 We're going to be looking today at Mark chapter 15 verses 16 through 20, and you might want to be prepared to turn to John's gospel chapter 19. You might want to put a pen or something there in that place, because I'm going to take you there as we near the conclusion of our study to share some things out of that passage that helped to bring this passage to life a little bit more. So just be aware of that. We'll be turning to John chapter 19 as we continue and go through this study. But today we're going to be looking at Mark 15 verses 16 through 20. So I'll begin by reading those verses and then as is my normal way of teaching, I'll give you a little bit of a background to remind you of what's taking place, then move into our study. So, beginning here in chapter 15 of Mark, reading from verse 16 to verse 20. Then the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison, and they clothed him with purple, and they twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and began to salute him, hail king of the Jews. Then they struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him, bowing the knee they worshiped him, and when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. Now at this point we all know Jesus has been delivered up to be crucified. As we've gone through this passage and have compared this with other passages, we know that the Roman governor, a man by the name of Pontius Pilate, was not convinced that Jesus should die. He knew that Jesus was innocent. In Luke 23 verses 13 through 16, it reads, Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said to them, you have brought this man to me as one who perverts the people, and behold, I have, I having examined him before you have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof you accuse him, nor yet hered, for I sent you to him, and behold, nothing worthy of death is done to him. I will therefore chastise him and release him. Now we see that he had a mind to release Christ, at least at the beginning. He knew that Jesus had been delivered up to him because of envy. I mentioned to you last week that envy is a terrible sin. Envy is displeasure when someone has what you don't want them to have. Envy has been identified in Scripture as what is called a work of the flesh in the book of Galatians in chapter 5 verses 19 through 21. You have what is called a list of the works of the flesh, and in Galatians 5, 19 to 21, it says that the works of the flesh are obvious, and it includes envy. In Romans chapter 1 verses 28 through 32, those verses tell us that those with the depraved mind are filled with every kind of evil, including envy. So envy is a very common sin. As a matter of fact, it's very often considered as simply normal, and we know that you can envy somebody's car, you can envy their job or their clothing, you can, you can envy their talents, their girlfriend, their boyfriend, you can envy their success, their home, their looks, their status, their finances. Envy over finances seems to be one of the sins that is most acceptable and most often seen in our own society. Well that's an especially evil sin, this envy, in that it's the sin that leads to the death of Jesus Christ and partly knew that they had delivered Jesus out of envy. He had found no fault in him, and because of this he began the lobby for Jesus to be set free. He first offered a choice to the people. We saw this, Barabbas or Jesus, murderer or Messiah. Which one of these would benefit Israel the most? Well instead of choosing Jesus, the chief priest stirred the people to ask for Barabbas. And then we saw that he had scourged Jesus, hoping that it would satisfy their anger. It may be that they'll see him and feel pity for him. Again in this he was wrong, we saw that. They wouldn't settle for anything but his death. Now the rejection of Jesus Christ was not unexpected. It was actually prophesied, again I've mentioned this to you before, but the Bible is the one book that has prophecy that you can point to that has been fulfilled, 700 plus years before Christ, it was a prophet by the name of Isaiah. And Isaiah prophesied concerning Messiah. He has said in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 3 that Messiah would be despised and rejected by man a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He says, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised. We did not esteem him. Isaiah said he was despised. That word despised is the word despicable. It speaks of being worthless when I look at the word despicable. I can't help but remember my son David when he was about 7 years old and he was really angry at me and he said, you're despicable. And I thought, wow, you're pretty smart. Would you get that word as I slapped his face? But you know, it means to be worthless. And so Isaiah said that the Messiah would be considered worthless. He speaks of Messiah being rejected. That word rejected speaks of not worth caring for, not worth defending. That word rejected speaks of someone who is unwanted. Jesus is regarded in Isaiah. Messiah is recognized as being worthless and unwanted. The Bible tells us in Isaiah again, Messiah was to be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. When Messiah is a man of sorrows, it speaks of a deep experience. He had a deep experience with physical and emotional pain. And that was Christ. He was held in contempt. He wasn't valued. He wasn't valued by the people he had come to save. When John was writing his Gospel in the Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 11, John said he came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Well, the following verses describe what happened after Jesus had been scourged. He's already been beaten. He's already been humiliated before the Jewish council. Mark in chapter 14 verse 65 it said, some began to spit on him and to blindfold him and to beat him and to say to him, prophesy, and the officers struck him with the palms of their hands. And now he's taken before the Roman garrison of soldiers. Notice verse 16, the soldiers led him away into the hall called Praetorium, the