It is remarkable that the evangelists speak of their Lord's enemies with such unruffled calmness. If our dearest friend had been subjected to inhuman treatment, ending in his death, we should have held up the names of his oppressors to the execration of the world. But in the Gospels we look in vain for a strong epithet, or a burst of indignant declamation. This was not because the evangelists were deficient in love to their Lord, but because they had caught something of the spirit of him "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again," and because they had learnt that amid these strange, sad scenes the Divine purpose was being fulfilled, and that he who was the Victim of sinners was the Sacrifice for sin. Hostility to the Lord Jesus Christ is the irrefragable proof of man's antagonism to goodness and truth. The cross of Calvary, stained by his blood, is a witness at once to the depravity of man and the infinite love of God. Hatred to goodness was never more pronounced and desperate, for goodness was now both incarnate and aggressive. It was no longer an abstraction, but a Person; no longer inert, but active. The Jews were generally left unmolested, because they were content to dwell as a peculiar and separate people, without assailing idolatry in others. But our Lord and his disciples endeavored to make the truth known and felt. Moses said in effect, "Keep yourselves from surrounding peoples, lest ye be defiled." Christ said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The old economy was represented by the temple, which was compact, perfect, kept free from the defiling tread of the heathen; the new was represented by the mustard seed, which would grow under the open sky till it became a tree, and many nations found rest under its shadow. It was partly because Jesus Christ was aggressive in his work that the world rose in arms against him. Let us study the characteristics of some of his foes, and discover their motives, that we may be on our guard against becoming their modern representatives. In the two verses we have chosen we have glimpses of the priests, of the people, and of Pontius Pilate.

I. THE PRIESTS WERE HOSTILE TO OUR LORD FROM PRIDE. They should have been the first to welcome him. As Jews they were familiar with the utterances of the prophets, and as priests they should have known the meaning of the sacrifices they offered. They had heard the preaching of John when he announced Messiah, and they had again and again had evidence respecting the work and teaching of Jesus. But pride summoned prejudice to build up an obstacle impervious to all assaults. Their social dignity refused to recognize this peasant Teacher; their intellectual culture spurned the utterances of the Prophet of Nazareth; and their ecclesiastical prestige held it to be incredible that a carpenter's Son should be "the Light of the world." In our day, too, pride has such disastrous influence. Many admit that Jesus Christ was a pattern of benevolence and of moral purity; but when he declares himself to be an infallible Teacher of Divine truth, when he claims superhuman power, when he demands submission to his will, they rise against him, as those did who once exclaimed, "For good works we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; because thou, being a man, makest thyself God."

II. PILATE WAS HOSTILE TO OUR LORD FROM POLICY. He saw at a glance the vindictiveness of the priests, and the innocence of him they accused; and, after a few minutes' conversation, frankly said, "I find in him no fault at all." But this was followed by a pitiful struggle and fall. He tried to rid himself of responsibility by sending the Galilean to Herod; he offered to release him, not on the ground of innocence, but as an act of grace, usual at the Passover; he cruelly scourged him, in the hope that this would satisfy the bloodthirsty mob. But when these devices failed, and the people threatened Pilate himself, as a traitor to the emperor, he delivered Jesus to be crucified. He fell through moral cowardice, brought about by former crimes, fearing lest he should lose office and honor unless he fell in with the demands of this brutal crowd. Things seen rule the man who has no faith in things unseen. Personal interests seemed more to him than the life or death of one poor Prisoner. He yielded to clamor; and though at the time he knew it not, he crucified the Christ.

III. THE PEOPLE WERE HOSTILE TO OUR LORD FROM PASSION. "The chief priests moved the people." They would urge that Jesus had been condemned by their own orthodox court, and that it was the duty of every patriot to induce the Romans to support its decisions; and they would further urge that Barabbas, the leader of an insurrection, was a friend of the people and a champion of their liberties, so that he was to be preferred to Jesus of Nazareth. The mass of the people were not intelligently hostile to our Lord. Some knew little of him, and thought that the Sanhedrim was best able to judge of such questions; and others went with the popular current, whether it led them to shout "Hosanna!" or "Crucify him!" Hence they were included with the soldiers in the prayer of our Lord, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." - A.R.

