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.

Mark 15:15 Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

 Why does Pilate release Barabbas and hand Jesus over?

“Wishing to satisfy the crowd” (Mark 15:15)

•       βουλόμενος τῷ ὄχλῳ τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι

(boulomenos tō ochlō to hikanon poiēsai)

o  “Phraseological Latinisms are scarce and used mostly in connection with Roman authorities and the like. Clearly belonging here are δὸς ἐργασίαν (Lk 12:58 = da operam, τὸ ἱκανὸν (§131) ποιεῖν Mk 15:15 (cf. Herm Sim 6.5.5) = satisfacere” (BDF, 5-6).

o  “Some features of Markan style recall Latin constructions and vocabulary. That they are probably more frequent in Mark than in other NT texts, except the Pastoral epistles, may raise the question whether Mark was written in Italy in a kind of Greek that was influenced by Latin. However, supposing that his language is influenced in that way, we presume that it could have happened as well in the Roman provinces” (MHT IV:2 §6, 29).

o  “Several of Mark’s words are obviously transliterations from Latin, and some of them are in other gospels too, but there is nothing very remarkable about transliterations and loan-words, for they occur in all languages” (MHT IV: 2 §6, 29).

o  τὸ ἱκανὸν (Neuter Accusative Singular) ποιῆσαι

(“to satisfy”)

“When the predicate stands for the subject conceived as a class and in the abstract, not as an individual instance or example, then classical usage puts the adjectival predicate in the neuter singular, even with subjects of another gender” (BDF, 72).

What does Pilate do before handing Jesus over?

has “Jesus scourged” (Mark 15:15)

•       φραγελλώσας (phragellōsas) (“scourged”) Masculine Nominative Singular Aorist Active Participle of φραγελλόω “flog, scourge, a punishment inflicted on slaves and provincials after a sentence of death had been pronounced on them. So in the case of Jesus before the crucifixion” (BDAG, 1064).

•       “The Romans first stripped the victim and tied his hands to a post above his head. The whip (flagellum) was made of several pieces of leather with pieces of bone and lead embedded near the ends. Two men, one on each side of the victim, usually did the flogging. The Jews mercifully limited flogging to a maximum of forty stripes; the Romans had no such limitation. The following is a medical doctor’s description of the physical effects of flogging.

‘The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles…. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue’

(C. Truman Davis, “The Crucifixion of Jesus,” Arizona Medicine 22/3 (March 1965): 185).”

Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, eds., The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), Vol. 9, p. 967-68.

•       What had Jesus previously foretold His disciples about what  would happen to Him in Jerusalem?

“They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on head of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, saying, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. "They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again"'” (Mark 10:32-34).

Who hands Jesus over to be crucified?

Pilate (Mark 15:15)

Why does Pilate hand Jesus over?

“to be crucified” (Mark 15:15)

•       ἵνα σταυρωθῇ (hina staurōthē) (“to be crucified”)

ἵνα + σταυρωθῇ 3S Aorist Passive Subjunctive of σταυρόω, 

“to fasten to a cross, crucify” (BDAG, 941).

o  “The infinitive of purpose likewise dates very far back and it certainly has a much wider range of usage in Homer than in Attic authors, who use it mostly after verbs meaning ‘to give, appoint, present, send’, etc. … Ἵνα can again represent this infinitive”(BDF §390, 197).

•   “According to Cicero (Verr. 2.5.168) and Josephus (J.W. 7.6.4 §203), crucifixion was the worst form of death. Juvenal has this grim thought in mind when he writes, ‘The vulture hurries from dead cattle and dogs and crosses to bring some of the carrion to her offspring’ (Sat. 14.77-78; Suetonius, Aug. 13.1-2: ‘the carrion-birds will soon take care of’ one’s ‘burial’!; Horace, Ep. 1.16.48: ‘hanging on a cross to feed crows’). A text from a later period expresses well how crucifixion compared to other forms of execution: ‘But hanging is a lesser penalty than the cross. For the gallows kills the victim immediately, whereas the cross tortures for a long time those who are fixed to it’ (Isidore of Seville, Etymologia 5.27.34; cf. Seneca, Dial, 3.2.2: ‘long-drawn-out agony’). Another writer from late antiquity explains: ‘Whenever we crucify the condemned, the most crowded roads are chosen, where the most people can see and be moved by this terror. For penalties relate not so much to retribution as to their exemplary effect’ (Pseudo-Quintilian, Decl. 274; cf. Josephus, J.W. 5.11.1 §§450-51). On a second-century epitaph, the deceased declares that his murderer, a slave, was ‘crucified alive [ζωὸν ἀνεκρέμασαν] for the wild beasts and birds’ (NewDocs 8:1)”  (Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27–16:20. Vol. 34B, World Biblical Commentary, 484).

