatred become so manifest in a person it was scary, it changed them into a monster. And I will tell you something, rejection or rebellion leads to hatred. Rejection of the truth is not an innocuous thing. It’s not a harmless choice. It’s not as simple as you believe what you want, and I’ll believe what I want. Rejection of the truth leads to hatred of the truth, and that leads to murder of the truth.
Notice what Mark says concerning Pilate in vs 15 “Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.” Wishing to satisfy the crowd. I wonder how many people have crucified Jesus by wishing to satisfy the crowd? Trying to satisfy the bloodlust of the world, we crucify Jesus Christ. Trying to make people like us, to not lose face in public, trying to gain the fleeting approval of the world, we crucify the King of Glory.
And Mark barely gives a mention in vs15 of the flogging that Pilate gave Jesus. A cat of nine tails was commonly used to scourge a convicted person before heading to the cross. It was meant to weaken them, so that they might not last too long on the cross. It is said that such a flogging was stopped at 39 lashes, because it was determined that 40 would kill you. Such a tremendous cost was our sin, that it required such a fierce punishment.
Once again, consider Isaiah 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” What a travesty of redemption when the modern day faith healers use this verse as some sort of mantra denoting the guarantee of our physical health. By His scourging, we are cleansed of our unrighteousness. That is what Isaiah says. He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Our physical health is not the issue, it’s our spiritual health that is spoken of. The wrath of God against our sin was satisfied in the suffering of Jesus our Savior.
Now beaten to within an inch of His life, His back and legs ripped to shreds, there are still more indignities left to bear. The soldiers now take part in the ridicule and mocking of Jesus. Mark tells us more detail of the mocking than he does of the scourging. Some wounds cut deeper than the flesh. And the mocking of the soldiers is particularly cruel. Perhaps they took out their pent up hatred for the Jews upon Jesus. After all, He was said to be the King of the Jews. It was common in those days to disrespect the fallen monarch of a defeated enemy. Maybe that was it then, as the soldiers call all the Roman cohort from the Palace together to ridicule and scorn Jesus.
The whole idea of Jesus being a King is obviously the point of their ridicule. They dress Him in purple, a royal fabric, and crush a crown of plaited thorns upon His head, calling out “Hail, King of the Jews!” Vs19 “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.”
This is savage mockery. This is hatred at it’s lowest form. It’s easy to imagine that these soldiers were the lowest of the low. That they were no better than savage animals. But the fact is, that such savage mockery happens today on our concert stages and in our theaters and it is applauded by the world. The fact is that sin is a savage beast. Sin is an evil that turns men into the lowest of the low. Thus we see God’s justification in dealing with divine wrath upon sin. The retribution that these low life soldiers deserved, God struck their blows upon Jesus. 2Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Once again God’s wrath against sin will be satisfied. And God’s purpose is that in Jesus He would punish sin, put to death sin, and by His resurrection overcome sin. If you remember in the Garden of Eden at the fall, God pronounced a curse upon the earth. He said in Genesis 3:18 that part of the curse would be that the land would produce thorns and thistles. Thorns then are a picture of the curse of the fall. The coarse jesting of the soldiers in placing the crown of thorns upon HIs head, unwittingly played into the magnificent illustration of God, that He would put the curse of sin upon Jesus, that we might be free from sin.
So as the soldiers hit Him and spit upon Him and revile Him, I can picture Jesus standing there in all of HIs bloody wounds, standing there bravely and purposefully bearing our reproach, that even those who were assaulting Him might go free.
Isaiah 53:4 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”
Then Mark tells us in vs20 “After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.”
The question that I want to leave with you today, is what will you do with Jesus? You cannot avoid the question. You cannot avoid making a decision. If you try to avoid it, then you are really rejecting Him as your Savior and King. I pray that no one here is like Pilate. I pray that no one here is like the chief priests, or the soldiers who scorned Him, nor the crowd who hated Him without a cause. I pray that you would be like Barabbas. That you would recognize that your sin has condemned you to a just punishment, but that Jesus has taken your punishment upon Himself, that He might grant you life everlasting.
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior and King, then today I urge you to accept His invitation to enter into His kingdom. Jesus said in Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” Come to Jesus today. He will save you. Jesus said in[Matt.11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus has taken the burden of our sin upon Himself, that we might be given the righteousness of God. If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He can forgive us, because He has paid our penalty. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Come to Jesus today as your Savior and King and receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, resulting in salvation unto life.
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