Sinful Man Mocking the Sinless Savior
Truth Taught- Jesus is delivered over to the Roman Soldiers who will mock Him and beat Him.
It is very fitting at this beginning point of this message, to place the events we are to look at today in a
This passage shows us the wonderful and complete love Jesus has for us, His people.
The suffering of Jesus is beyond our comprehension. If these horrors were given to an ordinary man, they would be more than we could imagine and more than anyone could bear but they were given to Jesus Christ, the Son of God we are left wondering with amazement at what is taking place here exactly. Why did Jesus go through with all this suffering since He had the power to call on angels at any point to rescue Him.
Matthew 26:53 (ESV)
53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
12 legions of angels would be 72,000 angels in a split second to save Jesus. Listen, beloved Jesus came to save us. To save us, He had to endure suffering and then the suffering of the cross. He had to shed His blood and He had to die.
Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
The great wonder when we consider Jesus taking our penalty for us and suffering the pain that should have been ours, we must praise His name for His complete faithfulness to the Father’s plan.
To put things into proper perspective let’s consider what the NT tells us about these events and the cross of Christ…
Jesus’ suffering and then going to the cross to suffer and die shows us His great love for us…
Ephesians 3:14–21 (ESV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Romans 5:6–11 (ESV)
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Jesus died because He loves us. The Father gave Jesus to us as a gift because He loves us. The Holy Spirit works to give us faith to believe and so securing the great saving benefits of the death of Jesus because He loves us.
So, the suffering and death of Jesus had purpose. To save His people from their sins. To save us from our sins.
I also want to remind you of Jesus’ final passion prediction as we begin…
Mark 10:33–34 (ESV)
33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.
This was fulfilled in Mark 14:53-65…
Mark 14:53 (ESV)
53 And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
Mark 14:63–65 (ESV)
63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows.
We see that verse 10:34 now dealing with Jesus before Gentiles…
34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
Mockery…15:20
20 And when they had mocked him,
Spitting on Him…15:19
and spitting on him
Flogging/scourging…15:15
Mark 15:15 (ESV)
15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
Beaten…
19 And they were striking his head
We see numerous fulfillments here. Whenever prophecy is fulfilled, this should greatly increase our faith.
While there are many fulfillments here, Mark has selected to highlight one over the others…They mocked Jesus. We see this as the obvious thrust of this section.
Please Stand in honor of God’s Holy, Inspired, and Inerrant Word
Mark 15:16–20 (ESV)
16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
1. Jesus Mocked by the Whole Battalion (15:16)
Once Jesus is delivered over to the soldiers for flogging, He is led to the Praetorium where He is beaten more and greatly mocked.
16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.
Here we see that after Jesus was scourged and greatly bloodied and literally close to death,
Jesus is led to the Praetorium Guard, here called a battalion. These were Pilate’s guards and soldiers that he called to Jerusalem during the Passover to keep the peace among the rioting Jews and any who would be in Jerusalem to start trouble.
For now, the whole battalion made of 600 soldiers further beat and mocked Jesus. These Roman soldiers hated the Jews and they hated Jerusalem. They were there because Rome had sent them to help basically with crowd control during the Passover Feast. So, they were away from their own families to keep these Jews in line, and they did not appreciate the fact that they had been sent to Jerusalem for this time.
2. Jesus Mocked as King of the Jews (15:17-18)
17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
So now, with this prisoner called the King of the Jews, they can have some fun…Roman soldier style. Now they can take out their frustrations and truly mock this Jew whom the people say is the King of the Jews.
So, what do these soldiers do to Jesus? They mock Him greatly. Here the thrust of this section is the mockery of Jesus. To these Roman soldiers, Jesus is a joke.
To make fun of Jesus, they throw around Jesus’ naked beaten bloody body a purple robe. They fashion a crown of thorns and press it into His scalp. And they begin to kneel in mock worship and say,
Hail, King of the Jews!”
Verse 18 says, “They began to acclaim Him, ‘Hail, king of the Jews.’” That’s the essence of the mockery because that’s what they would have said to Caesar, “Hail Caesar,” “Hail Caesar.” Here it’s “Hail, king of the Jews.”
Matthew 27:28–31 (ESV)
28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
They beat Him because He dared to rival Caesar. They beat Him because it’s Jews like Him who caused them to be away from home and family. They beat Him because it was prophetic.
3. The Soldiers Go from Mocking to Violence (15:19-20)
19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
With strength and power come the temptation to abuse those who are weaker. This is what happens with these soldiers. They have strength and Jesus is close to death through the scourging and further beatings and abuse. They see an easy target.
19 And they were striking his head with a reed…this is the word for staff or pole. They were hitting Jesus in the head with an object that could bring great pain and damage.
Then they stripped Him of the mock robe of purple and placed His own clothes back on Him.
Now, Jesus is led out of the praetorium to the hill of crucifixion. Typically, four soldiers would lead each criminal to the place where they would be crucified.
Jesus is the Messiah. He is portrayed in Isaiah…
Isaiah 50:6 (ESV)
6 I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.
Jesus was judged unjustly. He endured the charge guilty so that we could be given forgiveness and heaven. He was treated unjustly so that we would be given justice. God treats us unjustly when by faith we receive the gift of reconciliation with God.
Jesus was treated terribly by vile sinners. He was treated as, literally the refuse of the earth. The sinless Son of God, sparkling with holiness was made to be the scum of the earth with blood, dirt, and everything else.
1 Corinthians 4:12–13 (ESV)
12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
Jesus was made to be the refuse of the earth so that we could become God’s precious children.
He was given the crown of thorns so that we can receive the crown of glory that does not fade.
Trust in Christ and all His work for you and be saved.
And all of this, He is doing for us, bearing in His own body our sins, that that which you planned from eternity past, the redemption of sinners, might be accomplished. We thank you that He was willing to give His life for us. May we be willing to give our lives for Him as well. In Christ’s name. Amen.—John MacArthur
Resources Used:
Mark by JC Ryle
Mark by William Lane
Mark by James Edwards
Words of grace
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