Reasoning Through the Bible
Taking a cue from Paul, Reasoning Through the Bible is an expository style walk through the Scriptures that tells you what the Bible says. Reviewing both Old and New Testament books, as well as topical subjects, we methodically teach verse by verse, even phrase by phrase.
We have completed many books of the Bible and offer free lesson plans for teachers. If you want to browse our entire library by book or topic, see our website www.ReasoningThroughTheBible.com.
We primarily do expository teaching but also include a good bit of theology and apologetics. Just like Paul on Mars Hill, Christianity must address both the ancient truths and the questions of the people today. Join Glenn and Steve every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as they reason with you through the Bible.
Reasoning Through the Bible
S58 || The Truth Behind the Crucifixion Story || Mark 15:6-21 || Session 58 || Verse by Verse Bible Study
Have you ever wondered who truly bears responsibility for the crucifixion of Jesus? Beyond historical blame, this question cuts to the heart of Christian faith and personal accountability.
We journey through Mark 15, examining the final hours before Jesus' crucifixion through a lens both historical and deeply personal. As the narrative unfolds, we witness Pilate's moral failure—recognizing Jesus' innocence yet condemning him to satisfy the crowd. This pivotal moment reveals how envy drove the religious leaders and how easily crowds can be manipulated into demanding injustice.
The contrast between destructive envy and sacrificial love emerges as a central theme throughout this account. Where envy acts selfishly, Christ's love gives everything for others' benefit. This distinction challenges us to examine our own motivations and responses to opposition.
Perhaps most relevant to our contemporary experience is the exploration of how Christians should respond when facing ridicule or pressure to compromise. The Roman soldiers' mockery of Jesus—crowning him with thorns, dressing him in purple, and offering false worship—serves as both historical account and cautionary tale. Their behavior reminds us that followers of Christ [The Mesiah] should expect opposition while remaining steadfast.
The seemingly random encounter between Jesus and Simon of Cyrene reveals God's providence working through unexpected circumstances. This Passover pilgrim, forced to carry Christ's cross, was so transformed by the experience that his family became believers, with his son Rufus later recognized as "a choice man in the Lord."
What strikes most profoundly about this passage is how it calls us to critical thinking and spiritual courage. In a world where crowds still follow charismatic but misleading voices, we're challenged to stand firmly on truth, even if standing alone. The crucifixion narrative isn't merely historical—it's a template for faithful discipleship in a hostile world.
Have you reflected lately on how this ancient story continues to shape your response to contemporary challenges? Share your thoughts and join our conversation about standing firm when truth demands it.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
As we pick up our story, we're in Mark, chapter 15. Jesus has been arrested by the Jewish leaders, he's been sent to Pilate, and Jesus is now in the morning of the day of the cross and he is about to go to his death. He's with Pilate being accused by the Jewish leaders and it's the last day of his earthly life. Here, steve, I have a question. Over the years, there's been many people that have wrestled with the question of who killed Jesus. As we look at that question before us today, over the centuries some people have said, well, the Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, and people have accused the Jews of killing the Savior. Other people have said, no, it was the Romans that killed Jesus. There's been historical and kind of theological arguments about it. But, steve, I know who killed Jesus. Do you know who's responsible for Jesus' death?
Speaker 2:I have the definitive answer yeah you did and I did, we all did. All of those who needed salvation, who needed a sin debt paid. All of us are the ones that drove Jesus to the cross.
Speaker 1:I am in agreement with that and I'm in agreement with J Vernon McGee, who said it this way who killed Jesus? I did it. I killed him. It was my fault. He was killed because of my sin. The whole question of who killed Jesus he voluntarily gave his life is really the answer. He gave it for my sin and for your sin. Nobody took his life. He gave it, Even down to the very end, as we'll see. He gave up his spirit at the last on the cross.
