Mark 15:15, commentary and pictures

To satisfy and yield to the people, Pilate released Barabbas to them and, after having Him scourged, delivered Jesus to be crucified. Pilate had found and repeatedly declared Jesus innocent and just, with no fault or proven charge against Him. He yielded from a desire to content and conciliate the people, from fear of their hostility and to win favor with them, until his conscience was weakened and nearly helpless against them. The priests and rulers persuaded and stirred the mob to choose Barabbas, a robber and murderous hardened criminal, and to demand that Jesus be crucified. That choice of Barabbas over Jesus is the choice of Satan personified before the Son of God, repeated as each person demonstrates whom they choose, while the scourging was an unjust humiliation that began His bodily suffering before the cross.

Trial Setting and Sequence

Mark 15:15 takes place in the judgment-hall of Pilate the Roman governor, where Christ stands bound as a prisoner surrounded by a guard of soldiers while the hall fills with spectators. The judges of the Sanhedrim, the priests, rulers, elders and the mob wait just outside the entrance, having brought Jesus after condemning Him to have Pilate confirm and execute the sentence but refusing to enter themselves lest ceremonial defilement keep them from the Passover feast. They are blind to the murderous hatred defiling their own hearts and to Christ as the real Passover lamb whose rejection emptied the feast of meaning for them. Pilate, roused hastily from his bedchamber at an early hour and determined to finish quickly with magisterial severity and no friendly eyes, must examine one the Jewish authorities are anxious to have tried and punished with haste, yet he is held back by the prisoner Himself. He sees in Jesus no guilt, fear, boldness or defiance but goodness, nobility, calm and dignified bearing with heaven's signature, a man unlike any criminal he has judged, which rouses his better nature as he remembers what his wife told him and what he heard from several sources about the Galilean prophet who cured the sick, raised the dead, and raised Lazarus after four days dead.

The verse belongs to the account of Jesus being led from Pilate's judgment hall to Calvary for crucifixion. The crowd leading Him is guilty of His blood, and the sight of Judas's death makes retribution for that guilt appear already to be falling upon them. To satisfy and yield to the people, Pilate released Barabbas to them and, after scourging Him, delivered Jesus to be crucified. Though Pilate had found Jesus innocent, fear of the people's hostility led him to yield to their demand, and Jesus was scourged before being delivered for crucifixion. The people had been persuaded by the priests and rulers, with the chief priests and elders helping spread hostility from the leaders to the mob, to choose Barabbas, a robber, and demand Jesus' death despite a warning that Jesus was just. Pilate's decision was part of his effort to win favor with the people and make friends with Herod, and it delivered an unjust sentence that revealed the principles of those opposing Christ.

The scourging began the bodily humiliation and suffering He endured before the crucifixion, beating His flesh to satisfy fury. The following treatment shows the crowd's demand for Jesus' death and describes His scourging and the soldiers' cruel mockery: they dressed Him in a purple robe, placed a crown of thorns on His head, and struck Him with a reed, making the thorns pierce His skin. The delivery of Jesus took place amid a crowd stirred to mock and revile Him. The cross prepared for Barabbas was placed on Jesus, for Barabbas had been released while Jesus was sent to be crucified. Jesus was hurried toward Calvary amid the crowd's jeers, bearing the cross on His bruised and bleeding shoulders, while two thieves were also led to die at the same time.

Pilate's Motives and Injustice

Pilate had found Jesus innocent and just, and he repeatedly declared that he found no fault in Him, with no charge proved against Him, yet he knew Him to be of divine power. He yielded because he was willing to content and conciliate the people, acting from fear of their hostility after seeing he could not prevail against them. In doing so he sought to win favor with the people and to make friends with Herod, and by trying to appease the accusers he weakened his conscience until he stood nearly helpless against them instead of judging fairly.

The priests and rulers persuaded and stirred the people and the mob to choose Barabbas and to demand Jesus' death, and the chief priests and elders helped spread that hostility from the leaders to the crowd. They drove the demand out of envy, malice and fury, beating His flesh to satisfy their fury though they could prove no charge, and this persisted despite the warning that Jesus was just. To save Jesus, Pilate tried to use the festival custom of releasing a prisoner, having Barabbas brought and placing Jesus beside him and presenting the two prisoners side by side. He appealed with Behold the man while still declaring he found no fault in Jesus, expecting the contrast between Jesus' innocence and Barabbas' guilt to persuade the people to choose Jesus.

He had Jesus scourged and mocked in the hope that punishment and the sight of suffering would excite the pity of the multitude, satisfy the malice of the priests, and be accepted as sufficient punishment so he could then save the prisoner's life and release Him. The Jews with keen perception saw his weakness in punishing a man he had declared innocent and knew he was trying to release Jesus, and they reasoned that since he had scourged Him to please them, pressing the matter to a decided issue would gain His death. Displayed beside Barabbas, Jesus in His bloodied, bruised, weary and exhausted appearance still showed patient, gentle, suffering dignity against the robber's hardened, ruffian character. The scourging was an unjust humiliation that began His bodily suffering before crucifixion, and the following treatment was cruel mockery in which soldiers dressed Him in a purple robe, placed a crown of thorns on His head, and struck Him with a reed so that the thorns pierced His skin.

Barabbas Choice and Lessons

Pilate gave way to pressure from the priests and the crowd, and though he knew Jesus was innocent he released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be crucified after scourging Him. The crowd chose Barabbas, a robber and murderous hardened criminal, instead of Jesus. Jesus was set beside Barabbas with His body bruised and bleeding, yet His patient dignity stood clear against the robber's hardened appearance, and Pilate's appeal in the vain hope that the sight of suffering would move the crowd to pity and satisfy them enough to let Him go was rejected as they demanded that Jesus be crucified. The same crowd that had once hailed Him as king now cried for His crucifixion, and that fickleness became a trial that tested the disciples.

The choosing of Barabbas over Jesus was the choosing of Satan personified before the Son of God. That choice is repeated in the world, where each person by his course demonstrates whom he chooses, Christ or Satan. The unjust sentence that released Barabbas and delivered Jesus to be crucified after scourging revealed the principles of those opposing Christ.

The taking away of the Bridegroom gave the disciples cause to mourn and fast. Jesus was the One in whom their hopes of eternal life were centered and whom they thought was to take His place on David's throne, yet He was scourged as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in place of their beloved Teacher. Seeing their Teacher treated as a criminal and condemned to die tried their faith and caused hope and courage to fail. His approach to the cross and descent into the depths of humiliation brought days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter was not clearly discerned. Jesus had prepared His faithful followers beforehand for that humiliation and mockery, so that they would not be overwhelmed by the fickleness of the crowd nor base their faith on the changing opinions of others.