Mark 15

Jesus Faces Pilate

¹As soon as it was morning, having held a meeting with the elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin, the chief priests tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.²

³So Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.”⁴

⁵And the chief priests accused him of many things.⁶⁷Pilate questioned him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? Look how many things they are accusing you of!”⁸⁹But Jesus still did not answer, and so Pilate was amazed.¹⁰

Jesus or Barabbas

¹¹At the festival Pilate used to release for the people a prisoner whom they requested.¹²¹³There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion.¹⁴¹⁵The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom.¹⁶¹⁷Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?”¹⁸¹⁹For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over.²⁰²¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.²²²³Pilate asked them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?”²⁴

²⁵Again they shouted, “Crucify him!”²⁶

²⁷Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”²⁸

²⁹Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.³⁰

Mocked by the Military

³¹The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called the whole company together.³²³³They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him.³⁴³⁵And they began to salute him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”³⁶³⁷They were hitting him on the head with a stick and spitting on him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying him homage.³⁸³⁹After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him. They led him out to crucify him.

Crucified between Two Criminals

⁴⁰⁴¹They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’s cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.⁴²

⁴³They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull).⁴⁴⁴⁵They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.⁴⁶

⁴⁷Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get.⁴⁸⁴⁹Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.⁵⁰⁵¹The inscription of the charge written against him was: The King of the Jews.⁵²⁵³They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left.⁵⁴

⁵⁵Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,⁵⁶⁵⁷save yourself by coming down from the cross!”⁵⁸⁵⁹In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself!⁶⁰⁶¹Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.⁶²

The Death of Jesus

⁶³When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.⁶⁴⁶⁵And at three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lemá sabachtháni?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”⁶⁶

⁶⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “See, he’s calling for Elijah.”⁶⁸

⁶⁹Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”⁷⁰

⁷¹Jesus let out a loud cry and breathed his last.⁷²⁷³Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.⁷⁴⁷⁵When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”⁷⁶

⁷⁷There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.⁷⁸⁷⁹In Galilee these women followed him and took care of him. Many other women had come up with him to Jerusalem.⁸⁰

The Burial of Jesus

⁸¹When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath),⁸²⁸³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.⁸⁴⁸⁵Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had already died.⁸⁶⁸⁷When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph.⁸⁸⁸⁹After he bought some linen cloth, Joseph took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.⁹⁰⁹¹Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.⁹²