Jesus before Pilate
1Early in the morning, the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the Law (that is, the whole Council or Sanhedrin) had their plan ready. They put Jesus in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “You say so.” 3As the chief priests accused Jesus of many things, 4Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer at all? See how many charges they bring against you.” 5But Jesus gave no further answers, so that Pilate wondered.
6At every Passover festival, Pilate used to free any prisoner the people asked for. 7Now there was a man called Barabbas, jailed with the rioters who had committed murder in the uprising. 8When the crowd went up to ask Pilate the usual favor, 9 ① he said to them, “Do you want me to set free the King of the Jews?” 10For he realized that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him out of envy. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask instead for the release of Barabbas. 12Pilate replied, “And what shall I do with the man you call King of the Jews?” 13The crowd shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14Pilate asked, “What evil has he done?” But they shouted the louder, “Crucify him!”
Jesus crowned with thorns
15 ② As Pilate wanted to please the people, he freed Barabbas and after the flogging of Jesus had him handed over to be crucified.
16The soldiers took him inside the courtyard known as the praetorium and called the rest of their companions. 17They clothed him in a purple cloak and twisting a crown of thorns, they forced it onto his head. 18Then they began saluting him, “Long life to the King of the Jews!” 19With a stick they gave him blows on the head and spat on him; then they knelt down pretending to worship him.
20When they had finished mocking him, they pulled off the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him.
The crucifixion
21The soldiers led him out of the city to crucify him.
22On the way they met Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the country, and forced him to carry the cross of Jesus. 23When they had led him to the place called Golgotha, which means the Skull, 24they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he would not take it.
25Then they nailed him to the cross and divided his clothes among themselves, casting lots to decide what each should take. 26It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 27The statement of his offense was displayed above his head and it read, “The King of the Jews.” 28They also crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left.
29People passing by laughed at him, shook their head and jeered, “Aha! So you are able to tear down the Temple and build it up again in three days. 30Now save yourself and come down from the cross!”
31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law mocked him saying to one another, “The man who saved others cannot save himself. 32Let’s see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from his cross and then we will believe in him.” Even the men who were crucified with Jesus insulted him.
The death of Jesus
33When noon came, darkness fell over the whole land and lasted until three o’clock; 34and at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” 35As soon as they heard these words, some of the bystanders said, “Listen! He is calling for Elijah.” 36And one of them went quickly to fill a sponge with bitter wine and, putting it on a reed, gave him to drink saying, “Now let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”
37But Jesus uttered a loud cry and gave up his spirit. 38And immediately the curtain that enclosed the Temple sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
39The captain who was standing in front of him saw how Jesus died and heard the cry he gave; and he said, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
40There were also some women watching from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joset and Salome, 41who had followed Jesus when he was in Galilee and saw to his needs. There were also others who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
The burial
42It was now evening and as it was Preparation Day, that is the day before the Sabbath, 43Joseph of Arimathea boldly went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a respected member of the Council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God.
44Pilate was surprised that Jesus should have died so soon; so he summoned the captain and inquired if Jesus was already dead. 45After hearing the captain, he let Joseph have the body.
46Joseph took it down and wrapped it in the linen sheet he had bought. He laid the body in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock and rolled a stone across the entrance to the tomb. 47Now Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of Joset took note of where the body had been laid.
