Mark 15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified Him.

What hour is it when the Roman soldiers crucify Him?

“It was the third hour…” (Mark 15:25).

·      ὥρα τρίτη (hōra tritē) (“third hour”)

“as a temporal indicator, reckoned from the beginning of the day (6 hours or 6 a.m., our time) or the night . . . ὥρα τρίτη nine o’clock (a.m.) (BDAG, 1103).

·      “Using the Jewish method of counting hours from sunrise (and sunset) Mark alone recorded that Jesus’ crucifixion took place at the third hour, that is, 9 a.m. This seems to conflict with the time reference ‘the sixth hour’ in John 19:14. But John probably used the Roman (modern) method of counting hours from midnight (and noon); thus he put Jesus’ trial before Pilate at ‘about the sixth hour,’ that is, approximately 6 a.m. The interval between 6 and 9 a.m. was filled with the soldiers’ mockery (cf. Mark 15:16-20), Pilate’s verdict on the two robbers (cf. 15:27), and preparations for the crucifixions.” 

       John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, (Wheaton, IL: Victory Books, 1985), Vol. 2, 188.

What do the Roman soldiers do when it is the third hour?

“…they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25).

·      ἐσταὐρωσαν (estaurōsan) 3P Aorist Active Indicative of σταυρόω

·      John Beck discusses crucifixion:

“The sights, sounds, and smells of any form of public execution are never pleasant, but it is hard to find a method of execution more disturbing than crucifixion. The notion of crucifixion seems to have grown from the practice of impaling lifeless or living persons on a post. This practice morphed into crucifixion and was employed by the Persians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Jews, and eventually Romans.

The execution itself was conducted by attaching a person either to a tree or to a wooden post in one of several postures but always with arms extended. The victim could be either tied or nailed in this position to await death, which might take several days. Death was most likely caused by asphyxiation when the muscles of the throat controlling exhalation failed and victims could not longer rid themselves of the carbon dioxide building up in their lungs. Given the nature of this painful and humiliating death, the Romans reserved it for punishing criminals like robbers, deserters, and political insurrectionists. Consequently, it was available to Pilate as a way of punishing Jesus for the crimes with which he had been charged (Luke 23:2).

When the Gospel writers describe the execution of Jesus, they spare us many of the more horrific details. But they want us to be absolutely clear on the fact that Jesus was crucified. The message is not just repeated, it is delivered by a wide variety of reporters as if to confirm the fact. Well before the soldiers took nail in hand, Jesus announced that this was going to happen to him when he went to Jerusalem (Matt. 20:17-19; 26:1-2; Luke 24:7). And in the reports of Jesus’s passing the word crucify is spoken by a variety of witnesses with widely ranging interests, including Pilate, the hostile crowd Jewish leaders, an angel, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and the narrator (Matt. 27:22-23, 26, 31, 35; 28:5; Mark 15:13-15, 20, 24-25, 27; 16:6; Luke 23:21, 33; 24:20; John 19:6, 10, 15-16, 18, 20, 23, 41). The variety of reporters and the repetition of the term leave us certain of the fact that Jesus was crucified.

Jesus’ death on the cross receives so much attention because it is so shocking that he should die in this way and, at the same time, so necessary. If we were to design a Savior of the world whose death for our sins would be welcomed by Jews and Gentiles, we would choose some other means than crucifixion. Paul noted the difficulty. ‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing . . . . But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles’ (1 Cor. 1:18, 23). Jews saw the crucified person in terms of God’s declaration in Deuteronomy that those impaled on a post died under the curse of divine rejection (Deut. 21:22-23). Gentiles saw the crucified person as a social outcast and enemy of society. Thus a crucified hero was a very hard sell in either cultural setting.

But it was just this kind of ignominious death that was required for Jesus to complete his mission on earth and to pay the sin debt that we owe. Paul in particular created the important link between salvation and the crucified Christ, who reconciled the world to God by his death (Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20). He observed that the law that called for the punishment of sinners was nailed to the cross. ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole”’ (Gal. 3:13; see also Col. 2:13-14). It is no wonder that Paul insisted that this was the most fundamental and important information he had to share with his listeners: ‘For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2; see also Gal. 3:1; 6:14). Thus while we would never have designed a rescue plan that involved crucifixion, it was the only way to ensure that the rescue mission achieved its goal.

The act of crucifying also appears in two figurative settings. First, in his letter to the Galatians Paul notes that he has been ‘crucified with Christ’ (Gal. 2:20) and that those who have come to know Christ have ‘crucified the sinful nature’ (Gal. 5:24 TNIV). Here Paul addresses one of the dramatic changes that occur within Christians when they come to faith in Jesus as their Savior. The sinful nature—that part of us that actively pursues rebellion against God—is metaphorically executed so that we no longer are obligated to follow the lead of our sinful nature in pursuing a life of sin.

