Mark 15:21

Mark 15:21 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.  On the way to Golgotha, which means, The place of a skull, Jesus was having difficulty carrying His cross.   Since He is the all-powerful Creator, the only reason this could have been true was because He actually was totally human at the same time.  We may be saved by grace as followers of Christ and be a part of God's family forever, but we are still subject to suffer from human frailties, even though we sometimes act as though we should be exempt.  If Jesus Christ Himself was not exempt from physical suffering and frailties, we shouldn't expect to be either. A Cyrenian named Simon was compelled to carry Jesus's cross.   None of the disciples got this privilege, because like Simon Peter, they had abandoned Him.  If we are called on to bear the burden of the cross spiritually today, will we count it as a blessing, or like the disciples then scatter when trouble comes? 

Verse twenty-two adds, And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

Verse twenty-three continues, And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. When they got to Golgotha, they attempted to give Jesus wine mingled with myrrh, but He refused. The myrrh made the wine bitter, so even if it did lessen the pain some, it was still given as a form of punishment or disrespect for the person drinking it.  Sometimes, even things that should be pleasant can become bitter to Christians because they are mingled with sin, and we should therefore refuse them. 

Verse twenty-four concludes, And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.  After Jesus was crucified, the soldiers divided His garments and cast lots as to determine who would be able to claim them. They were hoping to profit from Jesus's crucifixion.  Of course, Jesus no longer had need for them, and the only value they had for those who got them was a material value.   There was nothing mystical about the garments.   We need to be careful that we don't just attempt to follow Jesus for material reasons, nor expect material wealth from following Him.   We are still called on to take up our cross daily, which means to die to self-will and self-desire.  

Mark 15:14

Mark 15:14 says, Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done?  And they cried out more exceedingly, Crucify him.   Though he could find nothing evil that Jesus had done, he still asked the crowd about it.  They did not answer, but simply cried out, "Crucify Him." People will never be able to find any evil that Jesus has done, but many still in effect say “Crucify Him” by rejecting His sacrifice for them on that cross. Verse fifteen adds, And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.  Pilate gave in to the will of the people instead of doing what he knew was right, and even if we know that Jesus Christ died innocently for our sins, if we give in to the will of the world instead of accepting Him as our Savior and Lord, we are like Pilate.  Veres sixteen says, And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.  After the crowd demanded that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified, the soldiers led Jesus into the hall called Praetorium.  They had a whole regiment to deliver Him, even though He was going willingly.  The whole lost world is still trying to kill Jesus's message to the world today, even though He willingly died for their sins.  Though the people in that day were successful in crucifying Jesus, it was only because He went willingly, and He will never do that again, so His redemption plan will never be defeated. Verse seventeen adds, And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,  Verse eighteen continues, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!  The soldiers mockingly dressed Jesus in purple and put a crown of thorns on His head, saluted Him, and called Him the King of the Jews.  What they did to mock Jesus actually proclaimed Him for Who He is, the King of the Jews, and of all who put their faith in Him.  People today continue to mock Jesus being the only Savior of the world, but He always was and always will be.   Verse nineteen states, And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.  The soldiers then scourged Jesus again, spit on Him, and then bowed their knees in a mock honor to Him.  One day, what they did mockingly will be done for real by everyone, but for too many people it will be done after they have rejected Him forever.  Verse twenty continues, And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. After mocking Jesus some more, they stripped off the purple robes and put His own clothes back on Him, but He was still very much the King of the Jews, the eternal Messiah.  We still have two choices today.  We can either reject Jesus as the only way to salvation or we can accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord.   My prayer as always is that you will accept Him today if you have not done so. 

Mark 15:6

Mark 15:6 says, Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. Pilate released one prisoner at the Feast of the Passover every year, and perceiving that Jesus had really done nothing wrong, but was there because of the envy of the priests, he thought he saw a way around executing Jesus.  Verse seven adds, And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. Verse eight states, And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.  The people were demanding that he release one prisoner as he always had.  This was there chance to free Jesus no matter what the chief priests might want. We cannot allow religious leaders to influence us to reject Jesus, no matter what they might offer instead. Verse nine adds, But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?  Verse ten continues, For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. Pilate thought if he gave the people a choice between Barabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer, and Jesus, whom they had so recently been praising, that they would choose to let Jesus go free.  Jesus has still done nothing wrong, but people still choose the sin of this world, and those who commit them over Jesus.  If we choose to believe anyone or anything above believing Jesus, this is really what we are doing.  Verse eleven says, But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. The chief priests, the religious leaders, had convinced the people to ask for Barabbas to be released instead of Jesus.  I pray that we as Christians never get that far away from God's will, and if we truly are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit after accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we never will. Verse twelve adds, And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?  Verse thirteen continues, And they cried out again, Crucify him. Then, Pilate asked the people, God's Chosen People, what to do with Jesus, and they said crucify Him.  We have to accept the fact that we are just as guilty as they were then.  We have all chosen something over Jesus, until we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, and this is only possible because He was crucified for our sins.   Pilate attempted to avoid making a decision about what to do with Jesus, but he couldn't, and neither can we today.  We only have two choices, and that is to accept everlasting life with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, or to spend our everlasting life separated from Him by rejecting Jesus Christ. Though the sacrifice is already made, it is no good to us unless we accept it. 

Mark 15:1

Mark 15:1 says, 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.  Since the chief priests had no authority to kill Jesus, the morning after His arrest they had a consultation with the elders, scribes, and the whole council.   These were all the religious leaders of the Jews, God’s chosen people.   It is bad enough that the people of the world want to discredit and destroy Jesus, but it is even worse if people who call themselves Christians, those who say they have put their faith in Him as their Savior and Lord, do so.  They bound Jesus, though He wasn't trying to escape, and brought Him to Pilate, who in the world's view did have the power to sentence Him to death.  Verse two adds, And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto them, Thou sayest it. Pilate asked Jesus only if He was the King of the Jews.  This could have meant that Jesus was trying to usurp the power of Roman authority. Somewhere in life, we are going to have to ask our self Who Jesus Christ is.  Jesus simply replied, "Thou sayest it."  Jesus left it up to Pilate to decide what he believed about Jesus, and He still leaves it up to each individual today.  Jesus will never attempt to force us to believe in Him.  At that time, He could have shown Pilate without a doubt that He was Who people were saying He was, but that was not why He was there.  We cannot force Jesus to become what we want Him to be but can only accept Him for Who He is.  Pilate and all those who were accusing Jesus were looking at His kingdom in physical terms, not spiritual terms.  Verse three continues, And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. The chief priests accused Jesus of many things, but He didn't answer them.  People of the world today are still accusing Jesus of many things that He never did or even said in an effort to discredit Him.  Verse four states, And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee.  Pilate asked Jesus if He had anything to say about these accusations, and Jesus again said nothing.  They could either accept Him for Who He was or reject Him, and so can we. Verse five adds, But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.  Then we are told that Pilate marveled at the silence of Jesus, but not that He believed Jesus.  Everyone had heard enough already to either accept or reject Jesus as the Messiah, and there was nothing more that He could say that would change their minds.  We today have all the knowledge about Who Jesus is necessary to decide for ourselves whether He really is the Son of God and the only Redeemer that there is.  The choice is always up to each individual.