Speaker 1:The Romans didn't take it, the Jews didn't take it. He was in total control of the timing and what happened to him throughout the entire account, and that's what we're going to see here as we go through this, as we've seen already, there's been at least twice now where he did not respond to the accusations, because Jesus is the one that's in control here. The high priest had the title of the religious leader of the country. The Sanhedrin had the responsibility to make a lot of rulings. The Roman governor, Pilate, had all the army and military power behind him, but the one standing here named Jesus. He was the one that was really in control of what was going to happen. So we're going to pick up with this story in Mark, chapter 15. Steve, can you read from verse 6 down to verse 15?
Speaker 2:Now, at the feast, he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionist who had committed murder in the insurrection. The crowd went up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. Pilate answered them saying 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. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them. Instead Answering again, pilate said to them Then what shall I do with him, whom you call the king of the Jews? They shouted back Crucify him. But Pilate said to them why? What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more Crucify him. Wishing to satisfy the crowd, pilate released Barabbas for them and, after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.
Speaker 1:With this we have Pilate finally making a decision. He's been trying to placate the Jews to keep from having a riot. Remember, this was the time of the feast. The city was swollen with people and Pilate had brought military troops there just in case there might be a riot. It would look bad on Pilate to his superiors if there was a riot there and he had to quell it or if it got out of control. Pilate is worried about that and he's trying to do a little bit of a dance to try to placate all sides. He knows that Jesus is innocent and it tells us that in verse 10. Look at verse 10 and tell us, steve, why did the Jewish leaders hand Jesus over?
Speaker 2:to the Romans it was because of envy. Even Pilate could tell that. The reason why was because of envy. The envy is what he is growing a large following behind them which, to them, threatened their authority that they had over the people.
Speaker 1:If we look at envy, one of the sins that will really cause trouble with people, what will envy do to a person? What will envy do to our judgment and our ability to look at the world?
Speaker 2:clearly Causes us to not think straight. It gets in your mind and starts to work and eat away at you because you just can't see straight. All of a sudden, you just become focused on whatever, that idea or whether that person that you're looking at, the envy that's there and it, just like I said, eats at you and it won't go away. If you don't get it under control, then it will cause you to actually take action against somebody or to do something just like it has caused this leadership to go to the point that they want to kill Jesus.
Speaker 1:Envy will do great harm to a person. It clouds our mind and clouds our judgment. Envy will cause people to make foolish financial decisions and go to financial ruin. Envy will cause people to pick up a weapon and take an innocent life. Envy will cause the destruction of people's lives and livelihoods and their families. Envy is a great sin. It happens largely because of jealousy and pride and greed. Now, in contrast to envy, we have Jesus, who gave his life out of love to people that didn't deserve it, like us. So if we were to contrast envy and love, what can love do for people? That is kind of a contrast to envy.
Speaker 2:Love can cause you to take action also, but the action that you take is one that's going to be at the benefit of the one that you love. That's the difference. Envy is taking action to please yourself, Love is taking action to please the other person. I think that's the main dividing point between the two.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 11. Verse 11 says the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him, Pilate, to release Barabbas for them instead. Now this is the crowd, and remember the crowd just days earlier had been cheering Jesus on in the triumphal entry and had been following Jesus. Now we have this crowd, probably handpicked by the Jewish leaders, here, to make this appearance before Pilate. But what is the crowd doing here that would impact Jesus and why are they doing this? Why would they call for this man, Barabbas?
Speaker 2:Well, the leadership are going through the crowd and stirring them up to call for his release. That's the reason why they're doing it they're wanting to have Jesus crucified. Now, one of the things that tells us about Barabbas through other texts outside of the scriptures, we are told that his name is also Yeshua. Bar Abbas is a Greek transliteration of Bar Abba. His name is Yeshua from the Father, and there's a little bit of a play going on here that you have a guilty man, an actual insurrectionist, but the same name, yeshua from the Father, yet you have Jesus, yeshua, who is actually from God, the Father, yet the people are calling for the guilty man's freedom and for the innocent man to be put to death. That's the behind the scenes of what's actually going on here.
