 Religious Education
The GCSE Course: Mark's Gospel
The Trial of Jesus before Pilate
Mark 15:1-20
Read the passage in your Bibles
Notes
The Story so far …
After Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was
taken, during the night, to the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Council).
Here, false witnesses were brought before him, and for the first
time, in response to a question from the High Priest, Jesus
admits to being the Messiah. The Sanhedrin declares this to be
blasphemy, and he is taken to the Pilate, early in the morning,
for sentence to be passed.
The Trial before Pilate is remembered by the Church as the
first of the Stations of the Cross.
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of the province of
Judaea. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Pilate was a
cruel and stubborn man. Mark portrays him as weak, giving way to
the mob.
The Charge
It is doubtful whether claiming to be the Messiah was
blasphemy. Pilate would not have though that this was a crime: he
would have seen it purely as a religious matter. To get Pilate to
condemn Jesus, the idea of 'Messiah' is turned into a claim to be
'king', a political leader. Mark makes it clear that Jesus is
not. When Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews, Jesus says
'The words are yours'. The words could also be translated 'If you
say so'. Some translations use the word 'Yes', but Jesus doesn't
actually use that word.
The Passover Amnesty
The Passover amnesty is mentioned only in the Gospels. In
Mark's account Pilate tries to use this as a way of getting out
of a difficult situation. It is odd that the choice is only
between Jesus and Barabbas: weren't there other prisoners?
Couldn't he release both? Barabbas was a murderer. He was
probably a Zealot. Perhaps Pilate put forward Barabbas to make it
an easy choice for crowd. If he did, his idea obviously
backfired. Whatever really happened, Mark tells the story so that
we think it is not really Pilate who is guilty. Many of the
people who read the Gospel soon after it was written were Romans:
Mark is trying to avoid any idea that Jesus was an anti-Roman
revolutionary or that Rome was responsible for his death. For
Mark, it is the Jewish leaders who are to blame. He says they are
jealous of Jesus.
The Scourging and Mocking
Jesus is whipped and mocked as a sort of preparation for the
crucifixion. The flogging (scourging) was carried out by tying
the victim to a stone pillar and lashing with whips which had
metals balls in the tails which ripped the flesh. Many prisoners
would die under the whipping.
Jesus is clothed in purple (the royal colour) and mocked as a
King. The crown of thorns adds pain to Jesus' indignity.
The Scourging at the Pillar and the Crowing with Thorns are
two of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
In the entire passage, it is the suffering of Jesus which is
emphasised, and contrasted very strongly with the charges which
are made that he was some kind of political or revolutionary
leader. The entire episode is remembered by the Church on Good
Friday when the passage from John's Gospel is read. The story
from Mark's Gospel is read once every three years on Palm Sunday
(also called Passion Sunday).
General Information
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The complete text of Mark's Gospel
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