Mark 15 – The Crucifixion of the King
Mark 15 brings us to the trial, suffering, and crucifixion of Jesus. The true King is mocked, condemned, and nailed to a cross—but through this shame comes the glory of redemption.
The Crown of Thorns and the Weight of Sin
This chapter takes us through the darkest hours of human history—God crucified by the ones He came to save. From unjust trial to mockery and death, Jesus endures the full weight of sin and wrath to fulfill prophecy and secure salvation.
✔ Jesus is condemned by Pilate.
✔ He is mocked by soldiers and crucified.
✔ Darkness covers the land as He bears our sin.
✔ The veil of the temple is torn.
✔ Jesus is buried in a rich man’s tomb.
📖 Key Verse: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” – Mark 15:39
🔎 The cross reveals not just suffering—but glory, victory, and divine identity.
Mark Chapter 15 - Overview
Mark 15:1-15 – Jesus Before Pilate
📖 Mark 15:2 – “Art thou the King of the Jews?”
🔎 Pilate’s question reflects the Roman concern for power and political threat. Jesus affirms His kingship—but not of this world.
📖 Mark 15:10-11 – “For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.”
🔎 Even Pilate sees through the religious leaders’ motives. The irony is that truth is sacrificed on the altar of pride and politics.
📖 Mark 15:15 – “Willing to content the people… delivered Jesus.”
🔎 Pilate symbolizes weak leadership—choosing popularity over justice.
Mark 15:16-32 – Mocked, Beaten, and Crucified
📖 Mark 15:17 – “And they clothed him with purple… platted a crown of thorns.”
🔎 The mock coronation is cruel irony—the King of Kings crowned in pain.
📖 Mark 15:21 – “And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian… to bear his cross.”
🔎 Simon represents all believers who are called to carry the cross with Christ (Luke 9:23).
📖 Mark 15:24 – “They crucified him, and parted his garments.”
🔎 A direct fulfillment of Psalm 22:18—Jesus fulfills messianic prophecy in detail.
📖 Mark 15:29-32 – “Save thyself, and come down from the cross.”
🔎 The mockers echo Satan’s temptation in the wilderness—prove your divinity without suffering. But love held Him there.
Mark 15:33-41 – Jesus Dies on the Cross
📖 Mark 15:34 – “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
🔎 Quoting Psalm 22:1, Jesus expresses the depth of separation He feels as sin is placed upon Him.
📖 Mark 15:37 – “Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”
🔎 His life was not taken—it was freely given. He dies as the final Passover Lamb.
📖 Mark 15:38 – “The veil of the temple was rent in twain.”
🔎 The barrier between God and man is torn. Through Christ, access to the Holy of Holies is now open.
📖 Mark 15:39 – “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
🔎 A Roman centurion declares Christ’s divine identity—a Gentile confession that contrasts Jewish rejection.
Mark 15:42-47 – Jesus is Buried
📖 Mark 15:43 – “Joseph of Arimathaea… went in boldly unto Pilate.”
🔎 A secret disciple steps into the light. Joseph risks reputation and danger to honor Jesus—a bold act of love and faith.
📖 Mark 15:46 – “He laid him in a sepulchre… hewn out of a rock.”
🔎 Fulfilling Isaiah 53:9, Jesus is buried with the rich. The stone is sealed—but the story is not over.
Mark Chapter 15 - Deeper Study
Overview: The Day Love Was Crucified
🔹 Timeframe: The day of Jesus’ crucifixion.
🔹 Setting: Jerusalem, from Pilate’s court to Golgotha and the tomb.
🔹 Theme: Jesus dies as King, Lamb, and Savior. The cross is not defeat—it’s the path to victory.
Mark 15:39 – The Centurion’s Confession
📖 “And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.”
💡 How Did the Centurion Know?
He Witnessed the Manner of Jesus’ Death
🔹 Jesus didn’t die like an ordinary man—He cried out with power (unusual for someone crucified), then willingly gave up His spirit (John 10:18).
🔹 This voluntary surrender shocked the centurion—it showed authority even in death.
He Saw the Earthquake and Darkness
🔹 Matthew 27:51-54 adds that the earth quaked and the veil of the temple tore at that moment.
🔹 These were divine signs—and the centurion, trained to recognize patterns of cause and effect, saw this was no coincidence.
He Witnessed Jesus’ Character
🔹 The centurion watched Jesus for hours:
Forgiving His enemies (Luke 23:34)
Promising paradise to a thief (Luke 23:43)
Showing compassion to His mother
🔹 No bitterness. No rage. Only peace, power, and mercy.
He Likely Knew of the Claims
🔹 As a Roman soldier in Jerusalem, he likely heard the charges—that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.
🔹 In that moment, everything aligned—the signs, the words, the death—and truth hit him like a flash of revelation.
💥 The centurion was the first Roman to confess Christ as the Son of God at the cross.
He stood face-to-face with divine love displayed in sacrifice—and believed.
Key Takeaways
🔑 The crowd chose Barabbas—but God chose us.
🔑 The cross is the throne from which Jesus reigns.
🔑 Prophecy is fulfilled with precision in Christ’s suffering.
🔑 Access to God is now open through the torn veil.
🔑 Death could not define the end for the Son of God.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Psalm 22 & Isaiah 53 – Both deeply embedded in Mark 15’s narrative.
🔮 The Veil Torn – Symbolic of both present access and future heavenly temple reality (Hebrews 10:19-22).
🔮 Gentile Faith – A foreshadowing of the gospel spreading to the nations.
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Roman Crucifixion – Designed to inflict maximum shame and pain. A method reserved for criminals and rebels.
📜 Pilate’s Political Fear – He faced pressure from Jewish leaders and Caesar’s shadow. His decisions were shaped by survival.
📜 Burial Customs – Burial before sundown was urgent due to Jewish law. Joseph’s actions followed the customs but were also bold.
💡 Final Reflection: What Will You Do with the Cross?
Pilate dismissed it. Soldiers mocked it. The disciples fled from it. But Joseph honored it. And Jesus embraced it.
📌 What will we do with the cross?
📌 Will we avoid it—or pick it up daily?
📌 Will we mock it—or bow before it?
🚀 The cross is not the end—it’s the beginning of eternal life.
Jesus Delivered to Pilate
Mar 15:1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
Mar 15:2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
Mar 15:3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
Mar 15:4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.
Mar 15:5 But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.
Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified
Mar 15:6 Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired.
Mar 15:7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.
Mar 15:8 And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.
Mar 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
Mar 15:11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
Mar 15:12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
Mar 15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
Mar 15:14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Mar 15:15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
Jesus Is Mocked
Mar 15:16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.
Mar 15:17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,
Mar 15:18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!
Mar 15:19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.
Mar 15:20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
The Crucifixion
Mar 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
Mar 15:22 And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.
Mar 15:23 And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.
Mar 15:24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
Mar 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
Mar 15:26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Mar 15:27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
Mar 15:28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
Mar 15:29 And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days,
Mar 15:30 Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
Mar 15:31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Mar 15:32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
The Death of Jesus
Mar 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Mar 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mar 15:35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
Mar 15:36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
Mar 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Mar 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Mar 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Mar 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
Mar 15:41 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
Jesus Is Buried
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Mar 15:46 And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
Mar 15:47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Date Written
Around 55-65 A.D.
Written By
John Mark
Language
Greek
Verses
47