Mark 15

As soon as it was morning, the entire Jewish council, including the ruling priests, the other Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the Jewish law, planned {what to do with Jesus}. They had their guards tie Jesus up and take him from there to Pilate{, the Roman local ruler}. They wanted Pilate to condemn him.

Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you claim to be king over the Jewish people?” Jesus replied, “What you are calling me is right.”

Then the ruling priests claimed that Jesus had done many bad things. \*

After that, Pilate again spoke to Jesus. He said, “Listen to all the bad things they claim that you have done! Are you going to reply?”

However, Jesus did not respond anymore. How Jesus was acting greatly impressed Pilate. \*

It is important to know that during the festival period, Pilate usually set free one person who was in jail. {He set free} whomever the people who were in the city of Jerusalem chose.

It is also important to know that a man whose name was Barabbas was in jail with some other men who had rebelled against the Roman government. While they were rebelling, they had murdered some people.

The large group of people {who were there} approached Pilate. They started to ask him {to set someone free}, as he usually did for them. \*

Pilate replied, “Would you like for me to set free for you the man who claims to be king over you Jewish people?”

{Pilate asked that question} because he realized that the ruling priests had arrested Jesus and brought him to Pilate because they were jealous {of Jesus}.

However, the ruling priests convinced the large group of people {to ask} Pilate to free Barabbas rather than {Jesus}. \*

Then Pilate again replied, “So what do you want me to do with the person whom you claim is king over you Jewish people?”

The large group of people shouted, “{Have your soldiers} kill him by nailing him to a cross!” \*

Pilate replied, “But he has not done anything wrong!” However, they shouted even louder, “{Have your soldiers} kill him by nailing him to a cross!”

Pilate decided to do what the large group of people wanted. So, he set Barabbas free. Then, he had his soldiers whip Jesus and take him away to kill him by nailing him to a cross. \*

After that, Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the area just outside {Pilate’s palace}. That place was their headquarters. They summoned the rest of the soldiers who were there.

They clothed Jesus with a purple robe{, the kind that kings wear}. Also, they took some branches with thorns and laced them together to make a crown. They put it on Jesus’ head.

Then the soldiers started {to mock him by} saying hello to him. They said, “Greetings, you who claim to be king over the Jewish people!” \*

They kept hitting Jesus’ head with a staff. They kept spitting on Jesus {to insult him}. They bowed down in front of him {to pretend} to honor him.

After the soldiers made fun of Jesus, they pulled the purple robe off of him. They put his own clothes back on him. Then, some of the soldiers took him {from there to the place where} they were going to kill him by nailing him to a cross.

Meanwhile, a man was walking nearby. He had left the farm areas {and was entering the city of Jerusalem}. He was from the city of Cyrene, and his name was Simon. His sons were Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced this man to carry the cross for Jesus. \*

The soldiers took Jesus to a place {that people called} Golgotha. That name means “Skull Place.”

The soldiers offered Jesus wine into which they had mixed a resin that people called “myrrh.” However, Jesus refused to drink it.

After nailing Jesus to the cross, the soldiers split up his clothes by gambling for them. They did that to determine which piece of clothing each soldier would get. \*

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross.

The soldiers wrote on a sign why {they were executing Jesus}. Here is what they wrote: “The king over the Jewish people.”

The soldiers also nailed two bandits to crosses near Jesus. They put one bandit on one side of Jesus and the other bandit on the other side of Jesus.

[{When those things happened}, what someone wrote in the Scriptures came true: “People considered him to be one of the people who do what is wrong.”] \*

The people who walked past Jesus insulted him by shaking their heads {at him}. They said {to him}, “Ha! You said that you could tear down God’s temple and construct it again within three days.

So, rescue yourself by getting down from that cross!” \*

Similarly, the ruling priests and the teachers of the Jewish law made fun of Jesus among themselves. They declared, “He has rescued other people. However, he cannot rescue himself!

{He claims to be} the Messiah and the king over the people of Israel. So, he should get down now from that cross! That way, when we watch {him do that}, we will accept what he says.” The two men whom the soldiers had nailed to crosses near Jesus also insulted him. \*

When it was noon, it became dark in that whole area. {It stayed dark} until three o’clock in the afternoon.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” That means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

Some people who were there heard {what Jesus said and misunderstood it}. They declared, “Listen! He is speaking to the prophet Elijah!” \*

Then one man quickly went to soak a sponge in sour wine. He attached the sponge to the top of a staff. Then, he held it up to Jesus so that Jesus could suck {the sour wine} from it. Then the man said, “Do not do anything else for him! We should wait to find out whether Elijah appears to help him get down.”

After that, Jesus shouted loudly. Then he stopped breathing and he died.

And then the drape hanging {in front of the Most Holy Place} in the temple ripped in half; it tore from the top to the bottom. \*

There was a Roman officer standing there in front of Jesus. He observed how Jesus stopped breathing and died. He exclaimed, “This man really was God’s Son!”

{While all that was happening,} some women were there. They observed {what was happening} from farther away. These women included Salome, Mary from the town of Magdala, and Mary who was the mother of young James and Joses.

When Jesus was in the region of Galilee, these women had gone with him as his apprentices and had taken care of him. Additionally, many other women were there {observing what was happening}. They had walked to the city of Jerusalem with Jesus. \*

Now there was a man from the city of Arimathea whose name was Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish council, and people respected him. He too was eagerly expecting God’s kingdom. When he arrived {in the city of Jerusalem}, it was Preparation Day, the day before the Jewish day of rest, and the evening had already begun. Because {it was Preparation Day}, this man went boldly to Pilate. He asked Pilate to allow him to take Jesus’ body {to bury it}.

When Pilate heard that Jesus might already be dead, it surprised him. So, he summoned the Roman officer {who was in charge of executing Jesus}. Pilate asked the officer, “Is Jesus already dead?” \*

When the officer told Pilate {that Jesus was certainly dead}, Pilate {had his soldiers} give Jesus’ body to Joseph.

So, Joseph purchased a fresh sheet of cloth. Then, he removed Jesus’ body {from the cross}. He {prepared to bury it by} winding the fresh sheet of cloth around it. Then, Joseph put Jesus’ body into a grave that Joseph’s workers had made by digging into a rock cliff. After that, Joseph rolled a flat stone to block the entrance to the grave.

{While that was happening,} Mary from the town of Magdala and Mary who was the mother of Joses observed where Joseph had placed Jesus’ body. \*