hall of judgment, and they called together the whole garrison. Now scourging normally would precede the execution of a prisoner, and since Jesus had been scourged, the soldiers were taking him to his death. It says that they called together a large number of soldiers. Again, these soldiers continue giving to us an insight of how fallen human nature really is. In Psalm 35 verse 15, in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together, attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it. They tore at me and did not cease. And so they called together these soldiers. Verse 17 says, they clothed him with purple. They twisted a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and began to salute him. Hail, king of the Jews. Now they have no human sympathy, rather they begin to mock him. The Psalmist again in Psalm 69 verse 20 wrote, reproaches broke in my heart, I am full of heaviness. I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. Now when Jesus had stood before Pilate, he had asked Jesus a direct question. It's found in John 1833. He said, are you the king of the Jews? In John 1837, he went on to say, are you a king then? And Jesus answered, you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth, here's my voice. Well they were aware that Jesus had said that he was a king. And because he had stated that, the soldiers began to mock him. Verse 17, they clothed him with purple and twisted, and they twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. Matthew tells us in chapter 27 verses 28 and 29, they stripped him, put a scarlet robe on him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him, mocked him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews. So what they did is they stripped Jesus, removing his outer garments. That's the second time his garments had been removed. He had already had his clothing removed when he was scourged. So that means that his back would have been open, full of open wounds. I mentioned to you that scourging was referred to in history as the living death. People would often die under the scourge because it was such a brutal thing. One commentator described the back of that person who had been scourged as being like hamburger. It was so ripped and so open. I mentioned to you that there were a number of thongs that were attached to a wooden handle, and they would put bits of bone, fragments of lead, or sharpened metal, and it would lacerate. It would rip that person's back completely open, and many had died. Most everyone fainted under that, but many had died under that. When Jesus had his back completely open, it isn't as sanitary as we may think from the movies we've seen, where sometimes they'll portray Christ after being scourged with stripes on his back. It wasn't that way. It was rips on his back. His whole back was ripped open because they had torn into him, and there were two of them. I referred to them as the lictors. They opened him up. They took turns as they struck him, and then they put his robe back on him, and his back was a bloody mess. And now the robe that they put on him, the blood is coagulating, and the robe is sticking to him. And so what they do now is they rip off that robe. The purple robe, the crown, and the scepter are all symbols of royalty. Purple or scarlet is the color of royalty. It was something a king would wear. They were purple. The crown of thorns mimicked Caesar's crown, which was a wreath. And the staff represented a scepter, which is a symbol of authority. Now scarlet reminds us of something Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 1.18, when he said, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. So scarlet reminds us of this. Your sins are scarlet. They are red like crimson. Now when it says that, your sins are deeply ingrained is what he's saying. It's speaking of our nature, your sins are deeply ingrained within you. Your sins are like scarlet. You see scarlet would be, it wasn't a natural color. They would dye the cloth scarlet or crimson. And we know that in the symbol of baptism, the Greeks would use the word baptizel, which means to, they would actually take the cloth and drop it in, and the cloth would take upon itself the color. When you're baptized, it's more than just being dipped in water. It's talking about being immersed into something that takes over and is actually most evident. And so your sins are within you deeply is the point that Isaiah is making. So God said, let us reason together. Let me share with you something you need to know. Your sins will be like scarlet. They'll be red like crimson. But they can be as white as snow, as white as wool. And that's a promise. And so when you see that your sins are like scarlet, and when you see Jesus took upon himself or they put on Jesus, the scarlet robe, it reminds us. Though your sins may be deeply ingrained in you, you'll be forgiven. Your sins are like scarlet. They're red like crimson, the color of blood. And even so the Lord Jesus Christ. Even so Jesus wore a scarlet robe representing the blood that cleanses us. He's 1 7 says, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace. In 1 Peter 1 18 and 19, you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. Though you be read, your sins be as red as crimson, Jesus took upon himself while they placed upon him a robe of crimson, a robe of scarlet, something red and it reminds us that he poured out his blood for us. The thorns that they place on Jesus as a crown. In my office I have a crown of thorns to remind me of what they did to Jesus. And sometimes we may be thinking of thorns in the way that you may think of a rose having thorns, the small thorns. These are an inch to an inch and a half. They're like needles. And so what they did is they actually gingerly had placed this because it will easily will cut your hands. I've picked it up without thinking before I picked up that crown to move it. And it pierces you very quickly, very easily. You need to remember that by this time Jesus had already had people palming him and harming him and now they're putting this crown of