Father,

You are just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Infinite is Your mercy and abounding is Your grace in light of the magnitude of our sin and its horrific consequence. You so loved the world that You sent Your One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Glory and thanks to You and to Yeshua for accomplishing the redemption of Your people. For Your wrath is eternally and completely satisfied by the single sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, the Great High Priest and Good Shepherd of Your people. All whom the Son sets free are free indeed.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Mark 15:12-14 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!”

Who does Pilate answer again?

“But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead” (Mark 15:11).

What does Pilate say to them (Mark 15:12)?

“Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:12).

•       τὸν βασιλἐα τῶν Ἰουδαίων (ton basilea tōn Ioudaiōn)

(“King of the Jews”)

o  “KING OF THE JEWS” “In the Matthean infancy narrative, MAGI come from the east seeking the child ‘who has been born king of the Jews’ (Matt 2:2). Herod, client king of Judea (who is not really a king, nor a Jew), seeks to kill this potential rival in an act of brutality that defines the sort of ‘king’ he is… By way of contrast, Matthew states that Jesus is the Messiah (Cristos Χριστός) and SON OF DAVID (Matt 1:1), whose throne is established forever (2 Sam 7:16), and in fulfillment of the prophecy (Mic 5:2) that from Bethlehem will come a ruler who is to shepherd Israel (Matt 2:6). For Matthew, Jesus is the true king who inaugurates the kingdom of heaven (4:17, 23) and fulfills the Jewish law and the prophets (5:17-20).

           All four Gospels record that Pontius Pilate asks Jesus if he is ‘king of the Jews’ (Matt 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3; John 18:33). In the Synoptics, Jesus does not answer this charge, because his accusers do not understand who he is or what kind of kingdom he represents (in John 18:36-37 Jesus clarifies that his kingdom is ‘not from this world’). The mocking soldiers hail him as ‘king of the Jews’ (Matt 27:29; Mark 15:18; Luke 23:37; John 19:3) and give him a ‘crown’ made of thorns (Matt 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2). Jesus is crucified with the title ‘King of the Jews’ over his head (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; John 19:19, 21), an indication that his crime is insurrection against Rome. This act of brutality, like Herod’s earlier attempt to kill Jesus, defines the sort of kingdom Rome is, in contrast to the kingdom of heaven.”

Marianne Blickenstaff,  “King of the Jews,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfield, vol. 3, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007),  504.

What do they shout back (Mark 15:13)?

“Crucify Him!” (Mark 15:13)

•       σταύρωσον αὐτόν (Staurōson auton) (“Crucify Him”)  2S Aorist Active Imperative of σταυρόω

o  CRUCIFIXION “Crucifixion was a form of execution practiced in late antiquity, whereby a person was tied or nailed to a pole or cross and left to hang.

Crucifixion was practiced in the eastern Mediterranean long before the Romans adopted the practice. It was practiced by Persians and other peoples, such as Assyrians, Scythians, and Thracians. Alexander the Great is said to have crucified thousands (compare Curtius Rufus, Hist. Alex. 4.4.17). His successors continued the practice. It is not surprising that in time the Romans adopted this form of execution. It was primarily reserved for murderous or rebellious slaves (and for this reason was known as ‘slaves’ punishment’)[…]

Jewish authorities before the Roman period also practiced crucifixion. Most notorious was Alexander Jannaeus (ruled 102-76 BCE), who, Josephus tells us, on one occasion crucified a large number of Pharisees who had opposed him and had allied themselves to a foreign enemy (J.W. 1.97-98; compare Ant. 13.380). Josephus’ testimony helps explain a reference in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where in one of the pesharim there is reference to the ‘Lion of Wrath’ (understood to be Alexander Jannaeus) who ‘used to hang men alive’ (4Q169 3-4 i, 7).