Mutius, a citizen of Rome, was noted to be of such an envious and malevolent disposition, that Publius, one day, observing him to be very sad, said, "Either some great evil is happened to Mutius, or some great good to another."

Dionysius the tyrant, out of envy, punished Philoxenius the musician because he could sing, and Plato the philosopher because he could dispute, better than himself.

"Who is this elder son?" was once asked in an assembly of ministers at Elberfeldt. Daniel Krummacher made answer: "I know him very well; I met him yesterday." "Who is he?" they asked eagerly; and he replied solemnly, "Myself." He then explained that on the previous day, hearing that a very ill-conditioned person had received a very gracious visitation of God's goodness, he had felt not a little envy and irritation.

A Burmese potter, says the legend, became envious of the prosperity of a washerman, and, in order to ruin him, induced the king to order him to wash one of his black elephants white, that he might be lord of the white elephant. The washerman replied that, by the rules of his art, he must have a vessel large enough to wash him in. The king ordered the potter to make him such a vessel. When made, it was crushed by the first step of the elephant in it. Many trials failed, and the potter was ruined by the very scheme he had devised to crush his enemy.

We now proceed to the consideration of the "causes" of this strange conduct; in other words, we shall inquire, Why the chief priests and rulers of the Jews acted thus towards our Lord? We remark, in general, that the cause was this — that the whole of our Lord's conduct and ministry was in direct opposition to their views, prejudices, and interests.

1. It is obvious to remark, that there was much in what may be called their national feelings and prejudices, against which our Lord greatly and constantly offended. The chief priests and rulers would, of course, share with the people generally, in the expectation of a temporal prince in the person of Messiah, and of national distinctions and honours under his reign. But there was nothing in our Lord's conduct or ministry to favour these views.

2. But this is not all. There was much in their official position and interests which rendered our Lord an object of constant suspicion, and of bitter hatred. The whole of their power and influence depended on the continuance of the ecclesiastical system which then existed. Their power and influence in their own nation were very great; and few who have once possessed power are willing to relinquish it. But our Lord's conduct and ministry appeared not only unfavourable to their expectations of national aggrandizement, but they seemed to threaten even the existence of the system of ecclesiastical polity which then obtained amongst them.

3. But the grounds of hostility to our Lord were carried further still, he had rendered himself personally offensive to the chief priests and rulers of the Jews. "Beautiful," said men, "these prayers and fastings, these alms and phylacteries, this scrupulous attention to the smallest points of the law!" "Beautiful," replied our Lord, "as whited sepulchres, which are full of corruption and dead men's bones; the very abodes of putridity, loathsomeness, and death." It was a very common thing with Him, not only in His private intercourse with His disciples, but also in His public ministry, to caution men against the designs and the practices of the Scribes and Pharisees, of whom these chief priests and rulers, for the most part, consisted. "Beware of them," He often cried. "Do not as the Pharisees do;" "they give alms, and say long prayers, to be seen of men." It may not be improper to confirm the view we have taken of their conduct by a more direct reference to the evangelical history. I remark, then, that the truth of it appears in the origin of their opposition. It is evident that their hostility originated in the success of our Lord's ministry; and it increased with the increase of His influence. To point out every illustration of this which the sacred narratives afford, would be to go through a great part of our Lord's history. But we may notice the extraordinary event which specially stimulated their malignity, and led to their determination to destroy Him; that is to say, the resurrection of Lazarus. It was not many months before His crucifixion that this, in some respects His greatest miracle, was performed. "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death." They tried to put the people down, but in vain; they appealed to our Lord, "Master, rebuke Thy disciples; but Jesus said, If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Then "they said among themselves, Perceive ye how that ye prevail nothing; behold the world is gone after Him." Thus we find that their hostility increased just as His influence increased. But, in addition to His influence with the people, our Lord, as we have already seen, rendered Himself personally offensive to the chief priests and rulers by His unsparing exposure of their hypocrisy. Before we leave this part of our subject, let us pause for a moment to inquire whether the same spirit has ever been displayed since the persecutors of Jesus went to give in their account?

