Mark 15:16-20 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 and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.

What happens after Jesus is scourged and handed over to be crucified?

“The soldiers took Him away…” (Mark 15:16).

Where do the soldiers take Him?

“…into the palace (that is, the Praetorium)…” (Mark 15:16).

·      τῆς αὐλῆς (tēs aulēs) (“the palace”)

·      πραιτώριον (praitōrion) (“Praetorium”)

o  “1.  Πραιτώριον is a Latin loanword (praetorium) and in the NT designates the residence of a Roman provincial governor (similarly IG XIV, 2548; ägU 288, 14; Pap. Oxy. 471, l. 110; SIG 880, 63). The praetorium was originally the tent in which the praetor lived, then it designated the praetorian guard or its barracks or the residence of a political official. In the NT πραιτώριον occurs in two contexts: in the Passion narrative (Mark 15:16 par. Matt 27:27; John 18:28a, b, 33; 19:9,    → 2) and in the context of Paul’s imprisonment (Phil 1:13; Acts 23:35, → 3).

2.  a) According to Mark 15:16 the soldiers led Jesus, whom Pilate had given over for crucifixion (v. 15b), ἔσω τῆς αὐλῆς, ὅ ἐστιν πραιτώριον, ‘into the palace, that is, the praetorium.' There Jesus was mocked as ‘king of the Jews.’ Matt 27:27 omits reference to the αὐλή and speaks only of the πραιτώριον into which the soldiers brought Jesus. Mark 15:16b par. Matt 27:27b reports (hyperbolically?) that ‘the whole battalion’ gathered together in the praetorium. John 18:28a tells that Jesus was led ‘to the praetorium’ by Caiaphas, and 18:28b that the Jews who brought Jesus did not enter the praetorium ‘so that they might not be defiled’ before the Passover meal. John knows of the praetorium from the Passion tradition. In John 18:33, after the proceedings ‘outside’ (vv. 29–32), Pilate comes back ‘into the praetorium,’ where he then questions Jesus himself. 19:9 reports that after the Ecce homo scene (vv. 4-8) Pilate again returns to the praetorium in order to question Jesus again.

b) The praetorium of Pilate was probably Herod’s palace on the western hill of the city (so Schürer, Eckardt, Benoit, Kopp, and Blinzler), and not (as especially Vincent asserts; Blinzler 174f. lists others who support this view) in the Tower of Antonia (northwest of the temple area). The identification with Herod’s palace is supported by the Roman custom of taking over the residences of earlier local regents (→ 3.b). Furthermore, the reference to the crowd ‘going up’ to Pilate (Mark 15:8: ἀναβάς ὁ ὄχλος) better suits the topography if Herod’s palace is assumed. Philo Leg. Gai.. 306 calls Herod’s palace the ‘house of the governors’ (cf. further documentation in Benoit 156f.). In the 4^th cent. pilgrims from Bordeaux asserted that the praetorium of Pilate lay in the western Tyropoeon Valley (cf. Kopp 371; Pixner).”

Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 3, p. 144-145.

Who was called together?

 “…and they called together the whole Roman cohort” (Mark 15:16).

·      σπεῖραν (speiran) (“cohort”)

“While posted in forts and strongholds to defend the borders and maintain the peace, a Roman cohort was nominally 600 infantrymen, but in Palestine auxillary cohorts of local soldiers could be 500 to 1,000 troops. A speira mocked Jesus (Matt 27:27; Mark 15:16; John 18:12), and John says a speira arrested Jesus (John 18:3). Luke identifies the first Gentile convert, CORNELIUS, as a CENTURION of the cohort in CAESAREA (Acts 10:1). Luke also mentions the cohort of Jerusalem protecting Paul (Acts 21:31). Soldiers from another cohort escorted Paul to his trial in Rome (Acts 27:1).”

Adam L. Porter, “COHORT,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfield, vol. 1, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007), p. 698.

What do the soldiers do after taking Jesus away into the Praetorium where the Roman cohort was called together?

“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!’” (Mark 15:17-18).

·     καὶ (kai) (“and”) ἐνδιδύσκουσιν αὐτὸν πορφύραν

·      καὶ περιτιθέασιν αὐτῷ πλέξαντες ἀκάνθινον στέφανον

·      καὶ ἤρξαντο ἀσπάζεσθαι αὐτόν χαῖρε βασιλεῦ τῶν Ἰοθδαίων

What do the soldiers do to Him after they dress Him in purple, place a twisted crown of thorns on Him, and begin 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” (Mark 15:19).

·      καὶ ἔτυπτον αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλήν καλάμῳ

·      καὶ ἐνέπτυον αὐτῷ

·      καὶ τιθέντες τὰ γόνατα προσεκύνουν αὐτῷ

What do they do after they had mocked Him?

“And 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” (Mark 15:20).

·      καὶ ὅτε ἐνέπαιξαν αὐτῷ ἐξέδυσαν αὐτὸν τὴν πορφύραν

·      καὶ ἐνέδυσαν αὐτὸν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ

·      καὶ ἐξάγοθσιν αὐτὸν

Why do they lead Him out?

“…to crucify Him” (Mark 15:20).

·      ἵνα σταυρώσωσιν αὐτόν (hina staurōsōsin auton)

(“to crucify Him”)

What had Jesus foretold His disciples in Mark 10:34?

“They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again” (Mark 10:34).

What does Isaiah prophesy about the suffering of the Messiah in Isaiah 50:6-7 and 53:7?

“I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord God helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed” (Is 50:6-7).

“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” (Is 53:7).

According to Isaiah 53:5, for what purpose does the Messiah suffer and what is the result of His scourging?

“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” (Is 53:5).

Father,

The suffering of our Messiah grieves the soul that has been redeemed by His precious, powerful blood. How infinitely greater the grief that You must have borne on that day of sorrow and suffering. I’m sorry for my contribution to the load of sin that Jesus carried to the cross that day. Jesus bore my shame before Your holy Presence. Heaven must have hushed at the horror of the sight. Yet Jesus endured for our sakes. Jesus died in my place. Jesus bore my sin and the sins of the world on the cross. Christ our Passover was sacrificed. You made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. What profound holiness and infinite grace are revealed through the work of salvation. Glory to You in Christ forever.

Thank You for raising Jesus from death to life. Thank You for sending Jesus to seek and to save me, for only Jesus, being fully God and fully Man, could bear the load of my sin and overcome its just condemnation. Because He died, I died. Because He lives, I live. Born again by the Spirit Whom You sent to give me new life, I rejoice in the Lord always. Thank You for ears to hear and a heart to believe the gospel of our salvation. And thank you that in Christ, having believed, we have been sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of Your own possession, to the praise of Your glory. Glory to You and to Jesus for so great a salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.