LANGUAGE:
Jesus Is Mocked/Bullied By The Soldiers
(Mark 15:16–20: Matt 27:27–31)
As we continue our journey through Mark’s gospel, I invite you to open your Bibles to Mark chap 15. We’ll be looking at vs16-21. As we delve into the passage, let’s make a mental note: Mark’s objective is that we see the reality of the events leading up to the cross. He wants to imprint on our minds the sufferings of Jesus. That was Paul’s testimony in Philippians 3:10 (GW) Faith knows . . . what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, [i]
From Mark’s perspective, as followers of Jesus Christ it is important that we develop a mindset of the physical sufferings of Christ.[ii] As Peter would later write in his first letter, chap 2, v21(GW) God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. Then Peter makes this application: He left you (that would be us) an example so that you (again that would be us) could follow in His footsteps.
Mark knew that Jesus’ physical sufferings were not only a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies, but are a key to our understanding of the nature of Jesus’ death for our sins. Though Mark’s description is short in length, what he gives to us becomes a window for us as to the totality of the suffering Jesus experienced in becoming a curse for us.[iii]
And so let us hear God’s holy and inspired word as given to us here in the Gospel of Mark. In this short paragraph we’ll see the soldiers’ cruelly mock, bully, and physically abuse Jesus beyond our comprehension before His crucifixion.
This is the word of our God for us today. …
16 The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. 21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
Let’s pray: … Gracious Father, this is Your word, and we ask now that in it by the Holy Spirit, You show us the passion of our Savior, the meaning of His death, and that we embrace Him by faith, our only Savior. We ask it in Jesus’ name, Amen.
As you remember, the Sanhedrin had tried Jesus as a blasphemer. Then they dragged Him before the Roman governor Pilate to be tried for seeking to undermine the authority of Rome. They encircled Pilate like hyenas on a kill, while calling for the crucifixion of Jesus. All the gospels point out that Pilate was well-aware that he had fallen into the Sanhedrin’s envious trap (Mark 15:10).
According to Matthew’s gospel, in frustration, Pilate washed his hands of any blame in front of the crowd while announcing, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” The Jewish people shouted in response, “His blood be on us and our children” [Matt 27:24]. Because of distance in time and familiarity with the storyline, I think it is pretty hard for the brutality and ruthlessness to really penetrate our hearts.
In these verses Mark describes for us six brutal scenes leading to the crucifixion.
It all really starts in v15. Because a potential riot was growing in intensity, Pilate seeks to satisfy the people by first freeing Barabbas (a murder and seditionist), and then have Jesus scourged before handing him over to be crucified.
History tells us that scourging was brutal and was customary before crucifixion. The person to be scourged would be tied to a post and flogged with a flagellum: This was not a whip as such, but a bundle of leather cords tied together with pieces of bone or metal woven into the strands. As the fragments hit, they would cut the flesh, tearing it apart. It was so brutal that it was reported that some victims died from the loss of blood before being placed on a cross. It is believed that the scourging Jesus receives was likely especially brutal.[iv]
Remember Chap 14, v65, Jesus has already been punched and beaten and spite on by the Sanhedrin before being brought to Pilate. Now He’s tied to a post, and pulverized. When they were done Jesus’ flesh hang from His back.
Following the scourging, v16-17(GW) 16 The soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard of the palace and called together the whole troop/cohort.
Mark tells us that Jesus is now surrounded by a cohort of soldiers. This was no small gathering. A cohort was roughly 600 soldiers. Matthew tells us that the soldiers now strip Him,[v] suggesting that He had been scourged and then re-robed. It must have been excruciating painful beyond description, to be stripped since His robe would have begun to stick to his bleeding back. Pain was now ripping thru His body, perhaps clouding His mind.
He now stands naked before leering eyes. It was a moment of horrific shame.[vi] V17 then they dress Him with a purple robe, form a crown out of thorns and jammed it on His head. Matthew adds that they placed cane in His hand as a scepter.[vii]
Then came the verbal mockery. V18, they began to shout out, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’. Remember, the Sanhedrin derided Jesus as a false messiah. The Roman soldiers now deride Him as a false king.[viii] The mockery was like a double edge sword. It wasn’t just contempt for Jesus, but contempt for the Jews He represented. One commentator points out that the mockery implied that this pitiful, weak figure of a man was just the kind of king the Jewish nation deserve.[ix]
The physical beatings don’t end. V19 (GW) they start to hit him on the head with a stick, spitting on him, and kneeling in front of him with false humility.