The Romans placed crosses along well-traveled highways, on tops of hills, and at city gates. The condemned man usually carried the cross-beam, or patibulum (Plutarch, Mor. 554A–B; Mark 15:21), sometimes with a titulus around his neck, declaring his name and punishment, later to be affixed to the upright cross. This cruel punishment later also befell Christians. Church historian and apologist Eusebius (4^th cent.) tells of Attalus the Christian, who ‘was led around the amphitheatre and a placard was carried before him on which was written in Latin, “This is Attalus, the Christian”’ (Hist. eccl. 5.1.44).

The Gospels say that a titulus was placed on the cross of Jesus (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38) and that it was written in more than one language, describing Jesus as ‘king of the Jews.” The epithet ‘king of the Jews’ is Roman and was originally applied to Herod the Great (compare Josephus, Ant. 15.409: ‘the king of the Jews, Herod’) […]”

Craig A. Evans, “Crucifixion,” in New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine Doob Sakenfield, vol. 1, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007), 806.

But what does Pilate say to them (Mark 15:14)?

“Why, what evil has He done?” (Mark 15:14)

•       τἰ γὰρ ἐποίησεν κακόν (ti gar epoiēsen kakon)

(“Why, what evil has He done”)

But what do they shout all the more (Mark 15:14)?

“Crucify Him!” (Mark 15:14).

Father,

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is Your power. For You laid the magnitude of our sin on Your Son on the cross. And it was Your will to crush Him, unleashing Your just wrath against our sin on the only One Who could bear its weight and overcome its judgment. By His wounds we are healed. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Mark 15:9-11 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.

How does Pilate answer the crowd’s request for the release of a prisoner as was customary at the feast?

“Pilate answered them, saying, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’" (Mark 15:9).

•       ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς λἐγων (apekrithē autois legōn) (“answered them saying”)

Aorist Passive Indicative of ἀποκρἰνομαι

followed by

Present Participle of λἐγω

o  “Sometimes, however, a Present Participle accompanies an Aorist verb denoting the same action; regularly so in the phrase ἀπεκρίνατο (ἀπεκρίθη) λέγων; see Mark 15:9” (Ernest De Witt Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in New Testament Greek, 3^rd ed. Edinburg: T&T Clark, 1898, p. 55-56)

•       τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων (ton basilea tōn Ioudaiōn) (“the King of the Jews”)

o  βασιλεύς (basileus) (“king”)

§  1.  one who rules as possessor of the highest office in a political realm, king, generally of a male ruler who has unquestioned authority (exceptions are client rulers who owe their power to the grace of Rome). (BDAG, 169)

§  2.  one who possesses unusual or transcendent power; of a Messianic king; of God. (BDAG, 170)

o  Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaios) (“Jew, Jewish, Judean”) “Generally as description of ‘one who identifies with beliefs, rites, and customs of adherents of Israel’s Mosaic and prophetic tradition (the standard term in the Mishnah is ‘Israelite’). (Since the term ‘Judaism’ suggests a monolithic entity that fails to take account of the many varieties of thought and social expression associated with such adherents, the calque or loanword ‘Judean’ is used in this and other entries where Ἰουδαῖος is treated. Complicating the semantic problem is the existence side by side of persons who had genealogy on their side and those who became proselytes…also of adherents of Moses who recognized Jesus as Messiah…and those who do not do so. Incalculable harm has been caused by simply glossing Ἰουδαῖος with ‘Jew’, for many readers or auditors of Bible translations do not practice the historical judgment necessary to distinguish between circumstances and events of an ancient time and contemporary ethnic-religious-social realities, with the result that anti-Judaism in the modern sense of the term is needlessly fostered through biblical texts.) (BDAG, 478)

§  Modern Usage of “Jew”

“There is no general agreement today concerning the use of the term. The question ‘Who is a Jew?’ is being hotly debated in the context of the modern state of Israel. Orthodox Judaism accepts one as a Jew who has been born to a Jewish mother and who has not apostatized (e.g., converted to Christianity), while others would include also one who has a Jewish father or who has converted to Judaism (i.e., a proselyte). There is a clear preference among many Jewish leaders for the term “Israel,” rather than “Jew” as a contemporary designation of the Hebrew people” (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised., Vol. 2, p. 1056).