thorns on him. Well the thorns remind us of the curse that was placed on the earth when man fell. In Genesis 3.17-19 God said, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. So thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you shall return. He wore a crown of thorns as a sacrificial lamb of God dealing with that curse. He wore a crown of thorns as a sacrificial lamb. But the Bible tells us that he wears crowns when he returns as kings. As the king. Revelation 19.12 says, his eyes are like blazing fire on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but himself. He goes on to say in verse 16, on his robe and on his thigh he has this name written, king of kings and lord of lords. Though he wore a crown of thorns he returns with many crowns. And the scepter, the scepter of rule is something that he as Messiah will wield. You see the scepter represents a ruling staff. In Hebrews 1.7 and 8 it says of the angels he says who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the sun he says your throne oh God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. So what man used to mock Christ were actually symbols of his greatness and his being the king. Verse 19 tells us they struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him and bowing the knee they worshiped him. His head was already swollen. His scalp would have been swollen by the pummeling that he'd already received. And now they're putting this crown on him and they're actually pressing it in and striking him. They're striking him and those thorns are pressing deeply into his head. His head that has already been his head that's already taken so many blows and he's in such pain. But they struck repeatedly on his swollen and bruised head and that drove those thorns more deeply into it. These men are beating him even more than he'd already been beaten. In Isaiah 50 verse 6 it says I gave my back to those who struck me my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. And so they're doing their best to humiliate Jesus Christ. At this point I want you to turn with me if you will to John 19 and I want to fill in some things that Mark didn't give to us. Mark chapter 19 we'll start reading together and I'll begin to speak a little bit out of verses 4 and 5. So when John 19 he had said in verse 3 they said hail king of the Jews and they struck him with their hands. In verse 4 Pilate then went out again and said to them behold I'm bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no fault in him. And Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate said to them behold the man behold the man. Now he said I find no fault in him and then he points him out. Notice him look at him as part of what he could be saying here he's helpless he poses no threat. Look how easily we were able to humiliate him. Look how easily he has been treated in this way and he does nothing he's harmless. Why are you so upset? He claims to be a king but he has no power. Well as they see him verse 6 says when the chief priest and officer saw him they cried out saying crucify him crucify him. Pilate said to them you take him and crucify him for I find no fault in him. So they see him and instead of it satisfying them and even provoking them to a bit of mercy or compassion the minute they see him the voices begin to rise and it's not just a priest I'm sure that there were those who amongst them that were crying out he is in our king. We don't trust him. Why would we want him to survive? It says in verse 7 that Jews answered him we have a law according to our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. What we have a law he made himself the son of God he is in our king he's a blasphemer he calls himself God's son. Now earlier in Mark 1461 and 62 it says when the high priest asked if he was the son of the blessed he had answered him by saying I am. So he is claiming to be the king and so in verse 7 that's why the Jews said we have a law and according to our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Our Jewish law Leviticus 2416 for us says he must die because this one is committed blasphemy and the blasphemers to die. Now in verse 8 therefore when Pilate heard that saying he was more afraid and he went again into the Praetorium and said to Jesus where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Pilate sees clearly this isn't a problem that's going to disappear. These people are bent on killing Jesus. Now he must have heard of what Jesus had been doing for three years. He was an official he would hear the things of this man called Christ this Jesus. He would have heard that he was a great preacher undoubtedly he would have heard about miracles. There's no doubt because there were so many people who had been affected by the resurrections especially the one of Lazarus there's no doubt that Pilate would have had some information concerning him. So he'd already heard undoubtedly of some of the things that Jesus had done some of the things that he had said some of the miracles that he had performed he'd been out there for around three years. Now Jesus had told him that he's a king and he had told Pilate that his kingdom wasn't of this world. Now remember Pontius Pilate's wife how she came to him and said I have suffered many things this day and a dream have nothing to do with this righteous man. And Pilate had wanted to wash his hands of Christ. All of these kinds of things were things he was aware of. And now the Jewish leaders are telling him this man this man he claims to be the Son of God. So that's why in verse 9 he went back into the Praetorium he said where are you from? Now I've heard that you're from Galilee but what is your true origin? What is your true nature? Jesus remained silent he's already responded to such questions. Pilate had enough information at this point to decide for himself. And Jesus' silence gives Pilate time to consider what he's already heard. By way of application the time eventually comes when nothing more can be or needs to be said. You've heard enough. There are people who have heard the gospel all their lives. There