The Gospel according to Saint Mark, commented on verse by verse

CHAPTER 15

Mark 15, 1. Parallel. Matt. 27, 1-2; Luke 23, 1; John 18, 28.

Mc15.¹ Early in the morning, without delay, the chief priests held a council with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin. And after binding Jesus, they led him away and handed him over to Pilate. — From the morning. Indicate with what haste and determination the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees undertook the condemnation of Christ. Tinrent advice. This session, distinct from the one that had taken place during the night (Mark 14:55 ff.), was intended, on the one hand, to correct what had been defective, according to Jewish law, in a nighttime pronouncement (see Matthew 27:1 and the commentary); and on the other hand, to allow the Sanhedrin members to consult on how they would accuse Jesus before Pilate. With the Elders and the Scribes and the entire Sanhedrin. This is obviously an emphatic expression, since the three categories of the Sanhedrin have already been mentioned. Only St. Mark took care to note that this second assembly was plenary. They bound Jesus, took him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Since the Jews no longer had the power to administer vengeance, nor the right to put a man to death, but only to try him and judge him according to their law, they themselves brought Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor of the province, begging him that, having been judged worthy of the ultimate punishment according to their law, he would condemn him and have him executed. See the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:1. The full name of Pilate, this sinister man whose memory will forever be associated with the greatest crime committed on earth, was "Pontius Pilate." Cf. Matthew 27:2. St. Mark mentions only the nickname, which was undoubtedly more common than the name. He does not mention Pilate's title because it was a point of Roman history with which his readers were perfectly familiar. — By leading the Savior to the praetorium, the Sanhedrinists were unknowingly fulfilling part of his prophecy to which we have already alluded several times: "they will hand him over to the Gentiles," Mark 10:33. They were handing Jesus over to the Romans; but their turn would soon come to be handed over by God themselves into the hands of these enemies of their nation.

Mark 15:2-5. Parallel. Matt. 27, 11-14; Luke 23:2-5; John 18:29-38.

Mc15.² Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "You say so."« — Are you the king of the Jews? This was the only, or at least the main, accusation that could interest Pilate; for blasphemy, for example, which had been the sole reason for the condemnation pronounced by the priests, was none of his concern. As far as he was concerned, the only question was whether Jesus was a seditious man, seeking to form a faction and have himself declared king. Thus, upon arriving before Pilate, the Sanhedrin had accused Jesus of a political offense, a crime of lèse-majesté. You say so. What you say is true; it is as you say. This way of answering a question affirmatively is still used today in Syria. It does not have the ambiguous meaning that Theophylact attributes to it when he comments on it in these terms: «By saying to him: you say so, he answers him with great wisdom. For he did not say: I am not, nor: I am. But he used an intermediate formula when he answered him: you say so. For it can also be understood in the following way: I am what you say; or again, this, I do not say, it is you who say it» [Theophylact, Enarratio in Evangelii, Matth. 27, 2.].

Mc15.³ As the Princes of the Priests brought various accusations against him, — St. John 18:30 and St. Luke 23:5 have preserved some of the accusations that the Sanhedrin made against Jesus. «They insisted, saying: He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began, even to this place.».

Mc15.⁴ Pilate questioned him again, saying, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of."« ⁵ But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was astonished. Pilate, already concerned about the accused and wanting to save his life, urged him to defend himself, hoping that a man of such dignity would easily refute the obviously impassioned allegations of the Sanhedrin. Jesus made no further response, contenting himself with the "You say so" spoken a few moments before. The Savior remains silent; he is ready to suffer, out of love for us, the fate destined for him; he wants to do nothing to turn away the bitter cup of his Passion.

Mark 15:6-15. Parallel. Matt. 27, 15-26; Luke 23:17-25; John 18, 39–19.1.

Mc15.⁶ However, at each Passover festival, he released a prisoner to them, the one they asked for. ⁷ However, there was in the prison the man named Barabbas, with the seditious men and his accomplices, for a murder they had committed in sedition. — Before arriving at the main scene, the Evangelist notes two preliminary facts, intended to guide the reader on the rest of the incident. The first fact, verse 6, consists of a custom with the force of law according to which, on the occasion of Passover, the Roman governor was to release a Jewish prisoner, whom the people themselves would designate. See, on this custom, the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:15. — Second preliminary detail, verse 7. There was precisely then in the prison from the praetorium, «a notorious prisoner» (Matthew), named Barabbas, whose criminal conduct St. Mark describes very clearly, in order to better highlight the contrast that will follow (v. 11). 1° in the prison (…) with the seditious. He was one of those many Sicarii who frequently rebelled against Roman authority at that time, especially since Pilate seemed to take pleasure in offending the religious and national sentiments of the Jews. 2° For a murder they had committed. He had added murder to rebellion. His hands were stained with blood. This is the man who will soon be preferred to Jesus.

