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Agape Bible Study
Mark 15 - 16
Chapter 15
Mark 15:1-15 ~ Jesus' Trial by the Roman Governor
Jesus was condemned die by the Sanhedrin at dawn. In the Temple the first Tamid lamb was led out to the altar at dawn where it was inspected by the High Priest or his representative, declared "without fault" and condemned to die in the morning worship service that was also a Sacred Assembly for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Num 28:17-18). Both the Tamid lamb and Jesus were selected by the religious hierarchy to die for the sake of the people (Jn 11:49-50).
The Sanhedrin did not have the power to condemn Jesus to death. In the Roman provinces, only the Roman government had the power over life and death (Jn 18:31). Therefore, they took Jesus to Pontius Pilate who had come to Jerusalem from the governor's residence in Caesarea Maritima on the coast.
Jesus is Crowned with Thorns (Maarten van Heemskerck)
Mark 15:16-20 ~ Christ the King is Crowned with Thorns
Wherever the Roman governor had his residence was considered the seat of the Roman government. Pilate was either staying in the Antonia Fortress adjacent to the northeast corner of the Temple area or in the palace of Herod near the Jaffa Gate. Most Biblical scholars favor the palace of Herod since Jesus was passed back and forth between Pilate and Herod Antipas in Luke 23:6-11.
Jesus' silence before Pilate and Herod (Lk 23:9) and the ridicule Jesus endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers fulfills Isaiah's prophecies of Yahweh's Suffering Servant:
- I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting (Is 50:6). Spitting was an act of contempt in the ancient world (Dt 25:9; Job 30:10).
- Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? (Is 53:7-8).
Mark 15:21-32 ~ The Way of the Cross and the Crucifixion
A pilgrim to the feast, Simon of Cyrene, is forces to carry Jesus' cross when Jesus becomes too weak (Mt 27:32-33; Lk 23:26; Jn 19:17). That Mark names the sons of Simon suggests that they were known within the Christian community. The place of execution was called "Place of the Skull," Golgotha in Hebrew/Aramaic, not because the hill looked like a skull but because it was a burial site; it was located outside the city walls according to the Law since nothing "unclean" like a dead body could remain with the holy city of Jerusalem (Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; Jn 19:20).
Mark 15:33-41 ~ The Death of Jesus
All the different classes of the blood sacrifices of the Old Covenant were fulfilled in the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God. However, the Passover blood sacrifice of the thousands of unblemished male lambs and goat-kids, the Tamid sacrifice of the unblemished male lamb offered for the expiation and sanctification of the covenant people in a liturgical worship service every morning and afternoon, and the sacrifice of an unblemished male lamb on the day of the Feast of Firstfruits were sacrifices that were uniquely fulfilled in Christ's Passion and Resurrection:
- The sacrifice of the Passover was fulfilled in the Last Supper when Jesus began His walk to the altar of the Cross.
- The sacrifice of the unblemished Tamid lamb, a single sacrifice offered in a morning and afternoon liturgical service, was fulfilled in Jesus' Passion and sacrificial death on the altar of the Cross in offering up both His humanity and divinity.
- The Feast of Firstfruits was celebrated on the day after the Sabbath during the Holy Week of Unleavened Bread and the required sacrifice was a single, unblemished, male lamb (Lev 23:10-12). Resurrection Sunday was the Feast of Firstfruits in which Jesus is the "firstfruits" of the resurrected dead (1 Cor 15:20-23).
34 And at three o'clock [the ninth hour] Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
| Jesus' Last Seven Statements from the Cross | Scripture |
| 1. "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." | Lk 23:34 |
| 2. "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." | Lk 23:42 |
| 3. "Woman, behold, your son"... "Behold, your mother." | Jn 19:26-27 |
| 4. "Eli, Eli lema sabachthani," "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" ~ Hebrew | Mt 27:46 (*Ps 22:1a quoted in Hebrew) |
| "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani," "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" ~ Aramaic* | Mk 15:34 (Jesus quoted from Ps 22:1/2a in Aramaic) |
| 5. "I thirst." | Jn 19:28 |
| 6. "It is fulfilled."+ | Jn 19:30 |
| 7. "Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit."+ | Lk 23:46 (Ps 31:5/6 quoted) |
| Michal E. Hunt © copyright 2012 | |
As Jesus prepares to enter into His divine Kingdom, the wine He drinks is also symbolic of the 4th Cup of the sacred Passover meal that He could not offer at the meal. When the last cup is offered, the host of the meal says "It is finished" (can also be translated "It is fulfilled"), announcing that the obligation is finished for another year and the people are again consecrated to the covenant with Yahweh. What is "finished/fulfilled" that Jesus announces is the Old Covenant (see Mt 5:18; Heb 8:6, 13). There is now a new Passover sacrifice whose blood has been offered for the purification of sins (Heb 9:22, 27-28) and a new sacred meal that will mark the continuation of a New Covenant in the blood of Christ.
