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Mark 15:17 “And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head,”

   Most of the time we make a big deal out of how big and sharp the thorns were. We talk about how much it hurt. But, we have to remember another facet here that is far more serious. Shame. Degradation. Humiliation. Jesus, being the eternal Son of God obviously had never endured such pain before. But, beyond that, he was used to being treated better. He was used to respect. He was used to worship. This, my friends, is even worse than the pain.
   Pain stings the body, but shame cuts into the soul. Others have experienced great pain. But only Christ endured the degradation and humiliation on the level that he did. He didn’t deserve this even the slightest bit. Not even a tiny bit. He took this upon himself for us. For love for us. Wow!

Heavenly Father, thank you for your leading! If we will look for your will, listen for your will, and long for your will, you will lead us to your will. You love us and have made it possible for us to know you and your will. You desire for us to know you. And you have put desires for your service into our hearts. Thank you! I praise you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:16 “Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison.”

   Having a notable Jewish teacher there was quite interesting to the Roman soldiers. Nobody wanted to miss out. Obviously, the whole garrison was hardly needed. But, yet more corruption and cruelty comes forth here.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your foresight. You alone know exactly what to do all of the time. Thank you for your love! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:15 “So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”

   He wanted to gratify the crowd. Justice must never be doled out in this manner. Pleasing the crowd can be a good thing in some cases, but the carrying out of justice is not one of them. But Jesus was Jewish, so Pilate was under no special obligation to carry out justice in any particular manner.
   We might well wonder why the scourging was necessary? There are several reasons for this, none of them very good. First of all, the crucifixion was the choice of the Jews. The scourging was the sentence of the Prefect. The prisoner had to be made to feel the wrath of Rome as well as the sentence of the Jews. It was overkill, but for Pilate it was a matter of principle.
   Secondly, Pilates’ underlings would not take well to having a prisoner in their custody without having the opportunity to “work him over”. Sick, but true.
   Third, and finally, pilot had to illustrate to Jesus his authority. You will remember that Jesus told Pilate that unless someone had delivered Christ, Pilate would have had no power over him at all. Though Pilate did have a fear of Jesus, that fear was based only on his superstition. The scourging was carried out for Pilate to make a point of his power over Jesus. He, like the rest, did not understand what was truly taking place.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your loving kindness and for your truth. Though this world believes it has power over your children, it does not. As your Word says, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Thank you for Christ! Thank you for his authority! Thank you for his love. You Father, are worthy of all the praise, honor and glory for ever and ever! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:14 “Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”

   This is a theme we see throughout the ministry of Christ. He could not be found guilty of any evil. And why? Because he is perfect. Who else could claim this? Nobody. It isn’t possible. He alone is guiltless. And yet he is the One who has taken all of our guilt upon himself and atoned for it. Praise the Lord!

Heavenly Father, thank you for the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus! Thank you for his victory over death, hell, and the grave. Thank you for his power. Your plan is perfect, and your Son is perfect. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:13 “So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”

   You can hear the hate in this answer. And yet, many would come to regret this choice. And, a portion were coaxed into this to begin with.

Heavenly Father, we love you and want to serve you all of our days. Deliver us from this hate-filled world. It is so easy to get caught up in hate, it is the easy path. May we always live to honor you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:12 “Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

   Pilate could see where this was going and wanted to be clear on the chosen course of action. He needed all of the cards on the table so that he could consider his choices carefully. He had no desire to execute an innocent man. Yet, getting the Jews too stirred up could be, for him, professional suicide.

Heavenly Father, you already know our choices before we make them. Your understanding of our thoughts is beyond our conception. You don’t just know us, you made us. Thank you for making your will plain to us. You could have done it differently. But you are wiser than the wisest of us, and your knowledge is higher than ours. We will praise you forever! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:11 “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.”

   The priests had likely anticipated this opportunity beforehand. There choice of Barabbas would go over well with the people, and they wanted him released anyway. And so, providing the mob a tempting alternative to Christ was just icing on the cake.
   These men had a lot of experience determining what would go over well with the people, and they could manipulate them much more easily than Pilate was able to. And they knew Pilate would try to please the majority and they could control him in this way.

Heavenly Father, I love you! You always are trying to communicate truth and love to us. It is not your lack that frustrates us, bit our stubborn ears. Thank you for teaching our ears to hear good things. You work differently from this world, and we should listen for what we wouldn’t expect. Thank you, may your Name be praised! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:10 “For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.”

   Pilate was used to the Jews. He understood how they thought. He was not above such motivations himself, so figuring them out wasn’t that difficult. Indeed, he knew this whole case was baseless, and yet proceeded to execute an innocent man in the interest of political posturing. What corruption!

Heavenly Father, thank you for your righteous ways! You cannot be altered by the evil in this world. It has no effect on you and you are wholly separated from it. I praise you for your plan to eliminate the evil and bless the good. You alone are worthy of our worship. I love you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:9 “But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

   Pilate was having a bit of fun here. He had no special love for the Jews. He thought it was pretty funny, Jesus claiming to be their king. To his Roman sentiments, Jesus was weak and not very threatening. Thus, Pilate thought him a good match for the troublesome Judeans.
   But, deep down, Pilate was afraid of Jesus. He didn’t really fit with the Jews, even if Pilate made him out that way. Pilate had never dealt with any one quite like Jesus before. At this point, he was trying to get him released by appealing to the crowds. But, his manipulation failed.

Heavenly Father, you already have all of your plans in place. We cannot know all that you do. But, we can trust your ways. We know you lead us in the right path. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 15:8 “Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them.”

   We might well wonder why the crowd thought of this at this particular time. With this being the Passover, there were a lot of people in Jerusalem. So, this request could have come primarily from a group that wasn’t there because of Christ. Thus, by the end of this charade, there were likely many who got involved in the trial of Christ that were originally present for other reasons. This is just a case of taking advantage of the audience with Pilate.

Heavenly Father, may we never miss your best for us. Life is too short to waste today wondering why tomorrow has never come. We must trust you with our feelings, and learn from your wisdom. Only then can we escape from making the same old mistakes over and over. You are the key to our future, not our own aspirations. Show us your way, for we will praise you. You are the sole focus of our adoration. Thank you for being Who you are! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.