Mc15.⁸ The crowd, having gathered, began to demand what he always granted them. — After this brief preamble, St. Marc resumes the story. The crowd, having gone up.This would indicate that the crowd went to the praetorium from all parts of the city, or else climbed the Lithostrotos (cf. John 19:13) which served as the governor's tribunal. He began to demand what he always granted them. The elliptical construction means "began to demand that he grant it to them as usual." The crowd is therefore loudly demanding the exercise of its customary privilege.

Mc15.⁹ Pilate answered them, "Do you want me to release the King of the Jews to you?"« ¹⁰ For he knew that it was out of envy that the Princes of the Priests had handed him over. — Do you want me to deliver you?…? This demand from the people coincided too perfectly with the governor's deepest desires for him to hesitate for a single moment in granting it. Seizing this unexpected opportunity to save Our Lord, he immediately suggested to the multitude the idea of granting him amnesty. By the words the king of the Jews, He perhaps hoped to arouse more pity among the people: "Are you not moved by the miserable state of this man who claims to be your king?" They have sometimes, but wrongly, been given an ironic meaning. Because he knew.... The very course of the debates had revealed to Pilate that it was out of envy that the leaders of the priestly party (their mention here is unique to St. Mark) wanted to get rid of Jesus at all costs. That is why, without incurring any responsibility himself, he was trying to use the crowd to wrest their victim from them.

Mc15.¹¹ But the Pontiffs stirred up the people, in order to get them to release Barabbas instead. The priests understood the Procurator's maneuver and hastened to thwart it by inciting the people against Jesus themselves. The interruption in the audience caused by the arrival of Pilate's wife's messenger (cf. Matthew 27:19-20) granted them a few minutes, which they skillfully used to achieve their satanic ends. Excited. The corresponding expression in the Greek text is very forceful. It is found only here and in Luke 23, 5. It refers to vigorous efforts made to agitate a gathering of men by stirring up their worst passions. He should rather have freed Barabbas… «rather», preferably. The priests were no doubt representing to the people that Barabbas was, after all, a valiant champion of Jewish nationality against Roman oppression, a zealot full of patriotism, and that, as such, he was the one to whom preference should be given.

Mc15.¹² Pilate, speaking again, said to them, "What then do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews?"« ¹³ They shouted again, "Crucify him!"« — Here we have an example of how St. Mark abbreviates and condenses the facts. He omits, because they were contained in embryo in the two preceding lines (v. 11), a question from Pilate and a response from the crowd. We find both in the first Gospel, Matthew 27:21: «Which of the two do you want me to release for you?» They said, “Barabbas.” Although disappointed in his hope, Pilate still tries to save Jesus, asking the people: “What then shall I do to the king of the Jews?” Or, according to a widely accepted reading: “What shall I do to the one you say is the king of the Jews?” He thought he would obtain, for both Jesus and Barabbas, a vote of release. Crucify him. Such was the barbaric sentence pronounced by the crowd. They chose for their Messiah the most atrocious and ignominious of Roman tortures. One can see the extent to which the priests had succeeded in inciting them to fanaticism.

Mc15.¹⁴ Pilate said to them, "But what wrong has he done?" And they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"« — But what harm did he do? Entirely focused on ingenious means, Pilate tries to draw the crowd's attention to the innocence of the man whose death they ruthlessly demanded. But a riotous, bloodthirsty mob is deeply concerned about the innocence of those they slaughter. "The Jews, giving in to their madness, do not answer their governor's question." And they shouted even louder: Crucify him!, «So that this saying of Jeremiah (c. 12) might be fulfilled: »My inheritance has become like a lion in the forest: they have raised their voice against me.«» Bede the Venerable. — Saint Peter would later reproach the Jews, in Acts 3:13-15, for their conduct: “Jesus… you handed him over, you denied him in the presence of Pilate, who was determined to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and you asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life.” These enemies of Jesus scarcely suspected then that they themselves or their children would soon atone on the cross for the crucifixion of Jesus. Indeed, a great number of Judeans were condemned to this punishment by the Romans during the war which brought an end to the theocratic nation [Cf. Flavius Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, 6, 28.].