Speaker 1:We have, of course, the chief priests, who are having a somewhat of a financial but a power struggle here with Jesus. Jesus had been having these crowds and they were envious. That's why they were envious. They also didn't like Jesus claiming to be God Almighty envious. They also didn't like Jesus claiming to be God Almighty. They go to Pilate, trump up these charges to get him killed. In order to emphasize this, they handpick a group of people and whip them up into an emotional frenzy in front of Pilate to try to get their will done. Now we have to ask ourselves. If we look at history somewhat objectively, we see several times in history where it's not hard to find, where large populations, even in a country, will get whipped up into a fear or an anger and they will do things that are just not right. They will do sinful things. So as Christians, we should not be in a position to be whipped up like these people to call for the death of an innocent man and release of a guilty man.
Speaker 1:Remember it says here that during the feast that this was a special time of the year Pilate had a custom of placating the crowds by releasing someone that he had arrested. It was generally someone that. Okay. This is going to make us happy because this person we like has been released and is no longer in prison. So Pilate was doing these type of things to try to placate the Jews. So Pilate realizes Jesus is innocent and the priest had brought him there for an envious reason.
Speaker 1:Pilate says ah, I know what I'll do. I'll give him a choice. I'll pick the worst of the guys and Jesus and see if they pick Jesus. Well, the chief priest whipped up the crowd to choose the murderer, barabbas instead of Jesus. So the question before us is now how can we keep from being somebody in this crowd, how could we keep from being manipulated by somebody that's an emotional leader to follow along with the crowd? Because we've all seen this in history. There's been times where crowds get very angry, very, very afraid, and the crowd will do things that we, as Christians, shouldn't do. How can we, as Christians, keep a level head and not follow along with the crowd when everyone else?
Speaker 2:is doing something. First is to hold our leadership accountable. The way to do that is to know yourself what the truth is. Through that, you can be able to evaluate whether the leadership is leading you astray or not. Pilate, very obviously here, tells us so why. What evil has he done? He is giving this crowd reasons to doubt the leadership that is whipping them up into this frenzy. That, to me, is the very basic thing is know the truth in regards to Scripture. Know the Scripture on our own. We have our own responsibility to know the Scripture, and then we can know whether or not we're being led astray. The second part, then, is just that to then stand up and call the leadership out and say wait a minute, I don't think what you're saying is what we should do, and here's the reasons why we shouldn't do that. So you have to take a stand sometimes, whenever you know the actual truth and your leadership is taking you in a wrong direction. You need to stand up for the truth, I think.
Speaker 1:That's exactly it. Every Christian needs to be mentally and spiritually prepared to, if the time arises, to stand up and hold for what we know is right, what we hold the scriptures to be right, even if everyone else goes the other direction. We need to be prepared if it arises to stand alone. We need to be prepared to stand up and stand on the Word of God, even if we're the only ones doing that. We need to be prepared if our church goes astray. We might be the only one that would stand up if our culture goes astray, if our family goes astray. I think, steve, god even puts us in situations like this sometimes just to see our faith. I mean, that was similar to what Job did. Job stood firm with his faith. Now, job asked some questions that God didn't think was very wise questions, but I think God puts us in trials to prove our faith. There's going to be times. This is something we should teach to our young people. Teach the next generation stand up for what's right, even if you are the only one. If you were the last person left on earth that was standing for the truth of the Scripture, would you hold firm? And you need to be prepared to do that. Well, it tells us.
Speaker 1:Then, if we back to the text, verse 15 tells us why Pilate released Barabbas. He says here wishing to satisfy the crowd, pilate released Barabbas. Pilate caved. Pilate gave in to the crowd. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. He knew that these were false accusations. He knew that the Jewish leaders had brought an innocent man to him and accused him because of envy. But because of the crowd, he gave in and he knowingly released a murderer and condemned an innocent man to death. Steve, I see here Pilate as a man who did not have the internal resolve to stand up and do what's right.
Speaker 2:In one of the other Gospels. It records that he went over to a wash basin and symbolically washed his hands as he condemned Jesus and sent him out to be crucified to say, in essence, my hands are free of this man's blood. But what you said is exactly right, glenn. He caved. He still had the ability to say this man's innocent. Nothing has been proven to me that he's guilty. I'm going to release him, but he didn't do that. So he is guilty on that account of sending an innocent man to their death.
