Cyrene - Mark 15:21
Cyrene was a coastal city in what is today Libya in Northern Africa. Simon appears to have been a pilgrim in Jerusalem for the feast. His son, Rufus, may have been a member of the Roman church for whom this gospel was written (Rom 16:13). A convicted man was often compelled to carry the cross beam of his
cross.Golgatha - Mark 15:22
There is no certainty about why
Golgatha was called
place of a skull. It may have been because executions took place there, because there were tombs in the area, or because the shape of the hillside looked like a skull. According to Heb. 13:12 it was outside the city. This would be in accord with Old Testament law (Lev.24:14); and if it were near a city gate would fit well with the Roman intention for crucifixion to be a deterrent against revolution. (It is difficult to know whether
they led him out in verse 20 means
out of the courtyard or
out of the city.)
They crucified him. - Mark 15:24
They
crucified him. The Jewish historian Josephus called crucifixion
the most wretched of all ways of dying. It was so cruel that it was illegal to crucify a Roman citizen. A nail was driven through each hand (or wrist) into the cross beam and another nail was driven through both ankles into the horizontal beam. Death was often by suffocation when the victim became too weak to support himself on his ankles or more slowly from a loss of blood.
Casting lots fulfilled the prophecy of Ps. 22:18.
The third hour - Mark 15:25-26
The
third hour would have been around 9:00am. It was typical Roman practice to post the
charge over the person crucified. According to John 19:20 it was written in Hebrew (or Aramaic), Latin, and Greek. Perhaps this explains why each of the four gospel writers quotes the sign slightly differently (Matt. 27:37; Luke 23:38; John 19:19). The sign proclaimed the truth that Mark stressed throughout his gospel. Jesus was the royal Messiah. Jesus was crucified between two
robbers in fulfillment of Isa. 53:12.
Mocking - Mark 15:29-32
The
mocking of the chief priests, the scribes, those walking past, and those being crucified alongside of him were a final satanic attempt to ruin the divine plan of redemption. The temptation failed, like all previous attempts. The word translated
Insulted is usually translated blasphemed. For Mark their insults were nothing less than blasphemy.
Darkness - Mark 15:33
Darkness in the Bible was often associated with God's judgment (Joel 2:2, 10; Amos 5:20, 8:9, Mark 13:24; Rev. 9:2; 16:10). Darkness ruled the day as Christ bore God's judgment on the cross.
Forsaken - Mark 15:34-36
Jesus quoted Ps. 22:1 in anguish when he was separated from his Father by the sin of others that he carried on the cross. This is the climax of a theme that runs throughout Mark's gospel. Judas, Peter, and the twelve all
have forsaken him (14:43-45, 50, 66-72). Now for the first time he was totally alone. Mark put more stress on the unimaginable pain of Jesus' separation from the Father because of sin than he did on the physical torment of crucifixion. It is striking to note that even then Jesus' faith did not falter. He still called out,
My God. Someone in the crowd misunderstood Jesus, mistaking
Eloi, Eloi (
my God, my God) for
Eliyahu (
Elijah). It is highly likely that Jesus' pronunciation was severely compromised by this point in the crucifixion. The confusion was all the more likely because of the belief of some Jews that Elijah would return (6:15).
Related Resources
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.