38 The veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
Question: What is the significance of the tearing of the curtain from top to bottom that covered the entrance to the Temple's most sacred space where God dwelled in the midst of His people, the Holy of Holies? Josephus writes that the thickness of the curtain was the width of a man's hand. Also see CCC 536 and 1026.
Answer: It was not a natural event. The ripping open of the curtain signifies that the way into God's Divine Presence in the heavenly Sanctuary that had been closed since the Fall of our original parents is now opened and ready to receive the souls of the just. God the Father has accepted His Son's atoning sacrifice.
39 When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
The Roman officer is the first to proclaim Jesus the Son of God after the Crucifixion. It is a foreshadowing of the coming of the Gentiles into the New Covenant Kingdom.
Mark 15:42-47 ~ The Burial of Jesus
The Jewish "evening" is our afternoon since the next day began at sundown. Mark 15:42 establishes that Jesus was crucified on Friday, which is called "preparation day" for the Saturday Sabbath. Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died because it was not uncommon for a crucifixion victim to last for three days.
The tomb was a new tomb (not previously used) that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea who was one of Jesus' disciples (Mt 27:57-60). The Gospel accounts do not mention Jesus' body being washed in the usually way of a person who died naturally because the blood of a person who died a violent death had to remain with the body.(2) That the shroud was made of linen means it was very expensive. The women disciples watched. Salome is believed to be the name of James and John Zebedee's mother.
Mark 16:1-8 ~ The Resurrection of Jesus
Firstfruits and Weeks/Pentecost were the only two annual feasts in the Old Covenant liturgical calendar that did not have a specific date. The dates were to be determined by the day after the Sabbath of Unleavened Bread for Firstfruits and then fifty days later for Pentecost. These were the only annual feasts that were designated perpetual feasts for all generations (Lev 23:14b, 21b) as they continue to be in the liturgical calendar of the Church where they are celebrated as Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday.
Mark 16:9-12 ~ The Resurrected Christ Appears to Mary Magdalene
Nowhere in the New Testament is Mary Magdalene described as a prostitute. Only St. Mark identifies her former affliction as demon possession. She was rewarded for her faithfulness by being the first disciple to see the Resurrected Jesus.
Mark 16:12-13 ~ The Resurrected Christ Appears to Two Disciples
This resurrection appearance is told in detail in Luke 24:13-35.
Mark 16:14-18 ~ Jesus' Commissions the Eleven Apostles
Jesus' resurrection appearance to the Apostles is recorded in detail in Luke 24:36-49 where Jesus opens their minds to understanding the Scriptures and in John 20:19-23 where Jesus breaths the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and gives them the power to "bind and loose" sins as they govern the Church, His Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He will appear privately to St. Peter and to also St. James His kinsman who becomes the first Christian bishop of Jerusalem, and to more than 500 disciples at one time (1 Cor 15:5-7). In verse 15 Jesus gives His disciples the commission to carry the Gospels to the ends of the earth and to work miracles in His name. Each of the "signs" of power that He gives the Apostles are recorded in Acts including St. Paul experience with a snake (28:3-6).
Mark 14:19-20 ~ The Ascension of the Christ
The Ascension of the Christ is given in greater detail in Acts chapter 1.
CHALLENGE: “The Catholic Church is wrong to say there are seven sacraments. It’s even inconsistent with its own history. Historically, some Catholic authorities have listed as many as thirty sacraments.”
DEFENSE: How many sacraments there are depends on how you use the term.
The Latin term sacramentum comes from sacrare, which means “to make sacred” or “to consecrate.” At one point, sacramentum referred to a sacred oath, but it came to refer to sacred rites in any religion.
St. Augustine wrote: “There can be no religious society, whether the religion be true or false, without some sacrament or visible symbol to serve as a bond of union” (Reply to Faustus 19:11).
Thus Catholic authors have historically referred to Jewish rites such as the Passover lamb and various blessings as “sacraments of the Old Law” (ST III:60:2 reply to obj. 2, 6; reply to obj. 3, III:61:3, 4).
In the Christian context, “sacrament” came to refer to many Christian rituals. Thus Hugh of St. Victor (1096–1141) listed thirty sacraments (On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith). Other authors in the Middle Ages gave different numbers (frequently between five and twelve), showing there was no fixed definition at the time. The term was flexible.
Eventually, a standard definition came into use. This definition recognized sacraments as rites instituted by Christ to impart grace. The Catechism states: “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131).
When this definition is applied, the number of sacraments becomes clearer. Some rites—like baptism—were established by Christ to efficaciously convey grace or divine life (Matt. 28:19; 1 Pet. 3:21), and so they count as sacraments. Other rites—like foot washing—may have been established by Christ (John 13:1–17), but they don’t convey grace and so are not sacraments. Still others were instituted after the time of Christ and so are not sacraments. Many in the last category have come to be called “sacramentals” (CCC 1667–79).
The Church thus came to recognize that there are seven sacraments according to this definition: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony (CCC 1113).
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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