Speaker 1:It says there in verse 15, wishing to satisfy the crowd. What does that tell you about Pilate's motivations? I think he was motivated more by trying to keep the peace than he was about truth and justice. He was there to keep the peace, even if it meant condemning an innocent man to death.
Speaker 1:Our leaders today should be in a position to do what is right, even if the crowd goes another direction. Our church leaders should do this. Our national leaders should do this. Our national leaders should do this. We need leaders that are interested in doing what's right, what's good, what's just before God, rather than what's popular to the people.
Speaker 1:Someday, we will stand before a holy God. We're going to get called in before him and he's going to ask us what did you do with the truth that I gave you? I submit we need to have an answer that's better than what Pilate's going to ask us what did you do with the truth that I gave you? I submit we need to have an answer that's better than what Pilate's going to have to answer. How do we keep as regular people some of us are leaders. Some of us are regular people how do we, as regular people, keep from being swayed by leaders that are going off track, because that's what happened to the crowd. The Jewish leaders were trying to influence them and there's no indication here in the text that there's one guy in the back saying, raising his hand, saying wait a minute. I don't think we ought to do this. No, they seem to all go along with these leaders that are in the wrong direction.
Speaker 2:Along with what I mentioned earlier about studying Scripture and knowing what Scripture says, so that we can hold the leadership accountable. I think, glenn, another practical thing is just critical thinking. Critical thinking is to take and look at all of the subject matter and the pros and the cons of a situation, then put it together and say does this make sense? Critical thinking used to be taught whenever you and I were in school. Somewhere along the way, I know as far as my children, they really stopped teaching critical thinking as a course in all classes. I really don't know why they've done that that. But critical thinking, by its very name, means that you're going to be critical of anything that's given to you. You're going to think it through Beyond just studying the scriptures from a religious standpoint, on a secular standpoint of our leadership.
Speaker 2:We don't need to just take whatever they say because we like them. Many times we get on a dividing line and because a leader is of a particular organization that we are behind and we like, and another leader is of an organization that we don't like, we automatically divide the leadership that way and say, oh, I'm going to follow this leader because he belongs to the organization I like, and anything the other guy says I'm not going to like. That's wrong. We should take both sides as far as the information that's given to us any information look at it critically and make a decision Is it truthful, is it not truthful, what is wrong with it, what's not wrong with it, and then make a decision based off of what the thought process that we have put into it, not based off of just following leaders blindly and doing whatever they say and believing everything that they might tell us, and it's not just a lesson for kids, it's a lesson for all of us.
Speaker 1:We need to be ready, if necessary, to stand alone on the Word of God. As the account goes on, starting in verse 16, we have an even uglier scene. Pilate turns Jesus over to be crucified. So now the rough, crude soldiers have their way with him. Reading now in Mark 15, starting in verse 16, the soldiers took him away into the palace, that is, the praetorium, and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed him up in purple and, after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on him and they began to acclaim him Hail, king of the Jews. They kept beating his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling and bowing before him. After they had mocked him, they took the purple robe off him, put on his own garments and they led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passerby coming from the country, simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. With this these soldiers are doing what to Jesus, steve?
Speaker 2:They're mocking and making fun of him. It goes back to the question that you asked earlier how does the secular world treat Christians? This is it. This is one way. These Roman soldiers have nothing to do with Judaism, nor the Messiah that Jesus is claiming to be, or the King of the Jews. They're in control, they're occupiers of the country, so they feel that they can do whatever they want to do. They have no qualms about mocking him and making fun of him because they're superior. They're very much representing, I think, the world in and of themselves. The world thinks in general that it's superior to Christian and Christian thought. Here they mock him and then they also beat him and make fun of him.
Speaker 1:These were soldiers. These were Roman soldiers. All soldiers are generally trained killers. That's what their job is. These were rough, crude men who had a rough, crude job. It was their job to be so lethal that nobody would challenge them. That's the job of most soldiers. Most soldiers that are true warriors are generally not designed for refined genteel halls with manners. These are people who's trained to be executioners, trained to be killers. And, steve, you alluded to the fact that they thought they could do anything they wanted, simply because usually they could. They could pretty much boss people around within very few limits. They could do what they wanted with the Jewish population.