The second figurative use of this image comes in Jesus’s insistence that those who follow him as disciples must be ready to ‘take up their cross’ (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; see also 14:27). This crucifixion imagery is drawn from the roman practice that required the condemned man to carry the crossbeam to which his arms would be attached (Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:21). Just as the condemned man had no choice but to surrender his will, deny his own passions, pick up the instrument of his own death, and carry it to the place of execution, so believers are called to surrender their own will, deny themselves, and accept the life God places in their path, no matter how austere or difficult it may be.”

John A. Beck, The Baker Illustrated Guide to Everyday Life in Bible Times, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2013), 69–71.

Who do the Roman soldiers crucify at the third hour?

“…Him” (Mark 15:25).

·      John 1:1     In the beginning was  the Word, and the Word was  with God, and  the Word was God.  2  He was in the beginning with God.  3  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  4  In Him was life, and the life was  the Light of men.  5  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not  comprehend it.

John 1:6   There  came a man sent from God, whose name was  John.  7  He came  as a witness, to testify about the Light,  so that all might believe through him.  8   He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

John 1:9   There was  the true Light  which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.  10 He was in the world, and  the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  11 He came to His  own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.  12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become  children of God, even  to those who believe in His name,  13  who were  born, not of  blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:14   And  the Word  became flesh, and   dwelt among us, and  we saw His glory, glory as of  the only begotten from the Father, full of  grace and  truth.  15 John   testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘ He who comes after me  has a higher rank than I,  for He existed before me.’”  16 For of His  fullness  we have all received, and  grace upon grace.  17 For  the Law was given through Moses;  grace and  truth  were realized through Jesus Christ.  18  No one has seen God at any time;  the only begotten God who is  in the bosom of the Father,  He has explained Him.

·      Col. 1:3    We give thanks to God,  the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,  4  since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the  love which you have  for  all the  saints;  5 because of the  hope  laid up for you in  heaven, of which you previously  heard in the word of truth,  the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as   in all the world also it is constantly bearing  fruit and  increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you  heard of it and  understood the grace of God in truth;  7 just as you learned it from  Epaphras, our  beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf,  8 and he also informed us of your  love in the Spirit.

Col. 1:9   For this reason also,  since the day we heard of it,  we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the   knowledge of His will in all spiritual  wisdom and understanding,  10 so that you will  walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,   to please Him in all respects,  bearing fruit in every good work and  increasing in the  knowledge of God;  11  strengthened with all power, according to  His glorious might,  for the attaining of all steadfastness and  patience;  joyously 12 giving thanks to  the Father, who has qualified us  to share in  the inheritance of the  saints in  Light.  13  For He rescued us from the   domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of   His beloved Son,  14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Col. 1:15    He is the  image of the  invisible God, the  firstborn of all creation.  16 For   by Him all things were created,  both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether  thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities —  all things have been created through Him and for Him.  17 He   is before all things, and in Him all things  hold together.  18 He is also  head of  the body, the church; and He is  the beginning,  the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.  19 For  it was  the Father’s good pleasure for all  the  fullness to dwell in Him,  20 and through Him to  reconcile all things to Himself, having made  peace through  the blood of His cross; through Him, I say,  whether things on earth or things in  heaven.

Col. 1:21   And although you were  formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds,  22 yet He has now  reconciled you in His fleshly  body through death, in order to  present you before Him  holy and blameless and beyond reproach —  23 if indeed you continue in  the faith firmly  established and steadfast, and not moved away from the  hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed  in all creation under heaven,  and of which I, Paul,  was made a   minister.

Col. 1:24    Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh  I  do my share on behalf of  His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking  in Christ’s afflictions.  25  Of this church I  was made a minister according to the  stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might  fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,  26 that is,  the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His  saints,  27 to whom  God willed to make known what is  the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is  Christ in you, the  hope of glory.  28 We proclaim Him,  admonishing every man and teaching every man  with all  wisdom, so that we may  present every man   complete in Christ.  29 For this purpose also I  labor,  striving  according to His  power, which  mightily works within me.

·      Heb. 1:1    God, after He  spoke long ago to the fathers in  the prophets in many portions and  in many ways,  2   in these last days  has spoken to us  in  His Son, whom He appointed  heir of all things,  through whom also He made the   world.  3  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact  representation of His nature, and   upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made  purification of sins, He  sat down at the right hand of the  Majesty on high,  4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent  name than they. 

Father,

Glory to You in Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, the Savior of the world Who came in the flesh, Who died on the cross, and Who was raised from death in order that we may be forgiven and reconciled to You in peace and love. Glory and thanks to You for sending Your Son to seek and save sinners, to die in our place, and to raise us up to new life in Christ. The old have passed away; the new have come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.