Mark 15
1 Very early in the morning the chief priests met together with [the rest of] the Jewish council, [in order to decide how to accuse Jesus before the Roman governor. Their guards] tied Jesus’ hands [again]. They took him to [the house of] Pilate, [the governor, and they started to accuse him, saying] “[Jesus is claiming that he is a king!]!”
As soon as it was early morning, having already formed a plan, the chief priests with the elders and scribes, indeed the whole council, bound Jesus, led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you [claim to be] the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You yourself have said so.”
Pilate asked Him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” So in answer He said to him, “You stated a fact!”
3 Then the chief priests claimed that Jesus had done many bad things.
But the chief priests kept accusing Him of many things.
4 So Pilate asked him again, “Don’t you have anything to say? Listen to how many bad things they are saying that you [have done]!”
So Pilate asked Him again, saying: “Are you not going to answer? See how many things they are testifying against you!”
5 But [even though Jesus was not guilty], he did not say anything more. The result was that Pilate was very much surprised.
But Jesus still gave no answer, so that Pilate marveled.
6 It was the governor’s custom [each year] during the [Passover] celebration to release [one person who was in prison. He customarily released] whichever prisoner the people requested.
Now at the feast he would release to them one prisoner, whomever they would request.
7 [At that time] there was a man called Barabbas who had been {whom [the soldiers had]} [put in prison with some other men]. Those men had murdered [some soldiers] when they rebelled [against the Roman government].
Well there was one called Barabbas, who had been bound with his fellow insurrectionists, who in the insurrection had committed murder.
8 A crowd approached [Pilate] and asked him [to release someone], just like he customarily did for them [during the Passover celebration].
Then the crowd began to call out and request that he do just as he always did for them.
9 Pilate answered them, “Would you like me to release for you the [man whom you] Jewish [people say is your] king?”
So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?”
10 [He asked this] because he realized what the chief priests were wanting to do. They were accusing Jesus because they were jealous of him [because many people were becoming his disciples].
(He knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.)
11 But the chief priests urged the crowd [to request] that Pilate release Barabbas for them instead [of Jesus].
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should release Barabbas to them instead.
12 Pilate said to them again, “[If I release Barabbas], what do you want me to do with the man whom [some of] you Jews say is [your] king?”
Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do to him you call ‘king of the Jews’?”
13 Then they shouted again, “[Command that your soldiers] crucify him!”
Again they shouted, “Crucify him!”
14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they shouted even louder, “[Command your soldiers to] crucify him!”
But Pilate said to them, “But what evil did he do?” They just yelled all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 So, because Pilate wanted to please the crowd, he released Barabbas for them. Then, after [his soldiers] had whipped Jesus with leather straps into which they had fastened metal pieces, [Pilate told the soldiers to take him away] in order that he would be crucified {they would crucify him}.
So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them, and Jesus, after a flogging, he handed over to be crucified.
16 The soldiers took Jesus into the [courtyard of the] palace [where Pilate lived]. That place was the government headquarters. Then they summoned the whole (cohort/group of soldiers) [who were on duty there].
Then the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, the Praetorium) and assembled the whole garrison.
17 [After the soldiers gathered together], they put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they placed on his head a crown that they made from [branches of] thornbushes. [They did those things in order to ridicule him by pretending that he was a king].
They clothed Him with purple, plaited a crown of thorns and put it on Him,
18 Then they greeted him [like they would greet a king, in order to ridicule him], saying, “Hooray for the King [who rules] the Jews!”
and began to ‘acclaim’ Him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
19 They repeatedly struck his head with a reed and spat on him. By kneeling down, they [pretended to honor] him.
They kept hitting Him on the head with a rod and spitting on Him, and kneeling down they would ‘worship’ Him.
20 When they had finished ridiculing him, they pulled off the purple robe. They put his own clothes on him, and then they led him outside [of the city] in order to nail him to a cross.
When they had ridiculed Him, they took the purple off Him and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him.
21 [After Jesus carried his cross a short distance], a man named Simon from Cyrene [city came along]. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. He was passing by while he was returning [home] from outside [the city. The soldiers] compelled Simon to carry the cross [for Jesus].
A certain passer-by, Simon a Cyrenian (the father of Alexander and Rufus), coming in from the countryside, was compelled to carry His cross.
22 They brought them both to a place that they [call] Golgotha. That name means, ‘a place [like] a skull’.
They brought Him to a place Golgotha, which is translated, ‘Place of a Skull’.
23 Then they tried to give Jesus wine that was {that they} mixed with [medicine called] myrrh. [They wanted him to drink it so that he would not feel so much pain when they crucified him]. But he did not drink it.
They offered Him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.
24 [Some] of the [soldiers took his clothes]. Then they nailed him to a cross. Afterwards, they divided his clothes among themselves by gambling with [something like] dice. They did this [in order to determine] which [piece of clothing] each one would get.
