Mark 15
In the morning the chief priests, after consulting with the elders, scribes and Jewish leadership, bound Jesus and took Him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asked Him, "Art Thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Thou sayest it." Before Pilate, the chief priests accused Him of many things, but He remained silent. Pilate asked Him why He didn't respond to the charges; still He answered nothing.
On the feast day the Roman governor released one prisoner chosen by the people. One candidate was a murderer named Barabbas. Pilate asked if they wanted the release of the King of the Jews. They preferred Barabbas instead. Then Pilate asked, "What will ye then that I shall do unto Him whom ye call the King of the Jews?" They cried out, "Crucify Him." Then Pilate said unto them, "Why, what evil hath He done?"
The crowd grew more agitated, so Pilate, desiring to content the people, released Barabbas but scourged Jesus and ordered His crucifixion. The soldiers led Him to the hall called Pretorium. There, calling their band together, they clothed Him with purple, put a crown of thorns on His head and, saluting Him in mockery, said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they smote Him on the head where the crown of thorns lay. Spitting on Him, they bowed their knees before Him in mock worship.
Their cruel mockery finished, they removed the purple robe, put His clothes back on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. These were martyr sufferings. They compelled Simon, a Cyrenian who was passing by as he arrived from the country, to carry the cross.
Arriving at the crucifixion site, Golgotha (the place of a skull), they gave Him myrrh, a pain deadener, to drink, but He refused it. After nailing Him to His cross, the soldiers cast lots for His clothes. It was 9 a.m., the third hour of the day.
Over His cross Pilate had written the "crime" for which He was being crucified. He wrote: The King of the Jews Two thieves were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and the other on the left, fulfilling the Scripture which said, "He was numbered with the transgressors." Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb. 12:22Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)).
Those who passed by the cross mocked Him, saying, "Save Thyself, and come down from the cross." The leaders said among themselves, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." They also said that if Christ would descend from the cross they would see and believe. There must be more than seeing and believing. There must be repentance and abhorring of oneself.
From the sixth to the ninth hour there was darkness everywhere. "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?" Some thought that He called for Elias. They gave Him vinegar (sour wine) to drink from a sponge.
"And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." The centurion, seeing that Jesus so cried out and gave up the ghost, said, "Truly this man was the Son of God."
There were many women at the crucifixion who followed Him from Galilee and other places such as Jerusalem, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome.
Jesus was crucified on the preparation day, the day before the Sabbath. When evening came, Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor who waited for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus. Marveling that Jesus was already dead, Pilate called the centurion to him. Assured by the centurion that Jesus was dead, he released the body to Joseph, who took Jesus down from the cross and wrapped Him in fine linen. He laid Him in a sepulcher hewn out of the rock, putting a stone up to the door.
After man had done all that his wicked heart had devised, God saw to it that Jesus was buried as a King of Israel should be buried. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses and Salome beheld where He was laid. Joseph had bought fine linen; the women had brought spices. They both, in their hearts, had prepared ahead of time to care for the body of Jesus. Joseph now comes out fully in confessing Jesus, having been before a disciple secretly.