Mark 15:1-20 ‘The King of the Jews’

 

The ambulance arrives at the scene of the accident only to have a bunch of youths pelt it with stones.  Isn’t it sad when you hear of stories like that, as we have in recent times?

However, let’s imagine a story that is even more twisted.  An ambulance arrives at the scene of an accident and it is pelted with stones by the person who needs medical attention.

Or even more bizarrely still.  An ambulance, driven by the most important person in the country, who is motivated by unparalleled compassion, arrives at the scene of an accident.  But he is told where to go and has stones pelted at him, by a person who will die is they don’t receive his attention.

In some ways that is a picture of people’s response to Jesus.  Jesus is God’s promised king.  In obedience to his Father he has come on a mission to a world dying in our sin.  He has come to offer forgiveness to people who are guilty of the most dreadful treason imaginable.  Yet how do people respond to his mission of mercy?  In our passage we will see people who resented him, who pushed him aside, and who treated him with utter contempt. 

The Sovereign King

It’s very early on Good Friday.  We are now at the morning of the cross.  The Sanhedrin believed that they had found Jesus guilty of blasphemy.  But the Romans won’t execute someone for blasphemy so the religious authorities present Jesus as being guilty of treason.  The Romans claimed that Caesar was the rightful ‘King of the Jews’, as he was king over all the people in his empire.  Anyone claiming such a position was surely setting themselves up against Caesar and so was to be put to death.   

They bound Jesus and turned him over to the roman governor, Pilate.  Pilate now questions the defendant.  “Are you the king of the Jews?” [1]  This theme of Jesus being king will be heard right throughout this chapter.  Even though the people fail to acknowledge, and even mock, his kingship this is God’s promised king standing before them.

The chief priests accused Jesus of many things.  So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer?  See how many things they are accusing you of.”

But Jesus made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. 

This silence of Jesus is significant.  It reminds us that everything that is happening is in line with what had been foretold in the Old Testament. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah. 53:7).

This silence also points to the fact that Jesus gives his accent to what is about to happen to him.  Pilate clearly doesn’t think that Jesus is guilty of a crime that deserved death.  But if Jesus won’t defend himself Pilate will have no choice but to pronounce his verdict in line with those bringing accusations against him.  Yes, Jesus’ death will be the result of the actions of evil men, who plotted against him and got their way, but it is also the deliberate choice of our Saviour who lets them get their way.  Despite how things may have looked Jesus remains in control.  He has set his face towards the cross in obedience to the Father’s will.  He is determined to die there for your sin and mine.

The Rejected King

It was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner, so Pilate gives the crowd the option of releasing Barabbas or Jesus.  “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

Pilate is discerning.  He knows that the reason that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him was out of envy.  Before Jesus came along they had been the people who held the religious authority.  But the crowds saw in Jesus an authority they were lacking.  Rather than submit to Jesus’ authority they resented it.  Like so many people who see that Jesus threatens the lifestyle we may want for ourselves, they oppose him.

Pilate may be discerning but he is also pathetic.  He releases Barabbas, has Jesus flogged and hands him over to be crucified.  Why?  Because he wanted to satisfy the crowd!  He didn’t want trouble in his province.  If there was unrest in his jurisdiction he might be removed from his position.  So he sends an innocent man to his death.      

Jesus threatens many of the things we hold dear.  He threatens our ambitions.  He threatens our comfort.  He threatens our status.  If our aim in life is to be looked up to, to stay within our comfort zones, and never to have a bad word said about us, then we won’t want to submit to his authority as king.  Like the chief priests or Pilot we will either oppose him or ignore him because he is a threat to what we hold most dear.  Indeed if we say that we have Jesus as our king but are never challenged about our ambitions, never find ourselves having to speak or act in a way that makes us stand apart, or never love in a way that costs us, then maybe we are not responding to Jesus’ authority over our lives the way we ought.

The Mocked King

The final scene of this morning’s passage is truly horrible.  Having flogged Jesus the soldiers now mock him.  They put a purple robe on him and a crown of thorns on his head.  They strike him and spit on him.  They fall to their knees and pay mock homage to him.  When they have done all this they led him out to be crucified.  The irony is that in doing all this they are actually confirming his identity, for the Old Testament is clear that the promised king would be one who would be opposed and suffer (see for example Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53).  As we have said on a number of times in recent weeks, we ought to marvel when we think about what Jesus went through for our sake.

Submitting to Jesus as our king will cost us.  That cost may include people mocking us and rejecting us.  But remember that they mocked and rejected the one we follow.  Indeed what we may go through for his sake is nothing compared to what he went through for our sake.

Conclusion

Let’s go back to our opening picture of the ambulance. 

The ambulance has arrived and it is being driven by the king.  He has come to save a dying people and offer forgiveness to those who are guilty of treason.  But many say ‘no’ and either ignore him or oppose him.  Why?  Because King Jesus threatens things they hold dear!  The cost of living under his rule seems too high for them!

For those who do experience his forgiveness and become his people the call is to share in his mission—to live in such a way as to point people to the king.  As we do this what can we expect?  That some will treat us as they would treat him—opposing us and ignoring our message. 

However, as difficult as this may be we are spurred on by remembering the great price that he paid to make us his own, and humbly remembering that what we may experience for him is nothing compared to what he has experienced for us.

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[1] This is the same question as ‘Are you the Christ?’ (14:61) but phrased as a roman would have put it.