The soldiers surrounded Jesus much like the Sanhedrin had done. The smell of death hung heavy in the air. They seemed to be in a contest as to who could defame Jesus the most. In groups they knelt in mock homage, yelling boisterously, ‘Hail King of the Jews!’; then they would stand up and spit on Him.[x]
Commentator William Hendrickson sums up this picture like this: “The soldiers, having stripped Jesus of His outer garments, throw a ‘royal’ robe around him. Since a king must wield a scepter, they thrust a stick into his right hand. Then, one by one, they kneel down in front of him in mock adoration, saying, ‘Hail, king of the Jews.’ They spit on Him and hit Him on the head with His own ‘scepter.’” [xi] Like today, spitting was a most grievous insult, just short of slugging a person.[xii] We’re not talking just one person spitting, but a mass of rugged hardened soldiers gathering wads of spit in their mouths letting it flow. In my imagination I can see the soldiers having a spit ball contest.
V20 (GW) After the soldiers finished making fun of Jesus, they took off the purple cape and put his own clothes back on him, then led him out to crucify him.
The gospel of John, chap 19, v5 tells us that after this insane brutality, Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cape, announcing to the Jews, “Behold the Man!” There is mockery and contempt in his voice. Jesus' robe was splattered with blood, streams of blood ran down His face, face so puffy he probably could barely see. He must have been a sight when Pilate saw Him.
V6 (GW) When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I don’t find this man guilty of anything.”
This is the reality of our sin, our contempt, our scorn, our ridicule, our despising of God’s Son and Savior. Today if you listen carefully, you can hear similar words shouted from antagonist.
V20, They then led Him out to crucify Him. According to custom, crucifixion had to take place outside of the city of Jerusalem.[xiii] John’s Gospel, chap 19, vs16-18(GW) 16. . . So the soldiers took Jesus. 17 He carried his own cross and went out of the city to a location called The Skull. (In Hebrew this place is called Golgotha.)[xiv]
The soldiers placed the heavy timbers on Jesus shoulders and He begins the trek from Pilate’s courtyard to what we call Calvary’s Hill carrying His own cross to His death. It was customary that the one being crucified carry their cross, which was a mark of shame. The Roman crosses tended to be very heavy. It is estimated that they weighed around 300lbs. The cross beam alone weighed around 70-90lbs[xv]
The path that Jesus took was roughly a third of a mile. On the way to Golgotha Mark implies that Jesus crumbles to the ground. Remember, He has been beaten, scourged, mocked, spit on, crowned with thorns, and probably hasn’t slept no ate in the last 12 plus hours. Because of the wounds inflicted on Him, He is in excruciating pain.
On the way to the cross, amidst the jeers, and the weight of the cross, it was all too much. He stumbles. The Roman soldiers look into the crowd for a man to finish the journey to Calvary for Jesus. They themselves would never carry it because it was a sign of shame. No mercy here. They see a man standing on the sidelines. Mark tells us his name is Simon of Cyrene, a Jew from Cyrene, the area of Libya, and they force him to carry Jesus’ cross.[xvi] Mark tells us Simon was compelled. This was not a volunteer moment for Simon. Luke tells us the soldiers placed the cross on Simon’s shoulders to carry behind Jesus (Luke 23:26).
It is interesting that Mark identifies the man by giving us his name, Simon of Cyrene. He further tells us that he is the father of Alexander and Rufus. We don’t know who these two are, but the locals surely knew. This Rufus may be the same Rufus Paul mentions in Romans 16:13 (NASB95) Greet Rufus, the chosen one in the Lord Alexander and Rufus must have been well known Christians in the city of Rome.
As we review Marks account of the events leading up to the crucifixion, we see the irony of it all. Unknowingly the soldiers were in fact mocking the King of kings.
All this happened in fulfillment the words of Isaiah 50, v6: “I gave My back to those who strike me. And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard. I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”
Listen to what John Calvin says about that. This was all done “to make us able to stand in the sight of the Father, the King of heaven, pure and unstained. He was willing to be spat upon and befouled with all insults. Hebrews 13:2, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood suffered outside the city gate”.[xvii]
What lessons can we take with us this week?
