Mark 15:20

26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. 28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And when they had mocked him,....

The passage we have now read, is one of those which show us the infinite love of Christ toward sinners. The sufferings described in it would fill our minds with mingled horror and compassion, if they had been inflicted on one who was only a man like ourselves. But when we reflect that the sufferer was the eternal Son of God, we are lost in wonder and amazement.

WHEN our Lord had been condemned to die, the execution of His sentence was hurried. The Jews were in great haste to shed His blood. So intense was the enmity of the chief priests and Pharisees, that every moment of delay was wearisome to them. Besides, it was the day of the Passover and they wished to have this matter finished before they went, with hypocritical piety, to celebrate the festival of Israel's deliverance!

The passage we have now read, is one of those which show us the infinite love of Christ toward sinners. The sufferings described in it would fill our minds with mingled horror and compassion, if they had been inflicted on one who was only a man like ourselves. But when we reflect that the sufferer was the eternal Son of God, we are lost in wonder and amazement. And when we reflect further that these sufferings were voluntarily endured to deliver sinful men and women like ourselves from hell, we may see something of Paul's meaning when he says, "The love of Christ passes knowledge." "God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Ephes. 3:19; Rom. 5:8.) We shall find it useful to examine separately the several parts of our Lord's passion. Let us follow Him step by step from the moment of His condemnation by Pilate to His last hour upon the cross. There is a deep meaning in every jot and tittle of His sorrows. All were striking emblems of spiritual truths. And let us not forget as we dwell on the wondrous story, that we and our sins were the cause of all these sufferings. "Christ suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18.) It is the death of our own Surety and Substitute that we are reading. First of all we see Jesus delivered into the hands of the Roman soldiers, as a criminal condemned to death. He before whom the whole world will one day stand and be judged, allowed Himself to be sentenced unjustly, and given over into the hands of wicked men. And why was this? It was that we, the poor sinful children of men, believing on Him, might be delivered from the pit of destruction, and the torment of the prison of hell. It was that we might be set free from every charge in the day of judgment, and be presented faultless before God the Father with exceeding joy.

WHEN our Lord had been condemned to die, the execution of His sentence was hurried. The Jews were in great haste to shed His blood. So intense was the enmity of the chief priests and Pharisees, that every moment of delay was wearisome to them. Besides, it was the day of the Passover and they wished to have this matter finished before they went, with hypocritical piety, to celebrate the festival of Israel's deliverance! We do not wonder at their eagerness, for they could not bear themselves while He lived, since His very Presence reproved them for their falsehood and hypocrisy. But at Pilate, we do wonder, and herein he is much to be blamed. In all civilized countries there is usually an interval between the sentencing of the prisoner and the time of his being put to death. As the capital sentence is irreversible, it is well to have a little space in which possible evidence may be forthcoming which may prevent the fatal stroke. In some countries we have thought that there has been a cruelly long delay between the sentence and the execution, but with the Romans it was usual to allow the reasonable respite of 10 days. Now, I do not say that it was incumbent upon Pilate, according to Roman Law, to have allowed 10 days to a Jew, who had not the rights of Roman citizenship, but I do say that he might have pleaded the custom of his country and so have secured a delay—and afterwards he might have released his prisoner. It was within his reach to have done so and he was blameworthy, as he was all along, in thus yielding to the clamor for an immediate execution for no other reason than that he was "willing to content the people." When once we begin to make the wishes of other men our law, we know not to what extremity of criminality we may be led.