Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MARK #25 - 15:1-15)
F. 15:1-15 PILATE UNWILLINGLY CONDEMNS JESUS
a. 15:1 JESUS DELIVERED TO PILATE
Kai euTHUS proI sumBOUli-on [4824]poiEsan-tes hoi ar-chi-eREIS
And straightway in the morning the chief priests
meTA ton pres-buTEron kai gram-maTEon, kai HOlon to suNEdri-on,
with the elders and scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin,
DEsan-tes [1210]ton IeSOUN, aPEneg-kan [667], kai paREdo-kan [3860]PeiLA-to.
held a consultation, andbound :Jesus, andcarried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.
b. 15:2a And :Pilate asked him, Are you the King of the Jews?
kai e-peROte-sen [1905]auTON ho PeiLAtos, Su ei ho ba-siLEUS ton IouDAIon?
c. 15:2b And he answering him, says, You say.
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS auTO, LEgei, Su LEgeis.
d. 15:3 And the chief priests accused him of many things.
kai ka-teGOroun [2723]auTOU hoi archi-eREIS polLA.
e. 15:4a And :Pilate again asked him, saying, Do you answer nothing?
ho de PeiLAtos PAlin e-peROta auTON, LEgon, Ouk a-poKRIneouDEN​?
f. 15:4b See how many thingsthey accuse you of. Ide POsa sou ka-te-goROUsin [2649].
g. 15:5 But :Jesus answered nothing more; so that Pilate marveled.
ho de IeSOUS ouKEti ouDEN a-peKRIthe; HOste thauMAzein [2296]ton PeiLAton.
h. 15:6 Now at thefeast he would release to them one prisoner, whom they asked of him.
KaTA de he-orTEN ePElu-en [630]auTOIS HEna DESmi-on [1198], hon pa-reTOUNto.
i. 15:7 BARABBAS
en de ho leGOme-nos Ba-rabBAS meTA ton sta-si-aSTON [4955]de-deMEnos,
And the onecalled Barabbas was bound with the insurgents,
HOIti-nes en to STAsei [4714] PHOnon [5408] pe-poiEkei-san.
menwho in the insurrection had committed murder.
j. 15:8 And the crowd went up and began to ask him to doas he was accustomed to do to them.
kai a-naBAS [310]ho OCHlos ERxa-to aiTEISthai [154]kaTHOS ePOIei auTOIS.
k. 15:9 And :Pilate answered them, saying, Will you that I release to you the King of the Jews?
ho de PeiLAtos a-peKRIthe auTOIS, LEgon, THEle-te a-poLUso huMIN ton ba-siLEo IouDAIon?
l. 15:10 For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up.
eGIno-sken gar HOti diA PHTHOnon [5355]pa-ra-deDOkei-san [3860]auTON hoi ar-chi-eREIS.
m. 15:11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, that he should rather release :Barabbas to them.
hoi de ar-chi-eREIS aNEsei-san [383] ton OCHlon, HIna MALlon ton Ba-rabBAN a-poLUse auTOIS.
n. 15:12 PILATE SEEKS SOLUTION FOR JESUS
ho de PeiLAtos paLIN a-po-kriTHEIS Ele-gen auTOIS, Ti oun
And Pilate again answered andsaid to them, What then
poiEso hon LEge-te ton ba-siLEa ton IouDAIon?
shall I do to himwhom you call the King of the Jews?
o. 15:13 And they cried out again, Crucify him. hoi de PAlin Edra-xan, STAUro-son [4717]auTON.
p. 15:14a And :Pilate said to them, What evil, pray, has he done?
ho de PeiLAtos Ele-gen auTOIS, Ti gar ePOIe-sen kaKON?
q. 15:14b But they cried out exceedingly, Crucify him.
hoi de pe-risSOS [4056]Ekra-xan, STAUro-son auTON.
r. 15:15 PILATE PLEASES CROWD RATHER THAN JUSTICE
ho de PeiLAtos bouLOme-nos to OCHlo to hi-kaNON [2425] poiEsai, aPElu-sen auTOIS tou Ba-rabBAN,
And :Pilate wishing to content the crowd, released to them :Barabbas,
kai paREdo-ken ton IeSOUN, phra-gelLOsas [5417], HIna stau-roTHE.
and delivered :Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.
NOTE: The Bible notes that the chief priests had the greater sin - above Pilate - though the sin of Pilate was serious enough. So much for Roman justice!
Pilate did have the insight to perceive the underlying reason for the enmity of the chief priests - envy! Imagine - envying God's only begotten Son! The parable Jesus gave them of the Vineyard - exactly uncovered their hypocrisy and murderous spirit, and they recognized that Jesus spoke this parable concerning themselves!
Notice too the fickleness of the crowd. On Palm Sunday they were saluting and hailing Jesus as King of the Jews. Now, under the instigation of the chief priests, they completely reversed themselves, and asked for a murderer to be released to them instead of the Prince of Peace.
It is dangerous for individuals to join a crowd! One can be swayed into an unjust conclusion and decision, reversing what we might have previously recognized as truth. Normally and usually we need to withdraw alone and seek the mind of God. Saint John of the Cross was enabled to clearly apprehend God's will through this habit, and many another saint also. Jesus according to His custom rose daily during His 33 year earthly pilgrimage, and sought communion with His Father. Out of this trysting time, He daily had the will of heaven for all he did on earth. Paul the apostle closely followed this same pattern. Would to God more individuals in Jesus' day withdrew apart, and were guarded from the selfish and envious counsel of the High Priests!
Mark 15:15 is a paragraph complete in itself according to Bible Numerics, setting forth in a compact area, lessons that we need to take well heed of. J.A.W.