Mark 15:16-39
New Catholic Bible
16 Jesus Is Crowned with Thorns.[a] Then the soldiers led Jesus away inside the palace, that is, the Praetorium, and they called the whole cohort together. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they placed it on him. 18 Then they began to salute him with the words, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They repeatedly struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down before him in homage. 20 And when they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of his purple robe and dressed him in his own clothes. Then they led him out to crucify him.
21 The Way of the Cross.[b] They compelled a passer-by who was returning from the country to carry his cross. The man was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
22 Jesus Is Crucified. They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. 23 They offered him some wine that had been mixed with myrrh, but he refused to take it. 24 Then they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to see what each should take.[c]
25 It was around nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.[d] 26 The inscription giving the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 Along with him they crucified two thieves, one on his right and the other on his left. [ 28 Thus was the Scripture fulfilled that says, “And he was counted among the wicked.”][e]
29 Those people who passed by jeered at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who claimed you could destroy the temple and rebuild it within three days, 30 save yourself and come down from the cross.”
31 In much the same way, the chief priests and the scribes joined in the mockery among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross right now so that we may see it and come to believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
33 Jesus Dies on the Cross.[f] Beginning at midday, there was darkness over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 At three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
35 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran off, soaked a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
37 Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and breathed his last. 38 And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion who was standing facing him saw how Jesus had breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 15:16 See note on Mt 27:27-31.
- Mark 15:21 Those condemned to death were usually forced to carry the crossbeam of the cross, often 30 to 40 pounds, to the place of crucifixion. Jesus starts out by doing the same (see Jn 19:7), but he is so weak as a result of his scourging and overall ill-treatment that the soldiers decide to have someone else take over that task. The man chosen is Simon, a man from Cyrene, an important city of Libya, North Africa, with a large Jewish population, who is probably in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Alexander and Rufus: the sons are named probably because they were known to the early Christians to whom Mark’s Gospel is addressed.
- Mark 15:24 See note on Mt 27:35.
- Mark 15:25 Mark sketches the Passion in a quasi-liturgical fashion and as it were in thirds: the coming together of the Sanhedrin at the first hour (6 A.M.); crucifixion at the third hour (9 A.M.); darkness at the sixth hour (12 P.M.); and death at the ninth hour (3 P.M.). The “third hour,” however, must be taken in a wide sense, between 9 A.M. and 12 P.M., for Jesus was crucified at 12 P.M. (see Jn 19:14). See also note on Mt 27:35.
- Mark 15:28 This verse is omitted by the best manuscripts.
- Mark 15:33 After hours on the cross, there comes a final humiliation (v. 36). While God remains silent, the crucified Jesus cries out his aloneness in the words of Ps 22:2, and breathes his last. But the work of Jesus has been completed. The end of Judaism has come, signified by the tearing of the curtain of the temple. Even now a pagan recognizes Jesus as the Son of God; this is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that a human being is allowed to give him this title.