1. There are very few men who will not decidedly oppose every effort to overturn a system, on the continuance of which their worldly interests depend. Very few who are fed, enriched, ennobled by any social arrangement, will ever care to inquire whether it be in itself good, whether it be generally beneficial, or whether it be not for the public weal that it give place to another? For them and theirs it is good; and they are all the world to themselves. They can see nothing but disaster in its overthrow, and nothing but wickedness in those who wish to effect it. And this suggests a passing remark, that the best institution may become antiquated. All the unprejudiced perceive that it is fast becoming a nuisance, and that the sooner it is allowed to be decently interred, the better for all interests. But the fact that it was once a benefit, helps to blind the eyes of those who are still interested in its continuance to another fact — that it has ceased to be so.

2. It is also worthy of remark, that generally speaking, their hostility is bitter in proportion to their apprehensions of the unsoundness of the system with which they are connected.

3. No men are more frequently placed in this position, or have more frequently displayed this spirit, than ecclesiastics. Their power is of a peculiar kind, and always rests, more or less, on public opinion.

4. It is still worse when they have become completely corrupt, and their corruption and hypocrisy are exposed to the world. Hence the persecutions which faithful men have endured in every age, and almost invariably through the instigation of ecclesiastics. Hence the sufferings of the Lollards, the Puritans. the Nonconformists, in our own country; of the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the Huguenots, on the continent of Europe. Hence, we say, and hence alone. Why was Wycliffe so hateful to the ecclesiastical rulers of his day? Simply because of the light which, from time to time, he threw on the system of corruption with which they were identified, and by which they were enriched and ennobled; because, by the calm and earnest exhibition of the truth, he was undermining their influence, and exposing them to contempt. Were Gardiner and Bonner, men of some note in their day, better than Annas and Caiaphas? Wherein, beloved reader, and how much, were they better? They acted on precisely the same principles, and in precisely the same spirit; and if they were not better than the persecutors of Jesus, were they worse than some of their successors, the Elizabethan bishops? Were they worse than Parker and Whitgift; than Aylmer, and many others?

(J. J. Davies.)

Alexander, Barabbas, Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, Joseph, Joses, Mary, Pilate, Rufus, Salome, SimonArimathea, Cyrene, Galilee, Golgotha, Jerusalem, Place of the SkullBarabbas, Barab'bas, Barabbas's, Chief, Crowd, Free, Instead, Move, Moved, Multitude, Obtain, Pilate, Preference, Priests, Rather, Release, Stirred, Urged1. Jesus brought bound, and accused before Pilate.
6. Upon the clamor of the people, the murderer Barabbas is released,
12. and Jesus delivered up to be crucified.
16. He is crowned with thorns, spit on, and mocked;
21. faints in bearing his cross;
27. hangs between two thieves;
29. suffers the triumphing reproaches of the crowd;
39. but is confessed by the centurion to be the Son of God;
42. and is honorably buried by Joseph.