are people who are aware of some of the claims of Christ. Perhaps they were raised in a home where a mom and a dad were Christian people. Maybe they were raised in a society that had recognized at least the traditional value of the Christian faith, the society I grew up in and some of you perhaps entirely different society than we have today obviously. We grew up. I grew up in a time when you'd have Christmas specials every year. And the ones who would put the Christmas specials weren't even Christians. They were Jews. But they would have Christian specials on Christmas. They also would have specials for Easter. That's what we grew up with. My whole society that I grew up in, the kids that I knew and grew up with and ran with when I was a kid, every one of us, I didn't know a single kid who couldn't tell you what Christmas was supposed to mean. I couldn't tell you that. As a matter of fact, I even sang in a Christmas choir when I was like eight and nine years old in elementary school. It was just part of what we did. And Easter was also recognized. It wasn't called a break. It was called Easter week. We actually had permission from the schools to go to church on certain days because there would have been days that were celebrated in that way. So we grew up in a different way at this point I'm making. Jesus would actually celebrate Christmas. We used to drive in Norwalk where I grew up and you'd go on the street and into the city and they would have banners and they would have lights and Merry Christmas was everywhere. That's what we grew up with. See, so people of my generation were much more aware of the claims of Christ. There were movies that were made even as I was growing up that would point to Jesus Christ. And it was something that was very common then. And so we grew up with that knowledge. So when someone spoke to me about Jesus, I already had a backdrop. And that was the way it was for a long time. And today, obviously, that's not quite the same. There are a lot of kids who, if their parents don't tell them about Jesus, if they don't go to church, those kids know nothing about them. You see people like me, old people like me, the society doesn't care about us. They've already lost us. They're looking for your children. That's who they want to get, your kids, your babies, your grandchildren. That's who they want. You're already half dead. Who needs you? It's your grandchild that we want. It's your children that we want. So a Christian can't read about Christ in a library but drag Queens can. That's okay. You can't go and get a tattoo at the age of 13 without permission, but a little girl can get an abortion without the parents knowing. My 13-year-old granddaughter has various things she has to deal with. And my son, David, was just talking to me about it just this week, that there are medical things that are sent to him that he has to give to her or else she can't get treatment because she has to make the decision to receive the treatment or not. My son doesn't have the authority for her because they've taken the authority from the parents. You're aware of this. I'm sure. If not, that's true. See, so we live in a different time. People who have gone to church and have heard information about Christ, and I know numerous people of this sort, well, sometimes you get to the point where you don't share more. You just kind of say, well, you've already got the information. What are you going to do with it? You already know these things. What are you going to do with it? Because there comes a time when silence is necessary to allow that person that's being spoken to to make a decision, and that's kind of what's taking place here. Jesus is before Pilate, and now Pilate suddenly is saying, where are you from? But Jesus doesn't answer because Pilate already knows enough to make a decision. Now, as this is going on, in verse 10 he says, do you not know, Pilate says, that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? You're remaining silent, and you don't understand the power I have? Well, Jesus answered in verse 11, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Are you not speaking to me? Don't you realize that your life is in my hands? Pilate looking at Christ, who won't respond, thinks that Jesus is just being obstinate, but his arrogance draws a response, and Jesus in verse 11 says, you have no power. I'm not under your control, nor do I answer to you. My life is not under your control. It's under my fathers, and I always do those things that please him. You have no authority. You see, any authority Pilate that you wield has been granted to you. And by the way, that didn't come from Rome. In John 3.27, it reads that John, John the Baptist said, a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You have no authority. My father sent me to lay my life down on the cross, and you are simply part of the answer, or rather the means of having this carried out. Notice in verse 11 how he says, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Pilate, you see me as an innocent man, but only as an innocent man getting a bad deal. The fact is, Judas and the high priest and the council, they all have more to answer for. That's because they have more understanding than you. They've had more opportunities, and they have more knowledge. And that leaves them in the position of having more to answer for. It's like what it says in Luke 12.48, for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. Or in John 15, verse 22, if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. You have no power. But the one who delivered me, Judas and the council, and those who have conspired to hand me to you, they have greater sin. Well, as he hears that, notice verse 12, from then on Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. They're there obstinately refusing for Jesus to be let go. Pilate was becoming more convinced of his innocence. Justice for Jesus was more important than satisfying their anger and envy. But they say in verse 12, if you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. You're supposed to remove