We mustn’t have a vague, general understanding of His vicarious suffering. We need to understand specifically every step of the way as He suffered on our behalf that we might worship Him aright. Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary writes: We must see Jesus giving Himself willingly and intentionally for our sins in our place, and when we see Him doing that . . . we ought to consider what our sins deserve, and we ought to loathe that our sins pressed our Savior to the tree, and we ought to, as John Calvin said, “learn that Christ’s kingdom is not to be reckoned by the fleshly sense but by the judgment of faith and the spirit.”
When we see Christ on the way to the cross, we understand that the power of His kingdom is totally unlike the power exercised by men. The power of His kingdom is rooted in the power of a suffering servant. The sovereign one who humbles Himself, and humiliated in our place that we might share in His benefits forever.[xviii]
I want you to imagine the weight of your sins. I know that there are times in my life when the weight of my sin felt like it was crushing me. Take the weight of your sin and multiply it by a few billion. Christ carried that weight.
Simply put, without Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, there is no eternal life with God. There is only the lake of fire and brimstone for all eternity. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is no other way for our sins to be dealt with. It is through Christ, and Christ alone. John 14:6 declares the reason for Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, to provide the way to heaven for sinful mankind, who could never get there on their own.
Not only did Jesus carry a physical cross, He also carried the weight of all of our sins. He did that so we could be saved, and be in Heaven with Him.
Through Him, the promise of life eternal with God becomes effective only through faith by those who believe in Jesus.
It comes from 1 Peter 2:21 (NASB95) For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you might follow in His footsteps
Here’s what the Spirit of God is telling us through His written word. Christ Jesus suffered unto death for this purpose: that we might follow in His steps.
Peter is applying what he learned that day. That in suffering for us, Christ Jesus showed His commitment, and His Father’s commitment to bring their purpose to fruition—that we live like Christ. He endured that we might come to be like Him.
How does that work? Peter goes on to explain in v24, He Himself (that is Jesus) bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. In case you missed it, Peter states God’s purpose for us like this: "that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." We need to linger here. I must ask, do you see His love? Having loved His own, John 13:1, He loved them even to the end. All of the abuse and sufferings reflect the truth that Jesus loved the people of God given to Him. He loved the likes of you and of me—depraved, cruel, heartless sinners. It is in this we see the glory of the suffering Savior.
In the words of John Piper, ‘We’ do not have to carry our sins or be burdened by them. ‘We’ do not have to wake up with guilt or go to bed with guilt. ‘We’ can bank our hope on the commitment of God in Jesus: "Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross."[xix]
I believe the point Peter is making for us is, based on a historical moment in history, is asking us to embrace the sufferings of Christ. What brings us to die to sin is when we become convinced in the depth of our heart that God is committed to us like a mighty Shepherd. And when we embrace His sufferings, the Spirit of God releases power in us and we die to sin, and we awaken to the arms of our all-satisfying Shepherd.
And so I plead with us all, that we consider the design of Christ Jesus’ sufferings on our lives this morning. 2 Thessalonians1:7-9, For the day is coming when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in f laming fire, 8dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from His glory of His power.
How do you respond?
All of our Lord's suffering demonstrates His great love for us. Let us linger and marvel at the greatness of the God whom we serve, the God who in Christ gives perfectly of Himself for the sake of our salvation.
Let’s close in prayer -- Father in heaven, we pray for Thy blessing once again upon Thy Word. We love Thy Word. And we worship Thee for Thy sovereign grace. Give us, O Lord, to know the Savior Jesus Christ, to turn from our sins. And we thank Thee, O Lord, for Thy saving grace in Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
[i] Philippians 3:8–11 (NASB95) 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
[ii] 1 Peter 2:21–25 (NASB95) 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
[iii] Galatians 3:13–14 (NASB95) 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
[iv] https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/15/Mark-15-15.html V15
[v] Matthew 27:27–28(NASB95) 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
[vi] https://www.gotquestions.org/despising-the-shame.html. Hebrews 12:2 (NASB95) 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The cross involved extreme suffering and unimaginable shame for our Lord: “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:3–5, NLT). Despising the shame is the same as disregarding it. Jesus chose to disregard or ignore the shame and disgrace that the cross would bring to Him. He let Himself be despised by humans as He took upon Himself all the sins of the world. Imagine the mortification the sinless, spotless Lamb of God must have felt! Yet Jesus chose to disregard or despise the shame of the cross. He obediently finished the work that God had given Him to do (John 17:4).What was it that empowered Jesus to endure the cross, despising the shame? It was His future-focused faith, which is the primary subject of this segment of Hebrews. The Lord concentrated on “the joy that was set before him.” He knew by faith that God would not leave Him in the grave forever but would raise Him back to life (see Psalm 16:8–10; Acts 2:24–33) and exalt Him to glory in heaven (see Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34–36).
