16 Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor鈥檚 headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort.听17And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.听18And they began saluting him, 鈥楬ail, King of the Jews!鈥櫶�19They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him.听20After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
21 They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.听22Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).听23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.听24And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
25 It was nine o鈥檆lock in the morning when they crucified him.听26The inscription of the charge against him read, 鈥楾he King of the Jews.鈥櫶�27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.听29Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, 鈥楢ha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,听30save yourself, and come down from the cross!鈥櫶�31In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, 鈥楬e saved others; he cannot save himself.听32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.鈥� Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.听34At three o鈥檆lock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 鈥楨loi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?鈥� which means, 鈥楳y God, my God, why have you forsaken me?鈥櫶�35When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, 鈥楲isten, he is calling for Elijah.鈥櫶�36And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, 鈥榃ait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.鈥櫶�37Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.听38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.听39Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 鈥楾ruly this man was God鈥檚 Son!鈥�
40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.听41These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
听"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Transcript
All four Gospel accounts of Jesus鈥� execution are indebted to Psalm 22 to explain the significance of the events they describe. This is the psalm of lament that begins. 鈥淢y God, my God, why have you forsaken me?鈥� but ends on a note of praise for the God who vindicates, 鈥淔uture generations will proclaim the Lord鈥檚 deliverance to a people yet unborn.鈥澨� The central verses of the psalm have always reminded Christians of Jesus鈥� death, and this includes the four evangelists. In addition to commonalities dependent on Psalm 22, all four Gospel account portray Jesus as crucified between two other men, that 鈥渢he King of the Jews鈥� was his capital offense, and that women disciples witnessed the execution.
Once again, the differences among the accounts reveal much of the evangelists鈥� minds. In Mark鈥檚 Gospel, the execution begins with Jesus being mockingly crowned with thorns by Roman soldiers. Jesus is led to the crucifixion site, but a passerby is made to carry his cross. Jesus is crucified at 9 a.m. and agonizes for 6 hours until his death at 3 p.m. Everyone 鈥� bystanders, priests, and the other crucifixion victims 鈥� mock Jesus. Jesus is offered a sponge soaked in vinegar to drink.
His last words in Mark鈥檚 Gospel are vs. 1 of Psalm 22, 鈥淢y God, my god, why have you forsaken me?鈥� However, it is unclear whether this is a cry of abandonment or only the first words of a psalm of vindication that Jesus is unable to complete. Mark may have deliberately left this ambiguous in order to challenge his readers to decide what Jesus鈥� cross means to them. When Jesus expires, the curtain of the Temple is torn. Though no physical cause is described, it seems clear that the active agent is God. Mark is portraying divine judgment coming upon the Temple, an ominous allusion to its destruction four decades later.
The centurion鈥檚 exclamation, 鈥淭ruly this was God鈥檚 Son鈥� is the climax of the Gospel. For his entire narrative, Mark has presented every group of human characters 鈥� Jesus鈥� disciples, Jesus鈥� family, the priests and scribes, the crowds 鈥� as unable to fathom Jesus鈥� identity. The reader has been made aware of Jesus鈥� divine Sonship by the Gospel鈥檚 first verse, twice by a heavenly voice, and on numerous occasions by the howls of demons. Now, at the moment of his death, the centurion is the first human Marcan character to perceive things clearly by 鈥渟eeing the manner in which he died.鈥� For Mark, no one can appreciate Jesus鈥� divinity unless they have encountered the cross. It is through his execution that God鈥檚 love is disclosed. This is a crucial message for Mark鈥檚 persecuted church.