Speaker 1:These were rough, crude, sadistic men who were doing rough things to our Lord. Think of this. They took the most righteous and holy man in the universe and they made crude sport with him. They beat Jesus until his face did not look like a man. They whipped him until his back was just an open sore, an open meat, just bleeding sores on his back. One reason the disciples were so humiliated and so fearful after Jesus' death was because of the severe nature of the beatings that Jesus got on the cross.
Speaker 1:The beatings that started earlier in the high priest's residence now continue here. These gentlemen that were the soldiers were no gentlemen at all. They were rough, crude, sadistic men. In verse 17, they put on a purple robe and a crown of thorns and our translation says they beat him with a reed. Well, really, it was a rod. This was something that you could break open flesh with if you used it just right. The wisest and most noble and most pure holy being in the universe allowed himself to be ridiculed. The thorns were not small. These tore the skin, tore the scalp open. The rod was severe, the whippings was severe. So I just see the contrast here, steve. We have Jesus as holy and pure and righteous and good and all that that represents. He was those things and he voluntarily submits himself to these rough, crude, sadistic men to be spit upon, to be ridiculed, to be beaten, and the contrast could not be greater.
Speaker 2:Jesus had taught his disciples earlier that there's going to come a time whenever you're going to be turned over to the enemy and that they're going to beat you. Remember whenever John and James said, Lord, whenever you come into your kingdom, we want to sit on your right and your left. And he said are you going to be able to be immersed or be baptized in the cup that I'm about to bear? And they said, oh yeah, sure. Well, here is part of the cup that he's bearing, he told him. He said you surely will be baptized in it. You surely will be baptized in it. You surely will be immersed in it.
Speaker 2:Some of those disciples most of them, did die in cruel ways. Glenn, this is also the leadership of the Jews. This shows how low they have stooped to get Jesus killed. It's not just Jesus that they're beating and making fun of here. He's a Jew. They're also doing it because of that. And there was this tension between the Roman occupation and the Jewish people, and the Jewish leadership knew that they didn't like the Romans and the people didn't like the Roman occupation because, given a chance, this is how they were treated. Pilate was not known as being kind to the Jewish people. This is a picture also to me of how low the leadership has done to submit themselves to this Roman authority just so they can get rid of Jesus. Because, given the chance, if they're ever brought before Pilate and they're convicted, they might just be treated the same way as these soldiers are treating them. But yet they don't care. They throw that aside because they want Jesus gone and done with. Why? Because they were envious.
Speaker 1:When I was a kid I had a teenager that was older than me at the time spit in my face. I could smell it for many years. If I think about it now, I could still smell the spit on your face. It's very, very humiliating. These men then, it says, took a purple robe. Purple was for royalty. They took a purple robe and they they made a crown of thorns and they mocked him and pretended to bow down and worship this Jewish person. Now I get the contrast To these soldiers. This was a poor, itinerant rabbi and there was nothing royal about him. These men were entirely ridiculing our Lord and they were doing so with false worship. It was fake, it wasn't really real.
Speaker 1:And if I were to ask myself, is there anybody in our day that's doing false worship, that's just going through the motions, like these soldiers were? I find that it's true, and the first person I see that's just gone through the motions of worship is when I look in the mirror it's me. I found myself being equally bad as far as just going through the motions at times. There's been times in my life where I went through true worship and really felt good that I was honoring God with my worship. There's other times when I've left worship service saying you know, if I'm honest with myself, I was just going through the motions.
Speaker 1:So I think all of us need to ask ourselves and be honest when I go into worship. Am I just going through the motions or am I truly honoring the God of the universe and giving him what I need? Steve, I know I've been guilty of just going through the motions and I suspect we've got listeners out there that at times they've just gone through the motions. I know there's churches out there that don't do proper worship. How should we, as people, not deal with our feelings? We don't worship just because of how I feel and get more emotional, but we worship in truth. How can I truly worship God the way he deserves it To?