§  “Who Is A Jew?”

“Automatic Israeli citizenship is granted any Jew under the 1950 Law of Return. The hard part, however, is determining who is a ‘Jew’?

         During the 1950s, the Supreme Court of Israel, in a 4–1 decision, ruled that the Law of Return does not apply to Jews who abandoned Judaism for another religion, although it does apply to atheistic Jews. The interior minister Mose Shapiro subsequently ruled that no one can be recognized as a Jew who does not belong to the Jewish faith.

         In January of 1970, the Israeli Supreme Court, by a margin of one vote, again settled the question ‘Who is a Jew?’ by deciding that the term referred to a nationality and not necessarily a religion.

         Then Israel’s Knesset (parliament) enacted a new law at the same time which defines a Jew as either one born of a Jewish mother or a convert to Judaism. This supposedly overturned the Supreme Court decision” (Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, p. 630).

§  How does Jesus commend the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13?

Rev. 3:7   “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

 He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

Rev. 3:8   ‘ I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie — I will make them come and bow down  at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance,  I also will keep you from the hour of  testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole  world, to  test  those who dwell on the earth. 11 ‘ I am coming quickly;  hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your  crown. 12 ‘ He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the  name of My God, and  the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My  new name. 13 ‘ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

•       What is the name written on the robe and thigh of the Word of God according to Revelation 19:16?

“And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS’” (Rev 19:16).

Of what is Pilate aware (Mark 15:10)?

“For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy” (Mark 15:10).

•       Who handed Jesus over?

“the chief priests”

• οἱ ἀρχερεῖς (hoi archiereis) (“the chief priests”)

“a priest of high rank, chief priest in Israel’s cultic life. The plural is used in the NT and in Josephus…to denote members of the Sanhedrin who belonged to highpriestly families: ruling high priests, those who had been deposed, and adult male members of the most prominent priestly families” (BDAG, 139).

•       For what reason is Pilate aware they handed Jesus over?

“…because of envy” (Mark 15:10).

Who stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas?

“But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead” (Mark 15:11).

•       ἀνέσεισαν (anaseisan) (“stirred”) 3P Aorist Active Indicative of ἀνασείω, “to cause to be disturbed, stir up, disturb, upset, incite” (BDAG, 71).

•       τὸν ὄχλον (ton ochlon) (“the crowd”)

“a relatively large number of people gathered together, crowd…a gathering of people that bears some distinguishing characteristic or status; a large number of people of relatively low status the (common) people, populace…in contrast to the rulers” (BDAG, 745).

•       Why do the chief priests stir up the crowd?

“…to ask him to release Barabbas” (Mark 15:10).

Father,

You are the God of all nations, the Sovereign Potentate. You are the covenant God of Israel, Your covenant nation. You are also the God of the Gentiles. All whom You chose for salvation are saved through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. You are blessing all the families of the earth in Jesus, Who descended from David in the flesh, just as You promised the forefathers. And Your kingdom, which You have firmly established in Christ, will endure forever. Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, is Your Anointed King and Your Servant, Savior of the world, and Lord over all. Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Jesus came the first time as humble Servant to seek and save sinners, and He accomplished the work of salvation through His death on the cross. And You raised Him from the dead on the third day, testifying of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. By Your grace through faith alone in Jesus, sinners are saved. All who receive Jesus are reconciled to You in peace and love. For by the blood of Jesus, our sins have been forgiven and our iniquity removed, just as You promised. You are our God and we are Your people. Glory and thanks to You through Jesus for so great a salvation. Glory to You for new birth by the Spirit.

Jesus Himself is our peace, who made both Jews and Gentiles into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to those who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to You, the Father. Your household has been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom we also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

When Jesus comes again to Jerusalem, He will come as Conquering King to accomplish the restoration of the nation of Israel, just as You promised Your covenant people. Your promises to Israel will never fail. Israel will not be discarded or disregarded in Your kingdom of glory. Jesus will conquer the nations who rise against her. Israel will be saved. 

Glory to You and to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.