Mc15.¹⁵ Pilate, wanting to satisfy the people, released Barabbas to them and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. — Pilate certainly showed some justice in the preceding scene; but he resisted the crowd only too weakly, and now he is no longer in control of the situation. At Caesarea already, as Josephus recounts [Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 4, 3, 1], he had learned in a similar circumstance how far the obstinacy of an Israelite mob could go. He therefore cowardly yields to the two demands that had been expressed before him: he sets Barabbas free and condemns Jesus to the torment of the cross. «You will go to the cross,» such, in its typically Roman conciseness, was the judge's sentence in such a case. — The words wanting to satisfy the people This shows the Prosecutor's aim in decreeing this execution for Jesus. He wanted to get rid of a crowd that had become threatening, and to restore his long-shaken popularity through this concession. It is true that he was sacrificing an innocent man for this purpose. But a Roman governor, and especially a Pilate, did not look so closely at that. After having Jesus flogged See the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:26. We have said (ibid.) that, in Pilate's intention, the scourging was meant to be a kind of compromise intended to appease the people's savage desires and spare Jesus' life. But, this expedient having failed like the others, it was in reality nothing but a pointless cruelty. It did, however, serve to fulfill Jesus' prophecy, "they will scourge him," Mark 10:33, and to merit for us an increase of graces. — On the scourging of Christ, the Holy Shroud of Turin provides important and moving historical information.

Mark 15:16-19. Parallel. Matt. 27, 27-30; John 19:2-3.

Mc15.¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard, that is, into the praetorium, and summoned the entire cohort. — The soldiers…The context indicates that these were Roman soldiers. Cf. Matthew 27:27, «the governor’s soldiers.» When Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin, the high priest’s servants began to heap insults upon him. Cf. Mark 14:63. The imperial soldiers acted similarly toward him after Pilate ratified the sentence of the Sanhedrin. Inside the courtyard. The scene we have just witnessed took place in the outer courtyard of the palace that served as Pilate's residence, and which was called the Praetorium according to Roman custom; the crowning with thorns will take place in the inner courtyard, with which the barracks were undoubtedly connected. They summoned the entire cohort. The cohort formed one-tenth of the legion and comprised five to six hundred men. The Procurator of Judea had six cohorts at his disposal: five of them were stationed at Caesarea in Palestine; the sixth remained in Jerusalem.

Mc15.¹⁷ And having clothed him in purple, they crowned his head with a crown of thorns which they had woven. — They dressed him in a red coat. «Since Jesus had been called the King of the Jews, and the crime of which the scribes and priests had accused him was that he had wanted to usurp power over the people of Israel, the soldiers made him the object of their derision, and that is why, stripping him of his clothes, they clothed him in purple, the distinction of the ancient kings.» Bede the Venerable. According to the more accurate account in St. Matthew, 27:28 (see the commentary), it was with a chlamys, one of their scarlet cloaks, that the soldiers clothed Our Lord. The ancient authors did not pride themselves on perfect accuracy when it came to colors: they often confused similar shades. That is why St. Mark and St. John call «a purple garment» what St. Matthew calls «a red cloak.» Cf. St. Augustine [De Consensu Evangelistarum, l. 3, c. 9.]. — A crown of thorns. The mockery will be complete: to the simulacrum of a royal garment, they add that of the royal diadem.

Mc15.¹⁸ Then they began to greet him: "Hail, King of the Jews."« — Hail, King of the Jews. Similarly, the Recepta. But, according to numerous manuscripts (A, C, E, F, G, etc.), the authentic reading appears to have been: "Hail, you who are the king of the Jews." This second phrase is more forceful, and consequently more offensive.

Mc15.¹⁹ And they struck him on the head with a reed and spat on him and, bending their knees, they paid him homage. — They hit him on the head with a reed.. We know from Matthew 27:29 that this reed was first placed as a scepter in the Savior's right hand. They spat… they adored. Note these imperfect tenses, which indicate the repetition, the multiplication of insults, each soldier in the cohort wanting to play his part in this dreadful scene. Thus, another part of Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled: "they will insult him and spit on him,", Mark 10, 34. — The mockery of Christ and the crowning with thorns inspired masterful works by Schidone, Guido Reni, Valentino, Luini, Titian, and Rubens. The truly regal attitude of Jesus was generally well reproduced in them.

Mark 15:20-22. Parallel. Matt. 27, 31-33; Luke 23:36-32; John 19:2-3.

