Judged, Condemned & Mocked

Good evening. We continue tonight our journey through Mark’s account of the Easter story, coming to Mark 15.1–20. We pick up right after the Jewish leaders have declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy in their late-night trial. Because they can’t legally execute him, they bring him to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, first thing in the morning. In these verses we see Jesus stand before Pilate, face a second trial, and be sentenced to death by crucifixion. But why does Mark spend so much time on these trials and the mocking that follows? He wants us to understand that Jesus was innocent yet condemned. He wants us to see that when Jesus was handed over to be crucified, he was taking the place of sinners like us. He wants to show us that Jesus is really King even as he is ironically mocked as the King of the Jews. Let me lead us in prayer…

1. Jesus Before Pilate (Mark 15.1–5)

Mark 15.1:

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.

This is Friday morning on that first Easter weekend. This meeting at daybreak is to give the image of legality to their verdict from the night before. They bind Jesus and deliver him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate’s job is to keep peace in Judea and to handle major trials, especially ones that carry the death penalty. The religious leaders accuse Jesus of claiming to be a rival king, which is a serious political threat from Rome’s perspective. But we already know Jesus has no interest in overthrowing Rome by force; He’s establishing a spiritual kingdom. Yet the leaders choose charges that will force Pilate’s hand. In Mark 15.2 Pilate asks Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answers “You have said so.” Jesus’ reply basically says “Yes, but not in the sense you imagine.” Pilate is curious: he’s heard rumours about Jesus—some call him a miracle worker, some call him a false prophet. Now he sees a calm man who is not begging for his life. Mark 15.3–5:

And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Jesus remains silent – even as the priests accuse Jesus of many things, hoping to portray him as a dangerous revolutionary. Jesus’ silence amazes Pilate. Most prisoners, if facing death, protest loudly, claiming innocence. Their case was flimsy and deceptive. Jesus had a strong defence. But Jesus’s silence fulfils Isaiah 53.7:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,yet he opened not his mouth;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,so he opened not his mouth.

This calm silence shows Jesus’s willingness to accept the path of the cross. He is not powerless. He could call on angels or speak to defend himself. But he doesn’t. Why? Because this is God’s plan to save us from sin. Jesus is not dying for his own crimes—he has none. He dies for ours.

Pilate has heard all the accusations. But as we know they have no evidence. He is not convinced Jesus has done anything wrong. And is staggered that Jesus is not defending himself by tearing down their flimsy prosecution case.
Pilate is shown on this day to be a coward of a man who avoids decision making and taking responsibility for a decision he needs to make. He is swayed by peer pressure, a tragic figure like Shakespeare’s Macbeth—someone standing at a moral crossroads, hesitating, sensing it’s unjust, but ultimately manipulated and driven by fear. Macbeth caved under Lady Macbeth’s urging; and, as we will see, Pilate caves under the crowd’s demand. Both know their choice is wrong, but they do it anyway. Mark holds him up as a mirror.

We all face the decision on what to do with Jesus. This is a warning not to get to the point where you see who Jesus really is but because of pressure from others you back away from following him. We’re to learn from Pilate’s failure here not to let fear or the crowd’s opinion push you away from doing what you know is right.

2. Barabbas Freed, Jesus Condemned (Mark 15.6–15)

Pilate, doesn’t really believe Jesus is guilty and knows they have made up lies about him, so the tries a political move, hoping the crowds will do it for him! At the Passover there was a custom to release one prisoner chosen by the people. It was a way for Rome to show some goodwill to the Jewish people during their festival. Pilate sees a chance to release Jesus without losing popularity. He thinks the crowd, if given the choice, will definitely prefer Jesus over a known murderer. Mark 15.6-10:

Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.