- Mk 15,9 In verse 8 there is an abrupt ending to Mark's Gospel. We were looking forward to the meeting between Jesus and the apostles in Galilee, but it does not take place. Why? We do not know. We find only a series of brief references to Jesus' appearances after his resurrection. Mk 15,15 Proclaim the Good News to all creation. The Good News is the seed that will be planted in the world and will flourish, in its proper time, in every field of human endeavor. Salvation is not a matter of saving isolated souls or individual beings. The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creation in all activities and acts of those who have been renewed by baptism. They are to be the yeast that transforms human history. THE NAME OF JESUS On the day of his resurrection, Jesus' human nature begins to participate fully in divine Glory (Rom 1:1). Jesus now asks us to believe in his Name, that is, in the divine power he has just received and that works through him. The Name is a word that has little or no meaning for us. For the Jews it meant the active presence of God. This term allowed them to speak of God's mysterious presence in the world without disregarding his greatness. The Bible does not say that God walked with the Hebrews toward the promised land (for God does not walk); instead it says that his Name or his Face (Ex 33:14) was among them. God's presence could not be confined within his temple, but the Bible says that his Name dwelt in this temple, from whence he blessed all the activities of his people (1 K 8:27). The Name, thus, means divine presence or power. Paul says that the resurrected Jesus has received this Name that outshines any other (Phil 2:9). God the Father has given it to him and Jesus, who has received it, is not less than him, since whatever belongs to his Father is now his as well. Jesus does not receive glory as one receives a title or an honor (as already proclaimed in Is 9:5), for divine glory can be granted only to God. If he receives a divine title, it is because he actually received divinity from the Father in the beginning - divinity is his very being. Thus, Jesus is as much God as the Father, but he is so in a different way, by receiving everything from God who possesses all. That is why it is written that his Name is the Son (Heb 1:4). When we speak to the Father in the Name of Jesus, this means much more than bolstering ourselves with his merits (Heb 5:9) or making use of his valuable intercession (Heb 7:25). We present ourselves as sons and daughters, knowing that God embraces us with the same paternal love he has for his own Beloved One (Eph 1:6). From then on our Lord Jesus Christ, with divine power, begins little by little to direct human history and the personal path of each one of us to himself. The apostles were sent into the world to heal and sanctify it. The miracles and healings are not ends in themselves; they are only signs and means. The goal of evangelization is that all creation may be gathered around the person of the Son-of-God-become-human, through the power of his Spirit. Do not fear, the Lord says, my Church is not a shelter against the world, its temptations and problems; rather each of you is baptized to be an apostle. Signs like these will accompany those who have believed. The Acts of the Apostles reports these signs and miracles. Even today they can be seen wherever Christians fulfill their mission of evangelizing the world.
- Mk 15,9 In verse 8 there is an abrupt ending to Mark's Gospel. We were looking forward to the meeting between Jesus and the apostles in Galilee, but it does not take place. Why? We do not know. We find only a series of brief references to Jesus' appearances after his resurrection. Mk 15,15 Proclaim the Good News to all creation. The Good News is the seed that will be planted in the world and will flourish, in its proper time, in every field of human endeavor. Salvation is not a matter of saving isolated souls or individual beings. The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creation in all activities and acts of those who have been renewed by baptism. They are to be the yeast that transforms human history. THE NAME OF JESUS On the day of his resurrection, Jesus' human nature begins to participate fully in divine Glory (Rom 1:1). Jesus now asks us to believe in his Name, that is, in the divine power he has just received and that works through him. The Name is a word that has little or no meaning for us. For the Jews it meant the active presence of God. This term allowed them to speak of God's mysterious presence in the world without disregarding his greatness. The Bible does not say that God walked with the Hebrews toward the promised land (for God does not walk); instead it says that his Name or his Face (Ex 33:14) was among them. God's presence could not be confined within his temple, but the Bible says that his Name dwelt in this temple, from whence he blessed all the activities of his people (1 K 8:27). The Name, thus, means divine presence or power. Paul says that the resurrected Jesus has received this Name that outshines any other (Phil 2:9). God the Father has given it to him and Jesus, who has received it, is not less than him, since whatever belongs to his Father is now his as well. Jesus does not receive glory as one receives a title or an honor (as already proclaimed in Is 9:5), for divine glory can be granted only to God. If he receives a divine title, it is because he actually received divinity from the Father in the beginning - divinity is his very being. Thus, Jesus is as much God as the Father, but he is so in a different way, by receiving everything from God who possesses all. That is why it is written that his Name is the Son (Heb 1:4). When we speak to the Father in the Name of Jesus, this means much more than bolstering ourselves with his merits (Heb 5:9) or making use of his valuable intercession (Heb 7:25). We present ourselves as sons and daughters, knowing that God embraces us with the same paternal love he has for his own Beloved One (Eph 1:6). From then on our Lord Jesus Christ, with divine power, begins little by little to direct human history and the personal path of each one of us to himself. The apostles were sent into the world to heal and sanctify it. The miracles and healings are not ends in themselves; they are only signs and means. The goal of evangelization is that all creation may be gathered around the person of the Son-of-God-become-human, through the power of his Spirit. Do not fear, the Lord says, my Church is not a shelter against the world, its temptations and problems; rather each of you is baptized to be an apostle. Signs like these will accompany those who have believed. The Acts of the Apostles reports these signs and miracles. Even today they can be seen wherever Christians fulfill their mission of evangelizing the world.