Mc15.²⁰ After mocking him in this way, they took off his purple robe, put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to be crucified. — Although already satiated with reproaches, as Isaiah had foretold, Jesus has not yet emptied the cup to the dregs. He still has to painfully climb Calvary and suffer a cruel death there out of love for us. That is why They took him away to crucify him, So that the Savior's prophecy might be fulfilled: "They will kill him," Mark 10:34. They first led him out of the praetorium, then out of the city; for among the ancients, executions took place outside the city walls. Cf. Matthew 27:32 and the explanation. It is also by virtue of a custom, whether Roman or Eastern, that we see the execution follow the sentence so closely.

Mc15.²¹ A certain Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, passing by on his way back from the fields, was requisitioned by them to carry the cross of Jesus., — They requisition… See, on this word, the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 5:41. Simon of Cyrene. Does this nickname, "of Cyrene," indicate that Simon lived in Cyrenaica and was only in Jerusalem at that time for Passover? Or does it mean that Jesus' cross-bearer was simply from that province and had been living in the Jewish capital for some time? The following details..., returning from the fields, The fact that this is common to St. Mark and St. Luke makes the second opinion very plausible. Indeed, it seems to suggest either that Simon owned property near Jerusalem from which he was returning at that moment, or, according to the more common meaning of the word ἀγρος (field), that he had his usual residence in the countryside, some distance from the city. The vague a certain shows that he was not known to the readers of St. Mark; but, on the other hand, the words father of Alexander and Rufus, specific to our Evangelist, announce that the two sons of the Cyrenian were not only Christians, but renowned Christians in the Church of Rome, for which the second Gospel was specially composed. It is even probable that Alexander and Rufus were themselves then, or at least had once been, domiciled in Rome; for among the personal greetings that conclude the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, we find the following, Romans 16, 13: «Greet Rufus, chosen by the Lord, and his mother, who is also mine.» Now, it is commonly accepted that the Rufus of Saint Paul and that of Saint Mark are identical. This opinion is already found in the apocryphal writing entitled «Acts of Andrew and Peter.» Nothing proves, on the contrary, that we should confuse the other son of Simon with the person of the same name mentioned in a dishonorable way in various places in the New Testament. Cf. Acts 19:33; 1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 4:14. A curious detail: of these three names that we find in a Jewish family contemporary with Our Lord, only the first (Simon) was Jewish. The second (Alexander) was Greek, the third (Rufus) was Latin. This simple fact suffices to show to what extent Judaism was tending to disintegrate, to become cosmopolitan. Carrying the cross of Jesus. «Every vice,» wrote Plutarch, «carries its own torment, just as every criminal bears his own cross» [Plutarch, De sera numinis vindicta, 9]. Cf. Artemidorus [Artemidorus Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 2, 61]. Thus, Our Lord himself carried his cross on his shoulders for a time. If the soldiers relieved him of it before the end of the arduous journey, it was surely because, exhausted by fatigue and pain, he no longer had the strength to drag his heavy burden. This is why, as the procession left the city (cf. Matthew 27:32) through the “Gate of Justice” of tradition, the executioners, encountering Simon of Cyrene, forced him to carry the cross in Jesus’ place. Moreover, the main goal was achieved, since the divine condemned man had the humiliation of crossing, with the instrument of his torture on his back, the then very populous streets of Jerusalem, and receiving a thousand insults.

Mc15.²² that they lead to the place called Golgotha, which is translated as: place of the Skull. — Golgotha. On the name and location of Golgotha, see the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:33. — «It would be a fine problem solved, to rediscover in Jerusalem the Way that Jesus traveled, watered with his blood during his Passion. Unfortunately, the traditions relating to the Way of Sorrows are almost modern; that is to say, the stations designated today were only definitively established in the Middle Ages. The only fixed points are the praetorium, which was certainly located in the Antonia Tower, Calvary, and the tomb: everything else is conjectural. The profound and successive transformations that the Holy City has undergone make it almost impossible to recognize exactly the route taken; one gets lost in a maze of modern constructions that prevent one from approaching it. From the point of view of faith, an approximation is quite sufficient» [Charles Rohault de Fleury, Memoir on the Instruments of the Passion, p. 280 ff.]. The "Via Crucis," as pilgrims have followed it in Jerusalem for centuries, stretches for about 500 meters and is marked by nine of the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The last five stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Its general direction is east to west, between St. Stephen's Gate and the Latin Convent. "There is," wrote a Protestant author, "something that makes a vivid impression in this dark street, with its vaulted walkways, its patches of shadow and light, and its venerated stones around which one always sees a few small groups of pilgrims." The section of the Way of Sorrows that climbs rather steeply to the Holy Sepulchre has a truly picturesque character. — Among the almost countless masterpieces produced by the complete or partial representation of the Way of the Cross, let us limit ourselves to mentioning a painting by Titian, a striking image of Christ carrying his cross and having a rope around his neck pulled by a vile figure, and Raphael's "Spasimo." "The mixture of suffering and pity in Christ's gaze, as he collapses under his cross and tells the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for him, gives this part of the painting a power of attraction that seems to have been calculated to provoke a surge of love or contrition" (Rio).