Mark introduces Barabbas: a dangerous extremist Pilate figures the people would never want released. It’s perhaps hard for us to image what might be like but perhaps he’s a bit like Thomas Mair, who murdered MP Jo Cox in 2016. While that wasn’t part of a grand “insurrection,” it was a politically motivated killing aimed at influencing or intimidating the state. He received a whole-life sentence, meaning he is not to be released. So, if you imagine Pilate offering to let someone like that walk fre (despite overwhelming guilt) while condemning an obviously innocent person, you get a sense of how shocking it would be to release Barabbas and why Pilate assumed they would change their minds about Jesus. So Pilate asks (Mark 15.9) “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” He knows the chief priests delivered Jesus out of envy, but perhaps the crowd (who once seemed to admire Jesus) will ask for his release. Mark 15.11-14:

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”

So the chief priests stir the crowd to request Barabbas instead. They’re easily manipulated. Just a week earlier crowds had praised Jesus as he entered Jerusalem (Mark 11.9-10):

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

Now they have flipped to shouting “Crucify him!” We too can be like that. Many still don’t want anything to do with Jesus. We are not better. And it’s another warning not to follow the crowd blindly. Mark challenges us to do what’s right before God, even if it’s unpopular. Pilate, is surprised. In shock, he asks (Mark 15.14) “What evil has he done?” but they only shout louder, “Crucify him!” and so the innocent Jesus is rejected in favour of a violent criminal. That didn’t play out as he hoped. But Pilate wants to please the crowd. He fears a riot or complaint to Rome. So Mark 15.15:

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

The word scourged refers to a brutal flogging with a whip that had pieces of metal or bone. They would tear into the skin. Many died from this alone. Yet Jesus, though innocent, faces it and endures it. It was as if the whole world put Jesus on the cross. The Jewish leaders, the gentile Roman ruler and the ordinary people all agree. Have no doubt that had we been there, we would have done the same. So, we have a prisoner swap. Barabbas and Jesus stand accused of the same crime. Jesus, who is innocent, is condemned; Barabbas, who is guilty, goes free. Jesus trades places with a criminal who deserved death. This exchange is a picture of substitution. Mark is showing that this is at the heart of the cross. This is a vivid symbol of the gospel: God’s law demands justice for sin, and Jesus takes that punishment so we can be set free. And without doing anything to merit mercy Barabbas finds himself with his family celebrating Passover instead of facing a slow, painful death. He was destined for death but instead finds freedom and life through the death of another. We are clearly intended to see ourselves in this man.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus before, please hear this good news. He died on the cross to take the punishment we deserve, and he rose again so we can live a new life with him. As it happens Barabbas means ‘a son of the Father’. This is the gospel in miniature: the real Son of the Father dies, so that we can become sons and daughters of God. As Andrew Wilson, a pastor of a church in London, put it:

Barabbas was a revolutionary and a murderer. He has no right to be remembered at all, let alone held up as an example of God’s amazing grace. But that is the whole point. Neither do I, and Christ died for me anyway.

Have you grasped that Jesus died as your substitute, like he did for Barabbas?
The dates for Easter move around because Easter happened at the Passover, which follows the lunar calendar. Jesus dying at Passover is no accident. Passover is all about one dying, so another could go free. It remembers the Exodus story when the Jews were freed from slavery in Egypt when God’s people avoided the death of their firstborn sons by substituting a Passover lamb who died so they did not need to. One dies while the other is released. The same can be true of you, if you place your trust in Jesus. Imagine you got in big trouble at school (maybe you broke a window) and you knew you had to pay for it. But then a friend stepped forward, took the blame, and paid the cost instead of you. That’s what Jesus did for us on a much bigger scale. We’ve all done wrong things the Bible calls sin, and those wrong things create a penalty we can’t afford—separation from God. But Jesus, who never did anything wrong, stepped in to take the punishment we deserved when he died on the cross. It’s like he said “I’ll pay for your broken window”—except it was far more serious. He took the penalty of sin so we can be forgiven and brought close to God again. That’s why the Bible calls it good news: Jesus pays our debt, we go free.

If you sense you’re like Barabbas: guilty, in need of mercy, and you recognise that Jesus already took your place on the cross, then why not make today they day you trust him for the first time. Simply speak to him in prayer: confess your sin, and receive the forgiveness and new life he offers through his death and resurrection. He took your punishment so you could go free—will you accept his gift? If you want to know more, then speak to someone tonight – we’d love to help you. And if you ever doubt God’s mercy, remember this scene.

Someone recently introduced me to the song I Am Barabbas by Josiah Queen. The songwriter imagines himself as Barabbas, and sings of the amazing truth that his cross is now carried by Jesus:

I am Barabbas, you took upon my cross…I was that prisoner, till you bought my bond with blood.

Those lyrics capture the wonder of all this:

How can it be?How can it be?