Speaker 2:understand this description here. What he went through and this beating that he took. It's something that is really indescribable as to the pain and the suffering that he took. And he did that for us. He did that so that we might be able to have eternal life. He did that so that we could be found righteous, or reckoned righteous, as it's put, that God reckoned righteousness to Abraham whenever he believed. This isn't even the worst of it. We're going to read in the next section the actual crucifixion, and we'll talk about that process when we get to it. This isn't even the worst of it, but, like you said, his face was beat to a bloody pulp, unrecognizable, and his back, the same way, was just a meat hanging off of it because of the scourging that was done to him prior to that.
Speaker 2:It gets back to your question how do we worship? We don't really fully understand what Jesus Christ, the Messiah, went through in order to provide for us a path of salvation and to be able to have a relationship with him. We need to stop and ponder this more often, what he has done. Then I think we can truly get to a place where we can worship and honor him. Let's not be like the other people and just kind of go across this and say, oh yeah, he died for our sins. It was more than that. He suffered for our sins and we need to acknowledge that so that I think we can properly worship him.
Speaker 1:Here in this account, they ridiculed our Lord. The question we need to ask is if they ridiculed our Lord, what are they going to do to me and what are they going to do to you? Can we, as Christians, go through life expecting to be treated any differently? I submit some people will treat us with respect, but some people will ridicule us for no more nor less than we are followers and disciples of Christ. We should expect to receive some ridicule in the world. The question then becomes how should I react, not if, but when I get some ridicule from the world? How can I react? Can I still continue to do Christian ministry even though there's people that are poking fun and trying to ridicule and trying to stop the work? I submit we can. Whatever we go through, there's no different than what other Christians have followed since the beginning of the church. Even our Lord got worse than anything we'll get. So the ridicule should be expected and it shouldn't surprise us, and we should be able to keep doing Christian ministry. Don't you think, steve? I do agree with that.
Speaker 2:We just got to put our faith and trust in God's calling of us, of whatever it is for us to do, and realize that there are people and Christians in other parts of the world that face this type of a persecution and even death a lot more often than what you and I ever have. We see them that they take it and they don't renounce their faith. I think we can take encouragement from them. If they can stay faithful to the Christian cause and the Christian mission, then most certainly we can whenever we get a little bit of pushback on our sin.
Speaker 1:At the end of this little section we read verse 21,. The Lord was so weak that he couldn't carry his cross. The Roman soldiers grabbed someone that was just a bystander and put him into service carrying the cross. The prisoners generally carried their crosses. Jesus had been beaten so much and for so long, and he'd been up all night and he had lost so much blood that he was too weak to carry the cross. They grabbed this man that was just a bystander, simon of Cyrene, and get him to help. That tells us a couple of things. One is that our Lord was so weak and had lost so much blood by this point that he could barely walk, let alone carry a cross.
Speaker 1:Next, the little parentheses. Here, simon of Cyrene was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Well, why would it mention that? Well, these men had to obviously be well-known in the church. And if we turn over to Romans 16, verse 13, we find that Rufus was a prominent member of the Roman church.
Speaker 1:We have here, if we read a little bit between the lines, this man, simon, was there with his sons going to the Passover. And of course, things aren't just happened. They happened by God's providence that he was standing right there at the right moment and got picked. It must have profoundly affected this man's life, this man, simon of Cyrene, seeing the Lord and carrying his cross. We can imagine him going back home and telling the story to his wife. It changed his life forever. He raised his sons in the church and they became at least Rufus became a prominent member in the church. There is an Alexander as well. Late in the epistles that was someone to be avoided. The apostle Paul says watch out for Alexander. He did me much harm. We don't know much more than that, but we know that they were in the church and this man, simon of Cyrene, was greatly affected by this experience and let me just real quickly read that verse, glenn, romans 16, 13.
Speaker 2:Read Rufus a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. So I think you're right. It did affect Simon so much to the point that his family became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Our Lord is now bleeding and on his way to the cross. It's a very ugly scene, but the death on the cross is both extremely ugly and also quite profound. It's beautiful for us who had our sins washed away because of it, and we'll see that next time on Reasoning Through the Bible.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for watching and listening. May God bless you.