Mark 15:23-37. Parallel. Matt. 27, 34-50; Luke 23:33-46; John 23:18-30.

Mc15.²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it. This verse recounts one of the preliminaries to Jesus's martyrdom. When the august victim arrived staggering at Golgotha, according to an ancient Jewish custom, he was offered a beverage, both to strengthen him and to make him less susceptible to the horrible sufferings of crucifixion. This beverage, which St. Matthew (27:34, see the commentary) calls "wine mixed with gall," is more accurately described by St. Mark as... wine mixed with myrrh, That is to say, a mixture of wine and myrrh. It is known that the ancients sought this mixture because of its very pronounced aromatic taste [Cf. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 14, 15]; but, moreover, they regarded it as a powerful narcotic [Dioscorides, 1, 77], and it is for this reason that, according to the generally accepted opinion, devout people offered it to Jesus. But he didn't take any.. Christ, in fact, was to die alive, and not asleep. Nevertheless, as St. Matthew says, Jesus consented to take a few drops of the myrrh wine.

Mc15.²⁴ Having crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves, casting lots to decide what each would take. — Having crucified him. What suffering is contained in this single word. «My Brothers, I implore you, relieve my mind here; meditate yourselves on Jesus crucified, and spare me the trouble of describing to you what words are not capable of making you understand: contemplate what a man suffers whose limbs are all broken and shattered by a violent suspension; who, having his hands and feet pierced, can only support himself on his wounds, and pulls his torn hands from the full weight of his body, completely felled by the loss of blood; who, amidst his extreme pain, seems lifted so high only to discover from afar an infinite crowd, mocking, shaking their heads, making a subject of ridicule of such a deplorable extremity» [Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, 4th sermon for Good Friday, Versailles edition, vol. 3, p. 488]. For all questions relating to the cross and the crucifixion, we refer the reader to our Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:35, and to the book by Dr. Pierre Barbet, *The Passion of Jesus Christ According to the Surgeon*, published by Médiaspaul, ISBN 2-7122-0049-7. We invite readers to search the internet for front and profile photographs of the Crucifix by Dr. Charles Villandre, surgeon and sculptor, which presents the crucifix closest to historical accuracy. From an artistic point of view, one could fill a volume if one wished to describe all the remarkable paintings, engravings, and sculptures that the crucifix of Jesus has inspired. Along with the Nativity scene, it is the cross that has most inspired the great masters throughout history. The works of Duccio, of Bernardino Luini, of Cavallini, of Lorenzetti, of Avanzi, of Ferrari, of Veronese, of Perugino, of Rubens, of fra Angelico, please us above all. — They shared his clothes…Valentin and Lebrun accurately depicted this scene. The lictors, or soldiers, who acted as executioners were entitled to wear the condemned men's clothing. The dice, which every Roman warrior usually carried, were used to determine the lot of each of the four executioners.

Mc15.²⁵ It was the third hour when they crucified him. — A feature specific to St. Mark. The third hour of the ancients was roughly equivalent to 9 a.m. Since, according to St. John 19:14, Jesus was still in the Praetorium around the sixth hour, it has often been thought, following St. Jerome, that the adjective "third" in our text must be a scribal error for "sixth"; but we will see later that St. John had adopted a special numbering system. Therefore, there is nothing to change.

Mc15.²⁶ The inscription indicating the cause of his condemnation read: "The King of the Jews."« — The registration… «Titulus,» ἡ ἐπιγραφὴ, these were indeed the technical terms used in Greece and Rome to designate the small tablet on which the reason for the condemnation of those crucified was written, and which was attached to the top of the cross. See Matthew 27:37 and the commentary. The King of the Jews. Of the four inscriptions preserved for us in the Holy Gospels, that of St. Mark is notably the shortest. It indicates only the nature of the crime imputed to Jesus. Perhaps it was the Latin inscription.