Mark 15:11

     7751   persuasion

Mark 15:2-15

     5203   acquittal
     5593   trial

Mark 15:5-20

     2585   Christ, trial

Mark 15:6-11

     5040   murder

Mark 15:6-14

     7505   Jews, the

Mark 15:6-15

     5349   injustice, examples
     5936   riots

Mark 15:8-15

     5279   crowds

Mark 15:9-11

     6622   choice

Mark 15:9-15

     5714   men
     5884   indecision

Mark 15:9-20

     5838   disrespect

Mark 15:11-15

     2525   Christ, cross of

Mark 15:11-20

     2545   Christ, opposition to

Simon the Cyrenian
'And they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His Cross.'--Mark xv. 21. How little these soldiers knew that they were making this man immortal! What a strange fate that is which has befallen chose persons in the Gospel narrative, who for an instant came into contact with Jesus Christ. Like ships passing athwart the white ghostlike splendour of moonlight on the sea, they gleam silvery pure for a moment as they cross its …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ and Pilate: the True King and his Counterfeit
'And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him to Pilate. 2. And Pilate asked Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And He answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3. And the chief priests accused Him of many things: but He answered nothing. 4. And Pilate asked Him again, saying, Answerest Thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against Thee. 6. But Jesus yet …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Death which Gives Life
'And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross. 22. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. 23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26. And the superscription …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Dying Saviour Our Example.
(On Good Friday.) TEXT: MARK xv. 34-41. HEAVENLY Father! On all who are assembling to day to commemorate the death of the Holy One, in whom Thou wast well pleased, look graciously down! Let not one go away from the cross of Thy Well-beloved without exclaiming, with new, living faith, Truly this was the Son of God! Let not one wipe away his tears of emotion until the heartfelt desire has taken possession of him that his end may be like that of this righteous One! Let not the feeling of holy reverence …
Friedrich Schleiermacher—Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher

The Centurion at the Cross.
MATT. XXVII. 54. Comp. MARK XV. 39. "Now, when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying: Truly this was the [a] Son of God." LUKE XXIII. 47. "Now, when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying: Certainly this was a righteous man." Note.--The centurion here spoken of is the one who, according to Roman custom, presided over the execution (hence called by Seneca centurio supplicio præpositus; …
Philip Schaff—The Person of Christ

Joseph of Arimathea
BY REV. ALFRED ROWLAND, D.D.. LL.B. "Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God."--MARK xv. 43. The crucifixion of our Lord produced strange and startling effects in moral experience, as well as in the physical world. The veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom as if a hand from heaven had torn it, in order to teach men that the ancient ritual was done with. Darkness covered the earth, suggesting to thoughtful minds the guilt of the world and …
George Milligan—Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known

"Himself He could not Save. " --Mark xv. 31
"Himself He could not save."--Mark xv. 31. "He saved others," scorners cried, Beholding Jesus crucified; "Is this the Son of God with power? Lo, in His own afflictive hour, Himself he cannot save." He was the Son of God with power, He "came unto that very hour;" I'll joy in His reproach and shame, "He savest others;" I'll exclaim, "Himself He could not save." His agony and bloody sweat, His cross and passion paid my debt; He saved others when he fell, Yet,--who the mystery can tell? Himself, He …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Whether Christ was Buried in a Becoming Manner?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was buried in an unbecoming manner. For His burial should be in keeping with His death. But Christ underwent a most shameful death, according to Wis. 2:20: "Let us condemn Him to a most shameful death." It seems therefore unbecoming for honorable burial to be accorded to Christ, inasmuch as He was buried by men of position---namely, by Joseph of Arimathea, who was "a noble counselor," to use Mark's expression (Mk. 15:43), and by Nicodemus, who was "a ruler of …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

H. The Crucifixion. Ch. 23:26-38
26 And when they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the …
Charles R. Erdman—The Gospel of Luke, An Exposition

Pilate
"And straightway in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried Him away, and delivered Him up to Pilate." ". . . And they lead Him out to crucify Him." MARK 15:1-20 (R.V.) WITH morning came the formal assembly, which St. Mark dismisses in a single verse. It was indeed a disgraceful mockery. Before the trial began its members had prejudged the case, passed sentence by anticipation, and abandoned Jesus, as one …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ Crucified
"And they compel one passing by, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear His cross. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they offered Him wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not. And they crucify Him, and part His garments among them, casting lots upon them, what each should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the superscription of …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Death of Jesus
"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, He calleth Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave Him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to take Him down. And Jesus …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Part 1 Christ's Humiliation, Exaltation, and Triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15
Christ's humiliation, exaltation, and triumph. Phil. 2:8,9; Mark 15:20,24,29; Col. 2:15. The mighty frame of glorious grace, That brightest monument of praise That e'er the God of love designed, Employs and fills my lab'ring mind. Begin, my soul, the heav'nly song, A burden for an angel's tongue: When Gabriel sounds these awful things, He tunes and summons all his stungs. Proclaim inimitable love: Jesus, the Lord of worlds above, Puts off the beams of bright array, And veils the God in mortal …
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