After crucifying Him, they divided His clothes by casting lots for them, to see who would take what.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.
It was the third hour when they crucified Him.
26 They [attached to the cross above Jesus’ head] a sign on which it had been written {someone had written} the reason why [they were nailing him to the cross]. [But all] that it said was, “The King of the Jews.”
The statement of His ‘crime’ that had been written was: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 They also nailed to crosses two men who were bandits. They nailed one to a cross at the right side [of Jesus] and one to a cross at the left side [of Jesus].
With Him they also crucified two bandits, one on His right and one on His left.
So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”
29 The people who were passing by insulted him by shaking their heads as [if here were an evil man]. They said, “Aha! You said that you would destroy the Temple and then you would build it again within three days.
Those who passed by kept ridiculing Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Hey! You who can destroy the temple and build it in three days,
30 [If you could do that, then] rescue yourself by coming down from the cross!”
save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31 The chief priests, along with the men who taught the [Jewish] laws, also [wanted to] make fun of Jesus. So they said to each other, “He [claims to have] saved others [from their sicknesses] [IRO] but he cannot save himself!
Similarly, the chief priests, with the scribes, kept mocking among themselves saying: “He saved others; he can't save himself!
32 He said, ‘I am the Messiah, I am the King who [rules the people of] Israel.’ [If his words are true], he should come down now from the cross! Then we will believe [him]!” The [two] men who were crucified beside him also insulted him.
Let the Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe him.” Those who were crucified with Him insulted Him as well.
33 At noon the whole land became dark, [and it stayed dark] until three o’clock in the afternoon.
Now when the sixth hour had come [noon], darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At three o’clock Jesus shouted loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” That means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”
At the ninth hour Jesus called out strongly, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lima sabachthani?” which is translated, “O God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
35 When some of the people who were standing there heard [the word ‘Eloi’, misunderstanding it], they said, “Listen! He is calling for [the prophet] Elijah!”
When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he's calling Elijah.”
36 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He placed it on [the tip of] a reed, and then he [held it] up for [Jesus] to suck out [the wine that was in] it. [While he was doing that, someone] said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah will come to take him down [from the cross]!”
Then someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a reed and started offering it to Him to drink, saying, “You let him be! ‘Let's see if Elijah is coming to take him down’!”
37 And then, after Jesus shouted loudly, he stopped breathing [and died].
Then Jesus gave a loud shout and breathed out His spirit;
38 [At that moment] the [heavy thick] curtain that closed off [the most holy place in] the Temple split into two pieces from top to bottom. [That showed that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God].
and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 The officer who supervised the soldiers [who nailed Jesus to the cross] was standing in front of Jesus. When he saw how Jesus died, he exclaimed, “Truly, this man was the man who was also God!”
Well when the centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw that He breathed out His spirit after giving such a loud shout, he said, “This man really was God's Son!”
40 There were also some women there, watching these events from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus when he was in Galilee [district], and they had provided what he needed. They had come with him to Jerusalem. Among those women was Mary from Magdala [town]. There was [another] Mary, who was the mother of the younger James and of Joses. There was also Salome.
There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome
—they used to follow Him and minister to Him when He was in Galilee—and many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem.
42 When evening was near, [a man named] Joseph from Arimathea [town came there]. He was a member of the [Jewish] council, one whom everyone respected. He was also one of those who had been waiting expectantly for the [time when] God [would send] his king to begin to rule. [He knew that, according to Jewish law, people’s bodies had to be buried] {[someone had to bury people’s bodies]} [on the day they died. He also realized that] it was the day when [people] prepared [things for] ([the Jewish day of rest/the Sabbath]), [and that the Sabbath would start when the sun set]. So he became courageous and went to Pilate and asked Pilate [to permit him to take] the body of Jesus [down from the cross and bury it immediately].
Now when evening had come, because it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who also himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God, came and boldly went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
44 Pilate was surprised [when he heard that] Jesus was already dead. So he summoned the officer who was in charge of the soldiers [who crucified Jesus], and he asked him if [Jesus] had already died.
Well Pilate was surprised that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion he asked him when He had died.
45 When the officer told [Pilate that Jesus was dead], Pilate allowed Joseph [to take away] the body.
Upon the centurion's confirmation he granted the body to Joseph.
46 After Joseph bought a linen cloth, he [and others] took [Jesus’ body down from the cross]. They wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that [previously] had been dug out of the rock [cliff]. Then they rolled a [huge flat] stone in front of the entrance to the tomb.
Having bought linen, he took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a tomb that had been cut out of rock; then he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.
47 Mary [from] Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where Jesus’ [body] was placed {where they placed Jesus’ [body]}.
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was placed.