Mc15.²⁷ They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right, the other on his left. ²⁸ Thus was fulfilled the Scripture which says, «And he was numbered with the transgressors.» — They crucified him with him…It was, one can easily guess, to further humiliate Our Lord Jesus Christ that two scoundrels of the worst kind were crucified beside him. By placing them, one on his right and the other on his left, like assessors, they were again playing on his title of king; for, in this position, they seemed to stand beside his throne like two prime ministers. Thus was fulfilled this word of Scripture.…Our Evangelist, right at the beginning of his narrative, 1, 2 ff., has already pointed out, in connection with the Forerunner, the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. He was classified as a criminal.This prophecy is taken from Isaiah 53:12. The ancient Jews understood it to refer to the Messiah. Saint Philip, in Acts 8:32-33, also applies it to him. And Jesus Christ himself, in Luke 22:37, had warned that its application would have to be seen in his person.

Mc15.²⁹ Passersby insulted him, shaking their heads and saying, "Ah, you who destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, ³⁰ Save yourself and come down from the cross.» ³¹ The Princes of the priests, together with the Scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He has saved others, but he cannot save himself.". ³² "Now let Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe." Even those crucified with him insulted him. — St. Mark moves on to the harrowing account of the insults with which the Jews were not ashamed to heap the divine Crucified One. The details he gives on this subject hardly differ from those we have read in St. Matthew. He, too, distinguishes three classes of insulters: passersby (vv. 29 and 30), the Sanhedrin (vv. 31 and 32a), and thieves (vv. 32b). He abridges somewhat, as is his custom, but he also includes several small original touches, for example, the picturesque between them from verse 31, and the words so that we may see from v. 32. — This dreadful scene shows the extent of the hatred of Jesus' enemies: it is also very much in keeping with the customs of the East, where they do not hesitate to insult those condemned to death even on the gallows where they are dying.

Mc15.³³ At the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. — Darkness spread over all the earth. Three hours had already passed since Jesus had been nailed to the cross. (Cf. v. 25) Around noon (the sixth hour), the sky suddenly darkened in a mysterious and supernatural way (see the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:45), as if to conceal itself from the sufferings and death of Christ. This darkness enveloped not only the city of God's murder, but all of Palestine and probably a considerable part of the Old World., the whole earth, they persevered until Jesus' last breath.

Mc15.³⁴ And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, «Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.» Which translates as, «My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?» — And at the ninth hour. At three o'clock in the afternoon. It was then that the evening sacrifice was offered in the temple. At this supreme moment, the agony of the dying Jesus reached its peak. Forsaken by his heavenly Father, just as he was forsaken by men, Our Lord pronounced in a loud voice this text from the Psalms: Eloi, Eloi, lamma sabachthani. Cf. Matthew 27:46 and the explanation. In the first Gospel, we read "Eli" (אלי) instead of "Eloi" (אלהי). St. Mark has preserved the Aramaic form, which was likely the one the divine Master used. What anguish in this heart-rending exclamation!. 

Mc15.³⁵ Some of those who were there, having heard it, said, "Look, he is calling for Elijah."« ³⁶ And one of them ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, and having put it on the end of a reed, he gave it to him to drink, saying, "Leave it, let's see if Elijah will come and bring him down."« — he calls Elijah. Our Evangelist recounts, almost in the same terms as St. Matthew, the incident that arose from Jesus' cry of distress. The final detail, Let's see…, nevertheless received a special form in his narrative. Indeed, while he has a person animated by a certain feeling of compassion towards Jesus say: Let's see if Elijah will come and help him down, St. Matthew attributes this thought to the entire assembly: «But the others said, »Leave him alone; let us see if Elijah will come and rescue him.«» But who actually uttered these words? “From this we can conclude that they all spoke this way,” he aptly replies. Saint Augustine [De Consensu Evangelistarum, Book 3, ch. 17]. By combining the two accounts, we obtain a vivid picture of the heightened excitement created at the foot of the cross by the Savior's cry. — Let us also note, on the one hand, the expression will come and bring him down, more picturesque than the "will come to save him" of the first Gospel; on the other hand, the description is as rapid as the event itself must have been. This is indeed the style of St. Mark.