pressure from Caesar, not increase it. If you don't deal with this man, you will be reported as a traitor. And when you do get reported, Caesar will deal with you. And so Pilate, verse 13, when Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, gavita. It was preparation day of the Passover and about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, behold your king. And they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. He delivered him to them to be crucified and they took Jesus and led him away. There's nothing more he was willing to do. So verse 14 says that he says to them, behold your king. Now, again, on one hand, he may be eliciting sympathy. On the other hand, there are commentators who would say that he was actually mocking the Jewish people. There he is standing there, beaten, appearing helpless. Like it says in Isaiah 53-7, he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he didn't open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before it shears the silent. He did not open his mouth. Well, it appears that Pilate has had enough of these people. His attitude is changing. You're petty and this man beaten and helpless represents what you are. This is the best you as a nation could do when you produce a king. But as this happens in verse 15, they're saying away, away with him, away with him, crucify him. So instead of showing pity, they cried even more for his death. Shall I, shall I crucify your king? We have no king but Caesar. Literally he's saying, your king shall I crucify him? It's really more of a taunt. And Pilate's question pushes them to reveal what really was in their hearts all along. We have no king but Caesar. Instead of Messiah, Caesar is our only king. And that shows where their heart really is. We don't want this man. We will not have this man to rule over us. We have nothing to do with him. Caesar's our king. When they were put to the test and when they finally were given opportunity to say what was really there, there it was all along. We refuse this man. We demand his death. And that's why in verse 16, he delivered him to them to be crucified and they took him and led him away. Now returning to Mark 15, and I'll close with verse 20. For those of you who actually turned your Bibles instead of just sitting there looking at me. Verse 20, when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him. They took off the robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away. Carrying his cross, he went to a place called Golgotha, the place of the skull. You see, by Jewish law death penalties were enacted outside city walls. Verse 13, 11 through 13, the high priest carries the blood of animals into the most holy place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp bearing the disgrace he bore. Forced to carry the cross to the place of his execution. Now Jesus, and we'll close with this, Jesus used this horrifying picture to illustrate the cost of following him. If there's anything that we the church today need to remember, one of the many things we seem to be forgetting, is the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Christ for some reason. It's more appealing, I would say, it's more appealing to our flesh to see Christianity and see discipleship as being a kind of an easier path. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one who was executed in his opposition towards Hitler, he called it cheap grace. It cost me nothing, but it's been said of grace that costs nothing is worth nothing. But there are a lot of Christians today, or at least professing Christians, who don't understand that Jesus spoke about discipleship as a rigorous and even a very difficult path. In Luke 9.23 he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Carry the instrument of your own death on a daily basis, recognize yourself for which you are. Jesus is carrying the cross, but it's something he preached to us that we were to carry, and he demonstrated to us how to do it, because in that cross that he bore for us, the dying cross for our sin, it was the path to glory. And even so, when we carry our cross and follow him, we also are following the path to glory. It isn't cheap and it wasn't easy, it was costly. The suffering that Jesus went through was unlike anything that we'd understand or fathom today. And he did it not so I would be free to continue in sin so that grace might have bound God forbid, Paul would say. He did it to set us free from the bondage that we live in without him. He showed us the depth of love that he had for us, but he also showed us how terrible sin is. He was placed on a cross, but the nails didn't keep him there. What kept him there was the love of God, and God demonstrating what sin does. So for us to take what he did lightly, well, it's something we need to rethink. It's something that we need to meditate on, especially as Easter season is approaching. What was the cost of our salvation, the death of God's own son? Suffering, pain, humiliation, degradation, rejection. You're worthless, you're nothing, we don't need you. We prefer the Roman government over a messianic kingdom. We don't want to lose our place and we don't want to lose the way that the people treat us. They regard us with such esteem, how they approach us and they call us father and as they give us money and as they listen to us and we can lead. We don't want to lose that. We don't want Rome to come and take that from us. We don't want to lose that. We would rather lose you than to lose that. Crucify him, put him on the cross, get him out of our hair. So there he is, this broken body, carrying across to a hill where he's going to die for our sins. And he says, follow me. And that's what Christians do. And again, if there's anything this nation needs right now, it's for the church to wake up because we're in dark times and we're allowing the darkness to overcome us. The scripture says the light overcomes the darkness. The darkness cannot overcome the light. So let us let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who's in heaven. Father, we ask that you would work in us.