We, too, are guilty of sin. We, too, deserve condemnation. Yet Jesus pays the penalty so that we might be forgiven and walk free. Maybe you know this but you wrestle with guilt or shame over your past? Then look at Barabbas. Picture him staggering out of his cell, blinking into the sunlight, suddenly free. Why? Because Jesus was condemned in his place. In the same way, we can stand and say, “He took my cross.” That’s amazing grace.

Martin Luther was a German church figure in the 1500’s. Until he understood this point about this great exchange, he had been plagued with guilt and shame and fear. But he described dream in which the Devil appears to him and read out a long list of every sin he had every committed. In the past he’d have found that crushing and overwhelming. At the end, Luther just laughs and pointed out he has missed many things out. Then he said, “add this to your list: Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin.” He remembered that his sin had been credited to Christ and Christ’s perfect righteousness was credited to him. As we often sing:

When Satan tempts me to despairAnd tells me of the guilt withinUpward I look and see Him thereWho made an end to all my sinBecause the sinless Savior diedMy sinful soul is counted freeFor God the Just is satisfiedTo look on Him and pardon me[Before the throne of God above, Charitie L. de Chenez (1841-1923)]

3. The Mockery by Roman Soldiers (Mark 15.16–20)

After the sentencing, Jesus is led inside the praetorium, the residence or fortress where Pilate’s soldiers stay. The entire battalion gathers around Jesus, possibly numbering hundreds of soldiers. They’re curious about this so-called “King of the Jews.” Soldiers often taunted condemned criminals. Mark 15.16-20:

And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.

They dress Jesus in a purple cloak (symbol of royalty) and twist together a crown of thorns, pressing it onto his head. They salute him sarcastically: “Hail, King of the Jews!” They strike his head with a reed (pretending it is a royal sceptre), spit on him, and kneel in cruel, mock worship. Ironically, he is indeed the true King – of the Jews and of all creation - but they do not see it. When they finish mocking, they tear off the purple robe and put his own clothes back on Him. This must have pulled painfully at his fresh wounds. Jesus is then led away to be crucified. This scene is painful to read. Yet Mark wants us to see how Jesus suffers willingly. He’s the rightful king, but he doesn’t lash out or curse them. He loves, even to point of death, those who hit him and laughed at him. He endured it all so that the penalty for sin (their sin and our sin) can be placed on him. This humiliating mockery is part of the cost he pays to rescue us from guilt. Jesus doesn’t just slip quietly into death. He is mocked, flogged, crowned with thorns. Mark is telling us the cost is huge: salvation required the Son of God to be treated as if he were worthless. If we understand this, we realize how deep God’s love is for us. If you ever doubt God’s love, look at Jesus taking the lashes, wearing thorns, silently enduring the mockery. Do you see the incredible injustice Jesus endured so that we might receive mercy? Who else would do this for us? People might occasionally lay down their life for a friend, but Jesus suffers and dies for sinners who often turn away from Him. That is how much he loves you. As we’re heard tonight, there are Christians all around the world who suffer simply because they trust in Jesus.

That’s one of the reasons Mark wrote all this down – to help those suffering. When we suffer for our faith in Jesus; maybe laughed at or excluded, maybe worse; we are remember Jesus who endured worse. As we’re about to sing:

Silent as he stood accusedBeaten, mocked and scorned.[Man of sorrows, Lamb of God, Brooke Ligertwood & Matt Crocker © 2013 Hillsong Music Publishing (APRA)]

He walked this path ahead of you. We have a Saviour who gets it, he fully identifies with our pain. He understands what it’s like to be humiliated and rejected. He will help us by his Spirit to follow his example. 1 Peter 2.21:

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Finally, notice how the soldiers, in mocking Jesus with the title King of the Jews, were speaking the truth. They sneered, but we know this is reality: Jesus really is King. Mark challenges us to ask will we worship him as king, or will we mock him like the soldiers did? He deserves our genuine worship not half-hearted thanks. He deserves our obedience, not treating his words as helpful suggestions or advice. Perhaps there a specific area in your life where you need to surrender to him. Is there some way where you are holding hold back? Ask for God to help you honour Jesus as the King who wore the crown of thorns for you. Let us commit our lives to his loving reign, for he is the King who died in our place. We owe him everything. Let’s pray…