Mc15.³⁷ But Jesus, having cried out with a loud voice, breathed his last. — This cry, uttered in a loud voice, was the cry of a victor rather than that of a dying man. Jesus therefore expired in the fullness of his freedom, and not as a victim of the terrible sentence that condemned all men to death.

Mark 15:38-41. Parallel. Matt. 27, 51-56; Luke 23:47-49. 

Mc15.³⁸ And the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom. — «After recounting the passion and death of Christ, the evangelist continues with what happened after the Lord’s death,» Glossa ordinaria. St. Mark, like St. Matthew, mentions three kinds of incidents; but he considerably shortens the first, for, contenting himself with speaking of the veil of the temple, he says nothing of the earthquake, the split rocks, or the resurrected dead. — First event: The veil of the temple tore in two. This was certainly a dazzling miracle and a profound symbol. See the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:51. Thanks to the death of Jesus, there is now no longer a barrier between God and humanity. The gate of the kingdom of heaven is wide open. The veil that separated the two parts of the temple, called Saint And Holy of Holies It was magnificent: it was composed largely of purple and gold; embroidered cherubs covered almost the entire thing.

Mc15.³⁹ The centurion who stood opposite Jesus, seeing that he had died with such a cry, said, «Truly this man was the Son of God.» — This is the second point. St. Mark, in his account, has several interesting peculiarities. First, he uses a Greekized Latin word, κεντυρίων, to designate the centurion, while the other two Synoptic Gospels use the classical expression ἐκατόνταρχος (leader of a hundred men): similarly in verses 44 and 45 (see the Preface, § 4, 3). Second, he alone notes a picturesque detail, who was facing Jesus, From this, it appears that the centurion had perfectly seen and heard. Thirdly, he explicitly points to the Savior's last cry as the cause of the centurion's astonishment., seeing that he had expired while uttering such a cry. This soldier, who had undoubtedly witnessed many deaths, could not recall ever having seen anything like it. In this cry, all the more extraordinary because the crucified almost always died of suffocation, due to tetany of the limbs—they could no longer push up on their legs to catch their breath—he saw something supernatural. Then, associating it with the noble conduct of Jesus, his patience, the mysterious darkness, etc., he went so far as to formulate this inner judgment: This man was truly the Son of God. This is the second conversion effected by the dying Christ: the first was that of the good thief.

Mc15.⁴⁰ There were also women watching from afar, including Mary Magdalene, Married, mother of James the Less, Joseph, and Salome, ⁴¹ who had already followed him and served him when he was in Galilee, and several others who had gone up to Jerusalem with him. — Women watching from afar. These words create a vivid picture, as does "who was opposite" in the preceding verse. — Like St. Matthew, St. Mark singles out three of Jesus' holy friends, undoubtedly the best known and most devoted. But there is something special in his mention of the last two. 1. In the name of James, son of Married, he adds the epithet the Miner, to distinguish him from the Apostle Saint James said the Greater. Where did this nickname come from? According to some, from his height, according to others, from the relative youth of Mary's son; it has also been said that he gave it to himself out of modesty. 2. St. Mark refers to the mother of Zebedee's children by her name Salome. Cf. Matthew 27:56. Those who were already following and serving him…The Evangelist condenses into these few words a long series of generous and devoted acts of service. Cf. Luke 8:1-3. Note the use of the imperfect tense. Several others, too, who had gone up to Jerusalem with him… These holy women did not want to separate from their Master: they followed him until death.

Mark 15:42-47. Parallel. Matt., 27, 57-61; Luke 23, 50-56; John 19, 38-42.

Mc15.⁴² Evening having come, as it was Preparation Day, that is to say, the eve of the Sabbath, — In this verse we find two relative temporal circumstances, the first, evening, at the time of day around which the events that are about to be recounted took place, the second, It was… the day before the Sabbath, on the day itself. It was a day of "Paraseveh," that is, of Preparation; now, as St. Mark then indicates for his non-Jewish readers, this technical term is equivalent to "before the Sabbath," therefore, to "the eve of the Sabbath." Thus, it was Friday that was designated by this term in Judaism. Cf. Matthew 27:62. But, as the Sabbath was approaching (compare Luke 23:54 and the commentary) when the Savior was buried, and as, on the other hand, the days began for the Jews at sunset, the vague formula Evening having arrived It should indicate the last hours of Friday, from about three to six o'clock. — This information from the Evangelist is intended to explain why Joseph of Arimathea and the other friends of Jesus hastened to bury him. Great diligence was necessary, since only a very short time was available before the opening of the sacred burial.