The Fourth Word
"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani."--ST. MATT. XXVII. 46; ST. MARK XV. 34. There are three peculiar and distinguishing features of this fourth word which our Saviour uttered from His Cross. 1. It is the only one of the Seven which finds a place in the earliest record of our Lord's life, contained in the matter common to St. Matthew and St. Mark. 2. It is the only one which has been preserved to us in the original Aramaic, in the very syllables which were formed by the lips of Christ. 3. It is the …
J. H. Beibitz—Gloria Crucis

The Shortest of the Seven Cries
As these seven sayings were so faithfully recorded, we do not wonder that they have frequently been the subject of devout meditation. Fathers and confessors, preachers and divines have delighted to dwell upon every syllable of these matchless cries. These solemn sentences have shone like the seven golden candlesticks or the seven stars of the Apocalypse, and have lighted multitudes of men to him who spake them. Thoughtful men have drawn a wealth of meaning from them, and in so doing have arranged …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 24: 1878

Third Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Formally Condemned by the Sanhedrin and Led to Pilate.
(Jerusalem. Friday After Dawn.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 1, 2; ^B Mark XV. 1; ^C Luke XXII. 66-23:1; ^D John XVIII. 28. ^a 1 Now when morning was come, ^c 66 And as soon as it was day, ^b straightway ^c the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, ^a all the chief priests and { ^b with} the elders ^a of the people ^b and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and ^a took counsel against Jesus to put …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

First Stage of the Roman Trial. Jesus Before Pilate for the First Time.
(Jerusalem. Early Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 11-14; ^B Mark XV. 2-5; ^C Luke XXIII. 2-5; ^D John XVIII. 28-38. ^d and they themselves entered not into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. [See p. 641.] 29 Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30 They answered and said unto him, If this man were not an evildoer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee. [The Jewish rulers first attempt to induce …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion.
(Friday. Toward Sunrise.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 15-30; ^B Mark XV. 6-19; ^C Luke XXIII. 13-25; ^D John XVIII. 39-XIX 16. ^a 15 Now at the feast [the passover and unleavened bread] the governor was wont { ^b used to} release unto them ^a the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. { ^b whom they asked of him.} [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Crucifixion.
Subdivision A. On the Way to the Cross. (Within and Without Jerusalem. Friday Morning.) ^A Matt. XXVII. 31-34; ^B Mark XV. 20-23; ^C Luke XXIII. 26-33; ^D John XIX. 17. ^a 31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the ^b purple, ^a robe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Morning of Good Friday.
The pale grey light had passed into that of early morning, when the Sanhedrists once more assembled in the Palace of Caiaphas. [5969] A comparison with the terms in which they who had formed the gathering of the previous night are described will convey the impression, that the number of those present was now increased, and that they who now came belonged to the wisest and most influential of the Council. It is not unreasonable to suppose, that some who would not take part in deliberations which were …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Crucified, Dead, and Buried. '
It matters little as regards their guilt, whether, pressing the language of St. John, [6034] we are to understand that Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews to be crucified, or, as we rather infer, to his own soldiers. This was the common practice, and it accords both with the Governor's former taunt to the Jews, [6035] and with the after-notice of the Synoptists. They, to whom He was delivered,' led Him away to be crucified:' and they who so led Him forth compelled' the Cyrenian Simon to bear the Cross. …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Death of Jesus.
Although the real motive for the death of Jesus was entirely religious, his enemies had succeeded, in the judgment-hall, in representing him as guilty of treason against the state; they could not have obtained from the sceptical Pilate a condemnation simply on the ground of heterodoxy. Consistently with this idea, the priests demanded, through the people, the crucifixion of Jesus. This punishment was not Jewish in its origin; if the condemnation of Jesus had been purely Mosaic, he would have been …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus

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