The Annotated Markan Crucifixion Narrative (15:1-47)

[patrick457]

Nothing majorly special. Citations in square brackets ] are scriptural allusions; those in parentheses, in red (), are in-gospel citations. (Scriptural quotation from the RSV)

And as soon as it was morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council held a consultation; and they bound Jesus [cf. Psalm 27:12?; Isaiah 3:10; 53:6, 12?] and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.



And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate wondered. [cf. Psalm 38 (37):12-14?; Isaiah 53:7?; 52:13-15?]

Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he was wont to do for them. And he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. [cf. Wisdom 2:24] But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” [cf. Isaiah 53:9?] But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” (Pilate’s three attempts to release Jesus = contrasts with Peter’s three denials of Jesus (14:66-72)?)

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.



And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the praetorium); and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ⟨cf. the Roman triumphus, a public celebration of a victorious military commander: the recipient of the honor was drawn in procession on a four-horse chariot while wearing a purple and gold toga and a laurel wreath amid acclamations by the people.⟩ And they struck his head with a reed [cf. Micah 5:1b Hebrew?], and spat upon him [cf. Isaiah 50:6], and they knelt down in homage to him. (Mark 10:33-34) And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, and put his own clothes on him. [cf. Zechariah 3:1-5?] ⟨For instances of a similar kind of mocking in other sources, cf. Philo, Flaccus VI.36-39 (Carabbas); Dio Cassius, Roman History LVIII.11.1-4 (Sejanus) to name two.⟩

 

[patrick457]

And they led him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus [cf. Romans 16:13?], to carry his cross. (Mark 8:34: Simon of Cyrene denies himself to take up Jesus’ cross; Simon Peter denies Jesus.) And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh [cf. Proverbs 31:6-7?]; but he did not take it. (Mark 14:25 “I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”)

And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them [Psalm 22 (21):19], to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. ⟨The references to the third hour (9 AM), midday, and the ninth hour (3 PM) could have been influenced by early Christian liturgy, where the events surrounding Jesus’ passion would have been likely assigned over a twenty-four hour period, broken up neatly into three hour segments. cf. the later concept of liturgical hours.⟩ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. [cf. Isaiah 53:12] (Mark 10:35-40: James’ and John’s request - “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” - and Jesus’ reply: “To sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” also cf. 9:4: Elijah and Moses appear beside Jesus; here He is crucified with two thieves.)

And those who passed by derided him [cf. Psalm 22 (21):16-17], wagging their heads [Psalm 22 (21):8; 109 (108):25; Lamentations 2:15?], and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mark 8:34: Jesus says that in order to be saved, one must accept the cross.) So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel [Zephaniah 3:15 LXX], come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” [cf. Wisdom 2:12-20; Psalm 22 (21):8.] Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land [cf. Amos 8:9-10; Exodus 10:21-23?; Jeremiah 15:9?; Wisdom 5:6?] until the ninth hour. ⟨For similar instances of supernatural phenomena upon the deaths of great figures, cf. Diogenes Laertius 4.64 (lunar eclipse upon the death of the skeptic Carneades); Plutarch, Life of Caesar 69.3-5; Virgil; Georgics 1.463-468 (the sun fails during Julius Caesar’s death); Babylonian Talmud, Mo’ed Qatan 25b (omens accompany the deaths of eminent rabbis).⟩ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Psalm 22 (21):1] And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” [cf. 1 Kings 17:1-24] And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink [cf. Psalm 69 (68):21], saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” (Mark 9:4: Elijah had appeared beside Jesus; Mark 1:4-6: John the Baptist had appeared as a type of Elijah (cf. 9:11-13).) And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. [cf. Psalm 22:3; Psalm 18 (17):7?]

http://abv8.me/4fC

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two (Mark 1:10; during Jesus’ baptism, the heavens are torn apart, at Jesus’ death the temple veil is torn apart.), from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 1:1, 11, where the narrator and the voice of God declares Jesus as God’s son (also cf. Mark 9:7). The centurion is the only human to call Jesus ‘son of God’ in Mark.)

There were also women looking on from afar [Psalm 69 (68):22; 38 (37):11], among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome, who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered to him; and also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock [Isaiah 22:16?]; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. [cf. Isaiah 53:9]

http://abv8.me/4fB

 

[patrick457]

And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. [cf. Psalm 22:3; Psalm 18 (17):7?]

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two (Mark 1:10; during Jesus’ baptism, the heavens are torn apart, at Jesus’ death the temple veil is torn apart.), from top to bottom.

I have something to add. In his account of Jesus’ death, Mark makes a throwback to Jesus’ baptism in this way:

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.” (1:10-11)

Parallels:

John the Baptist dressed like Elijah = “Behold, he is calling Elijah … Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down” (cf. 9:12-13 “Elijah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.”)

‘[Jesus] saw the heavens opened (literally ‘tearing apart’)’ = ‘the curtain of the temple was torn in two’

‘and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove’ = ‘Jesus, uttering a loud cry, expired’

“Thou art my beloved Son” (God) = “Truly this man was a/the son of God” (centurion)

In fact, Jesus’ baptism, transfiguration and crucifixion are the three pillars of Mark’s gospel.



The crucifixion, for Mark, is Jesus’ another, deeper ‘baptism’.