Jesus is Condemned to Death
Mark 15:1-15
1Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3The chief priests accused him of many things. 4So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
6Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13“Crucify him!” they shouted.
14“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
1Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2“Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3The chief priests accused him of many things. 4So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
6Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13“Crucify him!” they shouted.
14“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Reading
Early in the morning after the betrayal of Jesus, the priests, civil leaders and teachers of religious law congregated to decide what was best to do with this man. It did not take long for them to decide that the only way to make sure this man did not cause further interference was to kill him. Of course, nobody was willing to commit this crime; after all, it contradicted the Law of Moses. So they brought Him to Pilate, whom they hoped would sentence Him to death.
Pilate had always been in a bad situation. He was Roman and not well liked among the Jewish population. His immediate loyalty was to Caesar, but if his people did not respect or admire him, it would reflect poorly upon him. He was anxious to please the Jewish population. Pilate spent the next few moments with Jesus, and with the crowd outside. Unfortunately, he found no fault in Jesus, as hard as he tried. He did everything he could to sway the people away from their decision, even asking for Jesus to be released to them during the celebration, as they had done every year. They instead chose a murderer to be released. As it says in the Scriptures, “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” Pilate then took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility!"
Early in the morning after the betrayal of Jesus, the priests, civil leaders and teachers of religious law congregated to decide what was best to do with this man. It did not take long for them to decide that the only way to make sure this man did not cause further interference was to kill him. Of course, nobody was willing to commit this crime; after all, it contradicted the Law of Moses. So they brought Him to Pilate, whom they hoped would sentence Him to death.
Pilate had always been in a bad situation. He was Roman and not well liked among the Jewish population. His immediate loyalty was to Caesar, but if his people did not respect or admire him, it would reflect poorly upon him. He was anxious to please the Jewish population. Pilate spent the next few moments with Jesus, and with the crowd outside. Unfortunately, he found no fault in Jesus, as hard as he tried. He did everything he could to sway the people away from their decision, even asking for Jesus to be released to them during the celebration, as they had done every year. They instead chose a murderer to be released. As it says in the Scriptures, “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.” Pilate then took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility!"
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