Page 124 - Demo

Illustration from a Psalter of Ingebord of Denmark
Everybody was against him. Everybody wanted him to die. It is strange. People who are not usually together: the government and the people. Everyone was against him. But what had he done to everyone?
I’ll tell you. He had saved the world.
Charles Péguy (1873-1914)
MARK 
Jesus Before Pilate.
151a As soon as morning came,b the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council.* They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”* He said to him in reply, “You say so.” 3The chief priests accused him of many things. 4Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” 5Jesus gave him no further
answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
The Sentence of Death.* 6Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release
to them one prisoner whom they requested.c 7A man called Barabbas* was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. 8The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. 9Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” 10For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what [do you want] me to do with [the man you call] the king of the Jews?” 13* They shouted again, “Crucify him.” 14Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” 15* So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
Mockery by the Soldiers. 16* d The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. 17They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. 18They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. 20And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.
The Way of the Cross. 21They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian,* who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.e
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[15:1] Held a council: the verb here, poieō, can mean either“convene a council”or“take counsel.”This reading is preferred to a variant “reached a decision” (cf. Mk 3:6), which Mk 14:64 describes as having happened at the night trial; see note on Mt 27:1–2. Handed him over to Pilate: lacking authority to execute their sentence of condemnation (Mk 14:64), the Sanhedrin had recourse to Pilate to have Jesus tried and put to death (Mk 15:15); cf. Jn 18:31.
[15:2] The king of the Jews: in the accounts of the evangelists a certain irony surrounds the use of this title as an accusation against Jesus (see note on Mk 15:26). While Pilate uses this term (Mk 15:2, 9, 12), he is aware of the evil motivation of the chief priests who handed Jesus over for trial and condemnation (Mk 15:10; Lk 23:14–16, 20; Mt 27:18, 24; Jn 18:38; 19:4, 6, 12).
[15:6–15] See note on Mt 27:15–26.
[15:7] Barabbas: see note on Mt 27:16–17.
[15:13] Crucify him: see note on Mt 27:22.
[15:15] See note on Mt 27:26.
[15:16] Praetorium: see note on Mt 27:27.
[15:21] They pressed into service. . .Simon, a Cyrenian: a condemned person was constrained to bear his own instrument of torture, at least the crossbeam. The precise naming of Simon and his sons is probably due to their being known among early Christian believers to whom Mark addressed his gospel. See also notes on Mt 27:32; Lk 23:26–32.
a. [15:1–5] Mt 27:1–2, 11–14; Lk 23:1–3. d. [15:16–20] Mt 27:27–31; Jn 19:2–3. b. [15:1] Jn 18:28. e. [15:21] Mt 27:32; Lk 23:26.
c. [15:6–15] Mt 27:15–26; Lk 23:17–25; Jn 18:39–40.
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