Mar 15 | HCSB | STEP | As soon as it was morning , the chief priests had a meeting with the elders , scribes , and the whole Sanhedrin . After tying Jesus up , they led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate .

‏ Mark 15

Jesus Faces Pilate

1 As ^a soon as it was morning, the ^{▼▼chief priest(s): A group of Jewish temple officers that included the highpriest, captain of the temple, temple overseers, and treasurers}chief priests had a meeting with the elders, ^c ^{▼▼scribe(s): A professional group in Judaism that copied the law of Moses and interpreted it, especially in legal cases}scribes, ^e and the whole ^{▼▼Sanhedrin: The supreme council of Judaism with 70 members, patterned after Moses' 70 elders}Sanhedrin. ^g After tying Jesus up, they led Him away and handed Him over to ^{▼▼Pilate: Pontius Pilate was governor of the province of Judea a.d. 26-36.}Pilate. ⁱ

2 So Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King ^j of the Jews?” ^kHe answered him, “You have said it.” ^{▼▼Or That is true, an affirmative oath; Mt 26:64; 27:11}

3 And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. 4 Then Pilate ^m questioned Him again, “Are You not answering anything? Look how many things they are accusing You of!” 5 But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed.

Jesus or Barabbas

6 At ⁿ the festival ^o it was Pilate’s ^p custom to release for the people a prisoner they requested. 7 There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder ^q during the rebellion. ^r 8 The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. 9 So Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the King ^s of the Jews ^t for you?” 10 For he knew it was because of envy ^u that the chief priests had handed Him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.

12 Pilate asked them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the One you call the King of the Jews?”

13 Again they shouted, “Crucify Him!”

14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What has He done wrong?”But they shouted, “Crucify Him!” all the more.

15 Then, willing to gratify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. And after having Jesus flogged, ^{▼▼Roman flogging was done with a whip made of leather strips embedded with pieces of bone or metal that brutally tore the flesh.} he handed Him over to be crucified.

Mocked by the Military

16 Then ^w the soldiers led Him away into the courtyard (that is, ^{▼▼headquarters /palace: The Latin word Praetorium was used by Greek writers for the residence of the Roman governor; it may also refer to military headquarters, the imperial court, or the emperor's guard.}headquarters ^y) and called the whole ^{▼▼company/ regiment: Or cohort, a Roman military unit that numbered as many as 600 men}company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple ^aa robe, twisted together a crown ^ab of thorns, and put it on Him. 18 And they began to salute Him, “Hail, ^ac King ^ad of the Jews!” 19 They kept hitting Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him. Getting down on their knees, ^ae they were paying Him homage. 20 When they had mocked ^af Him, they stripped Him of the purple robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

Crucified between Two Criminals

21 They ^ag forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’ cross. ^ah He was Simon, a Cyrenian, ^ai the father of Alexander and Rufus. ^aj 22 And ^ak they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Skull Place ^al). 23 They tried to give Him wine ^am mixed with myrrh, ^an but He did not take it. 24 Then they crucified Him and divided His clothes, casting lots ^ao for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning ^{▼▼Lit was the third hour} when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge written against Him was: THE KING ^aq OF THE JEWS. ^ar

27 They ^as crucified two criminals ^{▼▼Or revolutionaries
,} ^au with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [ 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws.] ^{▼▼Other mss omit bracketed text} ^{aw
,} ^ax

29 Those ^ay who passed by were yelling insults ^az at ^{▼▼Lit passed by blasphemed} Him, shaking their heads, ^bb and saying, “Ha! The One who would demolish the sanctuary and build it in three days, ^bc 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” ^bd 31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes ^be were mocking Him to one another and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself! 32 Let the ^{▼▼Messiah: Or the Christ; the Greek word Christos means "the anointed one".}Messiah, ^bg the King ^bh of Israel, ^bi come down now from the cross, ^bj so that we may see and believe.” ^bk Even those who were crucified with Him were taunting Him.

The Death of Jesus

33 When ^bl it was noon, ^{▼▼Lit the sixth hour} darkness came over the whole land ^{▼▼Or whole earth} until three in the afternoon. ^{▼▼Lit the ninth hour
,} ^bp 34 And at three ^{▼▼Lit the ninth hour} Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá ^{▼▼Some mss read lama; other mss read lima} sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ^{bs
,} ^bt

35 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “Look, He’s calling for Elijah!” 36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a reed, offered Him a drink, ^bu and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take Him down!”

37 But Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed His last. 38 Then the curtain ^bv of the sanctuary ^{▼▼A heavy curtain separated the inner room of the temple from the outer.} was split in two from top to bottom. 39 When the ^{▼▼centurion: A Roman officer who commanded about 100 soldiers}centurion, who was standing opposite Him, saw the way He ^{▼▼Other mss read saw that He cried out like this and} breathed His last, he said, “This man really was God’s Son!” ^{▼▼Or the Son of God; Mk 1:1
,} ^ca

40 There ^cb were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were ^{▼▼Mary Magdalene: Or Mary of Magdala; Magdala was probably on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias.}Mary Magdalene, ^cd Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, ^ce they would follow Him and help Him. Many other women had come up with Him to Jerusalem. ^cf

The Burial of Jesus

42 When ^cg it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward ^ch to the kingdom of God, ^ci came and boldly went in to Pilate ^cj and asked for Jesus’ body. ^ck 44 Pilate was surprised that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He had already died. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46 After he bought some fine linen, he took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he placed Him in a tomb ^cl cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone ^cm against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Now ^cn Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where He was placed.