Mc15.⁴³ Then Joseph of Arimathea arrived: he was a highly respected member of the Sanhedrin, who was also waiting for the kingdom of God. He had gone courageously to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. — Joseph of Arimathea. The name of Joseph's homeland is added to distinguish him from his namesakes in the Gospels. For the probable location of Arimathea, see the Gospel according to St. Matthew, 27:57. Member of the Grand Council. It is generally accepted (cf. Luke 23:50-51 and the explanation) that this word means in the New Testament "assessor of the great Sanhedrin." Joseph was therefore one of the 70 members of the Jewish Sanhedrin. He was waiting too.…an emphatic expression. He too, like Saint Simeon, like Saint Anne, like so many other devout Jews, «awaited the kingdom of God,» that is, the coming of the Messiah and his mystical reign. This signifies an anxious, constant, and faithful expectation. But now, Joseph’s pious desires have been fulfilled: the kingdom of God has arrived for him. According to a venerable tradition, this nobleman, who later became a missionary, evangelized Great Britain and built the first Christian oratory in England at Glastonbury, Somerset [Acta Martyrum, 2, 507 ff.; François Giry, Vie des Saints, 3, 328–331]. Another tradition, which offers less certainty, places him among the 72 disciples. The courage to go to Pilate. It took real courage to openly take a step in favor of Jesus; secondly, because, until that moment, Joseph had remained a secret disciple of the divine Master "out of fear of the Jews" (John 19:38). But the Savior's cross transformed him into a hero. His former timidity completely vanished, and he approached Pilate without fear to ask for the body of Jesus.

Mc15.⁴⁴ But Pilate, surprised that he had died so soon, summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had been dead for a long time. ⁴⁵ Based on the centurion's report, he granted the body to Joseph. — Pilate, surprised…A detail specific to St. Mark. Those crucified usually remained on the cross for a day and a half, two days, sometimes even three days before dying. Since no essential organ was damaged, life left them only slowly. This depended on the height at which their feet were nailed: the flatter the legs were, the less the crucified person could push up on them to catch their breath and stay alive. The more the crucified people were nailed with their legs bent, the longer and more abominable the torture was. They broke the legs of the two thieves to prevent them from catching their breath and thus condemn them to a quicker death by suffocation. So Pilate was astonished. Hence the inquiry he ordered from the centurion on guard. He granted the body. In the Greek text, the verb literally means "to give as a gift, to give freely." It was not uncommon for Roman magistrates to only agree, in exchange for a considerable sum, to hand over the bodies of the executed to relatives or friends so that they might be granted an honorable burial [Cf. Cicero, Verrine Orations, v, 45; Justin (Marcus Junianus Justinus), 9, 4, 6.]: Pilate was generous and asked for nothing. This is undoubtedly what our Evangelist intended to express with this verb.

Mc15.⁴⁶ Then Joseph, having bought a linen cloth, took Jesus down, wrapped him in the cloth and laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. — After recounting the preliminaries to Jesus' burial, the Evangelist moves on to the actual burial itself. Having bought a shroud This is a peculiarity of St. Mark. It was after leaving the praetorium that Joseph went to buy the shroud, that is, a large piece of cloth intended to serve as a burial cloth for Jesus. Jesus came down : classic expression to indicate the action of taking down the bodies of the crucified. He placed it in a tomb., «A new tomb,» adds St. Matthew, 27:60 (see the commentary). Thus was fulfilled a famous prophecy of Isaiah, 53:9: He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and in death he was with the rich, though he had done no wrong and no deceit was found in his mouth.. — The great masters often took this verse as the theme for their magnificent works. 1. Descent from the Cross: Schidone, Fra Bartolomeo, Andrea del Sarto, Raphael, Jouvenet, Lesueur, Bourdon, B. Luini, Antonio Razzi, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Rubens, etc. 2. Christ Carried to the Tomb: Schidone, Titian. 3. The Entombment: Bassano, Rosso, Van der Werff, Pinfuricchio, Raphael, etc.

Mc15.⁴⁷ Or Mary Magdalene and Married, Joseph's mother watched where he was laid. — The burial episode ends, in the first two Gospels, like that of the crucifixion. Cf. vv. 40 and 41; Matt. 17, 55, 56, 61. On either side, in the background of the painting, we see the holy women standing, yet attentive to what was happening around them: they will not leave Calvary until the precious remains of Jesus have been placed in the tomb, and even then only with the intention of returning as soon as possible. That is why they were watching where it was deposited.