The Crucifixion Of Jesus
THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
MARK 15:16-32
The story of Jesus’ crucifixion is told with stark simplicity.
The crucifixion itself was preceded by mockery from the Roman soldiers who dressed up Jesus in a soldier’s red cloak and a crown of thorns in imitation of the emperor’s purple robe and diadem and then proceeded to bully him. He had claimed to be a king; let him receive royal homage! The incident is precisely what would be expected from rough men of the time. The palace where the incident took place was either the fortress of Antonia but adjacent to the temple or Herod’s palace on the west of the city, probably the former. Equally uncertain is the site of the crucifixion; the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the north of Jerusalem has the best claim. The fact that the sites of Jesus’ death and burial are so uncertain shows how little importance was attached to these so-called holy places by the first Christians; they knew that what really mattered was that he was alive from the dead.
The cross was normally carried to the scene of execution by the condemned man himself (John 19:17), but Jesus could not sustain its weight, and a passer-by was requisitioned to help. His sons are named because they were known to Mark’s readers and could vouch for the story; perhaps the Rufus in Romans 16:13 was one of them. The wine was offered as a soporific. The condemned man’s clothes were customarily given to the executioners. The use of a “titulus” to indicate the charge against the criminal was also customary. To the bystanders the crucifixion was the culminating proof of Jesus’ self-deception, but for Christian readers their words are strongly ironical: in the weakness of the cross the power of God is hidden (2 Corinthians 13:4).
So the story is told with stark simplicity. No obvious attempt is made to interpret it as an atonement for sin. Yet the interpretation of the story is written into it for those who know their Old Testament. A study of Isaiah 50:6f.; 53:3,5; Proverbs 31:6; Psalm 69:21; 22:18; Lamentations 2:15 and Psalm 22:7f. will show how heavily the narrative is impregnated with allusions to the Old Testament descriptions of the righteous sufferer and the suffering Servant. His death was according to God’s plan and purpose (Acts 2:23). The fact that he was so to suffer for us and for our salvation has already been made clear in 10:45 and 14:24.
For meditation Psalms 22 and 69.