[vii] Matthew 27:29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
[viii] David E. Garland, Mark, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 580.
[ix] Ibid.
[x] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/soldiers-mock-jesus; https://harvardichthus.org/2015/04/the-soldiers-mock-jesus/; https://reformedwitnesshour.org/broadcast/jesus-mocked-by-the-soldiers-2/
[xi] William Hendrickson
[xii] Ligon Duncan, Jesus Mocked, https://rts.edu/resources/jesus-mocked/
[xiii] Hebrews 13:12 (NASB95) 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.
[xiv] https://www.gotquestions.org/Golgotha-Calvary.html. According to early church fathers, the location was called “The Place of the Skull” due to the shape of the hill that apparently reminded people of a human skull.
[xv] Mariah Mulderink, Trapped Under A Lot Of Weights, https://chewslife.com/blogs/chews-life-blog/how-much-did-the-cross-weigh
[xvi] https://www.gotquestions.org/Simon-of-Cyrene.html Simon of Cyrene is mentioned in three of the four Gospels as the man impelled by the Roman soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross out of Jerusalem. His place of origin has led many to wonder if he was of African descent (and therefore black), or if he was simply born there as were many others of Greek, Roman, and Jewish descent.
Cyrene was situated in modern-day Libya, on the northern coast of the African continent. Settled by the Greeks in 630 B.C. and later infused with a significant Jewish population, Cyrene was the capital of the Roman district of Cyrenaica at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. By then, Cyrene was home to a large number of Greek-speaking, or Hellenistic, Jews.
Many Jews from Cyrene had returned to their native Israel and were part of a community in Jerusalem called the Synagogue of the Freedmen comprising Jews from many other provinces including Alexandria (Egypt), Cilicia and Asia (Acts 6:9). Luke records men from Cyrene being among those converted at Pentecost (Acts 2:10). After the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7), believers from Cyrene were among the first to be scattered by the persecution in Jerusalem; arriving in Antioch, they preached to the Gentiles there (Acts 11:20). These believers were instrumental in the formation of the church at Antioch, where, for the first time, “the disciples were called Christians” (Acts 11:26).
Simon of Cyrene is mentioned in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Matthew only records his name and place of origin (27:32), but Mark and Luke say that he was “on his way in from the country” (Luke 23:26). Mark, uncharacteristically, provides the most information about Simon, adding that he was “the father of Alexander and Rufus” (Mark 15:21), men obviously well known to Mark’s readers. It is speculated that the Rufus mentioned here may be the same man Paul greets in his letter to Rome, whom he calls “chosen in the Lord” and whose mother “has been a mother to me, too” (Romans 16:13). Paul’s knowledge of Rufus’s family indicates that at some point they lived further east.
So does any of this indicate whether Simon was black? Ultimately, we don’t know for sure. There is always the possibility that Simon was an African who converted to Judaism, or that he was of mixed descent. However, considering that people of Jewish lineage lived throughout the Roman Empire, it is also possible that Simon of Cyrene was olive-skinned.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/why-is-it-important-that-simon-of-cyrene-carried-the-cross.html Cyrene, a city with a population close to 5,000 people. The Greeks made Cyrene a trade outpost ca. seventh century B.C., and it lay in the region of Cyrenaica, a coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea. As the Greeks expanded their empire, mythology guided them with names for new cities. Cyrene was named after Kyrene, the daughter of a Thessalian king (Hypseus), and a water nymph. Cyrene contained a number of Jewish settlers, and it is listed among the nations in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:10). People from Cyrene heard Peter preach is if in their own language.
[xvii] Ligon Duncan, Jesus Mocked, https://rts.edu/resources/jesus-mocked/
[xviii] Ibid.
[xix] John Piper, Christ Died for Our Sins That We Might Die to Sin (1 Peter 2:21-25) https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/christ-died-for-our-sins-that-we-might-die-to-sin